Herbs and Alchemy Ch. 08

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Tharo virtually dragged her to the orc camp, and stayed within touching distance once they were there, putting a hand on her shoulder if she got too far away, making it clear she was with him.

He approached the food wagon and grabbed a bowl, addressing the scarred cook at the pot. "Aiga Goiga ash tor Oag."Want food and for my axe. He put a hand on her shoulder, his face stony. The cook chuckled and gave him a serving and a half. Tharo gave a curt nod.

"Thank you." Jayla said to him. The cook sneered at her.

"You need to be rude to orcs." Tharo told her, finding a log to sit on. Jayla climbed up next to him.

"Why?"

"It's how we communicate. It just seems rude by your standards. You did well with Kurdoz."

"He pissed me off." She narrowed her eyes. "So what does human talk sound like to orcs?"

His yellow-eyed sideways glance was serious, "Pleading and cowardly."

"Noted." She mumbled.

"Laiga Aki!" An orc Jayla didn't recognize. He was well adorned with bones, teeth, leather and war paint. "Orgadak Ketki. Zi Goig Kor Okak?"Humans are a problem. Did she drink from you?

"Naog."No. Tharo put his hand on her shoulder. "Goodnok Oag." The orc nodded and went on his way.

"Drink from you?" Jayla asked.

Tharo held up his finger in a hook shape, Jayla automatically blushed. Tara had made the gesture ahwile ago in reference to Tharo's anatomy and Jayla still hadn't told him what it meant. Tharo grinned, "I'll talk about it if you will."

"All right, truce. Who was that?"

"I dunno, Patrol, soldier, just looking out for the camp."

"LAIGA AKI!" Tharo rolled his eyes in awhat now expression. The voice from behind them, "Oan Naak Tor Goodnok Oag?"When fight for Battleaxe?

Jayla turned, of COURSE it was Kurdoz. She yelled, "For fuck sake! Kurdoz,Noag Zen Naak Ar Okak! Kez Gudjag."No sex with you, you're too big. "Noag Aki Tuzdor!"And that's not the only reason.

The monstrous orc crouched down in front of the two and smirked gently. He looked almost sad and addressed Tharo "Goig Kor Okak?."

"Noag." Both Tharo and Jayla said at once. Tharo finally addressed the big orc, "Oak Naog Dag Nak Tor Goodnok Oag."I won't make a fight for

her. He asked Jayla, "Do we tell him?"

"I actually trust him for some inexplicable reason. So if YOU do..."

Tharo nodded and gestured for him to lean close. "Kurdoz.Jayla, Oak, Luthia Zutag Ig."

Kurdoz's eyes went wide, he put his hands on each of their knees and bowed his head. "Luthia Dak Okak Akai Heza, Noag Naak." The Goddess Made youAkai Heza without the fight.

"Oak Raz! Der!"I eat now, go. Tharo snapped. Somewhat miraculously, Kurdoz obeyed, waving to Jayla as he left.

"Is that true?" Jayla asked.

"I don't know. I'll ask a shaman next time I see one."

"Couldn't we tell?"

Tharo's look was admonishing, "I've never beenAkai Heza, how would I know? Eat." He scooped a handful of food out of the bowl and offered it to her.

She pinched it from his hand, watching him grab his own from the bowl and just shove it in his mouth. She shrugged and mimicked him. It was a little dusty tasting, but good. Filling, greasy. Stringy meat and plant matter, the rest was unrecognizably mashed and cooked. "You add a couple of eggs in this and it would almost be civilized."

"So not orcish, then." Tharo smirked.

They finished up, failing to notice the camp had cleared out of wanderers somewhat suddenly. Tharo returned the bowl. The cook saw him "Laiga Aki! Goodnok Ekar! Der!"

Tharo grabbed her hand and started walking quickly. "We have to get back to the pool, stretch those legs or I carry you."

"You will NOT. Did I hear that right? Battle is starting?" She hurried after him.

"Westerners are gathering on the other side of the river. If they don't attack now they'll probably try at night."

"They can't get across without being vulnerable, can they?"

"I don't know what magic they have at their disposal, but Oh yes they can. There are spells that will let people breathe water, especially orcs. We need to be

ready."

They got back to the tent to find Neela waiting for them with several clay pots in a bag. "Miss Thorntrail, these salves, some I don't know what they are, and others I don't know if they're good." She was looking at Tharo the whole time she spoke. The orc winked at her and started preparing the tent for wounded.

