"Caleb, come here, please?" It was Dr. zʊɣi. She stood with three girls and an older woman—all of them the same dark-green skin—beside a stack of shelves where sheets were folded above an assortment of boxes and jars.
I couldn't get over her high, girlish voice. "Alright, listen. We don't know what's going on. We might get nothing, but we could get wounded. Everyone, this is Caleb; he's never dealt with combat medicine before." She turned to face me directly. "First, control the bleeding. Then, administer gebu'i. ʃamʊŋi, you're in charge of triage…"
A tall, lanky girl of perhaps thirteen wearing an undyed cotton loincloth nodded, then glanced me up and down with discerning yellow eyes.
zʊɣi continued, talking directly to Shamuni. "Caleb can handle bleeding, broken bones, most basic injuries, but if we need to pull an arrow, let me show him how to do it. Anything venom-related, go directly to pusumi as fast as you can. You got all that?"
Shamuni nodded.
zʊɣi then turned to the older woman, well into her sixties with a woven-hemp loincloth and sporting a white vita'o-claw tattoo on her shoulder. "tæ gʊyiŋɪði ʃa zaŋe ŋuve. zæto yuvʌwoxe. kʊde dowa meθizuse te'o ʃa ko'o ŋʌvɪsedu. pʊ zudase. goŋi vʌ gʊyiŋɪde ʃa samiði Caleb ŋuve."
With that, the older woman nodded and left down the hall towards the office.
zʊɣi then turned to the next girl, perhaps a year or two younger than Shamuni, wearing a dark-blue silk loincloth covered in silver embroidery of Uhuida writing decorated in spiral calligraphy. "Besami, you're in charge of nursing. Make sure everyone is comfortable."
The girl smiled and looked me up and down.
zʊɣi then crouched down low to talk to the third girl who couldn't have been more than six or seven. Unlike the rest of the natives, she sported dark-green hair the same color as her skin, and eyes of silver. "I'm depending on you to keep order. Anything out of place, anything that needs to be put away or cleaned up, you're the best there is. I also need you to keep an eye out for Caleb, and help him find anything he needs. Can you do that for me?"
The little girl nodded enthusiastically, then fixed her silver eyes on me with a gentle smile.
By that time, Geraln was asleep. A fly tried buzzing around his face until Chirpy snapped her long neck out and snatched it from the air. She gave it two good chews before swallowing and setting her head back down onto his chest.
The rush of men clamoring up to their defensive positions had died down to an eerie stillness. From the medical ward, all I could see were a handful of men some forty feet up, standing on the wall and facing outwards towards the main gate. I stepped through one of the archways that made up the north wall of the medical ward. Up on the wall, clusters of two or three men had gathered, while every now and then a man would walk between them.
What if it was Miyani? God, what if something happened to her?
My heart wretched. Images of her being carried in ripped through my mind, and my skin crawled. I tried desperately to shake it, but I couldn't stop seeing her. I broke. I shook my head and looked for anything that might distract me from those thoughts. Beside me was a fresh web with a spider the size of my palm working on a finger-sized lizard that fought hard against the fibers that ensnared it. The spider sunk its fangs into its belly, and the tiny lizard turned stiff. I watched as the spider waited a whole minute before wrapping up its prize in a cocoon of silk.
"Caleb, come over here."
I turned to Shamuni, the eldest of the three girls in the medical ward. She stood beside the sunken man I'd seen the other day. He was still gaunt, still weak, but his color had returned. I tried not to gawk. "What happened to him?"
Shamuni smirked at me. "He took a dart."
My eyes bulged. "A dart did that to him?"
Shamuni's eyes judged me from my feet to the silk piece of clothing over my hip, the ear pendant Miyani had given me, my leather bow sling, and my face. "The antivenin did that to him, otherwise he'd be dead. He needs a bath. Rags and wash basins are over there," she pointed. Beside her, the younger Besami fixed her yellow eyes to mine, only to glance down my body and back up for a moment.
"Oh," I said.
Shamuni cocked her chin side to side in deep satisfaction, "you heard it yourself; I'm in charge!" before wandering off.
Besami tugged at my elbow. "Come," she said with sheepish eyes and a warm smile. "Let me show you where it is."
