There wasn't a lot of time left before the meet and greet by the time I got back to Boulder and turned in the bag of suspy turds. The gloating look on the task desk associate's face nearly rubbed me raw. How dare he smirk at me while he weighed the bag? Didn't he know how much Shiva and I went through just for one bag of shit? The whole experience left a vile taste in my mouth.

Especially when I walked out of the Association building and saw my beloved Shiva, so beat up and tired, waiting for me outside. Regen worked while I rode her back, so even though my armor was still covered in blood, I was fine. Shiva didn't have that luxury and she carried me back the whole way.

She didn't protest this time when I walked beside her to Uncle's shop. She dropped down to the straw in her stall as soon we got to the small stable, saddle and all.

"Oh, Shiva," I moaned, dying of guilt. I quickly took off her gear, working around her laying figure, then brought over a bucket of water for her to drink. Her gear was tossed on the workbench carelessly as I hurried out the stable and to the shop.

I burst through the shop’s back door, scaring Micah half to death. His wild movement sent a pencil skittering across the table he was at until it fell on the floor. A notebook, now sporting a long, deep graphite skid, followed closely after. "God, Ria!" He gasped and clutched at his chest with one hand and rested another hand protectively over the study book Uncle Maveric gave him. "You didn't have to scare me like that!"

"Sorry." I barely spared him a glance as I rushed to sink in the kitchenette, quickly scrubbed my hands clean, then jumped in front of the fridge.

Healing didn't work on monsters, but when they were by their natural element, it helped them get better. Shiva was an ice element, so she needed something cold to help her heal faster. It wouldn't be such a problem in the winter — the cold air would be like Regen to her — but right now it was summer time.

I flung open the freezer and pulled open the ice maker. Luckily, the bin was full. At least something was going right today. Now what to carry it all in? I needed something to keep it together while being pliable enough to mold to her body. Humming under my breath, I rifled through the cabinets.

All the while, Micah was talking. "You're cutting it a little close, you know, Ria. The party is in an hour and you haven't helped with anything. Dad and Maveric are out getting the food and drinks. Hey, are you listening to me?"

"Yep." Well, kind of. I paused when I saw a wad of several plastic bags stuffed under the sink. "Ah-ha!" I grabbed the bags and started to shovel ice into them, ignoring the way some ice stuck to my still damp hands.

"Are you really?" Micah grouched, followed by the sound of his chair scraping across the ground as he stood up. "Hey, you seriously aren't planning on looking like that for the party..." His voice died down before he slowly asked, "Is that ... blood? You’re covered in blood."

My hand stilled in the middle of tying the second plastic bag closed. I took a deep breath and silently let it out. "It's been a rough day," I said, and finished the knot with a jerk. And the day wasn't over yet. I still needed to get ready and then there was the meet and greet. Ugh, I just wanted a nap. Regen fixed all my physical discomforts, but it didn't do anything for mental strain.

"I'll be back," I said, then grabbed an arm full of kitchen towels and hurried out of the building with the ice bags.

"Wait!" Micah hollered and scrambled after me, tripping over his own gangly legs. "Hey, where are you going? What about the party?"

"I'll be on time, promise." I tossed over my shoulder before I strode into the stable.

Shiva lifted her head and blinked her sad eyes at me.

"Sh, Shiva, sh," I cooed and pressed the bag of ice to the largest gaping hole in her side.

She grunted, her breath stuttering in obvious pain.

My heart bled for her. I wish there was something more I could do.

"Oi!" Micah burst through the door. "What's your deal, Ria–" He choked to a stop when he caught sight of Shiva. "What happened?" His voice cracked with shock. After all, I was covered in blood, but I wasn't actually visibly hurt. Shiva had obvious bleeding holes all over her.

"It's been a rough day," I said again and left it at that.

I wasn't going to hide or coddle him every time I got hurt. It was going to be part of our daily lives from here on, and something he had to get used to. But it didn't mean I was going to give him a play by play of every drop of blood I lost.

I handed him a bag of ice and a pair of latex gloves. "Put these on and hold the bag to that wound," I said and pointed to a spot on her neck. It was impossible to see because of her hair, but I knew there was a nasty bruise there from then the rocks fell on us.

Micah jerked on the gloves and gently pressed the ice where I instructed. "Um." He bit his lips, obviously struggling with figuring out what to say now. I guess he didn't think it was appropriate to lecture me when Shiva was so hurt in front of us.

She sighed with content when the ice touched her.

A small smile played on my lips. I stood up and walked over to the work bench and filled up another bucket of water from the tap there. Luckily, there was a tub of mount medicine cream and large pads in a cabinet next to the table. "You were studying Uncle's book again?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence hanging in the air.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"What?" Micah blinked at me. "Ah, yeah." He glanced down and adjusted the bag against Shiva's neck.

I nodded slowly as I returned to Shiva then paused, remembering. "Oh right. I have something for you." I waved my hand. The fae lashes appeared on the ground next to Micah's knees, rock and all. It was perfectly preserved, since it was in my Items Bag the whole time.

I dropped down beside Shiva, put on some gloves myself, wet a kitchen towel with the water and started to clean the blood from around the largest wound on her side. She stiffened in pain, but stayed still so I could work.

"Oh, wow." Micah said slowly, staring at the plant with wide eyes. "Are those ... is that really a fae lashes?"

"I found that today and thought you would like them," I explained as I picked up the wide medicine bottle and twisted the top off.

