Between the Veil and Crown

Kylin 47

The dryads handled taking down the trees and cutting them up to make them more manageable for the Rangers to haul away. Ofjaet and Jyl handled all of the conditions and requests the dryads had for the handling of the wood that would come of the trees while Ena'ata, Marta, and Kylin removed the spider bulls from the clan's clearing.

Or at least, Marta and Kylin did until the spider bulls' poisonous effects took over. When Marta started feeling feverish, she dropped into a pile of leaves where some of the younger dryads covered her with whatever they considered comfortable. One of their caretakers -a dryad healer- attempted to make her feel better by using dryad medicine. Kylin had considered himself in the clear, as his strength seemed to return and coughs no longer triggered dry heaves. Unfortunately, after he and Ena'ata dropped one spider bull outside of the clan, a fetid smell wafted up, reminding Kylin all too much of the noxious gas. He was forced to bend over as his abdomen made violent complaints. Somehow, Kylin made it back to the dryad clan where he was encouraged to curl up in a pile of leaves like Marta and rest until the cramping had eased.

He woke to find himself covered in pieces of moss, leaves, and other foliage that the younger dryads assumed would work as a blanket. A Ranger who had not been with Ofjaet's party walked by, smirking at the sight.

Sighing, Kylin slowly got to his feet, brushing off everything that had been dropped on him.

The clearing now had many more Rangers. The trees that the dryads had taken down were split and being carefully laid in specially made carts to take back to the seventh village. One Ranger had Marta in his arms. When he was given the all clear, he gently laid her on top of the wood in one cart, cushioned by real blankets they had brought. From the glimpse that Kylin could see of her, she was sickly pale.

Ofjaet noticed Kylin standing and walked over to him. "Are you feeling better?" he asked.

Kylin nodded. Even the shakiness had subsided. He felt lightheaded, but he was certain with a little substance, a little water, it would be fine. He wouldn't even need to see a healer when he returned to headquarters.

"Very well," Ofjaet said. "I want you to go with the first group heading back to headquarters. Clear yourself with Morganne."

Well, if Ofjaet insisted, he might as well.

Vicious was in a good mood, so she didn't give Kylin much trouble on the way back. She did, however, attempt to give the horse master a greeting nip when Kylin passed her off.

When he reached the med bay, Morganne was already attending to Marta. Seeing him in the hallway, she stopped. "You too?"

"Ofjaet said that he wanted you to clear me," Kylin said.

She pressed her wrist against his forehead. "No fever."

"No, I was only hit with the breath," he said.

She pointed to a room. "If you sit yourself in there, I'll have to get you cleared when I'm certain Marta's dealt with." As she hurried off to grab something from the medicine supply room, she called over her shoulder, "I'll let Amelia know you're here. She wanted to talk to you about something."

Kylin followed her instructions, wondering what Amelia had to say. He helped himself to some of the water that was in the room already, settling himself on the bed and hoping that the water would stay down this time.

He was somewhere in his third cup of water when he heard Amelia's footsteps hurry towards him. She appeared at the doorway, hand on the door frame.