Gods and Men

Hearing the commotion, Axel came inside the house, and upon seeing Ashera on the floor, he tensed up. “What happened?” he demanded, “Was she attacked?” His gaze fell upon the others in the room, but upon seeing that either concern or confusion were the over-arching expressions on people’s faces, he ruled that one out. Taking a longer look at Lillia gave him a better idea of the situation. “She’s over exerted herself, hasn’t she?”

"Y-yes" Myrddin said, a little shaken, "she was doing her best to heal the man in the bed, when she started having... difficulties. How is she?" he asked Jocasta.

"Hard to tell now," Jocasta said shortly, grabbing the lid off of the flask and jamming it between Ashera's lips a little harder than strictly necessary, "You've got to understand, I'm not an expert in all things magic. Or any things magic, really."

Myrddin shook his head, "The problem might not be magical. How are her eyes, skin, and pulse? It could be shock." he said, sounding more confident than he had at any time earlier.

Ashera took a gulp from the flask, more than she should really be taking but as long as she didn't do it too often she should be fine. As soon as she had swallowed her mouthful, she became more alert, her breathing improved, and she opened her eyes (which had returned to normal).
"I'm okay..." she said, "I shouldn't take so much of it, but I needed the energy..."

Jocasta swatted Ashera across the head, not gently, but not nearly as hard as she could have.

"Spirits-damned moron! How often are you trying to kill yourself? Is it a daily thing? And you can't tell me that flask doesn't have stimulants. I've got stories about guys on those things and none of them have happy endings."

Ashera looked up at Jocasta, upset at being talked to that way and looking as though she was still a bit in shock, and said,
"It's mostly healing plants, but there are some stimulants as well...not much though...I only use it when I have to, as my powers aren't fully developed. I'm burned out though."

Myrddin looked over at Axel and thought of commenting, but thought better of it, "Caladry's blessing, but this is a nightmare." he thought miserably.

Taking a look at the bed-ridden man, Axel said, " Well, you shouldn't have to do much more for this man. He looks like he's well enough for more natural healing methods."

Jocasta threw her hands up and marched over to the door.

"Fuck. Now I know why the general doesn't hire more healers--they're morons. No sense of... of priority whatsoever. Now that you've just about killed yourself, are we done here?"

Seeing Jocasta head towards him Myrddin hastily moved aside.

Ashera teared up at Jocasta's words, then said,
"That's what you said to do when I got up this morning..."

With a soft groan, the man on the bed woke up, coughing. He grabbed the cup of water sitting beside the bed and drank it down, staring at all the people in the house. He looked between Ashera and his brother for a few moments before asking,
"You actually got a healer from the village? I thought they were going to refuse after all I and this village have done!"

Jocasta sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Look, when I suggest healing someone, I don't want you to kill yourself doing it. Look at them, see if it's possible, then try healing. Save yourself and save your squad. Everything else comes after."

Ashera gave a meek nod, then looked over at the man in the bed. Taking an inventory of his injuries from afar, she set about making a healing tea for herself and the man from the herbs and plants in her bag.

With Ashera settled, Jocasta turned to the man's brother.

"What did you say you and this village did?"

The man suddenly looked very nervous and shook his head, shaking slightly.
"I can't..." he said, "they'll be upset if I say..."
He continued to mumble incoherently to himself for a while, as though debating something with himself. In the meantime, Ashera had finished with the tea and set some beside the man while drinking some herself. When she finished drinking, she moved away from the two men and sat down just outside the house to rest.

Jocasta sighed.

"Look, you've got a very scary woman standing in your house right now, and I have no problem getting scarier. Why don't you just give in now and make this friendly?"

Myrddin looked interested in the subject, but kept quiet as he didn't want to risk irritating Jocasta further.

The man seemed to weigh his options for a moment, then sighed and looked up at Jocasta.
"I didn't want to be involved, but they said they needed someone who was blessed by our spirit, and they made me do it. They said if I told anyone they would hurt her..."
The man trailed off, clearly upset and almost crying.

Jocasta reached up and rubbed her face with one hand.

"Fuck. We're right in the middle of some hillbilly feud, aren't we? Spirits above, I never should have left headquarters."

The man in the bed looked down at his covers, looking embarrassed. His brother stared at him in shock, not having known about him being involved.

Jocasta took a couple of steps towards the bed.

"Look. I don't want to hurt you, since first of all, glow-girl here just about killed herself healing you and second, I'm a mercenary and I don't hurt people if I'm not getting paid to. That said, I've had a bad couple of days, so you'd better start talking or, Zath and Shara above, I'll make you wish you were still dying."

The man looked from Jocasta to the other people in the room and decided that his chances were better if he told them everything.
"I didn't want to be involved, but they forced me into it...I thought they were just going to steal a statue or something, but they didn't...I tried to stop them, but they were too strong for me, and they said if I didn't go along with it they'd kill my brother. They...they took a little girl from the other village...she's blessed, so I think they wanted her here in case she developed healing abilities...I was going to get help and take her back when we returned, but they said if I told anyone they'd hurt her, and I didn't want to be responsible for that...But Zath was angry, and, well, you can see what happened."

Myrddin was shocked, "you stole a child?" he asked, dumbfounded, "a blessed child, at that, and didn't think there'd be repercussions? Whose idiot idea was that?"

"I was scared...I didn't know how to stop them...I may be blessed, but I don't have any powers that could intimidate anyone...please help me get her back to her family! I'll even pay you what I have to do it! I have to make things right..."