Heritage Ch. 05

Thank you everyone who takes the time to read my submissions. Please vote and leave a comment . I hope you all are enjoying the story as much as I am enjoying writing it. Thank you, Phoenixbreez for your editing skills. Nazari2964, I would like thank you r help. Thank you; Mokkelke, Fatality, Lostchicken, and Resapoo for all of your proofing work and advice

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Chapter 5

Melinda sat there sipping her coffee as her mother began to explain. "I think that we should go north east from here and get way deeper in the woods, there should be a place for us to stay in that area about ten miles from here."

Melinda asked, "Mom how do you know this? I mean why that direction? The mountains are to west, why are we not heading towards them?"

Elisia smiled at her daughter and said, "Dear, normally I would agree with you but with your dad unconscious I do not think we could travel the forty miles to get to the mountains. The reason I know about the place to shelter is I asked the land for a safe haven."

"Ok mom I should know better than question you. How do we move dad? He needs another two or three days to finish healing." Melinda said.

"We will make a stretcher to carry him on. I will be ok be the morning; well mostly," Elisia said "We should get started after first light; I am not sure how long before the citadel will send reinforcements to get us."

"In that case mom you need to sleep. I will keep watch and wake you if I need you," Melinda said

"Dear you need to rest also, I can stand watch for a while," Elisia said

"No momma, I will sleep after we move dad and get to the new camp. You will need to regain your strength because I can't carry both of you." Melinda told her mother.

After getting her mother settled down, she went over and checked on her dad's condition. He was sleeping peacefully, His lips were dry so she wet a clean piece of cloth and wiped his lips to help moisturize them. She sat with him a little while holding his hand and stroked it for comfort. She looked at his face; he looked so relaxed asleep. It seemed like she had not seen him so relaxed in a long time, not for years. He was constantly worrying since they started running from the citadel. She knew how much he had given up for her. He had been in-line to be offered a seat on the council of magic. "But after you adopted me you withdrew from contention for the seat. All the years you put aside your research to train me in magic lore and alchemy. How do I thank you for making physically strong and teaching me to defend myself? You saved my life and loved me as your own flesh and blood. How do I repay you for all your sacrifices? She thought her eyes full of unshed tears. She whispered. "I love you daddy."

Rising she walked over to the fire and placing a little more wood on it. She made herself another cup of coffee and settled down to watch the area around the camp. She looked around and for a second thought; she saw something about twenty yards away. Rising from her seat, she moved to a point where she could see that area clearly but where she still had a little cover, waiting patiently she readied her bow. She saw someone approaching the camp with a bow at the ready. Without hesitation, she released her arrow just as the figure reached the clearing. The arrow struck the figure in the right shoulder close to her neck. The figure let loose a loud yelp of pain then collapsed to the ground.

Melinda immediately nocked her next arrow. Melinda heard a male voice shout. "Arty!" Another figure charged forward.

"It is that guy with the strange aura," Melinda thought as she fired the arrow hitting him in the chest. She heard him curse but he continued to come towards her, as she attempted to nock another arrow she watched an arrow strike him in the right leg, near the knee.

He screamed out a pain, "SON OF A BITCH!" Pitching forward as his leg buckled underneath. Melinda glanced over to see her mother nock her next arrow. Elisia give her daughter a subtle nod and a slight reassuring smile.

Melinda saw there was another figure lurking behind a tree. She glanced to her side and saw her mother checking to make sure there was no one else trying to sneak into the camp. She studied the aura of the last figure standing out there, after a second; she realized he was a gretzen. The gretzen are a race of humanoid shape shifters. She heard him call to the camp "Lady Elisia, Lord Greagor please stay your weapons. We are here to protect you."

"You will remove all of your weapons and place them on the ground. If I see so much as a butter knife, I will end your pitiful existence! "Melinda called out, "Do you understand me? "

Ferhew quickly placed his bow on the ground, and then removed his belt that held the remainder of his weapons and laid it on the ground. "Lady Melinda please stay your weapons. I have disarmed and am stepping out." Ferhew pleaded. "My name is Ferhew Greybrooke."

