CONSEQUENCES AND NEW BEGINNINGS - ACT ONE: CONSEQUENCES (M)

Shael withdrew her hand from where she had placed it on her mercilessly throbbing side, to find it completely covered in blood. Her vision was gradually blurring, her breath was coming more and more labouredly out of her nose and mouth, blood continued to flow more and more profusely as the scout remained motionless where she had been badly thrown by her captors, after, until a short time before, some of them had brutally beaten her up for fun.

Nakeas had not remotely shown himself that day, leaving his men the perverse pleasure of satisfying their basest instincts, resulting in the beating that had reduced her almost to death. They might even have succeeded, if her cousin's right-hand man had not intervened to brutally remove them from her, placing two trusted guards to stand over her butchered and blood-covered body. However, it was not clear to her whether they had also sent for someone to put her back together, as had happened other times in the past when similar situations had arisen. In her present state, and with what little lucidity she had left, the Elf fervently hoped that she would be left to die: at least her suffering would end once and for all.

In the pain that clouded her brain more and more, Shael thought of Dandreal, of the relief she had felt when they had finally rescued her from Nakeas' clutches, of the moral doubts, of the serenity of finally holding her close, of knowing that the other woman would always be by her side, no matter what... she was slipping further and further into oblivion, some remote part of her brain realised it, but seemed to be totally incapable of reacting.

She did not notice the sudden onslaught on the camp, arrows hissing through the air and unerringly striking their targets, taking down the Elves in sight one after the other, including the two guards assigned to her. She did not notice the two wolves, one white and immense, the other with a silver-grey coat and only slightly smaller, further spreading panic among Nakeas's followers. Nor did she notice the subsequent arrival of a group of figures armed to the teeth, bringing the coup de grace, which scattered the survivors into the surrounding forest, Nakeas included.

Nor did she realise that one of those individuals had immediately walked towards her, knelt beside her and, with extreme gentleness, placed his hands on her body, one on her hand, near the wound, and the other on her shoulder. A strange soft light began to pulsate around the two figures, that of the Elf and that of the Aasimar bent over her, as the healing spell began to penetrate the scout's lifeless body, healing the wounds and finally stopping the copious bleeding from her side.
With an exhausted sigh, the cleric almost seemed to keel over in turn over the woman's still motionless body under her hands as the spell finally dissolved. A firm hand held her in balance as other figures surrounded her: the bard's and Ice's were the closest, but the other members of the Five Protectors were not far away, prowling the remains of the camp to see what the Elves had left behind in their haste.

«The wounds are quite severe,» sighed the cleric, exhausted, her head bowed and her eyes closed. A lone tear was leaving a salty furrow on her left cheek, unstoppable. She had not been able to hold it back after seeing the condition the scout had been reduced to, but she knew that if she did not intervene immediately, she would lose her forever. She had done her best, but, «I can't do more than that. We should have her take some potions and use some herbal compresses, as well as bandaging her less dangerous lacerations. I managed to stop the bleeding and work on the most serious damage, but for the rest...»
«You did the best you could,» the bard reassured her, continuing to support her, while at the same time looking at Shael with a critical eye, as Ice had moved even closer to the scout, until he stretched his muzzle towards her angular face, as if to make sure she was alive and well. Then she crouched down beside her with a protective and watchful gaze.

«Let's worry about finding what we need to get her back on her feet,» the bard added, pressing for Dandreal to get up, «then you need to rest. As do we all,» she admonished her sternly, «but without you, Shael has much less hope of survival. All the more so considering that,» she added, «I'm not quite sure how the Resurrection Rod works. I would like to avoid groping in the dark with inconclusive attempts and the risk of losing her it once and for all.»
The bard, at her side, reassured her, «Ice will take care of her, she won't let anyone near her, even if she gets killed in the attempt.»
Dandreal reluctantly allowed herself to be taken away, following the half-elf into the forest, in search of the medicinal herbs needed for the purpose.

