Thick strands of webbing shot forth from the walls of the tunnel periodically throughout the entire column. Entangling a good two thirds of the entire group. Startled cries left throats as their movement was taken away from them and they were now left helpless.

  Those who were quick on the uptake immediately started trying to cut the sticky strands of webbing freeing their allies. They weren’t quick enough. Once the trap was set off the sea of spiders in the room ahead of them turned their attention towards their side tunnel. Hundreds of spiders all broke off and charged at the tunnel.

  Most of the column was distracted by either being completely entombed in web or freeing those restrained, and didn’t notice the spider's charge. When they connected with the humanoids it was devastating. The once organized and orderly ranks were quickly torn apart as they began to die with little change.

  Their only saving grace was once again Meira. Her quick thinking saved the lives of all of the assembled soldiers. As the trap was going off she understood that they would be in trouble without something to slow down the spiders so she quickly started casting her air barrier. The next little grace came when she was actually outside of the effective range of the spider's trap. Due to her pure strategic importance they had her traveling near the middle of the pack, in the safest place they could have her.

  The pockets of webbing ended up entangling those in front, behind, and to her right. But she was blessedly free. Bjorn on the other hand got caught in the web and was immobilized. This allowed her spell shield to blossom into existence and effectively block off the tunnel giving them some breathing room.

  It wasn’t fast enough though. As a good 20 spiders made it through and were wreaking havoc on the immobile humanoids. Elves, humans, dwarves, and gnomes began to fall in droves as they began to deliver the coup de grace. Their numbers began to quickly diminish.

  They didn’t stand still during the ordeal though. For each humanoid who was bound up and immobilized there were two more who were free and they began to work on freeing their brethren. A small contingent of soldiers broke away from the freeing effort and engaged the spiders slowing their rampage through their force.

  The bad situation turned worse as the next nefarious part of the spider's trap was realized. The cries for help quickly turned into screams of pain as the acid the webbing was coated in began to take effect and burn and eat the skin of the trapped humanoids. A disgusting stench and sizzling sound added to the chaos as parts of the trapped soldiers began to dissolve.

  You have come in contact with snatcher spider acid. You will lose 15 hp per second while in contact with the acid.

  Many of the soldiers began to redouble their efforts and free their companions, all while trying to limit their contact with the acid coated strands of webbing. While Meira had been casting her shield spell, Tayla had been trying to free Bjorn from the webbing. Even with her increased agility of being a professed rogue she still got snagged on one of her arms. Fortunately for her she was able to free her arm before the acidic effect of the web could start to eat away at her. She had quickly turned towards Bjorn and started to free him.

  “Why didn’t the danger sense potion warn me?” Bjorn thought to himself as Tayla was working on freeing one of his arms. That thought was quickly followed by “Ow, ow, ow. That shit burns, get me out of here.”

  Bjorn never would get an answer as to why his danger sense potion failed to warn him about the trap. But if he thought about it, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out. When they neared the ongoing battlefield they had been ordered to join the rear guard. This put the triggering mechanism for the trap outside of the range of his danger sense potion. Earlier when Bjorn neared the trap he and Laurel set the only thing that got highlighted was the triggering mechanism. In a completely boneheaded move Jenkins had ordered his two best scouts to move to the rear. A move that was actively costing them lives.

  By the time everyone figured out that the first priority was to free their allies they had been trapped for several seconds. In the best case scenario they barely took any damage before being freed. Most got free around the 2/3rds or half hp area. Bjorn was in the former, Tayla’s quick reaction saved him much pain leaving him with over 80% of his health. Of the 26 that got trapped in the web 11 were freed. 8 were killed by the spiders while they were immobilized. And the remaining 7 expired because their friends weren’t quick enough to free them.

  Just as the last were being freed from the sticky webs a piercing crashing sound sounded through the tunnel. Bjorn snapped his head towards the sound. There was a press of spider bodies that had pressed against the air shield. Their combined weight and attacks quickly ate through the shields hp and not even 10 seconds after it came into existence it was shattered. Now once again free to rush into the tunnel their force was once again caught off guard as a sea of spiders came rushing down the tunnel towards the already beleaguered humanoids.

  Their situation quickly went from bad to worse as the press of spiders slammed into the disorganized group of guards. In less than 20 seconds the once invincible feeling mini army had lost almost half of its number.

  As the shield collapsed Meira began casting her summer storm spell once again while backing up as fast as she could without losing her concentration.

  Up until this point the fact that they had survived had been a matter of good luck and amazing fortune. That continued. As the front line of their force began to crumple under the onslaught of spider bodies Rickie stepped up. The professed Barbarian let out a yell which stunned the mass in front of him. The downside was it also hit his dying allies that were caught in the mass of spiders. At the same time the orc commander Gulnag also stepped forward. He was a mountain of muscle, almost a match for Rickie. Hefting a heavy war hammer and a large tower shield the two men stood side by side stemming the flow of spiders. Collectively the two men bought them a few seconds.

  A few seconds was all that Meira needed as she was able to complete her spell. Once again a small ball of water condensed on the palm of her hand and then shot forward through the mass of spiders. They weren’t able to see past the wriggling mass but the ball quickly expanded and the buildup of static electricity could be felt in the air.

  Once again their situation went from dire to manageable as her spell took effect and quickly stemmed the flow of spider bodies into the tunnel. The few seconds that Rickie and Gulnag were able to buy them was also enough for some of the beleaguered soldiers to recover enough and join the two mountains in stopping the spider's slaughter of their men.

