Open What Matters Most Afterwards

[Kavala]

Continued from here: The Bone Dog Saints

Timestamp: 50th day of Winter, 512AV - After The Battle...

Kavala had taken a borrowed horse home for supplies. With her arm all bound up and keeping the toxin from the bite from spreading to the rest of her body before she could deal with it, the Healer had taken the time to make the trip. She returned the borrowed horse, bringing one of her own along with her, heavily burdened with supplies. Ghost was a stallion that was one of the foundations of the Denusk line, more built for battle than burden. But he gladly brought his mistress back to the city and all that he could carry.

Kavala set up portable tables that Ghost had seen fit to bring along. Being Drykas, though in the guise of a Konti, had its benefits. Everything Kavala used in her healing kit was portable and all the supplies she used could be transported via horse or wagon easily enough. The table had legs that screwed on and a maze of surface wood that broke down into foot square tiles that could be reassembled along a frame that fitted together equally ingeniously.

Kavala knew Riverfall had its own assortment of healers, but she wanted to help. And once the triage station was set up for healing, she'd do just that. Her biggest worry was the saliva of the bone dogs, which had caused her right arm to go all but numb. She wasn't sure it was a circulatory situation or whether it was a nerve situation. Starting two oil burners going, Kavala began brewing large pots one of which she put a nerve stimulator in. The nerve stimulant was made up of dried verbena, bayberry, guggul, myrrh, turmeric, and bay leave. The other she started brewing something to help repair circulation. Into that pot went garlic, ginkgo, cayenne, cinnamon, ginseng and ginger. She got both the pots boiling, brewing up strong teas in both, and then laid out an assortment of bandaging. The pots got ladles since she would not have enough cups or mugs for everyone.

Next Kavala pulled out suturing, a ton of bandages, and a huge jar of ointment that was made from honey and would prevent infection if slathered over stitches. Alcohol was added to the table along with a bowl of cotton balls and scrap fabric one could use to cleanup wounds. She lit a pair of lanterns to rest on either side of the table, and then once her supplies were all ready, began to take her first patients.

[Riaris Dovukalis]

Riaris was angry, he was livid. After he had made sure that Kavala and the others who had survived were ok, he raced home to check on his family. His parents were ok, but he learned that Nanail had been scratched by one of the bone dogs while she was out spending time with her friend. The girl was ok now, as her mother had quickly tended to her after Nanail's father had killed the beast. But Riaris lost it, he couldn't believe that the punk hadn't protected her as a man should.

In his eyes Nanail was still a child, and the little she knew of combat wasn't enough to leave her to fin on her own. So the hulking Akalak stormed out of his home in search of the sad excuse for a young warrior. He found him further inside the city with a few other young men who were probably to scared to take up arms as well. Luckily for the group of them, Riaris father along with two of his guard buddies showed up and calmed him down.

So instead of lashing out, Riaris went for a walk to try and cool himself off. He thought for a bit about heading to the Sanctuary to see Kavala again. He knew that she had been injured like he had and thought to see how she was doing. She had been impressive during the fight and fought with the courage of an Akalak. He had made up his mind to go but then...he saw her. Flanked by a wagon with medical supplies placed on a table.

What a caring person she was, even trying to see to others when she had to be tired and sore. Riaris headed over to see her again. The stiffness in his leg now taking hold since his adrenaline had settled down. Riaris marched over to her table, offering her a nod and a smile. In some ways they were similar and others completely different, but he liked it. "I hadn't expected to see you again so soon. How are you fairing?"

[Tia'aria]

Aria had to be helped to the healers when the time came. She had been bitten by the transparent monsters on the leg and found the numbness to be an unfortunate way to be rewarded for surviving the fight. She couldn't walk. Her attempt, although feeble, had ended with her falling over and more able persons had to help her up.

The Konti had suffered much at the hands of fate that day. She had been knocked over, bitten, and now felt even more useless, like a dead weight, as she was being half carried to the waiting healers. She was embarrassed and deeply wounded in the pride. She had been humbled that day, taken a fall that she had never taken before. She had seen a Konti sister die right in front of her and even though she had long since stopped grieving for the woman, she still felt the ache in her chest her shock at the event had caused.

As she was being helped to the healers, Aria had time to fume at herself. If she had been training in her weapon, she wouldn't be so weak. If she had thought to go to help immediately and take cover, she wouldn't have been in danger. She cursed her foolishness at running headfirst into danger and getting herself hurt. She was stupid, stupid, stupid.

