“I know you’ve stayed behind because you are unable to move on your own. If I tape up the wing that drags, you would be able to walk, but it will be painful. Will you be okay with that?”
She shook her head as tears filled her eyes. “It already hurts so bad.”
“I just want to be clear. The only one of us large enough to carry you has a bad ankle. If you choose to leave this wing down and he has to put you down to run, you’ll have to drag it like this through the halls. Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”
She nodded. “I’ll take my chances.”
I walked away, trying not to be pissed. If we had to leave her behind, I’d never recover from making that call.
“Temir?”
I moved to the male with bandages around his head, arm and legs. “What is it?”
“There are blankets in the box. They left them behind for us.”
“I know, but we can’t carry supplies. It will be hard enough to get out of here as it is.”
“No, you misunderstand me. We can use the blankets as gurneys. Take me, for example. I will need two guards on each side to stand. Both legs are injured. If you lay me on a blanket, you can drag me down the tunnel. I’m light enough, it would only take one guard.”
“Your bottom half would be raw by the time we make it to the tunnel. I appreciate the thought, but in the end, I think it would only slow us down. We will still have to travel after we leave the tunnels.”
“So what’s that leave us with, then? You’ve got those two sharing a seat, so you’ll need two guards there for sure. I’ll need two to carry me, and the female with the broken wing will take the last guard to carry her. We will still have two more injured fae. Not to mention, at this point, our guards are only transporting and won’t be guarding us at all.”
I confirmed with a nod.
“If I can heal one leg, can you manage with one guard?” I would be pushing my magical limits.
“I don’t think we have a choice.”
I turned to face the room. “Listen. If I could, at the very least, I’d take your pain for this next part. I’m sorry I can’t do that, but there is only one way we are going to make it out of here. I’m going to have to tie that wing up.” I looked at the crying female. “I’ll do my best to make it as painless as possible, but we cannot tie up a guard when you can walk. There is no choice here, unfortunately.”
Facing the male that shared the gurney, I hung my head. I didn’t need to say anything because he knew I couldn’t take his pain away. He would have to endure the journey as quietly as he could while holding the unconscious female. I called my weak magic forward, placed a hand on the male with two injured legs and shoved it through him as much as I could. He cried out in pain. I saw that final drop coming closer, but I turned my mind away from it and pulled my hand from him.
“I’m sorry that hurt,” I said.
He shook his head and gripped my hand. I pulled him to his feet, and with his other arm around me, he was able to hop.
“If you keep your good arm on the wall, can you manage alone?”
“I think so. Not fast, but I think I can do it.”
“Good.”
I crossed the room and pulled out the last of the medical supplies. I sat in front of the crying female, and as I laid my hand on her back, she jumped away from me.
“Just leave me here to die,” she cried. “You don’t understand. The pain in my wings is unbearable. You can’t touch them.”
“I won’t leave you here to die. Tell me why you joined the rebellion. Tell me why you are here.”
“Because I’m a fool, just like the rest of you,” she snapped.
“No, you aren’t a fool. You recognize the world needs something better, and you’re willing to fight for that. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have been there when the soldiers attacked. You were there and you were injured because you want something better. It’s going to hurt, but I can promise you as soon as we get out of this cave, find safety and I have some magic restored, I’m going to heal you. You’re going to fly again and there is going to be no more pain. It’s only temporary.”
She dropped her head, and I reached to touch her again. She jumped only a little and whispered, “Do it fast, healer.”
I did my best to make it as painless as possible, but I had to crease and fold her wing. She shook from the pain, and I knew that wasn’t going to go away until I could remove the tape, but as she stood on her feet and her wing didn’t drag, I also knew it was our only choice. She did too.
That left me with two injured fae who would need guards. So, three and myself for transport, one for guard and two injured fae moving slowly on their own. It was our best chance. I made the bird call into the tunnels, and the guards all came running.
