A Sacrifice of Names

Chapter 26

The wounded were carried inside, but only a few recovered left the tent Keely had been appointed to help out in. Three days had passed, three long days haunted by uncertainty. Innogen had only shown her face once, clothes torn and blood smeared across her arms and neck. The lack of rest had darkened her eyes, but determination shone brightly on her fair features and those of the many others who'd find their way to camp for a few hours of rest.

Not to their surprise, Garran's numbers were far greater than what Firas had managed to gather amongst the inhabitants of the Court of Shadows. Greater, but it was the strength of will Garran's soldiers lacked. Innogen had described how the eyes of most of her opponents had been without hope. Puppets, almost, just about as bad as a human who would give up their name to the fae and find themselves trapped forever. In her anger she had cursed the regent, claiming the Queen would never have allowed any of this to happen.

And still, the Queen's disappearance was the cause of this all. A thought Innogen and Keely had difficulty grasping.

It was not only Innogen who struggled. Although trying to help out wherever she could Earie could see Keely's physical condition declining. Every war had its casualties and it were not only those who took up arms who fell. The healthy fluster on her green skin had completely faded, hands trembling with every bandage she had to wrap around someone's injured limb.

After three days Earie knew it was enough and confronted her in the tent they had claimed, for the time being, officially belonging to Innogen and her brother.

"This can't go on like this."

Keely did not look up. In fact, she did not move at all, her eyes fixed on the torn shirt Innogen had left behind after returning deep into the forest of the Quiet Land where the battle took place.

"Why are you still here?" The question came devoid of all emotion. No fear, no surprise, nothing.

Earie sighed, "I can't keep holding on to your arm when you are working, but that does not mean I will run off and hide like some kind of coward."

"I never said you were."

"You need your strength. Take this glamour from me, Keely."

"So you want everyone to see you for what you truly are, a human beast?" Her head tilted slightly, but Keely's worn gaze remained fixed on the torn shirt. "Haven't these people seen enough death yet? Are you giving up on your own life that easily?"

Earie stepped in front of Keely, impatiently. "Why don't you shut up and listen, will you? I never said to take these pointed ears from me, but make me visible again. I can help out there and you know it."

"You can't do shit."

Those very words played on Earie's nerves, crouching down and grabbing Keely's upper arm. The push she gave her was a gentle one, but enough to catch her blinking and lifting her chin slightly.

She wasn't useless. She could prove she was a fast learner. The idea of war frightened her just like any other. How often hadn't she watched the news on the television of wars happening in countries so far from her own doorstep, ones she had never given the attention they truly deserved. This was just as real as any of those, a bloodbath she now found herself to be in the middle of.

Useless bloodshed, a war sought after by the Fallen.

Shadows had been found roaming at the roots of old oaks and on the edges of small ponds, but the Court of the Fallen had yet to truly make their presence known. Firas understood the danger, but when calling for an audience with the regent the prince's guards had found Garran ridiculing Firas for his beliefs, calling his words nonsense and but a derisory attempt to prove his innocence.