The Beast That was Promised ✔

EIGHTEEN: The Eve Of Battle

Sir Cillian had ordered that Isiah and Rina be put to work, looking after those who had been injured. Of course, Isiah had no possible way of doing so and instead was asked to help prepare Liman for the coming battle, leaving Rina to treat the wounded in the infirmary alone.

It was easy work with the healing stone, but it was slow and she couldn't heal all of them at once. Sometimes, they protested and demanded that she heal some of them before the others, but there was a system she could work off. Those who were the most injured, those closest to dying, were the ones who were healed first. It was only fair. Most of the ones protesting were the people conscious and barely injured and so she ignored them as best she could.

None of them knew who she was, just that she had some magical ability to heal them all and of course, that meant they thought they could take advantage of her. Sitting by the beds of those barely able to keep their eyes open in the large dining hall of a mansion not far from the stronghold, Rina ignored the yells and jeers from the angry soldiers.

She had been there for hours and was utterly exhausted, but she still had a long while to go. There wasn't much time to get all of the soldiers from the other battles healed up and ready to fight what came next. It wasn't fair on them, being healed up just so they could fight again, but they didn't have a choice. The end of the war was coming and they needed to be as ready as possible.

Being in the infirmary was good practice for the healing stone, but she was restless. All she wanted was to get ready for the battle. The Ishini army was only a few days away and she was sitting in a posh mansion with a bunch of dying people, given no opportunity to train and refine her skills. She hadn't even been given the chance to ask Sir Cillian about it, just pushed into the infirmary the moment she said she could heal people.

She wanted to fight for her country, her people, her family. Healing people felt good, but it wasn't enough for her, she wanted a chance to kill those who had wronged her. She couldn't just sit back in the infirmary and let people die without trying to defend them. As soon as she was done healing everyone, she would rest and get started on training.

The worst part about it all wasn't the impatient men and women waiting for her to come to them, but the fact that using the stone left her exhausted after hours upon hours of nonstop work. Not even Isiah had used his stones for as long as she had. Maybe he should have. It would have been good practice for him. If he couldn't use his stones for more than an hour or so, then how was he supposed to be the Beast? There wasn't enough time for everything that needed to happen.

She yawned and stretched her arms high as the stone finished its work on the group nearby. Most stayed asleep, but some woke, bleary-eyed and confused to pat down their bodies for injuries. Some of them, the ones she had first healed, had marvelled at their limbs, which had once been gone. She had grown them back, which had taken a long time, but she couldn't leave them limbless.

One of those she had just healed stared up at her, a hand on her shoulder, which had once held a near-fatal wound. "Who are you?" the young woman asked, her voice full of awe.

"Someone here to help," she answered and stepped away from the group of beds. In a matter of hours, all of those she had healed would be awake and told to get straight back into armour.

"Doesn't really seem like it!" someone from the front of the room yelled, getting a few cries of agreement from those around them. Rina rolled her eyes and smiled at the woman staring up at her. It didn't matter what the others thought, she would get to them eventually.

The woman sat up and grabbed the hand that wasn't holding the healing stone. "Thank you. I owe you my life," she whispered.

Rina shook her head. "No, no, you don't owe me a thing," she said and squeezed the woman's hand before letting go. "There are others I have to get to. Rest for now."