RED HORIZON (Heliocite Saga #1)

𝔽𝕆𝕌ℝ𝕋𝔼𝔼ℕ

Two days passed and the sanctuaries limped towards normalcy. But despite its best efforts, there was a hollowness that persevered. The rebels had taken more than a handful of lives and some chunk of wall from them-- the blanket of safety and security that always surrounded the community was torn in two. Instead of children's laughter, only heavy footsteps or hushed voices could be heard echoing in the hallways. Instead of mentors bending over apprentices to guide them in their studies, family members bent over their wounded with tears and despair in their eyes.

The central courtyard had been turned into an infirmary. The scouts had come back from Taprese with a few dozen survivors, who were now sprawled out on scattered mats and cots. Compared to the thousands who had been in Taprese for the market at the time of the attack, it was an agonizing few.

The healers were overwhelmed with the surplus and needed all the help they could get. Seri had been given a crutch to get around, and volunteered herself wherever she could. She only had basic first aid experience, enough to get through scrapes on the field, but she quickly discovered that sometimes all a patient needed was a caring touch and assuring words.

She sat and stroked the hand of a woman who's forehead was drenched in sweat from fever, her breaths shallow and wheezing. She had suffered deep cuts from shrapnel all over her face and body, some of which had gotten infected. Sadly, she was far from the worst case Seri had seen.

"Shhh..." she hushed, pushing the woman's hair back from where it stuck to her face. The woman whimpered in pain, her arm twitching at her side. "Get some rest. The tea I gave you had willow bark and chamomile, you should feel some relief soon."

The woman squeezed the hand Seri held, the gesture weak but understood. A thank you. Seri smiled sadly, squeezing back.

Once the woman was asleep, Seri pushed herself back to her feet. Her legs were cramped from being in one position for so long, and she stretched out her back to relieve a knot that had formed there. Her groan joined the quiet symphony of pain surrounding her. As her hands fell back to her sides, she took a moment to look around, taking in the chaos. She would never get used to it.

Bending, she picked up the tray of tea from the ground. Then tray in one hand, crutch in the other, she hobbled through the maze of bodies, careful to avoid any limbs that strayed from their mats. A hand caught hold of her ankle as she passed and she knelt down, comforting the man until he let go. He turned on his side away from her, coughs wracking his body. As if the battle wounds weren't enough, a sickness was starting to travel around. The healers blamed the close proximity of so many strangers. Another hurdle to scale.

She returned the tray to the make-shift healer station, which consisted of a couple of tables overflowing with supplies and some very weary-looking healers doling them out or dozing on the floor nearby. A few other volunteers like Seri were floating around as well.

"She's asleep," Seri reported, leaning on the table to take the pressure off her knee. The healer behind the table smiled.

"Great. Thank you," he said, taking the tray and passing it off to be filled with fresh tea for the next patient. "We really need the help, so you're a life-saver."

Seri waved the praise away, feeling awkward. "Of course. I want to help, and there's not much else I can do with this knee."

"Would you mind replacing a dressing next? There's a woman with some pretty bad burns, and we're trying to save the leg--"

The healer's words were cut off when a guttural cry came from a few bodies away, drawing their attention and turning several heads.

The source was an elderly man, struggling against the hands of a healer woman who was desperately trying to calm him down. Seri recognized him as the man that she and Azariah had saved from the desert. He had been unconscious the past two days, and she had feared he would not pull through. Now, he shouted what sounded like nonsense as the healer tried to hold his shoulders down.