Jayla scowled "Why aren't these labeled? Damnit. This is moldy", she sniffed it, "Eh. How much plantain salve do you have?"

"About fifteen of those."

"OK, if those are all good you can scrape the top and melt it down for something else. Make some more if you get bored, use fat with the beeswax, else you'll just get candles. Garlic works too but it stings like crazy. It goes on all wounds else they go gr... sour."

A war horn sounded, Neela's eyes got big and she shuddered. "Lets go inside." Jayla ushered the girl in and took the bag from her.

Jayla doubled her focus on the jars, pulling out her little knife and carving labels on the pots. The girl was shaking. Orders could be heard being shouted in the distance. "None of these are essential, you can stay in here if you need to. Put some wood in the stove and make some tea. Use the red jar next to the kettle. Go on!"

Jayla finished what she was doing and put the bag next to the entrance. Neela was shaking, tears running down her face. Jayla watched, the girl was following orders and keeping her head, even if she was obviously distraught. Jayla decided keeping her busy would help. "Tharo, anything else we need to do? Get Neela on it."

"Do you know how to sharpen blades on the bottom of a pot?" Neela nodded. "All right, here you go." Tharo got her set up, bringing her a handful of small knives, a pot, and a cup of water. The girl turned to him and put her arms around his middle, sobbing.

Tharo was startled, staring down in alarm. He gingerly put his arms around her. "You got this, kid. You have courage... Jayla, get the yellow bottle out of my pack."

Neela's hands were claws in his sides, her face buried in his stomach, "I should have died with my family. I'm not supposed to be here."

"You are absolutely supposed to be here." Jayla handed the bottle to Tharo.

"Kid. Look, listen." He patted the girl's shoulder.

"I'm twenty, you know." She sniffed.

"Ok Twenty, take only a sip of this, just a palm full, OK? It tastes bad, choke it down." She reached for the bottle, shaking as she tipped it to her mouth, she sipped and suppressed a gag. Jayla handed her a cup of water to chase it with.

They heard the clatter of arrows being readied and people climbing the cliff next to the tent. "Those are ours." Tharo and Jayla said at the same time. They looked at each other,That means the enemy is in firing distance.

Neela stepped back and wiped her face. "I have to go back to the medic tent"

"Stay here until the fighting dies down, I don't think you can get there safely." Jayla handed her the bag of pots, checked out the door, nothing. They

heard a distant scream. Neela put her head up.

"Sleeves up. I'll clean the knives when you're done." Jayla pulled out the soap.

Tharo brought her a big tankard of water. "Drink it. You'll forget to later."

"Thanks. I'll finish the tea as well. Willow, chamomile, peppermint, bergamot. Sound OK?"

Tharo shrugged. "Heavy on the peppermint and brandy."

"Rogue. All right."

Tharo stepped outside and stood by the door. They could hear hollering, mostly bravado, no more screams. Restless and nervous, the herbalist joined him. "What do you think is happening?" Neela asked quietly from inside.

"Just the first skirmish. I expect maybe three or four soldiers in here today. Tonight and tomorrow will be the real test. I figure the first talk will happen

in two or three days. I might want to be there, depending. Our bargaining chip will be if one of their leaders gets seriously injured. Weston knows, they'll be targeting officers and possibly kidnapping them."

"Aren't you an officer?" Neela asked.

"No, but Jayla and I are at risk for reasons you may discover shortly." He ducked back in and sat cross legged in the corner, closing his eyes in meditation. The tent was quiet save for the soft crackling of the fire and the scraping of metal on pottery as Neela sharpened knives.

Jayla served the tea, it was immediately relaxing and helped to clear their minds. Tharo's potion seemed to have done its job on the student, she was alert but calm.

"Incoming, team!" Sunhill's voice called form outside the tent. He pulled aside the flap as two medics hurried in with a blood-soaked litter. The soldier on it was white, she had a huge gash in her side.

Jayla didn't bother to disrobe, she got into the pool next to the platform and said the words, Tharo moments after, moving to the other side of the patient. Jayla had her hands on as soon as the soldier was set down. The Goddess' power lit into her and her focus became the rapidly fading orange aura of the wounded woman. "Start in and work out, remember." Tharo said quietly. I'll keep pressure on to keep the blood in.

Jayla struggled in her urgency to control the flow of power to her patient. The woman gasped. "How do we replace the blood, Tharo?" Jayla whispered.

"It needs to come from somewhere. Neela, try to get this woman to drink water."