Ferhew raised his hands above his head and slowly stepped out into full view of the camp .He slowly turned around to show he was not hiding a weapon behind his back. He then turned to face the women, whom now held his life in their hands. When he looked into Melinda's eyes he was startled, he beheld the deepest set of blue eyes he had ever seen and gave an involuntarily swallow. He had to give himself a mental slap to clear his head. Turning his attention to Lady Elisia he bowed and said, "Milady we were sent by Primos to protect you and your family." pointing to the figures on the ground besides him he continued, "He is Primos's son Mordrick, she is Arteria, please help them, please I beg you."

Melinda studied him for a moment looking for deception. As a priestess, she was well versed on spotting deception and she detected none. She looked at his aura and saw no evil in it. She then asked her mom, "What do you think?"

"I believe him dear." She answered. "I will watch over him while you heal the others."

Melinda lowered her bow before setting it down; grabbed her healer's kit and walking over to the two injured figures called forth her healer's abilities. She quickly decided that Mordrick should go first because of the chest wound. She went toward him and examined his wounds. She was surprised when she looked and discovered the skin had already closed around the arrow, exclaiming," What the fuck, how is he able to heal himself this quickly! "

She drew a sharp look of disapproval from her mother. Realizing what she had said, she apologized for her language. Then said, "I will need to cut these arrows out of him." Melinda began to concentrate on putting him in a deep sleep that she could control. The battle of wills went on between her and Mordrick's forceful mind for several minutes before she won out but it cost her more than she would have liked, she was mentally fatigued over the battle. She moved Mordrick into the clearing by the camp and used her powers to ascertain the extent of his wounds. He had a punctured lung from a rib fragment, a couple fracture ribs, and some soft tissue damage from the chest wound. He had got lucky with the leg wound as it was just soft tissue damage, painful but no permanent damage.

Elisia recruited Ferhew and brought Arteria in to the camp. She did a quick assessment on her condition and saw Arteria was dying rapidly. Elisia knew the girl's wound were beyond what she could heal. She went over to Melinda and said. "Let me work on removing the arrows from him as the girl is in worse shape than he is. She is dying and beyond my abilities to heal."

Melinda nodded her head in agreement. She moved over to the woman who was laid on the ground. Using her healing abilities Melinda confirmed her mother's diagnosis that the woman was barely alive. The arrow had done major damage to the women, causing internal bleeding from a nicked artery. She removed the arrow and sealed the artery as quickly as she could. The woman was fading fast and Melinda could barely detect any of her life force. She lay down beside her, placing her hand over the women's heart. Melinda reached out with her powers and forcing the women in to a deep sleep, she then linked their two life forces together. Knowing she could use her own life force to anchor the other women's, preventing it from slipping away. She then redirected all of the energy from both of them to heal Arterial's broken body.

Melinda knew this would drain her energy and she would be too weak to use her powers for days or even weeks by the time she was done. The process could take hours to weeks and if she failed, she could lose both of them but it was her only chance and it was her duty to attempt it since she was in error and caused the wounds. She hoped her mother was up to watching the camp and these new comers. She let her mind slip into a deep trance forgetting about everything but keeping both of their life forces here. Both of them seemed to go into a deep coma and their breathing slowed to a couple breaths a minute.

Elisia was so busy working on Mordrick's wounds that she lost track of everything and did not even notice as Ferhew moved his companion's equipment into their camp. It took her a long time but she had finally managed to get the arrow out of his chest without causing anymore-major damage, she made sure to disinfect and clean the entire wound before she bandaged him up.

She was just about to go work on his leg when she heard Ferhew call out, "Milady you are needed here, something has happened to your daughter."

As she headed over to Ferhew, she noted that Ferhew had moved all of their equipment into the camp, she asked. "What's a matter?"

"I am not sure I went and gathered up our equipment to bring into the camp. I returned and found her like this." He replied pointing towards Melinda and Arterial lying before them.