***

It was unanimously decided to remain in the camp previously occupied by Nakeas and his henchmen for that evening and the next two or three days. It was absolutely unthinkable, in fact, to move the Elf from that place, unless one wanted to undo all the efforts made to keep her anchored to life. The only move they had been forced to impose on her, despite the fact that she was still unconscious and quite weakened, was from the place where they had found her to a position closer to the bivouac fire.

Dandreal and Ice never left her bedside, despite their obvious discomfort at being so close to living flames. It was only around lunchtime the next day that the Elf finally gave some signs of life, starting to fidget a little more and finally opening her eyes wide, looking around feverishly and clearly terrified.
Despite the sudden intervention of the cleric Aasimar, who was never too far from her bedside, it still took quite a while before the scout stopped fidgeting, slumping down relieved in the other woman's arms.

«I'm alive,» the thief gasped, quite surprised and completely drained of energy; with difficulty, she raised a hand to clasp, albeit weakly, one of the cleric's arms, incredulous. Incredulous that she had survived that terrible ordeal, incredulous that she had been found, incredulous that she was once again in the arms of her companion, whom she feared she would never see again.
The scent of Aasimar enveloped her totally, as tightly as the cleric's arms encircled her, and in that moment Shael realised how Dandreal must have felt when it was the scout who had snatched her from the clutches of Nakeas and his people, the desperate need to feel safe, to feel protected by someone who fully cared for her safety. Although she disliked feeling and looking so weak and insecure, Shael did not retreat from the Aasimar's grasp, instead taking deep breaths to calm herself and convince herself that she was finally safe.

Dandreal placed her more comfortably in her arms, but she did not want her to lie on the ground at all, preferring by far to hold her close to him, continuing to cradle her as if she were something precious. And to her, especially at that moment, she was, more than anything else.
Ice had silently approached them, towering over the pair protectively, a fierce look in his eyes, revealing a deep, burning desire for vengeance that was unlikely to be extinguished. Just seeing Nakeas torn to pieces would probably have satisfied him... torn to pieces by his fangs, that is. But nothing else.

The others gave them the time and space they needed for themselves, limiting themselves to carrying two bowls full of food in case the two women wanted to eat, and standing back most of the time, all in all relieved to have achieved that success. It was not to be taken for granted.
They devoted themselves to clearing the camp of everything that had been left behind, in their flight, by the Elves following Shael's cousin - the corpses they had piled, the night before, on a pyre far enough away from the camp so as not to pollute the air they breathed once lit to burn the bodies, in an attempt to avoid pestilence. Surely, at a later date, they too would be able to see for themselves how their fellow adventurers were doing, but in that specific context it was clearly better to leave the two women alone.

When Dandreal finally let go of her grip just enough to look into the Elf's eyes, tears of relief streamed down her face, unable to stop them. With an immense effort, weakened by her current condition, the thief tried to raise her hand further, intending to caress her face and, at the same time, dry it. The cleric, understanding her intention, gently grasped her hand, bringing it gently to herself, whispering with a shy smile that opened her face, «Yes, you are alive... we came just in time. Forgive me...» She could not continue the sentence, as the thief managed to lean out just enough to interrupt her with a kiss, very lightly, on the lips, before whispering to her in turn, with difficulty: »You have arrived. You managed to find me and I am not dead, thanks to all of you. That is the only thing that matters. You don't know how good it feels...» she coughed for a moment before she could continue speaking, «... to be in your arms. Considering everything,» a smile stretched, «and in hindsight, I was not and am not at all ready to die.»

With a sigh, the cleric helped her lower her arm without too much effort, wiped her face still wet with tears, and then said, with great regret: «You need to rest if you are to recover quickly. Besides,» she added with a bittersweet smile, «I can't keep you all to myself. The others have a right to see you too, since they helped get you out of here. If it weren't for them, we would never have made it.»
With a slight grimace, Shael nodded. «Help me to sit up, please,» she asked the Aasimar, who was not exactly delighted about it, «I need to meditate, it's the quickest way I know to regain my strength, and I can't do it lying down.»

