Green embers

chapters 31-34

Chapter 31

''I have to go find Cielo and help out.'' Reif said when we were out of the hospital. Everything was still a bit chaotic but at a slower pace than before. I pitied the healers.

''I'll help out too.'' I said. Reif looked surprised for a brief moment before nodding.

''All right, let’s go then.'' he said.

We looked around for Cielo, passing one stretcher after another until we finally found him. Seeing me, he knew what I wanted. He immediately gave the both of us instructions. We helped out as many as possible, giving more effort than last night. Reif seemed more diligent than I. He didn’t wait on Cielo's instructions as I did. Anyone he saw in need of treatment, or was still in dire pain, he'd wisp to his aid, call out a healer, basically just do anything he could. I began to realize something as we helped out the healers. At first, I wondered why they weren’t using their auras in treating the soldiers like the day before. It then occurred to me that they were out of energy, what with treating a huge magnitude of injuries overnight. The healers themselves looked just as ill as the soldiers from the looks of it. Draining their energy seems to take a toll out of them and so they’ve started using normal treatments, perhaps until they gain their strengths back to regenerate their glows. I truly admired their efforts. Despite the obvious exhaustion written on their faces, they haven’t let it hinder their duty. They still moved from one injured soldier to another, giving the same amount of treatment as possible as they did to the very first patient they’ve treated. I got the chance to help out the young healer again. He was out of aura like most of the others -not all of them were completely burned out- but he was relentless. I decided to help him throughout the rest of day. I didn’t want to bother Cielo any more than I did, following him around like his own shadow. Cielo didn’t mind, and neither did Maki. The latter seemed appreciative of the help and I was glad he didn’t hold back on the tasks he assigned me. I don’t think he knew who I was and that was a relief. We didn’t speak much, only when he would ask me for something like, ‘put some pressure here,’ or ‘hold his hand there,’ or ‘wait for my signal’ and so forth. When we’d move to another soldier, we were silent, not that there was any time to say anything. The morning light helped me pull together a clearer picture of the husky voiced healer and make out his features. Talk about being no older than Haku if he were alive, Maki was definitely just a year older than me. His façade though tired, remained sharp and focused. The contours of his jaws; as strong as a marble statue and his pointed nose made for a more perfect visage. However, I know for a fact he is no snob, doing what he does for a living. I felt a great honor to be of help to Maki and it didn’t matter to me how busy and long the day was.

I’ve stayed around long enough to realize that everybody -if not from the beginning- have become aware of me, much to my dismay. People turned their heads as I walked in Maki’s stead. The head nods, the bowing, followed along.

The twins whom I’ve met the other day appeared next to me as I sat next to a patient and they introduced themselves. The taller one, Arundel and his twin-brother Algren decided to assist me (their exact words) throughout the day. I tried to refuse, not wanting to be troublesome to Maki, but they insisted. Algren, who did most of the talking, said my helping out was a good sight to the soldiers and he and his brother wanted to have the honor of extending my good will. Without any malice, I decided to take a little advantage of their generous offer. Seeing how exhausted Maki was (I began to feel he would drop at any given moment), I asked him to do no more but to sit aside and instruct all three of us on what to do on his behalf. He was reluctant at first but I insisted he let us do his bidding. He agreed but probably because our next patient's condition was an easy case and didn’t truly require complex procedures. To Maki, I was most appreciative. He got to rest, we got to work and treat the soldiers, and all was done at the same time. Nothing seemed more practical. A lot more people became aware of me, and the two brothers seemed to take a lot of pleasure in being on my ''team'' as they put it. The twins were very friendly and they were never rude. On our way to get some water from a well, they talked animatedly. Both of them are under Captain Bonzo's command, one of the captains who had stayed behind to watch over the capital. I didn’t want to be a snob so I joined in their conversation. Every time I spoke they seemed too eager to listen, as if I were bestowing some words of wisdom upon them. I started to think maybe my tone had something to do with it, but my mellow voice is nothing close to the voice of a man of wisdom.