Ranger

Chapter 6

Jewel

The army camp was a chaotic place. Tents of various sizes, sleeping pallets, racks of weapons, barrels, crates, horses, cooking fires, and more were scattered about a cleared field in a seemingly random fashion. The soldiers wore no standard uniform. Instead, they were dressed in a wide variety of colors and styles that matched the various standards flapping in the breeze around the camp.

Sergeant met me. "Welcome to Hell," he said. "Sure you're up for this?"

"No."

He led me through the camp to where some injured soldiers were being treated. One man was having his arm sawed off at the elbow. The sound of steel grinding on bone mixed with the man's screams frayed my nerves. The arm finally fell off, leaving a stump spurting blood. I bent over and retched into the dirt.

Sergeant sighed. "Don't feel bad. You're not the first to do that. You'll get used to it."

I wanted to back in the church far away from these horrors. But I had made a promise to myself that I was going to see this through no matter what. I had told Misha that I would do it. I didn't want to let her down. I made myself stand tall. I went to the wounded man. I tied off the arm to stop the immediate bleeding, sewed the stump together as best as I could, applied a salve, and then wrapped a bandage around it.

"Hmm. Not bad." said Sergeant.

***

Another day I was shocked when the men returned from the fight. Many of them had large areas of their bodies where their skin had turned a charred black color with swollen blisters that leaked thick green fluid. Some of them suffered from rapid breathing and excessive sweating. I did what I could for them. I set damp rags on the burns to cool them, applied aloe vera, and then wrapped them. But despite my best efforts many of the men died.

"Was there a fire on the field?" I asked Misha when I saw her.

She shook her head. "I wish that were the case. No, it is the warlocks and their foul magic that cooks our men alive. We have found no defense against it. If nothing can be done soon our cause will be lost." Misha made fists and clenched her teeth. After a minute she blew out a long breath. "Perhaps there is something you could do to help, Jewel. The warlocks use special weapons to amplify their abilities. If you found something similar for yourself you could use it to counter their magic."

"I do not know," I said. "I suppose I could try researching in the library."

"I will arrange for you to be taken there."

***

In the library I set a stack of books on the table and began searching through them. Without knowing where to start I knew I had little hope of finding what I was looking for. There were more books than I could read in a lifetime.

I found references to some relics such as the holy swords and maces that had been used by paladins, but those were for fighting, not healing.

After several hours of constant reading I finally laid my head down to rest for a moment. I fell asleep without meaning to. I dreamed I was floating over a humid forest full of trees with broad, waxy leaves. I descended through the mist to the damp soil below. I continued down through the earth until I came to a water filled cave. A staff was set in stone at the center.

When I awoke I set back to work with renewed determination. I believed that the dream had been a vision from Celeste to point me in the right direction. Now I at least had a general idea of what I was looking for. The type of artifact was a staff and it had to be located somewhere in the jungle lands to the south.