Algernon Black || The Rise of a God ||

(Chapter 106) The Shrouded Man

After the ambush Jared had spent two days dragging Devane through the dense woods of Lorencia, trying to put as much distance between themselves and their attackers. They had no supplies, and Devane was growing ever fainter from his untended injury.

"We can't stay here for long," Jared said, leaning Devane against a tree and cupping a hand full of water from a nearby stream. "Lorencia still has enough of our things to track us over the next few days." He hurried over to Devane, tilting the water into his mouth.

Devane gulped it down even with the shooting pain it spread through out his body. "It wasn't Lorencia who sent the assassins," he stated, biting his tongue to endure the suffering enough to speak. "They would have found and killed us by now."

"Who else would it be?" Jared asked, getting the advisor a second handful of water.

"Estera," Devane reasoned. "Or Merra, or Emora, or Solaris, or any of the many countries that would like to see a weakness form in Etilia's government."

Jared swallowed a dry lump in his throat while Devane swallowed more water. "Well, it's a good thing for you I'm an expert in traveling with a living target."

Devane chuckled, tearing his festering wound wider as it leaked fresh blood.

"It's getting worse," Jared said. His attempt to cauterize the wound was a bandage over the real problem. Devane had profound lacerations deep in his tissues. Ones that needed proper suturing performed by a practiced surgeon.

"I need to get back to Etilia." Devane insisted, heavy perspiration wetting his temples. "If the world considers me dead, they might take it as an opportunity to test our leadership." He attempted to get to his feet and would have collapsed back to the ground if Jared had not been there to catch him.

"If you don't get help soon you really will be dead," Jared countered, having to use all of his strength to hold the man up.

"Well, that isn't yet in store for you."

Jared and Devane both flinched at the abrupt interruption of another's voice. They turned to see a lithe feminine man, draped in a modest brown robe bound at his small waist with a rope. His dark red hair was braided all the way to the end of his back and interwoven with streaks of silver, that especially banded together on his front fringes that fell over the strip of linen white cloth that wrapped around his head to shroud his eyes.

He eerily smiled. "My visitors from the East and West," The blindfolded man gracefully greeted. "Right on time."

Jared and Devane continued to stare at the man, saying nothing and thinking surely, he could not see them, though Jared felt as if he was seeing too much of them.

"That is a pretty nasty wound you have there," The shrouded man noted. "But not one I won't be able to fix." He turned to walk away, and Jared eyed him cautiously. "Come along." He added, knowing they had not yet made to follow him. "It's how you'll save his life."

Devane looked as reluctant as Jared, especially due to the man's strange way of speaking, but without being sure they could find anywhere else to rest, they followed him a few yards away to an old hut. Jared had almost missed it as the short long-limbed tree leaning against its side completely covered the roof to blend the house with the greenery growing around it.

Jared went inside after the man, half carrying Devane as he did. A table, perfect for an operation, was already made up and a side table next to it was equipped with the necessary tools for an operation. Jared laid Devane down. The short walk almost made him pass out, but he barely managed to hold onto his consciousness to see the blind man offer a wooden cup. Devane smelled it and knew it to be a bitter nubming potion. He downed it immediately.

"Why do you already have this ready?" Jared asked, seeing every tool sanitized and unused.

"To numb his pain." The blind man replied.

"No, I mean why do you have all of this ready?" Jared asked, trying to collect his thoughts on the situation. "How did you know there would be an injured man here in need of all this?"

The shrouded man tilted his head to the side and smiled. "Because I've seen it."

Jared stared at him in complete confusion, but when he looked down at Devane's hair mattered to his face he thought better to not snub the help in their time of desperation.

"Now you'll be holding the tissue open for me," The man informed Jared, delivering him the forceps. Jared accepted them as he grabbed sharp suture scissors and a curved hook for sowing. The blind man lowered the curved scissors to the deep gash in Devane's side, and Jared grabbed his hand.

"Don't fret," He tranquility told Jared, his hands expertly still as they hovered over the wound. "This isn't how your friend is going to die."

Jared looked the man over like he was crazy. "But you can't even see."

The shrouded man turned his covered eyes to look directly at Jared. "I've seen more than you've ever had, and I've seen what more is in store for you and our ailing advisor." He revealed before directing his attention back to the injury. "Now is time to do your part." He told Jared, cutting away the dead tissue near Devane's wounds so he could reach his hooked needle to the deep cut in his muscles.

Jared gawked at the man in absolute confusion, but as Devane lost consciousness he had no choice but to put his trust in the shrouded man, who went to immediate work blindly and precisely stitching Devane back together.