Archives: Lost Humanity
Chapter 6: Healing for Myel-Elina
Myel-Elina began to follow Aroal in the street. She had been in Dragon Scale once with her mentor, but she didn’t have precise memories of it. Her hurt and the journey had exhausted her, but she felt glad to walk. She didn’t like much to ride, even with a good rider as Elainne. Furthermore, she preferred the cities and their animation to the wild.
“It’s been a while since I was in such a city,” Myel-Elina told her companions. “As a bard, I never stay long in the same place, but I really like the time spent in towns. Do you know how long we will stay here?”
“It depends on what Al intends to search for,” Aroal replied. “It could be days, but I suspect it’ll be longer that two weeks, unless he finds his sorcerer.” The barbarian led the way along the main road at a slow pace for the sake of Myel-Elina’s shoulder.
Sara followed along, staring at anything and everything with her jaw just shy of the ground. A few times, she stumbled over her own feet but managed to regain her balance. “A sorcerer; do you think one can cure Al or would he just give Al control over it?” Sara questioned as if she was talking about herself, but was careful not to lead to much into it. “I think such a feat if controlled could be a blessing,” she commented, thinking about the power it provided.
“I don’t think so,” Myel-Elina answered to Sara. “Even if it can be ‘controlled’, this power only deals death and destruction. Even someone with a wonderful will like Al could not avoid the damages it can provide. Furthermore, the temptation to use that feat would be hard to resist, especially for someone who fight with determination and conviction. I don’t think such a curse could be a blessing.”
Acting as if she wanted to look at a shop, Myel-Elina stopped for a while. She was exhausted, but she didn’t want to admit it. “But I don’t know much about such things. I only know what legends and songs tell of such curses. I hope I’m wrong and you’re right.”
If they knew nothing, Aroal probably knew less. The barbarian shook her head. “I have no idea how one would be cured. All I know is that when someone was foolish enough to take a cursed item in my tribe, they either died, had to be killed, or were banished,” she replied.
* * *
Elainne was further down the street haggling with a merchant trying to get the goblin armory off of her back. “Listen, all I’m asking for is four Raiden. I know how much this is really worth, and you’re getting it really cheap,” she argued.
The merchant laughed. “I wouldn’t pay thirty copper for this stinking mess.”
“Three Raiden,” Elainne growled.
“Two gold,” the merchant retorted.
“Two Raiden, nine platinum,” Elainne returned his offer.
“One platinum,” the merchant stated.
“One Raiden.” She was beginning to lose her patience for the man. “Help a girl out. I’m adventuring to keep my sister from prostituting, and my father is ill. My mother works for a cruel man who takes liberties of her flesh nightly.” She half turned from him. “I need this money to pay to the church back in Flaim to get my father healed and to keep food on the table. My poor seven year old sister...” Elainne forced her tears out, bawling right there in the street to persuade the merchant to let go of some coins.
“Oh...dear child...that’s terrible...” The merchant touched her shoulder. “Here, I’ll buy it for 6 platinum, but that is all I can spare...” The man held out the coins.
Choking back her facade, Elainne snatched up the coins and stuck out her tongue. “All sales are final,” she stated as she boldly walked off leaving him with the stinking goblin arms.
* * *
If they knew nothing, Aroal probably knew less. The barbarian shook her head. “I have no idea how one would be cured. All I know is that when someone was foolish enough to take a cursed item in my tribe, they either died, had to be killed, or were banished,” she replied.
Elainne returned towards the inn, seeing Aroal, Myel-Elina and Sara walking towards her. She ran up to the three of them and grinned widely. “Girls night out?” She questioned. She realized that Mieijha wasn’t in the group. She must be with Master Al...OH NO!! Not waiting for anyone to respond, Elainne dashed down the road to save her master from the womanly wiles of the elf woman.
Aroal watched Elainne dash off franticly, then looked over her shoulder to see if anything was the matter behind them. Seeing nothing, Aroal shrugged. “What’s up with her?” she mused.
Myel-Elina was not surprised by Elainne’s behavior: she was astonished! “I don’t know,” she answered to Aroal. “I understand she might want to rest in the inn, but what a hurry! I hope nothing is going wrong with her—or with Al.”
They went on their trip to the temple. The street was emptying as the light was fading. “Well, is the temple still far?” Myel-Elina asked Aroal.
Aroal nodded and continued walking. “The temples are in the center of town. Which would you prefer, Marfa or Falis?” the barbarian asked.
The bard’s face darkened at the name of Falis. She hoped the twilight would hide her grimace and no one would notice. “For some personal reasons, I prefer to have no business with the temple of Falis. As you said, Sara, every one has a curse. Mine has a link with the Temple of Falis in Roid...”
It took Sara a second. “Master Al has been left in the hands of another women,” Sara joked. Although, in after thought, she looked back at Elainne and started laughing. “That girls got her head in some man cloud,” Sara stated while putting her hands on her hips and walking like she was high and mighty for a second.