Between muttering under her breath, she managed to get a good look at the healers that had begun to do their blessed work. A lot were Konti, currently nameless and forgotten, and human. There were helpful people all around. Some not marked by Rak'keli or without her gnosis made themselves useful by bandaging, or getting the patients water, or doing any other odd job that was needed. In the midst of Aria's frustration, she was happy to see so many great people, levelheaded and helpful.

"Take me to that Konti," Aria said to the Akalak helping her. Corsin had been around earlier but disappeared, so Aria had to make do with a stranger. The Konti she gestured at was the one Aria recognised from the rooftop. Kavala? She had said her name in the midst of confusion, short and sweet, before getting back to business, so Aria couldn't be sure. She had barely gotten an introduction out before the woman disappeared after an Akalak boy and Aria got busy with another bone dog making its way up the roof with its main adversary gone.

Her Akalak helped her to the woman, who was busy with others. Aria was okay with waiting, however unsettled by the odd numbness creeping up her body. She had known enough about venom that keeping calm was the best way to stop it from going to ones heart fast so she had done her best to keep calm since the fighting ended even though this might not have been a venomous bite at all. Keeping calm had kept her from finding the man that started this all and tearing him a new one. It may have also kept her alive this long.

[Kavala]

Kavala looked up from offering a ladle of the stimulant to a young boy. She was carefully measuring his dosage with a critical eye, even as the boy swallowed the mixture and made an awful face at the taste. "I know it tastes bad, but swallow that whole ladle." Kavala said before glancing up and meeting Riaris' gaze. There was something in his look that caught her off guard. He looked like he'd been angry, but that it had peaked and settled. She smiled and stood up. "Are you alright? I got bit pretty good on the arm but the herbs are doing their work. Just a few cuts and scrapes here, a wicked bite on my hip, but otherwise fine." Kavala said, checking off her injuries with a clinical voice. The Konti wanted to hug her lover, but hesitated for a moment because she was worried that it would make whatever had angered him earlier even worse.

But in that moment she didn't care and crossed the distance to him to wrap her arms gently around him and give him a firm hug. She brushed her lips across his cheek and looked into his eyes a moment. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but they were out here, in the open, and Riaris was a private person. Releasing him almost as quickly as she'd extended the affection, she looked him over with a critical eye.

"Are you well too? Do you need to be treated for bites or cuts? Those things were awful. I wish I knew where they came from. I've never seen anything like them." She added, wondering if someone had kept one or two alive for the menagerie.... maybe even a pair so they could study the life cycle.

She waited for Riaris to answer, and then noticed a Konti being carried up to the station by an Akalak she didn't know. "Set her there, in my chair. Hello Tia. Whats wrong? Something with your legs?" The healer asked, leaning over the newcomer in concern, but glancing at Riaris so he knew their conversation wasn't over.

[Riaris Dovukalis]

Riaris was glad to hear that she was ok. He could still remember that moment when he looked up, and saw her being attacked by the viscous bone dogs. In that instant his mind had went blank and he had only one thought and that was to get to Kavala. As he stood there now, he could feel a burning in his body and also a strange numbness from where he had been bitten and scratched by the dogs. He was glad to know that she hadn't been seriously injured, things had been chaotic after the battle and he was needed in more than one place.

When she crossed over to hug him, Riaris held her closely and gently placed a kiss upon her forehead after she did so on his cheek. Looking down at her, the violet Akalak moved his hands first through her long blonde hair and then slowly worked his way down her body. He examined the marks on her arm as well as the bite to her hip. It was always a worry for the Akalak, Konti, humans, kelvics, they were all so fragile and the smallest of injuries could be fatal for them. Riaris gently massaged her hip with one hand, his eyes staring into her as he usually did.

There seemed to be a bit of worry there in her icy blues, perhaps even sadness but he wasn't sure why. He was an Akalak after all, the strongest of the races in the city, she didn't have to worry for him...not for him. "I am well, but they did manage to bite my leg, and they seemed to have clawed my back and rubs also." Riaris agreed, he too had been wondering out of what void had the strange bone dogs escaped, because they surely weren't from their world. "I'm not sure yet, they must have been summoned.."

