Echoes of the Past

Chapter Thirty Nine - Part One

Chapter Thirty Nine: Potions - Part One 

Several people stood around the white-walled room. Evan's awakening mind focused and he saw he was on a bed, in a medical room of the Oneron Outpost. Across from him, Sam Hawkings also lay under the thin white sheet of a bed, with Liana standing over him. The soft beeping of machinery came to Evan, as did the low murmurs of concerned talk amongst Jorak and Den. A door on one side led to another room, where he could see the ends of a row beds.

Someone shifted closer, and Evan looked up to see Castan sitting beside his bed. Castan smiled at him, though his eyes were tense with concern. The wave of relief from him rippled over Evan.

"How are you, Evan?" Liana asked, coming over to him. Her arms were wrapped around her in a hugging gesture, and she also looked frail and weary, with faint scarring on her forehead. Though even a weary Liana still held a firm and formidable stature.

"I have been better," Evan said, finding his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat and added, "But I will recover quickly. I must return for James."

"You sound like Sam," Liana said. "But, neither of you are well enough to return to the iron forge. My men and I will get James, and Jaxx."

"Don't listen to them, Evan," Sam called out from across the room. "We'll be going back with Liana, don't you worry."

"How long have we been here?" Evan asked.

"Two hours," Liana said. "Three hours since you left the iron forge."

"Three hours that James has been with the enemy," Evan said, frowning.

"We'll be going back for him, be sure of that," Liana said.

Evan attempted to rise and his head swam with dizziness.

Castan placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "That young lady, Melida, did some impressive tricks to heal you fellas, but you two should keep resting. She told us that over-straining can reduce, or even reverse, the healing effects."

Evan nodded, grimacing, and took a moment for his head to stop throbbing. He reached a hand under the covers and found a bandage had been wrapped around his upper torso, and there was a dull tenderness of a recently healed wound. He noted the smooth skin on his side, feeling no trace of scarring. His trousers were gone, too; replaced with grey shorts that seemed too large for him.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"In her room," Liana told him. "She had to lie down."

Evan had no doubt Melida would have given everything she had in order to heal both him and Sam. It was the kind of person she was.

Liana took a cup from a side table and handed it to Evan. "Warmed sagka," she said. "For your strength."

Castan helped Evan to sit up in the bed. Evan held the cup up and studied the dark contents. He leaned his head forward and took a tentative sip. There was a faint sweet taste, but nothing more. It seemed drinkable. A warm sensation flowed through him, as though he was waking from a slumber.

His boots were nearby, he saw, and a cream shirt was over Castan's chair. He couldn't see his sword anywhere, but suspected that it may be with Melida.

"My clothes?" he asked.

"Your tunic was soaked in blood," Liana told him. "And your trousers need mending. We will try and restore them."

Evan frowned deeply. His clothes and his sword were his only possessions from his home world. He wasn't sure how he felt about not wearing his clothes. He tried not to think about losing sight of the person he was, or the losses he continued to amass.