Gawain could hear the cries of Gabby even before seeing the light of the campsite, his sensitive ears trying to focus on anything that kept his mind away from the child's blood pressed against his skin. The child's heartbeat was slowing, if they didn't do anything soon the blood loss would be far to much for Fredrick to pull through. The light of the camp became brighter, the cries louder and he slowed his descent. He wouldn't want these humans seeing him going about the speed of a horse, Lavia did the same.
Gabby's cries turned into a single horrified scream at the sight of her child, all the others girls seemed to want to reach out to their brother but the sight disgusted and horrified them too much.
"Lavia, put your ax in the flame. We gotta burn the wound." Gawain said as he placed Fredrick down on his good side, as he took a good look at the boy's left arm. Unless they had a master healer there is no hope of him recovering use it, and it won't heal fully while it's still barely attached like it is. The rest of him seemed battered but the only thing that seemed life threatening was his mangled arm.
"What happened!?" Ben shouted as he ran over to Fredrick's side, holding his limp head up.
"Whatever grabbed him got tired of being chased so it took a few bites." Lavia said in anger as she stared at the glowing metal of her ax.
"My baby, my poor baby" Gabby repeated in increasing desperation. Her arms wrapped around her remaining children, keeping them away from Fredrick.
"Wha-what're you gonna do?" Ben said stuttering as he turned his gaze towards Gawain who's expression was harden, the veins on his neck bulging his golden eyes glowing under the light of the fire as he held the child's barely attached arm.
"This has to go" His voice came out rough, Gawain's self control for his first taste of blood was wearing him down. The blood of a child smelled so sweet, still untainted by alcohol, drugs, violence and sin. It was excruciating, it pulled at him even despite the thirst not keeping him alive, it appeared to still be a part of his existence.
"Gawain…" Lavia said turning her gaze at him, she could see his struggle. She knew unlike the others who probably thought he looked so distressed because of the child's condition.
Gawain's eyes slowly shut as his grip on the useless arm's bicep tightened, his vision was red and he couldn't focus while looking at the source. "I'm gonna yank this. As soon as I do, Lavia." He didn't turn to her but he hoped she knew what he needed.
Ben stood there in horror, his body shaking by both anger and fear for the worse of his grandchild.
Lavia looked towards Gawain, gripping the handle of the ax tighter.
He began to pull at the flesh, trying to keep it at straight as possible so not to cause too much unintended damage. Fredrick woke, at first he remained silent but as he turned his head to see what was happening with his body he began to scream and cry, trying to shake. Gawain put a knee to the child's side to keep him still and down, while his free hand reached down to the sword at his hip. Gawain swiped at the strand of flesh, cutting it as close to the open as he could.
He tossed the arm back and Fredrick's eyes fell upon, his cries loud like his mother. Gawain held him down, trying to keep the child from shaking to wildly. In an instance Lavia appeared with an ax that glowed as if it were enchanted, she placed the flat of the blade against his open socket. She had a look of disgust on her face, as the smokes of the burnt skin reached her nostrils but still she didn't look away. She pressed down harder, shifting the blade so it cauterized every inch of the open wound to keep him from bleeding out.
She pulled her ax away, strands of burnt skin still attached to the steel blade, puss and blood staining it. Fredrick passed out once again from the pain, and Gawain kept him still and up so dirt wouldn't get on the fresh wound. He wouldn't be able to help of it got infected.
The child's heartbeat was faster now, likely due to all the pain he just endured. Ben moved closer, placing his quivering hands besides Gawain's on Fredrick's body. Gawain looked up at the man's distressed face, and nodded letting go of the child. He stepped towards Lavia who glared at him and whispered.
"A crippled child like that doesn't have much of a life." She said in an angry tone. "You've placed him in a life where he'll suffer every day forth."
"If he survives the next few nights, maybe." He let out a soft sigh. "What would your people have done in such a case?"
She lowered her voice though she doubted the sobbing man and woman would have been able to hear her. "We have a ritual, where we serve him back into the flames that birth us. We'll be reborn again full, in our next life."
"So you kill the crippled?" He raised a brow to her
"No, we are descendents of dragons, we'll be reborn as they. They will come back in a full form." She said retorting his blunt response.
"Is that what your people believe?" Gawain thought it seemed like a petty excuse to kill the weak.
"It's what has been passed down from the first Dragon Seer." She sounded so sure "The first dravian, he who fell helping Belona against the hordes. Fenrir."
Gawain nodded "If you believe it I'll think of it as true." If anyone was credible it was one of the heroes, but could it be that his words have gotten twisted along the way? That age was so long ago.
"Thank you..." Gabby said softly still whimpering as she crawled over to her broken child. Ben went to get some cloth to bandage the boy, the girls sat huddled by the fire. The redheads eyes gestured her head towards Lavia, Gawain turned to follow it only to see a dravian tail hanging loosely out of the coat.
"Hide it." He nearly shouted, however it came out as if he tried to hush himself.
Lavia's limb curled under the hood and coiled itself behind her, she stared at Gabby for a moment wondering if she'd say anything else. She didn't, for the rest of the night Gabby, Ben and the girls sat in silence awaiting Fredrick's awakening and Gawain simply listened.
Bump, bump, bump, bump.
Bump, bump, bump.
Bump, bump.
Bump.
The beating stopped