"Arteria must have been I worse shape then what I thought! What the nine hells was Melinda thinking doing this? Does she know how dangerous this move is? She could kill the both of them." Elisia ranted as tear started to spill from her eyes and she started to shake. Her fatigue was starting to show.

"Milady I don't understand, but perhaps you should sit down and rest. I will tend to my master if you will trust me with a dagger," Ferhew asked as he walked over to the cup that sat on the ground by the fire. He poured a cup of the coffee that was keeping warm by the fire and handed it to her, continuing." Drink that, then would you explain what she has done so we can figure out how to help her? May I burrow your dagger?"

She handed him her dagger and he got up to move closer to where Mordrick lay. She watched him kneel down beginning to work with skilled hands. She sat there for several moments and she tried to comprehend everything that had happened. She was brought out of her reveries when he broke the silence.

"Milady I am sorry about your companion, she or he looked like a fine bird." Ferhew said gently.

"How did you know?" She said suddenly feeling a touch of fear.

"My master sent me to your home to protect you when he felt the dimensional gateway open. I got there just as Weslin attacked your bird milady. I wish I could have prevented it but there was no time. Oh and I am also sorry about what the master did to your home." He told her.

"Dare I ask what he did?" she asked cautiously.

"Milady, Weslin, and his head dog Antonis were in your home along with quite a few more. Therefore, the master dropped a pillar of fire on your house and destroyed it along with few other houses in the area. It was rather impressive to see." He said chuckling. Then he quickly added, "Sorry milady."

She smiled slightly and asked him, "I suppose it would be too much to hope it killed those two? "

"Sorry milady but my master said they got away, they were human torches for a short time though. " He answered.

She chuckled, "Almost makes it worth losing the house!"

She explained to him that her daughter had temporarily linked her life force to the other woman's to strengthen Arterias hold on life. That Melinda knew she could only attempt this if the other person was beyond all other types of healing. The danger of this was if she failed to save Arteria, her daughter's life could be dragged along with Arteria's into the next life. She also informed him there was no safe way to separate them until the process was done. If it was successful Arteria would emerged fully healed, rested and just a bit hungry.

Melinda however, would be severely drained mentally, physically and emotionally. She would not be able to call upon her healing abilities for days or even weeks after. There had been reports of side effects even when the other was healed successfully. The two women would always have a very deep understanding of each other from now on and could have a bond normally only like twins would. But there had been reports of insanities, and even a couple unconfirmed reports of the life forces ending up in the wrong body.

Ferhew said, "I can understand why you are worried. What I do not understand is why she would do it for a stranger?" He had just finished up with the arrow in Mordrick's leg, he reached in to a pouch on his side and pulled out flask, dumping a little of its contents on the injury he told the unconscious man, "I wish you were awake to feel that." He chuckled at the thought. Then he handed the flask to Elisia.

"I'm sure it is because she has faith in Gaia to protector her while she does this." She said. Then taking a long draw from the flask she smiled at him, "Hey that is Elven Brandy; it has been years since I have had it. Thank you." She took another sip before handing it back.

He took a swig from the flask then caped it and put it away before saying. "You are most welcome, with your permission I would like to gather my weapons then check the area to make sure we are safe." He cleaned off her dagger and handed it to her.

She nodded her head as she got up to check on all the wounded. Mordrick was healing rapidly, at this rate he would be fully healed in a couple days. She then checked on Melinda and Arteria, both of them were about the same but Arteria's color did look somewhat better. She paused by the fire, stoking it up a bit and adding more wood. She knew it would be first light in about an hour. She headed towards Greagor when Ferhew inquired, "Milady can I ask how your husband was injured?"

She continued to walk towards her sleeping husband as she told him, "We were attacked by a gnomish wizard. He managed to surprise us and cast a fireball spell. My husband managed to shield my daughter and myself but he did not have the time to fully protect himself."

Ferhew paled and asked, "What happened to the gnome?"

She pointed towards the area saying, "his corpse is over there." She then turned to check on Greagor. He was still sleeping comfortably. She lightly kissed him and told him she loved him before turning to see Ferhew had moved over to the area she had indicated and was looking at the dead gnome.