The little girl then shouted, "that's my job!" before taking my hand and leading me towards a small area closeted off by a tall, folded black-paper partition covered in white calligraphy and a painting of the mountain ridge. A stone fire pit burned with bright-red coals over which rested a massive iron cauldron.
The little girl then shook her finger at me and commanded in her little girl voice, "now pay attention! We always keep the water hot in case we need it. If you see the fire go down, tell a grown-up."
I raised my eyebrows. "I should tell a grown-up, huh?"
"Yes. Now. You need a rag and soap, and wash basins are over here."
As I started gathering up supplies, she continued, shaking her finger at me once again. "You also have to change their sheets! Don't forget that!"
I smiled. "I won't. Thank you; you're very helpful! I didn't get your name?"
The little girl smiled up at me. "I'm 'ækimi. pʊ xeŋise. Sheets are this way."
"Alright," I nodded.
The man's name was Hynmatio, and he wasn't much for conversation. Besami and I lifted him up to roll him over onto one side, and he barely reached a hand out to steady himself. All along his back, his skin was red, especially his shoulder blades. I thought to scrub his skin to be extra thorough given how long it had likely been since he'd had a proper bath.
Besami took the rag, "here, let me show you." She raised her eyes at me for a moment, then looked back at the man as soon as I turned to her. She started to dab at the red spots gently. "You have to be gentle. If you scrub too hard, you'll open up a blister."
I nodded and went to take the rag back from her, but she made no hint that she might return it. So, I merely helped. Sometimes, I would see her in my periphery, looking over my body or gazing at my face, only to turn away when I faced her directly.
My mind drifted back to Miyani. I still couldn't get over what Peyumi, Elder of Elders, had said of her. You lit her up! From the moment you told her she was cute, she couldn't stop thinking about you. She asked me to give her an opinion on you. Every day, several times a day, did you talk to him yet? Did you talk to him yet? Did you talk to him yet? I told her I was saving you for last and oh, she was cross!
I couldn't wait to see her again. Just an image of her in my mind brought a smile to my face. To see her joyous face erupting in laughter when she touched me only to dodge away when I tried to touch her back. Then, and I knew it was wrong. I tried not to think of the sensation of her muscular arse in my hands as she groped me, but damn that was intense. I had to keep lust under control; I didn't want to lose her.
Perhaps another hour or so had passed, and we still had no word of what was going on outside. No one brought word to the medical ward, and we heard nothing. Men up on the ramparts continued to pace around, gathering in small clusters from time to time, and generally continued to face outwards.
Then some of them directed their gaze to the interior, following with bows in hand and arrows nocked at something that made its way towards our direction. I then heard footfalls in the grass coming from around the corner. Four men appeared, carrying two more on stretchers.
The two men on stretchers were ours, but the four carrying them were not. Each of them had skin of the darkest green and wore a tan-colored spun-hemp loincloth with several pockets hanging from the belt along with two large knives, one on each side. Each of them wore a hide strap over one shoulder and across his chest that held a bow and several arrows—three of them over their right shoulders, and one over the left. All four had long, white hair and golden-yellow eyes, and were about the same range in height as us Herali with taut muscle rippling over their chests. Three of them wore a white tattoo on their right shoulders in the shape of a cloud like how a child might draw one with two lightning bolts coming down from it.
The two men on stretchers had skin the color of mine and hair that had been haphazardly shaved off. Each had a bloody stump where their right hand used to be, and didn't so much as open their eyes as they were moved about.
zʊɣi approached them directly and spoke, "zawa. pʊ viʃuseʒi ʒa'e," pointing towards an empty corner.
The men said nothing, walked over to the area she'd pointed out, and set our men down. Shamuni stood beside their path with her arms crossed. They glared at her as they walked past, and she glared back, defiantly shoving her face at them while Besami stood beside her with terror barely concealed on her face and little 'ækimi stood behind her, grasping at Shamuni's leg and looking timidly up at them.
One of the men stepped up to me and paused in front of my face. He scowled as he glanced down at my ear pendant, then looked directly into my face. He stared up at me a good while before lifting his hand and extending his middle finger in the air.
