Thread: A Journey to a Safer Place (Angel + Strmas)

Slowly consciousness began to poke its wa into the black night that was Kryton's sleep. he was warm and safe in his dream but something kept nibbling at the edge of his mind, nagging at him, he tried to ignore it and slip once more into that comforting warm sleep butt .. he seemed to be sleeping in a wet bed of moss, he tried to push the thought away but it nagged worse, wet and .. sticky, was he sleeping in a swamp? Slowly consciousness returned fully, the fire was low but the room was still warm and, yes he was laying on something soggy and wet. He became aware of the slight weight next to him, the girl, the elf! Suddenly he was fully awake. He rolled slowly, careful so he did not move Ilyza and then he looked puzzled at the red sticky mess his fur cloak had become. It took a moment for the sleep deprived Kryton to make the connection, her wound! He moved slowly and stood up, and found the few remaining pieces of wood not already burned and put them on the low fire. the wood caught in an instant and light filled the room. With mounting horror he saw the floor as well as his cloak was drenched in her blood. his heart skipped a beat as he felt her neck, her pulse was weak but her skin was hot, burning. he pushed a small table over in front of the fire and gently lifted her up and laid her on it. He discarded his cloak over in the corner, time enough later to deal with it. Fortunately the cloak had protected his other sacks and coat, so his pockets with all their bundles of herbs and powders were untouched. He grabbed a few of his pots and moved to the door. The snow was still falling heavily and wind blowing the snow deep around the little cabin but he was able to force the door open enough to step out. He filled several of his pots with snow and then quickly moved back inside. he put the pots on the fire to melt and begin to simmer. While the snow melted he moved the other small table next to the one where the elven maid slept. He laid out his herbs and flasks and took inventory of his remaining provisions, a meager lot but it would have to do. He took one of his clothes and dipped it into the warm water and then began to gently wash her wounded leg, examining it carefully. it was still oozing a little blood now but it no longer flowed as badly as before. He took some of his herb he had used before that would help fight the infection and sprinkled on the open wound. In the other pot with its now hot simmering water he put in his herbs, he let it simmer a few minutes before he filled one of his cup with it. Tasting it to make sure it was not too hot he moved over to the girl and gently woke her. Ilyza, he said softly, stroking her head, Ilyza, you must wake up. When her eyes flickered weakly opened, he propped her up so she was supporting her head and neck. You have to drink this, you must get some liquid in you, he began to feed her some of the bitter tea. This time he had made the tea much stronger and knew she would not like the strong bitter drink. She tried to turn her head and spit it out. NO, he scolded, You must drink it all girl. You drink ever drop or I will spank you for being disobedient little Elgii!, he said in a stern voice, though he knew in her waken state there was nothing she could do to resist him. He slowly fed her the entire cup, knowing it would help restore some of her strength and help bring down the fever. he put the cup aside and laid her back down on the table and smiled at her. You've torn open the wound again and lost much blood but it has stopped now and I put some more of the healing herb on it, He picked up the homemade horse bit he had used on her several times and replaced the cloth with a fresh piece as he spoke. I will need to give you more of the Alkali juice, you need to sleep to regain strength and I am afraid I must clean the wound again and it will hurt again. He stroked her hair. But you have a bad fever in your body. I must see if the evil has gone deeper into you. If it is you it will show as a rash, black spots, somewhere on your body. They may appear anywhere, so I must check all of you. He poured the liquid over the horse bit. Ilyza, he said softly, I am going to undress you and examine you but first i need you to take the bit. Open your mouth.