He was visible shaken. His eyes welled up but no tears fell as stared at the body in disbelief. He felt as if his soul had been torn in half with this betrayal. He stood there several minutes fighting to get his emotions under control.

Elisia sat near her husband allowing Ferhew space, to let him get it out of his system. The gnome must have been someone of great importance to him. She could see betrayal, hurt, and anger in the man's body language. She gave him time to calm down a bit. When he finally returned to the camp she asked him gently, "who was he?"

"He was a member of our group. I'm sorry; I have neglected my duties too long I will make that patrol now." His voice contained no emotion; his eyes were dead almost as if all the life had left him. Bowing his head toward Elisa, he marched from the camp and disappeared out of her view.

Elisia decided to make some breakfast and try to figure out how to move the camp today. She decided the best thing to make would be porridge and coffee as neither would spoil easy. She checked once more on all the others, all of them seemed to be ok for the moment. Arteria look a lot better and Elisa was hoping they would wake up soon. She noted that Mordrick was starting to come around; he seemed to be in more of a natural sleep now. He was even snoring a bit; she contemplated waking him up to help Ferhew but decided against it.

Elisia waited two hour before she reluctantly woke Mordrick up. It took him a couple moments to shake off the effects of the deep sleep he had been in as he realized that he had been wounded and there had been a fight of some kind. He was sore and his leg felt a bit stiff. He tried to get up but someone's strong arms were holding him down, and a soft voice broke through the fog his mind was encased in, "Easy Mordrick, you will reopen your wounds. You are safe for the moment."

Mordrick blinked his eyes and realized who was speaking to him. He stared at her with a bemused look in his eyes as he asked "Lady Elisia?"

She answered softly, "Yes, I am she."

Mordrick asked her, "What happened?"

"You tried to sneak in to our camp and we mistakenly thought you were from the citadel and acted as such. I am sorry for your injuries."

Mordrick tried to jump up again shouting out, "Arty!"

Elisia restrained him and told him. "She is alive and in the best of hands at the moment. However if you jump up like that you will reinjure yourself. So either you stop or I will tie you down. Understood?"

Mordrick answered, "Yes milady"

"Ok then let's get you a little closer to the fire and I will fix us food and coffee and we can talk more while we eat, "she said smiling gently.

She got up, offering him help, which he begrudgingly accepted. She then acted as a crutch to aid him as they walk. As they walked he saw Arteria and Melinda lying facing each other. Melinda had her hand settled over Arteria's heart and the two of them were in some kind of coma or trance. He could see the concern on Elisia face as they pass them.

"Milady why are they like that?" He enquired.

"My daughter is anchoring her life force and using her energy to augment Arteria's, to heal her and hopefully save her life." Elisia answered

Mordrick face suddenly developed a look of deep concern as he asked, "Isn't that dangerous to do?"

Elisia answered his question with worry filling her voice. "Yes extremely so for both of them."

She settled him down and went over to fix the two of them food. She glanced over to where her husband was laid. She wished he was awake to reassure her that everything was going to be ok.

Ferhew walked away from the camp and started his patrol. He wanted to circle the camp and spiral out until he had gotten about a quarter of a mile out. That way he would be sure there was no immediate threat. As he walked, he fought to keep his memories at bay. Finally defeated he sat on a stump and lost himself in his memories. He lost track of time and when he finally came out of his memories, he was unsure how long he had sat there. He looks at the sky and realizes he must have been sitting there for a while it as about an hour and a half past sunrise and he still had over a third of his intended route to finish.

Elisia finished getting the food and coffee sorted before handing Mordrick his food and drink. She retrieved hers and sat across from him, she studied him for a minute. She casually told him, "You have changed quite a bit since I saw you last." She smiled at him. "Then again you were a lad and your skin was covered with small scales."

"I'm sorry milady I was not aware we had ever met, I still do have scales, but it would be imprudent to show them or my true form for that matter," he quipped. "Could you possibly tell me where Ferhew is?"