“Oh! Now I understand,” Myel-Elina answered with a light smile. “It‘s quite funny, but I cannot blame her. Traveling with a master and a man as Al must create more links than only the relation between squire and knight. I really like them two. Their story is worth some song, don’t you think?” The bard’s face and voice were jovial, but the shadow of a concern veiled their eyes for an instant. I only don’t know whether the conclusion would be an happy one.
“I do,” Aroal replied to Myel-Elina. “The tale of a female squire would be inspiring.” The barbarian only wished she was raised in Lodoss where she might have had the sort of opportunity as a child that Elainne had.
As the trio approached the center of town, the two largest temples, stationed across the street from each other, were devoted to Falis and Cha Za. There was no Marfa temple in sight, though Aroal was unaware of a small shrine to the Goddess of Creation that was in the neighborhood.
“Well, Myel, let’s see the Cha Za priests then,” Aroal said, looking between the two temples, scratching her head.
Looking back with disgust at the temple of Falis, Myel-Elina followed Aroal into the temple. She’d had no relation to religion since her mother’s burial, and had never entered a temple since. But Cha Za was fine with her. Anyway, her hurt was to be cured , and the priests of the God of Trade were famous for their healing faculties.
The barbarian led the way up the steps to the temple. Compared to temples of Falis and Marfa, Cha Za temples were decadent. Their statues were gilded, while other temples’ were carved from marble. The Cha Za priests and priestesses didn’t wear uniform robes, but instead were usually clad in fashionable styles of white silk and adorned with jewelry. They weren’t greedy, however, just financially blessed, and they passed that blessing on whenever sought.
As the three women ventured into the temple, they were met by a priestess. A fair woman with long, silky brown hair and eyes, the priestess was dressed in an interesting outfit of white and gold silk with heels to match. Cleavage and legs were visible and the outfit clung to her mild curves, quite unlike the modest robes of clerics in other religions.
“Welcome to the temple of Cha Za. How may I be of service?” the priestess asked eloquently, with a slight exotic slur to her voice.
“My companion is in need of healing. She was struck by an arrow on the road,” Aroal explained.
“Ah, let me see the wound,” the priestess said. “I am surprised you came here and not to the Falis temple,” she commented.
Myel-Elina uncovered her shoulder with a grimace. The arrow had not penetrated deep into the flesh, but the top was still in. The pale skin of the bard displayed a strange purple shade around the wound, and the lesser contact was painful. I am more sensitive than the others. Zylan, Mieijha, Elainne or Sara would not have ever grimace to that pain, to say nothing of Al and Aroal. The bard looked at the priestess. Let’s imagine something to convince her.
Myel-Elina’s expression was humble and she seemed suddenly frail. Her voice was unsure, and every one who heard it had the sudden will to comfort her from her sorrow. “I… I thought Cha Za would be better,” she answered with a hesitating voice. “My uncle was a priest of Cha Za, he was great man. He… Well, before a goblin cut his throat, he wanted to introduce me to a Cha Za temple…” Myel-Elina began to cry. “After that, my two companions decided to take me with them. That’s why I thought of Cha Za temple after I was hurt by rogues.” She discreetly winked to Aroal and Sara…
Sara was at a loss to why Myel would lie to a priestess. She leaned in to get a real close look at the arrow wound. “Eeeewww! That looks bad, and gross,” she said as if she was a little girl. Sara stood straight and crossed her arms, then leaned over to the priestess, freeing one arm to hide her mouth with her hand, “Are you really going to touch that?” she whispered to the priestess.
The priestess examined Myel-Elina’s wound delicately. Unlike other orders, Cha Za priests were not as focused on medical care, though their healing was more than enough for such a wound. As she looked it over, she listened only partially the bard’s story. She didn’t seem very touched by it, since she was more focused on the wound.
Aroal was just as confused by Myel-Elina’s lie as Sara was. It served no purpose, the priestess didn’t need a reason to heal her.
“The arrowhead is still in the wound,” the priestess said as she stepped back. “I will have to preform a minor surgery to remove it. Please, follow me.” She turned to lead them further into the chapel.
As Sara walked by all the books in the temple and took note of all the titles. She wondered if they had any info on lycanthrope. So she walked a bit closer to them to get a better scan.
Lycanthropy wasn’t a subject Sara could easily find a book on in the Cha Za temple. Most of their books were on business practices, laws, and religious history. Falis and Marfa temples were more focused on healing, and if knowledge was what she sought, the Rada temples always had extensive libraries.
The priestess led the way into a hallway behind the temple. It was lined with doors to small rooms that served many purposes; bedrooms for guests, places for private discussions between merchants and priests, and less often, a place to tend to sick parishioners.
The priestess led them into the closest room, which was small, but warmly decorated. It had a small bed and vanity against the wall, a square table in the center of the floor, and a wardrobe next to the door.
“Please, take a seat at the table,” the priestess instructed Myel-Elina after the three women entered. She turned to the wardrobe, which had a plain robe hanging in it, and shelves full of sheets and assorted items that were helpful to what ever purpose the room was serving. The priestess took a wooden case and a cloth from the wardrobe and set it on the table to open. It contained a collection of surgical supplies for instances such as this, when more than healing was required.