A heavy medicinal smell rose up from pale green lotion inside. While healing didn't work on monsters, there are several magical plants that can be mixed together to help them mend faster. It was like Advil – a one size fits all thing, no matter if the mount was a bird, bug, reptilian, or furry type, but it was better than nothing. I scooped a glob out and carefully smeared it over the exposed muscle on her side.

Shiva snorted and lowered her head, nose flaring with each stuttered breath she took.

"I'm sorry," I whispered softly. Even though I knew this was going to help her, I couldn't help feeling guilty knowing I was paining her more.

Micah tore his gaze from the plant to give Shiva a startled look. He swallowed and adjusted his bag of ice so that it stayed on the spot he was tasked with. "It's really dangerous being a Hunter, huh?" he asked slowly.

A bitter smile tugged my lips. How many times had I almost died since I became one? Scratch that, the first time was before I even became a Hunter. "Yeah," I said softly. "In the shop, we only get to see when the Hunters are victorious, you know? Like when they bring in their kills or have enough money to buy a cool, new weapon. We never see the hard work that went into them getting to that point."

I finished dressing the wound and pressed a pad over it to keep it clean, then laid the second bag of ice on it. According to the Hunter course textbooks, I could take off the pads tomorrow and give her a couple days rest then Shiva will be good as new. No bald spots, nothing. I clung to those words as I moved to the next bleed wound.

"Do you still like being a Hunter?" Micah asked slowly. "I mean, you were so stubborn about it before. Do you feel the same?"

I glanced at him, fingers full of medical goo. He was fishing for something, so what was it? "Yeah. I'm still going to be Hunter. No matter what."

I hated that Shiva was hurt. I wish it was me that was still hurt, and she had Regen instead. But instead of wanting to shy away from going out again, it burned a fire in me. I wanted to go out and get stronger enough so that I can make sure that she never got hurt again.

"Oh." Micah ran his fingers over Shiva's head, soothing her as he stared absentmindedly at the fae lashes.

I was too focused on what I was doing to pry out his thoughts.

"Hey, Ria?" he asked, a look of resolve on his face.

"Yeah?" I pressed a new pad over the treated wound and moved to Shiva's other side, looking for more bleeding spots.

"I have an idea for Dad's Christmas present," he said slowly.

I paused and blinked at him. "Christmas?" It was barely even summer. Wasn't it a little early to think about things like that? Especially when Shiva was like this? Or was he thinking about getting a mount for Dad? It wouldn't work, monsters didn't listen to humans.

"Yeah." He licked his lips and glanced at the fae lashes again. "When I saw these," he nodded towards the fae lashes, "I thought what if we made something for him? You know, you get the materials, and I make it?" He rushed on, as if afraid I'd shoot him down. "I mean, you found some fae lashes. All I'd need now is some silver and pyrefly wings. I mean, that recipe is idiot proof, so I should be able to do it."

My eyes widened as I realized what he was talking about. "Hold up, you are nowhere near experienced enough to go near the forge." This was significantly different from me running around in the wilds. I at least had training – and Micah wouldn't bleed if I got hurt.

"I know," he defended himself. "I'm not stupid, I know I'm not ready to work with Becky. I was going to ask Uncle Maveric to help me make it. You get the stuff, Uncle helps smelt the metal and I can mold and shape it. I was thinking about doing a broach." He held up his thumb and finger with two inches of space between them. "An octagon about this big, with the Moore logo in the middle. I think Dad would like that, right?"

The corner of my lips kicked up. "You actually thought this through, huh?"

I ran my clean fingers over Shiva's side, searching for more spots I needed to treat. The medicine was obviously working now. She wasn't nearly as tense as before and her breathing had evened out. Thank god for whoever created this medicine.

Micah bobbed his head. "Well, yeah. I mean, Dad really hates you being a Hunter. So I thought if we did something together to show him that we could make a good team, he'd change his mind. After all, I think it sounds cool too, you know, being able to make weapons with the stuff my sister gets." His ears turned red in an explosion of embarrassment.

Oh, he was just too cute. Too bad my hands were covered in gunk. Every time he acted like that, I just wanted to glomp on him and rub his fluffy hair.

I didn't hate his idea. In fact, it sounded wonderful. I hoped that Dad still wasn't giving me grief about being a Hunter by Christmas, but then the broach would just be icing on the cake. No matter how Dad felt about my career path, he'd love anything Micah and I put effort into making for him.

"I'd have to find pyreflies," I muttered under my breath and sat back. I think I got all of Shiva's bleeding wounds. And she didn't seem to have too many bruises, outside of the one on her neck.

"They're north, around the Wyoming border," Micah supplied with excitement. "That's why I was thinking Christmas. Then you'd have time to get the stuff and I could practice making a good shape before I use the actual ingredient, you know?"

I hummed under my breath. "I think it sounds like fun." I grinned at him. "Let me know how much the silver is going to cost."

He waved his free hand. "I have my allowance, I can pay for that."

I breathed a laugh. I bet he didn't realize how much a piece of silver that big would cost. "Nah, let me do that. I'm in charge of getting the materials, right? You get to sweat over it."

"Okay!" He beamed.

A smile played on my lips as the tension that tightened my chest since I saw the suspies finally released. Who knew talking to my snotty brother could help me so much?

Shiva let out a sigh and shifted, her mannerisms much more relaxed.

"Shiva's feeling better now, huh?" Micah asked, still petting between her antlers.

I nodded. "Yeah, she is. Thanks." I glanced at the clock on the wall, then started to clean up. "It's time to get ready for the party."