A moment later, another Akalak arrived carrying a small konti woman with him. She looked familiar and he imagined that he might have seen her that very night. Riaris stepped aside then, and allowed Kavala to tend to the woman first and he would wait.

[Kavala]

Kavala nodded to Riaris' words while they moved to get Tia situated. The little boy she'd been treating would be fine, and was being comforted by a parent that appeared almost out of no where to retrieve him, sobbing her gratitude to Wysar that her son had been spared.

Kavala smiled, glad the boys family was fine, and then glanced at Riaris as she ladeled him out a mixture of the strong brew she had prepared to counteract the numbness and poison, placing it in his hands with a firm "Drink this."

She rumbled her disapproval at his thoughts that the dogs must have been summoned. Surely he was right though for they were incredibly unnatural. And all at the same time she hoped the Kuvay'Nas would catch the bastard. Kavala knelt at Riaris' side, looking at the vicious bite on his leg. His pants were in ruin on that end, though a handy person with a needle could patch them. But Kavala was more than wiling to simply let the Akalak replace them, for she drew her dagger and cleared the bloody cloth away from his wound with neat sharp cuts as she knelt beside him. Stroking down his leg, she exposed the shredded skin and then gently laid her hands over the wound. Tapping Rak'keli's power, she gently repaired the flesh, closing the bite marks and healing over the skin. He would have a fair sized scar in the shape of the bite radius and tooth indentions of a bone dog, but he wouldn't' loose the leg. She told him as much.

"You're lucky. They were big enough to snap through bone, but whichever one got his teeth in you was very accurate enough of strong enough to get a good enough bite. You could have lost a leg otherwise. Are you drinking that? All of it?" She asked, looking up at him and almost fussing. Then she noted the torn uniform, and remembered he had claw marks on him.

"Take off your shirt?" She asked, wanting to make sure she closed the rest of his wounds as well. If he did so, she'd rise, check his torso and arms for injuries - the claw marks he said he had - and would treat them as well, gently touching them while the Rak'keli mark on her ankle - the twin winged serpents - flared with power. She closed the wounds carefully, then leaned against him from behind, wrapping her arms around him slightly.

"You could have been killed. Thank you... for what you did. The boy... he wouldn't have made it. I don't know if his fokls realized how close he was to death." Kavala said, knowing she owed her life to Riaris and Vanator.

[Riaris Dovukalis]

Riaris had a bit of mixed feelings about the whole thing, while he enjoyed having Kavala so close and touching him, he also had to remain very Akalak, and as if he truly didn't need the aid. But he would have to play it right, being too macho would probably send her away, and he wanted her as close as possible.

When she handed him the drink, Riaris stared at it curiously and to her as well. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but he did want to know what he was drinking, especially since he didn't really need the help. He drank what she gave him, and noticed that she didn't have a further reply to his thoughts on where the strange dogs came from. It wasn't the type of thing anyone wanted to hear or believe, and if they were summoned that meant that someone had to have done it, and that would lead somewhere else entirely.

He drank more of what she gave him, silently observing and thinking over the taste that was left in his mouth after each swallow. Riaris watched Kavala from behind the mug, but otherwise stayed silent while she worked her magic. He wasn't too happy to hear how much of a chunk the dog almost took out of his leg. Nor was he happy to hear how much credit she gave the animal. He almost wanted to tell her just how much of a beating he gave the animal in return, but he honestly couldn't remember which one it had been.

"I'll be fine, it will take more than a simple bite to take one of my limbs." he finished the drink and placed the mug back onto the table, before returning his gaze to her. With a nod Riaris took of his shirt as she asked, or commanded, and allowed her to finish her work. He smiled, holding back a bit of a chuckle from the tickling feeling he received when she touched him so gently. For a moment, he thought to make a somewhat witty joke, but then she wrapped her arms around him and the conversation became that much more serious.

"That was a very brave thing you did, saving that young boy. His family should be very grateful to you for saving him. " Riaris paused for a moment and reached up to clasped his hands over hers and join in the embrace. "I think that we made a great team today, you are quiet the fighter."

[Kavala]

"Riaris, I don't know much about mages. I know I practice some magic, but its not a cultural thing. The Drykas never had mages that could bring things here from elsewhere." She said softly, for the first time he saw true fear in her eyes. "It's a hard thing to think about.. that someone would have done this deliberately. Do you know anything about these sorts of mages and what they are capable of?" She asked, looking around, namely letting her eyes rest on the pile of still smoldering corpses of dogs.

