The Hallowed War: Prophesy of Ruin

What Could Go Wrong?

The sorcerer had almost drifted off into a much-needed sleep when a tentative knock at his door startled him. With a groan he pushed himself up and opened the door to reveal a pretty, black-haired human woman, probably in her 20's clutching a medical bag.

"Lauren, I presume?" At her shy nod, Theon opens the door further to allow her entry.

"Um... Can you show me the wound?" Lauren asks while fixing her glasses, they were thick black framed ones that made her eyes look much bigger than they were. She reminds Theon of the owls that would live near Hiraeth, the empire's capital, skittish and wide eyed.

Rather than responding, Theon simply opted to fully open the door and let her walk in, she took a second to realize he had yet to put a shirt back on after having first arrived in his temporary room. The raven-haired woman went beet red as she fumbled with the gauze and needle, attempting to divert her eyes from his form.

"W-what did this? If-if you don't mind me a-asking that is."

"Goblins. Had to clear the route for the merchants before I left the previous town I was at."

"You're a mercenary? We don't get many of you around." Lauren sounded like she was in awe and judging by the admiration in her face, Theon could safely conclude that she indeed didn't get many adventurers nearby if Goblin slaying was impressive.

So those two before are likely not mercenaries, his theory on them being brigands was starting to seem more apparent.

With a tired shrug, Theon responds tiredly. "Meh, not really. But the people I came with needed help, and I had the skills to do it, so I thought 'Someone has to'."

"That's very honorable of you... Oh um, S-sir." She said nervously as she took out some alcohol and began to clean the wound.

"Don't call me sir. Makes me sound old." Theon said as he let out a hiss when the alcohol hit his wound. Lauren gave him an apologetic look as she took out a needle and with clenched teeth the sorcerer braced for what was coming next.

Theon could handle wounds in battle, hell even out of battle he's dealt with some bad ones, but he fucking hated needles. The small sharp metal almost felt more painful than the dagger that had nearly gutted him. Mertel used to find it amusing how a grown man couldn't handle getting stitches, but she didn't understand that he was just built differently. And right now, he was suffering.

"Son of a whore! Fuck, that hurts! Please tell me you're almost done." He ground out as his teeth dug into his knuckles, trying to hold back from squirming away from the woman stitching him back together and prolonging the experience.

"I-I'm sorry if it hurts, I'm almost done. Just try to- try and stay still please." Pleaded the bespectacled woman as she struggled with Theon's movement.

This went on for 3 horrible minutes in which Theon nearly hit Lauren when she accidentally poked a particularly tender area with the needle. After she had packed up her things and left, Theon could finally relax. That entire ordeal caused him to tire out so fast physically and mentally tha he felt himself succumbing to sleep in mere minutes right after.

______

Morning came sooner than he would have liked, grabbing his things and being mindful of his injuries he went to the inn's counter in order to pay for his stay and to grab a quick morning snack before heading out. He flagged down Mari who was stepping out from what he assumed was the kitchen with a warm cup of... something, probably coffee. The woman gave him a tired smile in greeting before approaching him.