Nyara felt a momentary pang of guilt as she watched the wolf trot away but quickly shook the feeling off. She and Riona made their way to the village's entrance. A wall about three meters high surrounded Orchard Village, protecting it from the bandits and monsters that occupied the area.
"Halt!"
A voice rang out, gruff and commanding.An older man, his hair graying at the temples, stepped in front of them. He was dressed in a brown tunic, pants and a simple steel breastplate. Nyara noted the utilitarian sword strapped to his waist, her eyes narrowing warily as she assessed him.
"No one may enter Orchard Village at this time. We have had an outbreak of Frost Fever and it must be contained."
Nyara let out a sigh of relief. She had been worried that the human guard was prejudiced against elves. That would have made it a lot harder to convince him to allow her and Riona into the village.
"I am aware of the fever. That is why we are here. I am a healer." Nyara explained.
The guard eyed the sword strapped to her back skeptically.
"I've never seen a healer who carried a sword before." He replied suspiciously.
Nyara turned to Riona. Without her even having to ask the merc pulled a dagger out and cut her palm in a flash, the dagger disappearing as quickly as it had been brought out. Gesturing at the fresh wound Nyara said coolly.
"Allow me to give you a demonstration than."
She placed her hand on Riona's and called upon her well of mana. Riona's hand was bathed in a purple glow for a brief moment before Nyara pulled away, leaving smooth unblemished skin where the red gash had been moments before. The elf turned back to the guard who was gaping in awe at her display of power. To his credit, the man managed to pull himself together relatively quickly.
"Very well. I will allow you to enter the village as you are a healer. However unless your.....companion shares your talents I am afraid I cannot allow her in. All travel in and out of the village is restricted to essential personal only."
Nyara's eyes narrowed. “Either we both go, or neither of us will set foot in your village. Do you think I’m foolish enough to enter a human village without allies? As female elf and a healer, no less? Surely you don’t think me that na?ve.”
"Not that it's likely anyone in Orchard Village would be able to keep me down for long....but it would be wrong for me to leave Riona out here. Besides that, her presence might stave off at least a few of the idiots who are likely to try something with me which will leave me more time to actually heal people rather than ward off any advances."
The guard considered her words quietly for a moment. Then he called up to the two men waiting on the top of the wall.
"We've got a healer and her-" he looked at Nyara for a moment unsure of how to introduce Riona.
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"Bodyguard will suffice."
Nyara replied, shooting Riona a glare as the merc opened her mouth, likely to say something lewd or at the very least ridiculous. The merc sent a smirk her way before apparently deciding to take her role as "bodyguard" seriously and putting on a stern face.
"A healer and her bodyguard!" The guard hollered up to the other men.
Even from the ground, Nyara could tell that the men guarding the wall were excited. They hurriedly disappeared from sight and moments later the gate was pushed open. A man of about 5 feet and 7 inches or so with a shock of unruly white hair and an energetic bounce in his step greeted them alongside the three guards.
"Greetings! I am elder Rionran. I understand you are a healer?"
Nyara allowed herself a small smile. An elder among humans this man might have been, but even though Nyara was barely an adult by elven standards, she was sure that her 87 years of life were at least a few higher than the human standing before her.
"Indeed. How many have been afflicted with the Frost Fever? Have you quarantined the infected?"
The so-called elder looked a bit put off by her brusque questions, but Nyara didn’t really care. She was here to help those who could still be saved, not to make friends.
"We had around 5 or 6 men, 6 or 7 women, and a few of the children were also beginning to show signs last night. Anyone showing symptoms is in the blacksmith's forge. He and his wife were the first to be infected."
Nyara took in the information, nodding slowly.
"Very well. Take me to the forge. I will do what I can for them."
The elder quickly lead Nyara to the forge, Riona following behind her like a silent shadow. When they arrived at the forge a few minutes later Nyara turned to Riona.
"You may want to wait here. Frost Fever is not a pretty thing to witness."
Riona just shrugged.
"That's fine with me. Just....be careful, don't overdo it."
The elf nodded in acknowledgement, then entered the forge. The moment Nyara entered, the sounds of coughing and low moans filled her ears. Taking a brief moment to count the number of heads in the room, she realized the elder's estimate had been fairly accurate. All in all, Nyara counted 7 men and 9 women, along with three children, perhaps 6 or 7 years old. A large man with black hair sat slumped against the wall along with a woman Nyara assumed to be his wife. Inspecting them a bit closer, Nyara noted in horror that the tell tale blue tinge of the Frost Fever had spread all the way to the mans elbows and just past that on his wife.
"Shit! This is bad. I could heal these two, they must be the blacksmith and his wife considering how much more advanced the fever is in them than anyone else if I do......I won't have enough mana left to heal more than one or two others. On the other hand, if I heal most of the others I won't have the mana to help these two until tomorrow. No. I know what I have to do. I must save as many lives as possible, starting with the children."
Nyara grit her teeth and forced herself to move away from the couple, turning her attention on the three infected kids. Their finger tips had just begun to turn blue and Nyara hurried hover to them placing a cool hand on each of their foreheads in turn as she splashed a bucket of healing mana into each of them. Then she moved onto the women, healing 3 of them and 3 of the men before she stopped, panting. Rallying, she managed to heal the last of the men - excluding the blacksmith—and staggered out of the forge on the heels of the newly healed villagers. Riona was quick to give Nyara her shoulder to lean on.
"I thought I told you not to wear yourself out, elf?"
Nyara attempted a grin but failed, her face morphing into a grimace of pain as her legs gave out completely. Riona moved from acting as a crutch to sweeping Nyara into a princess carry. Nyara's face flushed, but she was far too drained to protest.
"Alright!" Riona shouted. "Where can I find a bed? Miss. Healer here needs some rest before she can work her magic on the rest of ya!"
The guard who they had met stepped forward, hand in hand with a woman who looked to be his wife.
"You are welcome to stay with us. We have a spare room that you and the healer are free to use until she has recovered enough to heal the rest of those infected."
Chapter from Riona's POV?
