Suddenly the noisy Rognir stopped beside her, examining the still writhing Eric, who continuously moaned in such pain that Anna fought back tears. “How bad is it?”
Anna shook her head, unable to speak. His shoulder had shattered. He’d never use the arm again and modern hospitals back home would never get all the bone fragments out. Even his neck had twisted from the tortured angle of his shoulder and he’d never be pain free again. The dwarf laid a hand on the rogue and spoke a word. Eric relaxed into a stupor, his head lolling to one side as if he were delirious, no longer groaning.
“He will feel no pain for a few minutes,” Rognir advised her, “but you must heal him quickly.”
She’d forgotten all about that, but now was not the time for half-baked theories. She opened her mouth to say so but what came out was, “But I don’t know how.”
“Lay your hands on him,” he advised gently, “and ask your chosen god for help with all your heart and soul. I know you care for him. The gods will answer you.”
She looked down at the rogue, his glazed eyes on hers as if dimly aware. Placing both hands on him, she honestly wanted him healed, but the gods she’d read about all seemed jumbled to her, their names and what they stood for confused. There were too many and she longed for one god to make it simple like on Earth, which only reminded her that this was all nonsense. She looked down at her hands, tightly clenched on Eric’s clothes. Nothing was happening. It didn’t surprise her. Her pleading eyes sought the dwarf’s.
Rognir took her hands away and placed his own on the rogue. In dwarven, he spoke quietly for almost a minute, sincerity on his bearded face. Anna wished she could understand him, gain some insight into what he was doing. Finally, a golden light spread from Rognir’s hands over Eric’s shoulder before fading, like all signs of Eric’s injuries. Even his leg had healed. The rogue blinked and sat up, clear eyes on the dwarf.
“Thank you,” Eric said emphatically. “Words cannot describe…”
Rognir patted him. “Then do not strain yourself. There is no need.” He got to his feet wearily. From what Anna had heard, the power she’d finally just witnessed used the priest’s body as a conduit, an act that was draining. The dwarf had healed multiple people just now. He took a long pull from a pouch that Anna knew wasn’t water before stomping away past a dead elf. The skull damage had killed that one instantly. Anna realized it was the one who knew how to slay a dragon and hoped Ryan didn’t notice that. Only now did Anna realize the battle was over.
She turned Eric. “Are you alright?”
He nodded slowly, as if lost in thought. Then he began to smile. “You’ve got to try that,” he said, and she assumed he meant healing someone, until he added, “It feels great.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah.” He sounded surprised, but then he looked away and she followed his gaze to Ryan. Even from here, the big guy looked pale and shaken. The knight had healed the ogre, which had then nearly killed Eric. Wondering what he was thinking, she turned to the rogue, and the quiet anger she now saw in his eyes left little to wonder about.
“Not now,” she said quietly. “Not when you’re mad.”
“I’m never not going to be mad.”
She leaned over to hug him and sudden tears spilled down her cheeks, he put both arms around her and they stayed there for several minutes.
Though the ogres – and one elf before them – were dead, Lorian maintained high alert, making everyone mount and continue down the trail still armed. He said that once the sounds of battle had rung out, other nearby ogres would’ve come hot for blood if around, but other things more cunning could now be watching and waiting. All seemed eerily quiet as they advanced to the scene of the initial attack, finding the lead elf’s body.
While the elves tended to the remains, Eric went to talk to Ryan, who stood on the far side of his horse as if wanting to be alone and away from everyone. The rogue patted Ryan’s horse on his way around the back so it wouldn’t get startled and kick him. He’d had enough blunt-force trauma for one day. Stopping next to Ryan, he tried to mute his anger.
“What were you thinking healing that ogre?”
Ryan’s face couldn’t have gotten much longer. “I didn’t want it to die.” When Eric didn’t say anything, the knight added, “Is that so wrong?”
“Well no, not in theory, but when the choice is us or them, then yes. It was already knocked out. You didn’t have to make it recover. I mean, come on, Ryan, that was ridiculous. If it had swung higher and hit my head, I’d be dead.”
Looking at his feet, the knight muttered, “I know. You don’t have to remind me.”
Frustration mounting, the rogue added, “What is it with you anyway? Why are you so afraid of hurting anyone? I mean most people don’t want to, but they can at least be rational about it when something’s trying to kill them. You make such a big deal of out this to the point of letting someone else get hurt anyway, so it’s kind of a moot point, isn’t it?” When the big man just looked away, Eric continued, “Did you hurt someone once or something? Is that it?” Again the knight said nothing, just turning his face away. “That’s it, isn’t it? You act like you’re all traumatized by it or something. Why don’t you just get over it and move on?”
Seeming startled, some fire appeared in Ryan’s eyes as he turned back. “Because he can’t,” Ryan replied