Then he shook his head and walked off, not once breaking his scowl.
The second man came up to me and stopped directly in front of me as had the first. He looked me up and down, smacked his lips, and threw some words at me, "ʒeðokʊse… ʒɪ aboʒise?"
I didn't know what that meant, but by the way he spoke it was along the lines of 'you think you can take me' or something to that effect.
I turned to the side and winced, waving my hand in front of my nose. "Eww, God! Your mother let you go out like that?" I then leaned back into him for a moment, took two sniffs, then shook my head in disgust, still waving my hand in front of my face.
From the side, I saw Shamuni laughing, while the other two girls smiled wide. The other two men who hadn't stepped up to me yet smirked, and one of them elbowed the other, barely concealing a light giggle.
The man glanced at his friends with a dark scowl, then returned his attention to me and pushed hard at my shoulders. "ʒɪ ko'o xayaðɪsedu?"
He'd pushed hard enough that I had to take two steps back to steady myself, And right away, a string of loud, high-pitched whistles filled the medical ward. I turned to look; Chirpy's neck stood straight up, writhing with each call of alarm.
It wasn't a fraction of a second later, and some ten feet behind the man, Chirpy's mother was on all fours, coiling her neck and screaming out a deafening roar of her own. Two more hisses rang out in tandem beside her, and Fluffy appeared alongside the gray vita'o who'd escorted me to meet Ahmi. Then, by the time the man had turned to look, three more vita'o had come in through the walls on the opposite side closer to where we stood, with another directly behind me cawing out several gutteral noises, and Lazybum stretched his neck directly over my shoulder, thrusting his face into the man, opening his jaws wide and hissing hard at him.
The man stepped back, lowered his gaze, and held his empty hands out far to his sides. Another, smaller vita'o paced around the first man, sniffing his body up and down while two more investigated the men who had yet to approach me.
Outside on the wall, a dozen men faced the medical ward with their bows drawn fully.
Fluffy then grabbed the man's arm in her serrated teeth and ushered him towards the exit.
The third man was a little taller than the others and almost my height. As he stepped up to me, Lazybum rested his head on my shoulder and the other vita'o stood perfectly still. He had a pronounced jaw, and his smooth white hair was parted down the center and fell down both sides of his face. His chest muscles were well defined, and his bow strap had a polished sheen to it. He looked me directly in one eye and moved his face back and forth, then down some, then back up. I couldn't figure out why he bobbed about in front of me until he leaned in close, still gazing at one of my eyes, coiffed his hair, looked at my eye again, then nodded and walked off.
The first two men watched that and started to giggle under their breath even as Fluffy still clung to the second man's arm. Then the fourth came up and chewed his jaw a little before looking me up and down. He cast a quick glance at Lazybum before turning back to me. "ʒɪ mæsɪvu ŋuve? zɪta feŋeðude ɣuvu kaθiya ʃɪ'uvʌ ʃa sowose." He then nodded at me, passing his eyes down and back up once more. "kʊde 'uzi xatʌ mamavisa θemovevisa ʃa yɪxaxe."
The first three men snickered hard, with the one who'd used my eye as a mirror leaning over to laugh even harder.
The man then looked at Shamuni and gave a nod in my direction. "do'i gʊzebuwoseza."
She leaned towards him and spat, "pʊ ɣʊwose xatʌ!"
At that, the man smirked and turned away from me. I answered him with the only weapon I had, "dʌsekæ damʌvise"
The man snorted, "ɣowi. ʒɪ zokedɪsexe poŋewe?" Then he shook his head and chuckled as he walked off.
At that, the four men left the medical ward with double their number in throat-ripping lizards to escort them out. When I turned around, zʊɣi was beside one of the men they'd brought in while Shamuni held her two forefingers to the other man's neck
"What happened?" I grappled for words. "What was that all about?"
Besami stood beside me, shaking silently as she gaped at them.
"Why…" I couldn't stop staring at their wrists, at the stumps where their hands once were. Both had been cut, leaving dried meat and chopped bone to the elements.
zʊɣi scarcely addressed my presence, but spoke to Besami instead. "pʊ xesabese ɣʊ fɪðu fi keme ʃa 'awa ʃa duvu ʃa gebu'i." Then she leaned in to look closely at the man's hand before turning to 'ækimi. "ki'i xesabese ɣʊ 'aʃi ʃa koveθʊdu. ŋʌvɪdesa."
