Chapter 7: Healer’s Hut

Thyra and I try to straighten up as the soldiers stand in front of us.

”Are you both alright?” one of the head soldiers asks, sheathing his long sword.

”Yes!” I answer automatically, while Thyra shouts ”No!”

Thyra glares at me and slaps the back of my head. I wince, rubbing the wound and grumbling under my breath.

”What we mean is, I’m alright, just a few scratches and bruises. But he is not! He was actually impaled like half an hour ago by a long beam of wood through his side and stomach and has been tossed around quite a bit. I would suggest infirmary.” Thyra tells the man sternly, who nods.

”Alright, you both come with us to the infirmary just to be sure.” The man directs. I sigh in disappointment, sending a glare to Thyra, but she only smirks. The man turns to the rest of the group. ”Five of you chase after them dragons and make sure they leave, two of you stay here, and the rest of you return to patrol.”

“Some patrol,” I grumble, immediately getting elbowed by Thyra. I believe I have a point, though. It took them FAR too long to come to our aid!

The soldiers leave, about six returning to patrol. One of the remaining soldiers grabs me, throwing my arm over his shoulder and helping me to walk down to the medical hut, ignoring my protests. Thyra walks freely a few meters away, chatting with the female soldier who was helping her. The head leader nods at us before following after the group chasing the dragons.

***

Sighing, I sit down on the medical bed, as instructed. Everything dawns on me, and I suddenly feel very exhausted. So I find myself slumping back on my back, hissing quietly in pain as my side aches in protest.

“You still ‘fine’ Tore?” Thyra sniggers from her bed across the room. I shift my head to the side and give her a glare. She had been bugging me all the way here just for fun.

“Yes,” I reply, rolling my eyes and trying to hide the wet patch of blood soaking through the wrapping from sight.

Worst day ever. Oh, when my dad finds out! He’ll never let me join the army! I’ll probably be mucking out the stables for the rest of my life!

One of the medics walks over to me, a bundle of what looks to me like bandages, rags, needles, and thread, in her arms.

She sets them on the foot of the bed, gesturing for me to take off my shirt. Warily, I do so, biting my lip in pain as my side aches.

“Alright, son. Who am I sending word for?” She asks me, dragging a bucket of clean water over and dipping a rag in it. I stare at her. “Your parents.” She elaborates, but I already knew what she was asking. I let out a sheepish laugh, not making eye contact.

“He doesn’t want his father to know; he’ll be disappointed,” Thyra interjects without permission, peering out to look around the medic looking after her. I shoot her a warning look—I hope she doesn't go on to say anymore. There's no reason for my identity to be known.

“Ah, ” My medic nods in understanding. “Don’t worry, kid. I get it!” she gives me a comforting pat on my shoulder. I let out a breath of relief.

“Thank you,” I mutter. She starts unwrapping my wound, wincing when it is undressed. I peer down at it and shudder.

“That’s…that’s deep,” I mutter. I knew I had been pierced, but didn’t realise how deep it was.

“I had to get it out of him. Didn’t think it was a good thing to leave it in there.” Thyra explains from across the room.

“Well, the good news is, it didn’t hit anything massively important. But it did crack a rib, it looks like. You’ve clearly lost quite a bit of blood.” The medic observes, crouching low to look at it.

”Well, no wonder it hurts like hell.” I mutter.

“Bad news, kid. I have to clean it.” The motions tells me sympathetically, reaching for a jar filled with some kind of paste. I groan. The medic potions for me to stay in my lying position, holding up the wet cloth.

She moves it to my wound.

I tense up, and open my mouth to scream out, tears of pain pricking at the corner of my eyes.

***

I hiss quietly a few hours later as she pushes the needle through my flesh for the last time.

“Alright, now for the easy bit.” The medic assures me, picking up the roll of bandages.

“You yell louder than my brother when his blanket was burnt in front of him!” Thyra laughs at me as the medic starts wrapping the fabric around me. I roll my eyes.

“It hurts like hell, Thyra.” I defend myself. ”Also, it was cruel to burn his childhood blanket in front of him!”

Thyra shrugs. ”Yeah, but it was fun.”

“No wonder he joined the explorer's division,” I grumble under my breath.

Her only brother, Rutger, left last year when he turned twenty to join the explorer’s division. The explorer's division is a group of us who leave on a boat to discover potential land for us to use. They have been known to be gone for as long as ten years!

Thyra gives me a playfully sour look. ”Whatever. We all know I’m the true star if the family!” She smirks proudly.

”it’s not hard to be the best of two when the other one is an idiot who can’t even ride a horse!” I shoot back, laughing slightly, which jars my side just as the medic finishes wrapping it. Thyra and Rutger’s parents are both dead. Their mother died a few years ago from illness when Thyra and I were thirteen, while their father was killed in action nearly a year later. He was defending our island from some raiders. They say he killed six men before he was outnumbered. He died a hero! So that’s why Thyra has her own house. She’s really independent, often hunting for her own food instead of using the town's supplies.

“Hey! I tried to teach him! It’s not my fault he has two left feet!” Thyra defends herself with a grin.

“Mhmm. Sure.” I agree sarcastically. The medic hands me a fresh shirt to slip on, and I do so quickly, feeling better with my skin covered.

“You’ll need to take it easy for a few days,” The medic tells me sternly after checking me over and giving me some pain-relieving herbs to add to my food.

”Yes, Mam!” I agree. Thyra snorts from her bed, where she was putting her boots back on. She was allowed to leave hours ago but wanted to keep me company and check on the other patients. Three people from the party have been rescued so far and brought back for medical treatment. One was unconscious but in an ok state, another had a broken leg, and the third was suffering from burns all over his body. It looked very uncomfortable.

“What?” I ask her.

“We all know you’re not going to do anything you wouldn’t usually.”

I open my mouth to protest when the door is opened. Two soldiers come in, hauling two more people. A girl and a guy. I recognise them both from the party gone wrong.

“C’mon Thyra, they need the beds,” I say, standing up. She follows my example.

“Come back if it doesn’t feel any better in a week!” The medic tells me, before ushering the new arrivals to the now free beds. I nod at them before closing the four behind us.

“I’ll meet you at the stables at sunrise. I’m going to catch a few hours of sleep while I still can,” I tell Thyra, who gives me a thumbs up. We split ways and head home.