It was mid afternoon by the time we managed to hobble out of the gates of the fortress. The gate of the fortress was abandoned except for the captain of the guards. He said something about witnesses but I was more focused on getting us on our way. Our procession was moving much slower than we had in the morning.
After we sorted things out with the captain we had to do some shuffling of who helped who. I had no issue carrying Tide who was still mostly paralyzed. But the others did not seem so lucky. Gray probably could have carried Mist just fine but she insisted on trying to walk which was slowing him down. Michael offered to help Faun but she refused. The words that he spoke in the courtyard must have hurt her. I do not know all that went on between them but it looked to me that something was lost that would not be able to return. With Faun not willing to be helped by Michael, Istan was again helping to support her weight as Michael propped Leafia up.
By the time we made it halfway to the river the whole party was exhausted and needed a rest. Well, most of the party. It only took us ten minutes to walk this far in the morning. Did we really need a break? I was just fine. I really just wanted to get back to camp and be done with this day. Ok, maybe I was exhausted too, but not physically.
I was tempted to go get the horses but I was not sure that was going to help. I really did not know much about riding horses. But I did not think any of those that were having trouble walking would be able to sit on a horse. Also I would have to leave the group to get the horses. The off chance that Maximus might still show up scared me. I was the only one left standing that stood a chance at fighting him. My strength was returning now that I was outside the wall. But it was returning too slowly to be of much good. There were only a few scattered trees on this side of the river and the small grove on the other. It was barely giving me more than what I made from the sun and would take me weeks, if not months, to regain my strength. In the end the only thing that I could think of was to trudge along in our hobbled party.
But even when we made it to the camp in the grove that was not the end. I wish we could spend a few days recovering before we began heading home. But the captain of the guards said that the search party would head out tomorrow afternoon to start looking for us. Even if they started looking in the wrong direction, I can't think it would take that long to find us if we were camping just ten minutes outside the city walls. We had no other choice but to head out in the morning.
"Are we ready to head out to our camp?" I said after what felt like the longest ten minutes of my life. There was some grumbling but everyone agreed to be on our way.
As we approached the banks of the river I hurried ahead a few paces to deposit Tide into the gentle waters. There was a muttered thanks as she sank below the surface and slowly let go of her fleshy form, making her hard to see in the murky waters.
Standing up from the waters I looked towards the wood, and without my powers suppressed it was easy to hear and feel Emily and Flood making their way through the small copse of trees. I could also feel that Terra was still there as well but it was hard to pinpoint her location. She never liked to be out of contact with the earth. Her ability to step on ground with no plants was truly unparalleled, but that impared most of my ability to locate her. I wondered why she was so insistent on always touching the ground. I don't think it was so she could disappear back into the earth at a moment's notice. There should be nothing able to harm her especially with Maximus gone.
"Welcome back," Emily said, breaking through the underbrush that grew thick at the edge of the trees ready to give Gray a hug. But instead she saw a barely clothed teenager clinging to him. I guess I should not be surprised at how quickly her face changed but I was not ready for it. "What is going on?" she asked in stern words.
It was because of me that Gray was in this situation so I could not leave it to him to pacify Emily. If pregnant humans were anything like other mammals he would need all the help he could get.
"This is Mist, the water sprite. Well, she was the water sprite. Now she is… Anyway. She just got legs an hour ago and still needs help walking."
"But wh-" Emily started
"-Will you be alright?" Terra said at the water's edge.
"I should be able to move freely in a day or two," the water said flatly. It was clear that Tide did not want to go into it.
These words from Tide seemed to pull Emily's eyes off of Gray holding an almost naked Mist to look at the rest of our party.
"Leafia!" Emily cried running over Leafia who was still being supported by Michael. Emily pulled Leafia out of his arms into a tight hug, "What, what… What happened?"
"It is a long story and we are all very much exhausted." I sighed, "Let's go back to camp." I started to walk but I only made it two steps before I stopped. "Flood, do you mind staying here with Tide? I will be back in later."
A flat, "You don't need to," came from the water.
"Tide, Laurel is doing something for you, stop arguing?" Terra said, then waved us off. "I will be there in a few minutes."
Once we got back to camp I stalled explaining Mist and everything else that happened this morning to Emily by insisting that people were hungry and needed food and that we should wait for Terra before I told the story. But in truth I really did not want to relive today. It was hard. Nothing quite went as planned and lots of people were hurt.
Leafia, who's situation was the worst, was gently laid down at the base of one of the trees by Michael while I went to fetch a blanket for her. Emily had hurried off to find something Mist could put on. She now had a very basic understanding of why Gray was holding up this nearly naked girl but it was clear to all of us that she did not like the situation. Luckily for Emily, Mist's legs were already at their limit and she was set down near the fire.
I think that this might be the first time the Mist had seen fire, at least fire that was properly under control. This was very different than the mess Fume made of my forest. She was clearly mesmerized by the dancing lights. At least one of us was enjoying themselves, I thought as I turned to Leafia and gently placed the blanket over her. What little color she had regained in the courtyard had long since fled after our walk back to camp. I wish there was something more I could do for her but there was no cure for blood loss. I had already given her medicine that would aid her recovery but time was what she needed. Nor did I think that I could give her any more medicine. I was still spent and the copse of trees had little energy to spare on this cloudy winter day. My green tinted skin was not providing me with anything to spare yet. I had the feeling that my initial estimate of months to recover using this grove of trees was way off. It had to be measured in years. I was not sure I would be able to recover much at all before getting back to my woods.
"Oh, that's hot!" I heard Mist playfully laugh behind me. I turn my head in time to see Emily pull Mist's hand back from over the fire.
"Fire can hurt you," Emily said, before handing Mist a dress. "Here, go put this on."
Mist happily took the dress, letting the coat fall off her shoulders. Then she started looking at the folded dress, confused. The men quickly turned their back to give Mist the privacy that she clearly did not ask for or care about.
Emily heaved a sigh, unfolded the dress and handed it back to Mist. Mist just put the dress on her front still clearly not understanding.
With a groan and, I think, a slight giggle, Emily took the dress back and said, " It goes over your head like this." Emily then pulled the dress over Mist's head, I think very intentionally not telling Mist to raise her arms first.
With Mist clearly in good hands and her own hands held captive, I sank down next to Leafia on the ground and closed my eyes. Maximus was still out there and, though small, there was a chance that he would attack. I needed to meditate and get my strength back. Even if it was small, the little trickle of power from this grove of trees seeping into my core was better than nothing. It reminded me of water soaking into parched ground.