Amber Keep – Chapter 4 posted

[CinnaminDraconna]

Chapter 4 – And the wall came tumbling down

The repairs were going well, and what once looked like a vine covered ruin, was now looking more and more like an honest to goodness Keep. Master Builder Max was a true expert and he had everything running smoothly. Until..

“Boss lady?” he asked hesitantly, “I hate to disturb you, but have you hired any stonemasons?”

Rajani checked the records, but couldn’t find anything saying ‘stonemason’.. then she checked the original hiring note. “Hummm” she replied, “it doesn’t look like I asked specifically for stonemasons. Do we have to have them?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, yes” Max replied, “I know enough about masonry to get a job done and know when it’s a good or bad job. But when it comes to the actual work, you leave that to the expert.. a Master Mason.”

“Then I suppose I’ll need to send a message to the Stonemasons Guild” Rajani said, “I’ll ask specifically for a Master and a full crew.”

“Good, very good” Max said, “we’ll need them for many projects. But there goes my schedule, I’m going to have to put some projects on hold, work around some others, and start some smaller projects to keep the crews occupied.” Max looked very disappointed, like he had failed to live up to expectations.

“Max” said Rajani, “could my Earth magic help? If you could explain what needed to be done, I could probably work out how to make it happen.”

Max perked up immediately, “It won’t hurt to try. I know what needs doing. C’mon, boss lady.. let’s go fix some rocks.”

After a few experiments, they found that Max’s knowledge and Rajani’s magic worked well together. She’d still send for the Master Mason, but for now, she would help with the repairs. Between jobs, she tried to stay out of the way, so she found herself in the mess tent ran by Max’s wife, Sarah. Rajani brought her account books to the mess tent and she and Naldo, discussed the plans for re-opening the mine. Sarah kept them supplied with fresh coffee and snacks, and Max knew where to find her, when he needed her magic.

“Boss lady.. boss lady” screamed Little Max, apprentice and oldest son of Master Max, “come quick. There’s been an accident! Mickel’s trapped under a wall!”

Mickel was Milo’s 13 yr old son, he’d just been made an apprentice and was usually set to tasks that were more make-work than not. Rajani was grateful that the repairs had already taken care of the infirmary. It was the first thing Max had fixed after the worker’s quarters.

“Naldo, go open the infirmary and send me a stretcher and my medical bag” Rajani said as she headed for the worksite. Pointing to some nearby workers, “You and you.. follow Naldo and bring the stretcher and my bag to the worksite immediately. RUN!”

“Lead the way, Little Max” she said, as they ran for the worksite. As she ran she searched her pockets for amber, she almost always carried some amber with her, it was part of her Healing magic. Finding a few small pieces, she felt better about rushing into something without her medical bag. They arrived at the accident site and Rajani went into action. Mickel was lying half buried under what used to be the corner of a building. Max had a crew working to remove the rubble and Milo was holding his son’s head in his lap.

“Quickly Max” she said breathlessly, “I’ve got to check for bleeding and internal injuries, so get those rocks off of him. Milo, you stay right where you are and try to keep Mickel relaxed and still.. don’t let him move any more, or he might damage himself.”

She quickly placed a small flat piece of amber on Mickel’s forehead. She activated her magic and the boy seemed to relax. “I’m using the amber to take away some of the pain” she told Milo, “but it’s only a mask, so you have to keep him from moving.” The amber was glowing softly with a yellow light.. as it absorbed the boy’s pain, it got darker, and this would continue until the stone reached it’s energy limit and stopped working. But until then, the boy wouldn’t be suffering and that’s what mattered for now.

Next she started scanning the boy for specific injuries, he didn’t seem to be injured above the waist which was a good sign. But as Max and the workers uncovered the boy’s legs, she saw the real damage.. both legs were broken and one might be crushed. White bone stuck out of one thigh and he was bleeding sluggishly. She ripped off the sleeve of her robe and wrapped it around the bleeding thigh, placing another piece of amber directly against the bone and activating it with her magic to control the bleeding.

“We’ve got to get him to the infirmary so I can fix the damage to his legs” she said, looking around impatiently for the stretcher. Just as she was getting up to hunt them down, the two workers arrived with the stretcher and her bag. They carefully moved the boy on to the stretcher and lifted him up. Rajani rummaged inside the bag and brought out what she needed, placing several amber rods alongside the boy, then activating them. “The rods act as a stasis field. This way, the trip to the infirmary will have no effect on his injuries. Now run!” and they all took off running for the infirmary.

