Open Chronicles Just One More

[Felix Nevarre]

Cortos - Lagala

In times of war, there are only two types of people. Those that take lives and those that save them. The good news is you get to choose which one you are. - Arturo Nevarre

Those words were still fresh as they were spoken when Felix left his father's clinic, telling him that he was going to join the Guard and make a difference. His father had responded with disappointment, annoyance, and worry about leaving before his military service was required of him. At the time, Felix had left his home under the childish notion of a hero going off to fight evil and protect innocent lives.

The destruction and chaos of the no man's land before him was anything but heroic.

The siege of Lagala had started off perfectly. With the strength of Dreadlords and Guards alike, they seized the outer walls with relative ease. However, this city held a dangerous trap, the interior of the held countless secret tunnels and reinforced defensive positions. The Lagalan soldiers had retreated and resorted to guerilla tactics inside their own city.

Felix had thought the problem was done when the Dreadlords bombarded the city with magic after deadly magic, but when the first feet of the Guard stepped into the city, they were met with ambushes and deadly traps around every corner. That first day had turned into a slog of lives being thrown away on both sides, and much of the same continued for the next three days.

Felix now sat down, his head tucked low to avoid any crossbow bolts, low inside the hollowed-out building near the wall. The night was quickly approaching and he could already see signs that the Anirians were preparing to huddle in for the rest of the night. And like clockwork, the moans came to fill the air. The sounds of the wounded dotted all over the city, those still clinging to life but stuck in no man's land. If anyone were to try and reach them, surely they would be struck down by waiting defenders. The noise had nearly driven him crazy the past few nights as he tried to sleep. Even sprinkled in the groans were the voices of women and children who had likely been unplanned casualties of the bombardments.

Felix's eyes were squeezed shut before he forced them open with a shaky breath and whispered to anyone else in the room that would listen.

"We...We have to do something about them."

 

[Kassandra]

Kassandra took small, short breaths.

She had been unable to breath deeply since the middle of that day, when the Sergeant had screamed her to stop holding back. The memory buried itself deep in her mind, fingers wiping away hot speckles of blood that had long ago been cleaned away.

"We should." Was it guilt talking? No. She had always been the sort to want to help someone. This wasn't because of what she had done, what she'd needed to do. "I can make some healing glass."

The Princess offered.

Though her skill in medicine was nothing compared to Felix's, before the Guard had figured out how to truly use her magics she had been stuck in the medical core. There she had managed to use her magics to create small slivers of glass that contained healing properties.

They would not close wounds or mend broken bones, at least not yet, but they would alleviate the pain and staunch bleeding. It was the best she could yet manage, though the more Felix and her talked, the more she managed to understand. "And then when we go out there..."

Kassandra swallowed, not wanting to say. "I can protect you."

She told him, eyes flickering towards the broken panes of glass.

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

"Hells that you are going out there, Felix." Her eyes stared into him. Rhory was beside him, slumped but her voice carried a strength she was not feeling in that moment. Exhaustion wished to claim her, but she was terrified to close her eyes.

What if she never woke up again?

"We... we need a better plan." She let out through gritted teeth. It was fortunate that they had Kassandra's healing glass, but Rhory was not about to let someone as important as Kassandra out there nor risk losing her friend and healer, Felix. They had been sent away from Arn, and Rhory could not help but worry for her friend leading his own group into the front lines.

Her brown eyes scanned the area, taking into account who was present. "I'll go. We can afford to risk losing me. Felix is a healer, and so I deem him valuable. You too." She told Kassandra. Rhory didn't want to look to the city, to see who was the closest or where their enemy way lie in wait.

 

[Felix Nevarre]

Felix had his hands pressed tightly together and then pressed back to his lips and his eyes were shut. In some way, it looked like praying, but Felix wasn't the religious type. No, he was trying to think. He was never good at spur-of-the-moment decisions, Felix liked to do things meticulously after well-thought-out plans.

He didn't have time for that here. "Improvise and Adapt." He whispered beneath his breath before looking back up at Rhory.

"It's because I'm a healer that I need to go...It's not about the dangerous people. Those aren't the ones I'm going for...I have to help those that are hurt. They are just sitting there in the dark hoping someone comes for them or that death greets them...I might be the only chance they have."

Felix scrambled over to the wall where his pack was, making sure to keep his head low. His sword and shield would only slow him down here, better to just keep his knife and his medical kit.

"We can...Oh, those buildings on the left side, we can start through those. Rhory kills anything that jumps at us. Kass just watch my back. If we find someone then we help them, or we drag them back here so the rest of the medics can get their hands on them...Right?"

It was a good plan, right? It had to be because he did not have anything else, but he had to have something. These people needed his help. In fact, when was the last time he had slept? Those voices were with him all through the night, and if he could hear them then then he must not have been asleep. Well, he could sleep when this was over he supposed.