True she gave them a lot of credit, but what she didn't make any mistake about was their origin. As far as she knew, they weren't from around here. "I've never seen anything like them. And they didn't even feel like normal animals would feel that I've been around." She said softly, again fear filling her gaze. She looked thoughtfully at Riaris, trying to hide the fact at how disturbing this was to her.

"We do make a good team. You took less wounds than a lot of people I've seen today as well. Your training shows." She said, glancing around the square. There were many people around, those that had hid under the first assault were out and about now that the menace was burning in the form of corpses in the center of the square. "It could have been so much worse. I'm glad you and the rest of the Kuvay'Nas were around." She added, glancing up at the roof that had saved her.

"I was in town on errands. Bad timing... or good.. I'm not sure which. I'm glad the boy is okay. Akalak healers are looking at him now. He's going to be fine though." Kavala was a skilled healer, but the truth was she did more for animals than people. She could heal people just fine, but she'd never be happy in a clinic for them. Her animal clinic was far more satisfying.

"Are your men going to be able to find out who did this?" She asked, curiously, half hopeful and half angry that a summoner was loose in Riverfall. She knew it wasn't the fault of security... mages for the most part looked like everyone else.. but for one to do this, he or she was obviously not right in the head.

[Riaris Dovukalis]

It bothered him that he didn't know more and that he didn't have the answers to set things right. Most mages he knew of were healers and in fewer cases recimaners, but never anything like what they had stumbled upon. "Nothing, This is the first time that I have seen something like this. I don't know a lot about mages, but this one doesn't seem that smart. Not if he was over run by those strange dogs that he brought here."

Riaris had to agree, the other worldly creatures didn't look or feel like anything he had ever encountered. Even the way they moved were faster than normal animals, and the strength of their jaws were just as viscous. He stared at his lovely companion, she was worried and so was he. But the Akalak tried to push it away, they had won the battle, and although there was death, it wasn't Kavala, and for that he was thankful. "Let's not worry ourselves tirelessly, we survived and so did most of the people here."

He continued to hold Kavala's hands in his own while they spoke about a very serious problem. "It could have been worse, but it wasn't. We did what we could and it worked. The city is safe." Giving her a smile, Riaris turned and wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "I'm sure that Nodorus and Kavinal are looking into it and it will be only a matter of time before we are called to act again." There were still Kuvay'Nas members standing around, helping to clean up and questioning some of the people. Many had already gone back to the lodge, most likely to meet with Nodorus.

Riaris knew that he should probably be there as well, but he didn't want to leave Kavala while she was still shaken up. With her in his arms, the Akalak leaned down and gently kissed her lips and hugged her so that she was reminded that she had his strength to support her. Riaris slipped his fingers through her hair and his thumb across her cheek and looked into her eyes. "Why don't we get away from here, I think a hot bath to sooth these aching muscles would do us both good."

[Kavala]

Kavala let herself lean against Riaris. She sighed softly, not realizing she was as shaken up as Riaris could recognize her being. The Healer let his strong arms support her a good long while before she answered him.

"If you think that's best. It does sound good." She added, feeling odd that someone was taking care of her for once. Her eyes roamed the scene around her. Although everything was calm now, the turmoil in her mind was definitely at odds. That someone could do this, draw this danger into her city, and put them all at risk was unthinkable. More innocents could have died, and certainly children were no match for the bone dogs.

"I don't think the city is safe though, not until who did this is caught. We should do more research on this, Riaris. We need to to find out how they are doing this and why. If we don't, there's going to be more trouble. I can fight Night Lions and Glassbeaks and even Snarlwings because we know how they act. But I cannot fight something I don't expect and know nothing about. We will need to study this... learn about how this happens... so we can prevent it from happening again. I think the mage needs caught. And fast..." She said softly, yet it was almost a snarl.

"Let me gather up my things. I can load the wagon in just a few minutes. I'll leave the teas with the healers to counter the effects of the dog bites." She added, pulling away from him, glancing at the work, and then starting on it. She quickly carried the big kettles of tea over to the healing stations and left them with their ladles with the people doctors. Then she packed up her bandages, suturing kits, chairs, and finally the table in the back of the wagon and was ready to leave. There were no more patients to see anyhow by then, everyone having gotten immediate attention.