On the way, she asked Max what had happened. He replied, “I sent Mickel to measure that building and check it’s stability. He was only supposed to poke things gently and see if anything wobbled. Either he was too enthusiastic with his prodding, or the building was more unstable than I suspected.”

They arrived at the infirmary building and Naldo had everything ready. Rajani deactivated the stasis field and had Mickel transferred carefully to the exam table. “Milo, I need you to stay outside. Max, you stay, I’ll need your strength. Everyone else, except Naldo, OUT!”

Naldo had everyone outside quickly and closed the doors, promising updates as often as possible. He had helped his sister with healings before, so he knew what was needed and he quickly climbed up a special structure built just for him, which allowed him to be above the patient are ready to hand things to Rajani as she asked for them.

Rajani was now in a light healing trance as she scanned the boy for injuries and diagnosed the various problems. After a few minutes, she spoke “the good news is, that there are no internal injuries.. the bad news is, both legs are broken in multiple places.. his left hip is crushed and his upper thigh as well. That bad break where the bone is showing, looks worse than it is.. that’s just a simple fracture compared to the other leg.”

She spent the next several minutes gathering the supplies she would need and setting things where they were needed. She replaced the pain blocking piece of amber on Mickel’s forehead with a much larger piece that would last through the surgery. Before she started, she updated Milo and the other family members that had gathered in the interval. Smiling, she reassured them as best as she could, then returned to the job at hand.

The next couple of hours were messy, bloody and utterly gruesome to Max, who had never seen Rajani’s type of healing before. Using a combination of Healing magic and mundane surgery, Rajani took the broken and crushed bits of bone and fused them with pieces of amber to make new bones.. mixed blood with liquid amber, to replace blood lost from the injuries.. and using energy previously stored in amber, Rajani’s magic was augmented and enhanced, allowing her to heal muscle and tissue damage that would have taken weeks if left to heal naturally.

Next she turned her attention to the leg with the protruding bone fracture, this was why she had asked Max to stay. “Max, this is where I need your strength. While Naldo keeps his body still, I need you to pull firmly on Mickel’s knee, while I manipulate that broken bone back into place.”

Max was already a little green, and if anything, turned greener when he found out what Rajani needed from him. But after a couple of hard swallows, he nodded and moved into place as directed. Working together, the three of them got the bone back into place without much more damage to the leg. Again, Rajani fused amber and bone, repairing the damage like it was never broken. It would be weak for a while, but only for days rather than weeks.

Scanning the body one last time and sending healing energy throughout, she stepped back with a sigh. “We did it” she said with a smile, “he’ll be as good as new in a week or so. He shouldn’t even have a limp, if I did my job right.”

Leaving Naldo to clean up, she led Max out to the rest of the family. Milo was holding Sarah and trying to reassure her when they came out. “Mickel will be fine” she said, smiling, “Max was a rock and a great help.” Max blushed red, all the way down to his collar, as Milo hugged him hard. Milo and Sarah were both saying ‘thank you’ over and over, until Rajani spoke again.

“He’ll need to stay in bed for several days. The bones are no longer broken, but they are still weak and must not carry his weight for at least a week. The healing took a lot of energy from him, so he’ll likely do nothing but sleep for the next couple of days. Feed him broth or soup if he wakes, but don’t worry about real food until he’s fully awake again.

Rajani sent Mickel and family to their quarters with orders to rest, then turned back to Max and Naldo. “Thank you both” she said, “that would have been much harder without your help. Now I don’t know about you two, but I need a drink and food. That used a lot of energy, and I’m starving of the hunger.”

Laughing, the three headed for the mess tent.. their first crisis as a team behind them.

[freakazoid]

Oh my...that would hurt like hell.
Good thing they healed him. :3

[Inspirit]

Love it..
My goodness. Poor little Mickel but luckily they managed to heal his injuries.

[MSolara]

Poor Mickel O_O

And I want to hit the ones who don't like Rajani just because she is different. jerks.



*snorts* hehe I did not forgot about you xD, I liked this one a lot! I'll be waiting for the new chap!