Kicking the dead shaman again for good measure and then jumped off the ledge Drew was on, activating gravitas to land lightly on the ground next to two dead bodies. He coughed as the stench hit him. Dead bodies, blood, viscera, and bodily waste created a miasma of odors worse than any he had encountered before. Putting his good arm to his nose to block out the smell he picked his way through the bodies and trails of fire until he was next to his team.
Robbi was in the process of slicing the heads off several trolls who despite being less than half together still clung to life. Trista was sliding a magazine out of her gun, checking to see how many bullets it had left in it. Three of her holsters were empty; Drew didn’t see the other two guns. Sarah was holding a woman who was crying loudly. Aside from the thirty or so people huddled behind where Robbi and Trista had made their stand, there were another twenty or thirty that were slowly making their way up the spiral to join them. Drew didn’t see Daryl.
“Everyone, I know you’re scared, but some of the people might still be alive. Ensign Rothschild is a healer.” He said pointing to Sarah, “Bring the injured to her and she can heal them.” He received blank stares from the group looking at him incredulously. “Move it before more people die!” he shouted. They broke then, moving with haste to find those who were still alive. More than a few of them had to stop to vomit.
“Where is Daryl?” Drew asked.
Trista didn’t answer, but she did pull on his good arm and point. When he turned to see where she was pointing, he saw Daryl about two spirals down, kneeling next to a woman, their foreheads pressed together.
“Sarah, I need you,” Drew shouted, and he ran towards Daryl and his wife, forgetting for a second his own injured body. Sliding down the side of the pit he reached Daryl with a grunt of pain. The man looked up as he approached, his eyes bloodshot with tears streaming down his face.
Drew got his first look at Daryl’s wife and swallowed. It looked like a troll had hit her in the stomach. She was still alive, but her lower half was a mess. Drew paused when he got to her, wondering where to start with this kind of mass trauma. “Daryl, what’s the status? Is she awake?”
The man just shook his head, his face a twisted mess of emotions. Drew felt for a pulse, reaching first with his injured hand before gasping and letting it hang at his side, using his other hand he pressed it against her neck. “She’s alive, it’s weak, but she’s alive.” He turned to see where Sarah was, but the pit prevented him from seeing up too far, “Sarah! I need you.” Others were calling out as well, calling for help but Sarah’s head appeared over the pit. Her face was pale she looked at Drew, Daryl, and Daryl’s wife and then cast heal, encompassing all of them in the effect.
Drew’s felt the pain in his arm diminish, but his attention was focused on Daryl’s wife. He tried to remember her name but couldn’t think if Daryl had ever actually told him what it was. How could they not have discussed what his wife was named? He glanced down at her, the pulse was stronger, but her injuries were extensive. He could see some of her flesh knit itself back together, but he knew it wasn’t going to be enough. Like the broken bones, Sarah’s spells wouldn’t be able to heal this wound.
Drew swallowed and looked at Daryl who looked back at him, pleading in his eyes. Drew cast his mind around, trying to think of something, anything he could do. Energize was too slow, but he cast refreshing rain, knowing that it would hit some of the others injured by the trolls, and help Sarah’s energy level through what was bound to be a large amount of healing soon. Aside from that what could he do?
The yellow xatherite! He checked his notifications.
Xatherite Crystal Name: Major Mental Blow
Xatherite Color: Indigo
Xatherite Grade: Basic
Xatherite Rarity: Common
Type: Magic
Effect: Strike a blow against the psychic energy of the target. Dealing small amounts of mental damage.
Mana recharge time: 21 seconds
Xatherite Crystal Name: Sacred Shell
Xatherite Color: Yellow
Xatherite Grade: Undeveloped
Xatherite Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Magic
Effect: Shields the caster in radiant energy which will block against all profane attacks.
Mana recharge time: 31 minutes, 30 seconds
Xatherite Crystal Name: Major Volley
Xatherite Color: Blue
Xatherite Grade: Basic
Xatherite Rarity: Common
Type: Magic
Effect: Launch a multitude of arrows that fall from the sky dealing small amounts of piercing damage to enemies in a 4m radius for the duration.
Duration: 8 seconds
Mana recharge time: 14 minutes
Drew cursed under his breath, the words of the Shaman came back to him, when he said he could never heal. Looking at Daryl he shook his head, “I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.” Daryl’s entire body seemed to deflate, and his head resting near his wife’s. Drew stood up, awkwardly patting the man on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry Daryl.” He stumbled away from the man, leaving him the last few precious minutes he could have with his wife.
Looking around he began doing the same thing as the others still walking: checking for survivors. He was soon covered in blood and gore, his boots steeped in filth. He cast refreshing rain as often as he could to renew the people around him while trying to clean the mess around him as much as he could. It took them nearly an hour before they had checked everyone. Trista had gone to tell the kids and some of them had come to help as well, speeding up the process considerably. In the end, everyone was mentally drained, if not physically exhausted. They relocated almost everyone to the entrance room with the kids.
Luckily, if there was such a thing, there had been two more healers among the survivors. Everyone that lived would be healthy again before the morning. Daryl’s wife, Angela, was not among the survivors.
Chapter Forty-Three — Ranks
It was well past dark. Drew was able to keep everyone awake with refreshing rain. But the fact of the matter was that his people weren’t in any position to move. A small leadership meeting was held. Drew, Sarah, Trista, and Robbi were joined by an air force major named Tracy Hoffecker and a naval captain named Matt Snyder. They were the highest-ranking people among the survivors, and while there were a lot of civilians, everyone seemed content to have the two senior officers represent them.
“Final count is 228 people. 128 of those are the kids rescued from the cage room, 73 more from the pit. Scavenging for food turned up another 22 individuals in various rooms around the building, and Ensign Rothschild’s team of five. Of those, we’ve got about three dozen military or former military that we’ve got organized into a loose command structure composed of small groups of six to seven. With the senior NCOs in charge of two to four groups each, depending on combat capabilities. Our four JO’s are each assigned six NCOs under them.” Major Hoffecker summarized their position. Drew was a little put off by the immediate return to a military structure that had happened when the two senior officers had realized they were free.