Myel-Elina sat at the table with a little apprehension. She didn’t even doubt of the abilities of the priestess, but the idea of surgery made her uneasy. However, the attitude of the cleric was calm and appeasing, and the presence of Aroal and Sara comforted her. But she feared more to cry during the surgery than to suffer. She began to softly hum a song to give her courage and to close her eyes.
Her mind began to slide slowly between consciousness and dreams. She saw all the events since the last days evening, the howls, the meeting, the songs. The departure, the journey, and the attack appeared in her vision, but they were distant. She felt once again the hurt, but the pain was fading. Then she saw Al’s fury, felt the dark power as a horribly dissonant music. A instant later, she was entering a temple of Cha Za for some reason…
The priestess quickly set to work on the wound, a collection of bangle bracelets chiming on her wrists. She used a numbing salve on Myel-Elina’s wound, but the bard seemed to have slipped into a trance to escape the potential pain. With the wound numb, the priestess nimbly used a scalpel to open the wound, then with a slim pair of forceps, removed the steel arrowhead, causing as little damage as possible. The whole surgery was preformed with a grimace; while she was obviously very competent in medicine, the priestess was more accustomed with the luck and trade aspects of her religion.
With the cloth, she wiped up the blood from the wound, then set the instruments aside and laid her hands on Myel-Elina’s wound. “Holy Cha Za, lend me your power to heal this unfortunate wound,” the priestess prayed in her exotic slurred accent. A holy light glowed about her hands and the bard’s wound healed.
“There, we are finished,” the priestess said, withdrawing her slightly bloodied hands from the now non-existent wound.
Aroal had patiently stood by through the surgery and healing, unphased by the entire procedure. She’d dealt with worse wounds on her own body than to be bothered with a minor arrow removal.
Myel-Elina finally opened her eyes. She was in a small room, three other women were there. One of them was obviously a priestess. It took several minutes for the bard to remind where she was and why she was here.
The pain in her shoulder had entirely vanished, but she felt tired. She looked at the priestess with a smile. “Thank you.” She told the healer. “May I ask you something? My uncle was once looking for someone around Dragon Scale. A powerful mage, if I remember well. We’d like to meet him. Have you ever heard of such a man?”
Sara watched quietly. She couldn’t find the book she was looking for. Sara then turned to Aroal and admired her strength from were she stood.
The priestess paused for a moment, pressing her finger to her pursed lips. “We have a small branch of the Mages’ Guild in the city, but I know of no individual wizards that you may be seeking,” she replied. She raised her head to look at all three women. “Would any of you like blessings on your weapons? It will bring you greater luck in battle, and perhaps in your search.”
Aroal considered the offer. Her pride scoffed at the idea of enhancing her skills with magic, but a blessing for luck could do well for the whole party. It was a blessing from a god, after all. “I would be honored to have your blessing,” Aroal said, bowing to the priestess respectfully.
“You would bless us with so little knowledge of us? That’s awesome...I mean I’d be honored if you would bless my arrows,” Sara said with excitement. She was still young and full of joy, so she could get away with it.
The priestess smiled a little to Sara. “Ultimately, it’s up to Cha Za to give and take then gift. The blessings are stronger for those with faith, and weaker for those with little. Those who follow Cha Za’s nemeses are unable to receive the blessing,” the priestess explained in her slurred accent. “Please, lay your weapons down upon the table to receive a blessing.”
Aroal listened with interest to what the priestess had to say. She was raised in a culture that worshiped the dark gods out of fear, but since coming to Lodoss, she had been more actively following the light gods. Taking her axes from her belt, she laid them upon the table and stepped back.
Myel-Elina laid her dagger upon the table. She was not eager to receive Cha Za’s blessing, and reluctant to use her dagger once more, but she might have to fight again, and the god’s blessing would be more than useful.
“The blessing would be better placed on your bow,” the priestess replied to Sara, realizing that arrows were quickly wasted.
Once the ranger’s bow was laid upon the table, the priestess closed her eyes and held her hands over the collection of weapons and began to chant. “Holy Cha Za, God of Trade and Luck, bestow these items with good fortune.”
A faint golden aura surrounded the priestess’s hands and the weapons under them. As she chanted the spell a few more times over, the aura glowed a little brighter. Her eyes opened and she withdrew her hands. “The blessing has took. You may take your weapons,” the priestess explained, then stepped back.
Aroal moved forward and picked up her axes. Clutching them to her chest, she bowed to the priestess. “Thank you,” she said in earnest, then stepped back to let Sara take her weapon. The barbarian examined her axes before sheathing them, but there was no sign of the change to her eyes.
Sara lifted her bow and smiled. “Thank you,” she replied with a lifted spirit.“You know, we should probably make our way back, just in case Elainne is getting herself in to trouble with out us,” Sara said with curiosity as to what Elainne was up to.
Aroal nodded to Sara and a small smile turned up the corner of her lips.
Once Myel-Elina took back her weapons, the three women bid farewell to the priestess. They left the Cha Za temple and headed back to the inn.
