Tipping the Scale

Time of Growth (Part 3)

Walking through the infirmary door, her bag felt weighty, the letter within and the request she was planning to make laying heavily on her conscience. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by high-pitched screaming.

"Don't touch me, you demon!"

Instinctively, Lidea dropped her bag and tensed up, readying herself for a fight. But as she assessed the situation, her tension eased. Crystal stood in a standoff with the teenage girl Warchief and Lidea had rescued from the northern quarters.

"I said don't touch me!"

At least she's spirited.

Lidea watched as the healer's hand hovered mid-air after the girl had whipped away her arm. Her fingers were covered with a white cream, one of her many tinctures, presumably.

"Your wounds started to fester, Shannayra. Now either you listen to me and do it yourself, or you let me help you."

Crystal's voice was gentle, yet Lidea could sense the growing frustration beneath it. The girl's fear-filled eyes darted around anxiously, searching for an escape. A way out, perhaps? It was at this point that the girl's eyes fell onto Lidea, tears welling within them.

"How can you just stand there!? Help me please!"

Only now did Crystal turn to notice her arrival. She seemed tense, her eyes looking a lot darker than they normally did. Lidea couldn't blame her if this was what she had been dealing with for these past few days.

"Help you? Sure I can."

Stepping closer to the teen, she could see her sense of relief, only for it to dissipate when Lidea grasped her arm. Prompting Shannayra to start struggling again, but she was unable to break free from her grasp.

"What? I thought you wanted me to help you. Now stay still and I will help you get treated."

"You traitor! How can you work together with a demon? Let me go! I won't let her eat me!"

Lidea scoffed at her ridiculous claim, but she reminded herself that it was what the girl had been taught. These were not her own words, but those of her teachers. Reigning in her temper, she tried to channel her mother's demeanor whenever Lidea had acted unreasonably.

"Why are you so convinced she has the intention to eat you?"

Shannayra's green eyes widened in disbelief as if Lidea had uttered the most preposterous statement.

"She is a demon! Everyone knows what they are like!"

"Is that so? But has 'everyone' ever actually met a demon in their life?"

The realization seemed to dawn on Shannayra that her beliefs were based on mere hearsay, on stories passed down from generation to generation. Lidea knew she was smart.

"No, but everyone knows the stories..."

Her argument faltered, and Lidea seized the opportunity to continue challenging her assumptions.

"Sure, everyone knows the stories, but stories are always told by someone. For instance, is the story about you being a witch true?"

"No!"

She reacted almost instantly to the accusation and then seemed to recognize something as she looked over at Crystal. The healer just smiled in silence, leaving Lidea to do the work for her. She could only hope that the healer wasn't about to repeat the joke about her father being eaten by the teen.

"Exactly. Just like you know that isn't true, why should you believe everything you hear about demons? Wouldn't it be better to see and judge for yourself?"