Neela scrambled to do the orc's bidding. The woman hissed and panted in pain, Neela begging her to drink.

The healing seemed to go quickly, Jayla glowed, her hands especially bright. Sunhill appeared mildly disinterested, but the two medics and Neela gaped at the scene before them.

"Can you take over a little, Tharo? I'm getting that sand scoured feeling again." Jayla asked. Her hand moved to help put pressure on the wound.

The orc met her power with his own, his increasing as she let up. Jayla saw the woman's foot was injured as well, she set to it, though moving the power was painful at this point; she felt like her veins were burning again. Tears ran down the herbalist's cheeks, the woman's aura was still faint but didn't seem to be fading any more.

Tharo's hand covered hers, "We're done with this one, Love. Drink."

Neela was still feeding water to the woman. Jayla just submerged and drank straight from the pool.

Sunhill's voice at the door, "Another."

Jayla wrung her hair out, "Put this one next to the fire, give her as much water as she'll drink. Grab a couple of tankards from the corner and fill them with water

for me and Tharo. Keep the fire going. If you're not doing anything more important I need to you warm a cloth by the fire and put it over my shoulders." She felt herself getting dangerously cold and tried not to shiver.

This one had his hand almost completely cut off. Thankfully all the parts were still there. Jayla held it in place, "Get me a bandage from the spot by the entrance!" She wrapped it to hold it in place while Tharo pushed magic into him

After only a minute he rumbled in Orcish. "Neez. Okak Jaigi Kez Oak Jaigi Laiga."Help me, you have more power than I do.

Jayla could see his power fading while she had to hold hers at bay. The moment's rest and the water had helped. "Going in, just hold it in place." Her healing vision told her the hand wasn't straight. "Can you see his aura, Tharo? It's not straight on."

The Orc's voice was straining, "Set it." He pulled back his power as Jayla set the bones, the soldier yelled in pain. Jayla returned to easing power back into the patient as Tharo let up and relaxed, holding the hand and arm together.

So it went with three more, one an orc who was bleeding out from a wound on her thigh. At least five new people had now seen the pair at work. Sunhill was in and out. The tent was crowded by the time they were done. The medics and Neela had been good about keeping Tharo and Jayla in fresh water and warm cloths.

"And done." Tharo said, gesturing for the medics to move the last patient to the fire next to the others. He pushed the platform away from over the pool, embraced

Jayla, pulled her back to his chest, and pulled them both underwater.

Jayla's entire body, inside and out, felt sunburnt, the cool water was soothing. She drank and felt comforted as she sat in the orc's embrace under the water. It was awhile before she felt the urge to surface. He stayed under but let her go.

Jayla said the words to release the power, it faded, just leaving the sand-scoured feeling throughout her body. Looking down she saw she was still glowing faintly. She scrubbed down, washing her hands, face and hair. One of the medics

offered her a hand and she climbed out of the water, disrobed, grabbed a blanket and sat next to the fire. "More water please." She said. Her voice was hoarse, she looked down at herself, she felt harder, smaller.

The soldier who'd almost lost his hand stirred next to her and sat up. "Did I dream it?" He asked, staring at his wrist and rubbing it. There was still a scar. Jayla couldn't be asked to explain.

Tharo finally climbed out of the water, wrapped a cloth around his waist and sat by her. She examined him, running her hand down his belly, which was half the size it had been that morning. They exchanged a long glance, tired and worried.

Tharo looked up at the four medics in the tent and addressed everyone but their first patient, who was unconscious. "If you can walk out of here, go. Drink water, have sex. Take her to the med tent," He gestured to the unconscious woman, "Treat her as you would someone with severe blood loss. She'll make it, but let her sleep, keep her warm, and feed her well when she wakes. Please and thank you."

They sat quietly until the place was emptied out. When the last person left, Tharo turned to Jayla and pulled the blanket back from her. He drew in a breath, "Love, you have lost a lot today. Eat as much as you can."

Jayla just nodded. Exhausted and numb. She said quietly after awhile, "Is this what it's going to be like from now on?"

Tharo stared into the fire, "I imagine some days it will be worse. Until a treaty is brokered with the West."

"Who did we help today? Were any of them from the other side?"

"I doubt it. I should get a report on how the fighting went." He stood, readjusting the blanket and tucking it around his waist, then plodding toward the door.

Jayla finished her mug of water and crawled to get more from the pool, still in pain. She dipped the mug in and drank from it, propped on her elbows.

