Aether Beasts

We ran for around half an hour and to my surprise no one gave chase, and the arcanists that had been flinging techniques at us quickly went out of range.

To my relief, Sandra and Misty were already at the gathering area when Lily and I arrived, which made sense since they were both faster than me, especially Misty who could probably outrun us all, except for maybe Elder Kaylin.

"Oh thank god," I said as I panted. "Good to see you two."

Misty didn't reply, instead choosing to bowl me over in a hug. I returned it awkwardly, not really sure of what to do.

"I'm so glad your alright," she muttered, and I felt a familiar warmth bloom in my chest. One I'd only ever felt with Zirani before.

Misty let go, and Sandra moved in to give me a quick hug and peck on the lips. The warmth in my chest increased at her touch.

"What was that for?"

She shrugged. "Just glad to see you made it, those explosions sure did a lot more damage than I thought."

"Tell me about it," I replied. "I thought it would just be normal explosions, not a tornado or large vines."

"Is that how yours manifested?" Misty asked. "Mine was a black and red cloud that melted flesh."

"And mine was a bunch of sharp shadow tendrils," Sandra added. "I don't think I've ever seen that many people die at once, that quickly."

She shuddered and I could tell she was somewhat shaken, but holding it together.

"Has anybody else arrived?" I asked as I looked around. Misty and Sandra being here so quickly made sense, but Lily and I couldn't have been moving that fast. I was a good sprinter, but nothing special, although I had used my lashing vines to increases my speed while Lily had used some form of enhancement technique. It had been similar to the burst technique Zirnai had taught me, but its pattern was slightly different.

Almost as if my words had been a signal, a few pairs burst into the area, one of which was Kara and Micheal. I immediately noticed the bulky man's torn and bloody robes and Kara's pale face.

"Healing! He needs healing!"

I ran over, followed by the others as I pulled out a few items from my ring. A few of the other pairs had noticed and I was glad to see that they too had spatial rings. A younger-looking arcanist offered some bandages while I ordered Kara to tear off his upper robes.

"You can heal?" She asked hopefully.

"My aunt was a healer," I replied. "I'm no arcane healer, but I know basic first aid."

Micheal's upper chest had a long and wide gash that ran from his neck to mid stomach. It didn't look too deep but he was losing blood fast. I poured water over the wound to cleanse it, and then some medicinal liquid my aunt had packed for me. It would numb the pain, and help fight any bacterial infection that might have already taken hold. Once that was done I spread some salves at the sides of the gash and then shoved a basic health elixir down his throat.

"Does anyone here have a life affinity?" I called out, but to my dismay, I only received no's and shakes of the head in return.

"Is it serious?" Sandra asked.

"Not really, but it will get worse if we don't close the wound and stop the bleeding. The elixir I gave him will help staunch the bleeding, but it won't close the wound," I replied as I pulled some bandages off the roll then with the help of Kara, wrapped them around his torso so that it was covering the wound. "This will have to do until we can get him some proper healing."

"It was my fault," Kara said with anger in her voice. "I should have been watching his back, but I got careless and a metal technique got him in the chest."

"You did what you could," I said to try and comfort, her. "You brought him here and he will survive this, but now is not the time for this, ok?"

She took a deep breath and nodded.

Over the course of the next few minutes, I checked Micheal for any other injuries while more and more people arrived. A few more had sustained damage, so I ended up tending to them. If only my aunt could see me know, she would definitely be proud. She'd always told me even if I didn't choose to be a healer like her, that if I could help then I should, especially since she had taught me more than most ever learn.

The most serious injury was a bent arm. The point that it had bent at was swelling rapidly, and the arcanist it was attached to looked on the verge of tears, but some healing salve and a basic elixir quickly reduced that, and some numbing cream made it more bearable. He thanked me profusely and promised to pay me back, but I just shook my head.

"I don't need payment to help a fellow ally out," I said as I turned away and headed back to Sandra and Misty.

"Genius and a healer," Lily remarked. "What other surprises do you have in store?"

I scoffed. "I'm not a healer, I just know basic first aid."

"Well your basic first aid has just helped a ton of people," Lily shot back.

"She's right," Misty added. "You're too modest."

I held back a blush at the praise and opened my mouth to respond when another pair burst into the clearing. They looked worse for wear and both had shocked looks in their eyes.

"Elder Kaylin, he's… he's fighting the twin horn elders."

"What!"

There were exclamations of surprise everywhere and people shouted questions at the two newcomers so I quickly raised my voice. "Calm down and let him speak. We all knew this was a possibility."

The arcanist shot me a grateful look before continuing. "We were at the end and ran into some bad luck. Our explosions hit a few elders, but they didn't die. We ran, but it didn't look like we were going to make it. Then Kaylin appeared."

"Did he say anything?" an Arcanist asked. "Any orders?"

"He said to head back to the rest of the steel heart, and help as we could."

"What about him?" Another asked. "Shouldn't we go and help?"

"Don't be foolish," Kara scolded. "In a fight against elders, we'd be little better than cannon fodder. Do you think he gave us this chance so we could waste it?"

"She's right," I agreed. "We need to head back."

As much as I too wanted to help elder Kaylin, I knew I would only get in his way, and I had no doubt if we entered the fray then the elder would just order some lower-level arcanists to take care of us. We were just a few arcanists, while they had an army.

A few people clearly weren't happy with the decision to leave the elder behind, but luckily no arguments or fights broke out. I was glad they had the intelligence to know that fighting right now was a stupid thing to do.

We quickly made sure that no one was going to be left behind then set out together. I was somewhat surprised that we'd all made it. I'd expected at least some town horn arcanists to give chase, but I guess they were too focused on the upcoming battle. Our attack ahd surely slowed them down, but from the size of the army, I doubted it would be for very long. We needed to get back to the rest of the steel heart and join the defense, especially since we were the best of the best.

"Do you think we'll make it back in time?" Sandra asked as she ran beside me.

I shrugged. "I can only hope so. It also depends on if they'll stop to treat their wounded or sick or if they'll just continue marching."

"Somehow I doubt the town horn care that much," Sandra replied. "They seem more like the type to leave them in a ditch then move on, and only heal their most valuable members."

"That does sound like them," I said. "I wonder how large of a dent we made in their army?"

"It must have been a big one," Mistry answered. "Even if they recover quickly, from what I saw we killed hundreds."

"Speaking of killing, do you guys feel bad at all?" Sandra asked. "I kind of do, but I also know I did what I had to."

"I feel a bit guilty," I added. "But this is war. Death happens, and we must do what we must to win, especially this time, considering what the twin horn will do to the land if they win."

I shuddered slightly as I remembered everything I learned about the twin horn and what they did to people.. We definitely had to try our hardest to make sure they didn't win, and if we lost? Then I would retreat, and when I was stronger I would return to lay waste to them.