«Take it easy,» Dandreal begged her, thoughtfully, as she sat her down practically on her back, «that's it, good girl.» She helped her lean her back against Ice's side, strangely tame, who had stretched out behind the Elf with the very intention of supporting her.
«Can you manage?» Concern was evident in the cleric's tone, justified by the scout's sickly bluish skin colour, which on a human complexion would easily be considered pale. After managing to regularise her breathing, which had become laboured as she sat up, Shael barely nodded: «I have to make it, Dandreal.» With tapering fingers, the thief barely squeezed the hand the cleric had placed on her leg: «I just need to recover properly. In a few days I should be able to get back on my feet just enough to get us away from here.»
She opened one eye, glancing sidelong at his companion, «You're staying? I can concentrate better if you're here...» The cleric nodded, with a smile, leaning towards her and giving her a kiss on the forehead, before rising elegantly to fetch her own bowl of food, «I'll eat something in the meantime. When you're done meditating, we'll make sure you eat too.»

***

Despite all the care and attention, when they finally arrived at the town of Thealean, where the family of the Elf had a beautiful and imposing mansion overlooking the sea, Shael looked paler and worse off than when they had found her, more dead than alive, a week before.
The few servants present, informed in good time, had taken care to prepare the largest available bedroom on the ground floor, so that the woman could be transported there without further jolting, much to everyone's relief. Especially hers. She could not remember the last time she had been able to rest in a bed, and at that moment she was particularly grateful to have a real chance.

She was not the only one happy about the situation: her companions, too, were able to enjoy a soft mattress and warm food, at least for that night. The next day, early in the morning, the house was emptied of most of its guests. The Five Protectors had wasted no time in organising a couple of search parties to flush out Nakeas and, leaving Shael and Dandreal behind, had embarked on what would prove to be an interesting, if complex, manhunt. Or, in the case of Nakeas, the Elf. Even Ice had not joined them: the idea was to provide some form of protection for those left behind, in case of extreme need.

Shael had managed to complete an entire meditation cycle that night, returning fully conscious four hours later when the sky was still a deep, dark blue, quilted with stars. Noticing some sort of presence at her side, she had glanced to her right, smiling softly as she spotted Dandreal's sleeping form; the Aasimar had joined her companion about an hour after the Elf had begun meditating, falling asleep exhausted within a short time.
Moving very carefully, so as not to wake the cleric and to avoid making any sudden movements that would somehow worsen her situation, the Elf lay down in turn and was about to embrace her, when the other woman stirred in her sleep, turning over and ending up resting her head on the thief's shoulder and one arm around her waist, unconsciously settling herself in such a way as to fit better against the other woman's body. The next morning, when the Aasimar had awoken, she had found herself pleasantly trapped in the Elf's arms: that, perhaps, had been the first night the cleric had managed to pass without tossing and turning in bed before she had fallen asleep. Even the nightmares, which had plagued her for so long, seemed to have taken pity on her, giving her a restful sleep.

The thief did not take kindly to being left behind by her comrades, even though she was well aware that she was not yet at full strength and, consequently, capable of handling such an undertaking. She was also well aware that if her comrades did not immediately set out to search for her cousin, he would easily be able to lose his trail, so she decided to swallow the bitter pill without too much protest, accepting the situation as best she could.
Despite the disapproval of the cleric, who would have preferred to see her companion stay in bed at least for that day, Shael wanted to be able to move from the room to a large hall used as a sitting room, with triple lancet windows and overlooking the sea, so that she could move around a little and stretch out a bit.

«You know very well that I can't stay too still in one place,' mumbled the thief, when the cleric had tried to protest, 'and the living room is not far away. It will do me good. I promise I won't overdo it, OK?»

Several days passed without any concrete news of Nakeas' whereabouts. The Elf spent most of that time trying to recover not only physically, but also psychologically, from what had happened to her, although she still stiffened a lot whenever any of the servants came too close to her. Even with Dandreal there were a couple of occasions when the scout found herself perhaps overreacting, but Aasimar was always able to handle it as best she could, despite her constant concern for her partner.