The Voice Within

Exposed

Today is exactly one week from my 17th birthday. That will be the day I officially start my medical training with Doc. He taught me everything that I know and now he's gonna put me to the test and treat people on my own. Deep in my soul, I know that this wasn't the path that I was supposed to follow. Every time I hold that sword in my hand it feels like it's meant to be there and that it's almost a part of me. So when my birthday comes I am going straight to him and tell him that I want to become a swordsman. I'm going to tell him about the sword that I made and all the secret practices that I have done. If he doesn't agree with me then I'm going to leave, I need to go down my path and become who I believe I'm meant to be.

"Hey, stop daydreaming boy we're almost there," Doc tells me as he lightly shoves me to the side.

We had just gotten back from treating a village that had just been ravished by a giant fire. They had spent 3 days fighting the fire and had many people with life-threatening burns. As soon as Doc and I had gotten word of this we hurried to the village and began treating the victims right away. The fire had made its way through all their crops and most of the village barely anything was left standing. There were so many wounded that Doc had me take on my own patients to treat, this was the first time that he had actually trusted me to treat people on my own. I must admit that helping those people did feel amazing but it still felt wrong. Once we managed to get everyone stable and resting we found out that out of the 153 people in the village only 80 had survived. They lost a lot of people trying to fight the fire but it was too much, Doc said if they didn't die from the burns it was through the smoke inhalation. They thanked us and tried to reward us but we never took any payment, Doc told them, "Do not worry about paying us, use whatever you have left to rebuild. Let's just say you owe us one. Okay?". They were so delighted it made me feel a little better.

The way back was peaceful for Doc and me. It was mid-spring so the weather was amazing with a nice breeze, not so hot temperatures, and the amazingly blue skies. These are the times that I can just get lost in my head. Doc notices this all the time and leaves me alone to do it, the only time when he talks to me while I'm like this is either when we are nearing our destination or to warn me that something is up ahead. This time he was telling me that we are almost back home, or least the closest thing to home that we will get.

We never had an official place to call home. We were always on the move, going from one place to another. Doc says it's because doctors like him are always needed somewhere, and we're here to help as many people as we can. Sure, we'd settle in one spot for a while, usually in the middle of a region so we could visit the surrounding villages. Doc calls these areas his "home base." He'd find a small shack to rent, turn it into a makeshift clinic—his 'headquarters,' as he likes to call it—and stay there for a time as the village doctor.

They call him the 'Saint Doctor' because he hardly ever charges for his services. Doc always tells them to give whatever they can, and that's enough. Most of the time, we'd receive food, or sometimes a family heirloom—though we try not to accept those. We're there to help, not leave them worse off than when we arrived.

Once Doc sees that there is we've done everything we could for that current area we pack up and move to the next place needing our help. However there are times when we have to hurry and leave a village, those are the times when the people find out that I am a half-elf. Even with the slightest rumor, the guards will be at our door to take me into custody. See it's not illegal to be born Half&Half, that's what we're called according to Doc, but it's just that we are so rare and no one knows the kind of potential that we carry. We have the blood of two of the four races flowing through us, who knows what that could cause? If a Half&Half were to be spotted, they are to be taken to the nearest army station for "questioning". So far thanks to us helping the local villages and the surrounding area, if people were to find out about my secret, they would look the other way. However, some greedy people would do anything for a quick coin.