She jerked awake when the mug slipped from her hand into the pool. She heard voices outside. Tea, get tea. Jayla told herself, feeling the chill of evening creeping into her, but couldn't be bothered to move. She lay her head on her arm and drifted off again.

"... Be OK? What do we do?" Jayla felt a pair of fingers on her wrist, one of the medics.

Tharo's massive warm hand covered her back. "Same as anyone else. We need good food, dark ale, and a lot of water."

"I'll send some. You get some rest too."

"Goodnok Oag, you cannot sleep yet."

"Watch me." She murmured from the crook of her arm.

The orc gathered her up, wrapped a blanket around her and carried her to the fire, he sat cross legged and held her in his lap. She stiffened, wondering what he was up to, "You must hurt too. How are you still walking?"

He put his face in her hair, "I didn't channel as much as you did. But yes, I hurt." His voice took on a mischievous tone, "I know a cure, though."

Rustling outside, someone came in the tent. "Food and drink." It was Neela.

"Your herbalist seems to have paralyzed me, can you bring it here? I can't move."

Jayla's face was resting on Tharo's collarbone, "He's a big liar. Thank you Neela. You were really brave today."

The girl put the food down, trembling, she tentatively patted Tharo's shoulder.

"You can touch me, kid, it's OK." He didn't move, just stared into the fire.

Neela ran her fingers down Tharo's bare back, "Mom always said orcs were slimy." she whispered.

"We do sweat like humans do. So sometimes we're slimy." He turned his head away so she didn't see all his teeth as he grinned. "Did you eat?"

"Y-yes. I'll go. Thank you."

"I don't know what you're thanking me for, but thank you for bringing food. If you want to come back and help out next time we have patients in you're welcome to."

"OK, I will." Neela practically scampered out of the tent.

Jayla peeked at the food, reaching for a bread roll just our of her range, Tharo picked it up and handed it to her. Jayla volunteered around her mouthful, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she really likes you."

Tharo shook his head, "I don't know how to tell her not all orcs are as civilized, and I don't want her finding out the hard way."

"Maybe take her to the camp."

"Probably should before she goes alone." Tharo scooped food with his fingers. Neela had left them a tankard of ale as well, he drank down most of it. "Finish this."

Jayla took the tankard, "Shouldn't they leave her alone since she's got that ring?"

"You forget most of them only speak orcish, they won't try to take her captive, but she's not ready for dinner with the mercenaries."

"Mmm." The ale seemed to revitalize her, or at least numb the sandblasted feeling of her innards. Jayla squirmed off of him and attacked the plate of food, then went and filled the tankard from the spring. "What did you find out about the battle?"

"We lost three, they lost five, three of theirs were orcs, all of ours were human. Looks like they were just testing defenses. If I had to guess I'd expect a big attack two miles to the South tomorrow. We have a big army there but they're hidden, and the crossing would be easy."

"How did they cross the river?"

"Nayn Tok Jaigee. Spell that lets them walk under water."

"Anything in the book to counter it? I hope you hauled that all the way here for a reason."

"Nothing for water crossing that I remember."

"I don't know anything about it, but if you could just make something that cancels magic and throw it in the river?"

"That might work. None of us are strong enough to block a whole army. Hopefully none of them are strong enough to enchant a whole army. I talked to Gillard while I was out, he's working on something, I might go and help him later."

"Don't make it here, take your damn witchcraft away from the healer tent." Jayla stuck out her tongue.

Tharo grabbed her wrist as she was reaching for a small apple, "Who are you calling a witch,Oag?"

"The green monster in my tent who seems to think a blanket is appropriate attire for a war camp."

"Oh? Well, if it offends you..." He ran his thumb along his waist and the blanket fell off of him. "Now what, woman? Now what are you going to do?"

Jayla was still in a fair amount of pain, but seeing that giant, muscular leg slide toward her, the hand around her arm, and his bright yellow eyes go from teasing to smoky... Her mouth dropped open and he captured it with his, shoving the plate out of the way and laying her on the ground. He kept one hand on her wrist, moving it next to her head as the other unwrapped her from the blanket. His knee parted her legs, she hitched a heel around his thigh, he was caressing her valley, chuckling. "Didn't think you had it in you did you?"

"I will in a minute." She whispered.

He froze, his thumb unignorably on her nub. "Is that so?" His expression was predatory, causing her chest to tighten.

She swallowed, looking up at him, "I think it is."