51 Healing Hands (1/2)

Despite the bloody field around us, the reunion with Ashley's unit was a joyful one. Mostly because a lot of us survived the recent battles despite how quickly circumstances kept changing for the worst.

I clasped Luca's hand with my own. We moved on to finger swipes and then fist bumps which turned into fading explosions that finally transitioned into high-fives.

This made me smile. It had been a while since we did our secret handshake—since before he was kidnapped. But then I noticed the new scar right below his left eye.

”Nasty papercut,” I joked.

”Yeah...” he laughed in a pleased and not at all hysterical way.

It was a very uncommon sight to see when it came to Luca. He rarely laughed in the Fayne. And I wondered if something had changed for him since that night at the hilltop where his eyes could only reflect his inner sorrow.

Speaking of his eyes, they were rather busy looking over the people around us and lingering mostly on Pike's pixie features.

”What you looking at, bro?” I asked jokingly.

N-nothing,” Luca, his face red as an apple's, quickly averted his gaze. ”Glad to see you managed not to get yourself killed without me watching your back.” Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

”As if I needed you to save me,” I fired back.

Although I knew he meant it only as a joke, the truth was, his words stung. Based on my performance in our last two battles, I was good at commanding the unit and making up strategies that led to our victories, but I seemed to be lacking in the single combat department. Twice now I needed help to win my fights. This needed to be remedied, and soon, or I wouldn't stand a chance against a foe like Azuma anymore.

Luca noticed the change in my mood and asked if everything was alright. I brushed him off and told him my arm was just hurting. Although it wasn't the main reason why my eyebrows were furrowed but it technically wasn't unconnected to my mood. It wasn't a lie.

My right arm dangled at my side while sending a throbbing pain up to my brain.

”Looks broken,” Luca guessed.

”You don't say, genius,” I grimaced. ”Call Ashley for me, will you?”

”Why do you want her?” Luca asked.

”She's a shieldmaiden. They're not as good as healers like Berrian, but they practice the healing arts too,” I answered.

While Luca rushed to get Ashley, I spent the time waiting by observing the scene around me.

Edo, with help from Luca's raiders, was rounding up enemy survivors and tying binding their wrists and legs with the silver thread indicative of elf rope, ensuring they wouldn't be able to escape and call for reinforcement until we were long gone.

Thom's drow troops were watching our rear like I asked him to earlier. Their gazes swept over the hillsides as well as the sky above just in case more enemy drow decided to drop in on us while we recuperated.

The thought of enemy drow present in the Magesong army was giving my goosebumps goosebumps. I would have to warn Darah about this development as soon as I could.

I glanced over to Qwipps and Varda next. They were herding all the surviving swiftharts together to a spot on the field that was away from the bodies littering the ground. My light-green furred swifthart was among them.

It warmed my heart to see that my mount was alright and I figured that I should reward its recent valor with a new name once I figured out what I wanted to call it. Naming things couldn't be rushed, after all. I wouldn't want to regret calling it 'Taser Face' or something equally stupid after the fact.

While I ruminated names like 'Prancer' or 'Dancer' and 'Rudolph', Ashley arrived at my side with an overly worried Luca looking over her shoulder. Seeing him look at me the way I usually looked at him sort of annoyed me, and so I sent him away to loot enemy weapons and armor we could use or sell later.

”Luca's just worried,” Ashley said as she inspected the black bruises on my right arm. She must have noticed how quickly I dismissed him. ”He's probably not used to seeing you injured like this.”

”I'm not used to seeing me injured like this,” I grunted. The pain spiked as soon as I felt her fingers prod my arm. ”Our enemies are getting tougher... and I feel stupid for getting baited into that sucker punch...”

”Well, I can't heal stupid, FYI... but you're right... this war is a lot bigger than our teenage brains can even wrap our heads around...” Ashley massaged my arm with her fingers. ”Well, at least that's true of me and Luca. You seem to be doing fine in command...”

”Why don't I feel like I'm doing well... My brows furrowed even more and it wasn't just the pain causing my agitation. ”How many did you lose?”