At best, I stood and gawked. I wanted to help somehow, but my feet wouldn't move. After a minute or so, Dr. zʊɣi glanced in my direction. "You should probably go back to training; we can handle this from here."
I nodded then left the medical ward feeling useless. At the very least I should have involved myself in learning the correct way to take care of these men; that would have been better than standing there like an idiot.
Men still paced the ramparts in much greater numbers than usual, mostly talking among themselves though still casting the occasional glance outside. No one was in the yard. I rummaged through my thoughts for something useful to do, and found the possibility of finding someone willing to share with me greater detail on what had just occurred. So, I passed over the grass onto the main administration building.
The downstairs was devoid of people, but I heard some conversation coming from upstairs. I wiped my bare feet on the thick, woven-hemp rug before the first step and followed it. At the end of a hallway made of paper-framed partitions, the wall opened up to a clear view of the gate where I saw nothing unusual. To the right I heard women's voices engaged in a serious conversation. When I peeked around the corner, all of that fell silent and three faces gazed up at me.
One of them was the princess with her hair cornrowed in streaks of white amid dark-green strands wrapped into a single braid down her back. She sat on the same bag chair as I'd last seen her, wearing a burnt-orange silk loincloth with golden embroidery, and a gold chain necklace with a metal artifact for a pendant in the shape of a crescent moon. Ahmi sat to her left, while to her right was an older woman I didn't know, whose breasts rested on crossed arms as she scowled at me.
"Uh…" I wasn't sure how to begin. "Sorry for interrupting…"
Ahmi cut me off in a stern tone. "What do you want?"
"Well… I was wondering…"
The princess cocked her head to one side and gazed at me, still talking to Ahmi. "I don't see it."
Ahmi smirked and turned to face her directly. "It is simple. Miyani thinks between her legs."
The older woman chuckled, and the princess danced her head back and forth in feigned understanding.
"That was rude," I shot back.
Ahmi lifted her eyebrows and smiled at me. "Hmm?"
"Don't talk about her like that!"
Ahmi opened her eyes wide and smiled at me. The princess mocked a cat yowling and followed it with a hiss. The three of them shared a laugh at that.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, hoping to start over. "I had a question. I was wondering…"
"Oooh," the princess mocked, glancing between the other two women. "He has a question! Let us answer it!"
The older woman still held her arms across her chest and smirked at me, "yes, she wants to have sex with you. Anything else?"
Ahmi and the princess both laughed at that remark.
"That wasn't my question. I wanted to know…"
The princess then fixed her head in an impatient stare. "Is there anything else?"
"Well, as I was just saying…"
Ahmi interrupted me, holding up a finger. Her whole demeanor shifted into genuine interest. "I have to know something." She glanced at the princess, "I'm sorry," then returned to me. "Excuse me if this is off-topic, but did the commander tell you he was from Galaneo?"
That shook me. "No, he said he was from Mayeno. But that's weird. Earlier, my friend said he'd told him he was Showani."
"Uh-huh," Ahmi nodded, looking at me with a blank stare.
There was a silence. All three of them were staring at me, so I tried asking again. "What was that alarm about?"
They glanced at one another, passing silent giggles among them. It was the princess who answered. "What do you want it to be about?"
Ahmi chuckled at that, as did the older woman.
"Well, two of our men were brought into the clinic, and they'd had their right hands chopped off. Like it wasn't cut or tended to or anything, like they just took an axe or something and here you go. They didn't even wrap it up, nothing. I mean, that's…" I shook my head trying to wrap my thoughts around it.
Ahmi answered me with the driest of tones. "If you get captured, you may have to think about Miyani with your left hand."
At that, all three of them broke out laughing.
My pride was fallen to the floor and trampled upon until it was indiscernible from whatever dirt was already there. I had nothing left but to try and salvage some sliver of dignity, so once their laughter died down I looked at Ahmi directly. "Someone once said to me that when you reduce a person to what you see in front of you, you're the one who suffers."
Meaningless words.