  A badly burned Alaric stumbled forward pulling a potion from his belt and popping its cork upended the vial and the vibrant red liquid slipped down his throat, his visage quickly turned from grotesque to just bad. The tenacity of the dwarf could not be understated. He had also been caught up in the web and he had taken more damage then most of the guards as the web ate through his flesh, but that didn’t stop him. With his health teetering dangerously low he still joined the fight on the frontlines and started to help stop the spider's advance. Meira threw her only healing spell at Alaric trying to give him even a slight bit more of a chance to survive the ongoing fight before she started to cast her spells.

  Jenkins began to form his warband once again and assign roles. By the time Bjorn and Tayla had finished trying to save the soldiers around him Jenkins had added him to the scout role once again. When the list of people in the warband appeared in his vision he quickly took stock of the situation. The list was the same size as it was in the last fight, but the names were considerably different. This time it was Rickie, Alaric, Meira, Bjorn, Gulnar, 3 others that he didn’t recognize, and of course Jenkins himself. The 10th slot was filled with Jenkins ever present sycophant, Tommin, only this time the name was grayed out and the health bar that was present for everyone was completely empty.

  Small symbols began to appear next to peoples names again as the various roles began to get offered out. And again, each time a role was filled the person got the various different benefits from their different role.

  The situation had stabilized, but by no means was it a good situation. As the group fought their number continued to drop. By the time the group stabilized the once 76 strong group had dropped down to 28. Instead of being the hammer to the main army's anvil they had very quickly become a bug to be squished under the spider's feet. They had become the prey, and it was all they could do to not fall victim to that situation.

  Bjorn took up his position right next to Meira, before they left Jenkins had given the task to protect Meira to Bjorn. Jenkins orders be damned, Bjorn was willing to give his life for her long before he was ordered to. Even if Jenkins had ordered him elsewhere in the fight Bjorn would have moved next to Meira to help keep her safe while using his ranged capabilities.

  They fought, spells were slung, arrows shot, hammers swung and potions drank. As they fought against the onslaught they slowly were giving ground collectively as a group. Their numbers also continued to drop. The press of the mass of snatcher spiders were too much for their now diminished number to handle. And so they had to give ground. Their number quickly fell from 28 to 19. Then to 15.

  Just as all hope seemed lost the press of spiders abated. On the other side of the spiders they saw their salvation. The army had come to rescue them. Relief spread through their remaining ranks as what remained of the spiders attacking them were quickly cut down by the combined efforts of the two forces. As they finished their fight what was left of their force collapsed to the ground exhausted. Their fight for their lives took more out of them than they had to give.

  Their saviors quickly encircled them facing the two directions with the wounded soldiers in the center. They stayed that way for a few seconds before one of the guards snapped out. “Which one of you is in charge?”

  “That would be me.” Jenkins said from where he lay in the middle of the pack.

  “You need to get your men up, we aren’t safe here. We need to get you back to camp. Many of you are in need of healing and most of you aren’t fit to fight. If we are swarmed again we will all be lost.”

  Nodding Jenkins took in a breath to call out an order, but he never got to give that order. Everyone who had the strength to climb back to their feet did so immediately. They began to help those who didn’t have the strength back to their feet as well.

  During their retreating fight many of their number had fallen. Looking at the warbands life Bjorn saw that of the 10 in the party only 5 were left alive. Those five were Rickie, Bjorn, Alaric, Meira, and of course Jenkins. At some point during their retreat Gulnar’s foot got caught on a loose rock and he tripped. When they moved to save him they weren’t fast enough and the spiders quickly swarmed him. They couldn’t do anything but watch as the orc’s health bar began to rapidly plummet towards empty. They all knew it was over when the red bar quickly emptied out and the name turned gray and opaque.

  No one was at full health when the fight ended. But of their number the one who had taken the worst beating was Alaric. His health bar teetered near the bottom and it was flashing. His unconscious form lay still on the ground as two of the new guards moved to walk right over him.

  “No! You can’t leave him.” Bjorn called out to the two guards who just stepped over Alaric.

  “He will be dead soon, I am not going to risk your lives to bring a corpse back with us.” The guard who spoke to Jenkins said.

  Meira had been spent during their retreat, most of their survival could be attributed to her magic. The anguish in Bjorn’s voice roused her back to alertness. Her distant eyes cleared briefly and took in the situation. When her eyes fell on Alaric’s form they narrowed. She called up her magic one final time. Healing magic came pouring out of her hand and into Alaric’s body and his health bar slowly started to climb. With the spell finished she fell back unconscious.

  “She spent the last of her mana to heal him. He won’t die right away now. Pick him up and bring him back with us.” Bjorn said to the two men.

  They looked back at their commanding officer who nodded. Stepping back to Alaric they bent down and picked up the heavy dwarf and hefted him onto their shoulders carrying his limp body in between them.

  Another guard stepped forward to pick up Meira but Bjorn stopped him. “No, I got her.”

  The guard took a step back and gave Bjorn a skeptical look. Bjorn instead reached into his portable pocket and retrieved a stamina potion and drank it down. It felt like he mainlined caffeine directly to his veins. As the fatigue of the fight was washed away in an instant and his stamina bar began to steadily climb.

  Now recovered he bent down and placed his hands on Meira’s unconscious body and picked her up carrying her in front of him with her head leaning against his chest.

  Once collected the beleaguered group of soldiers made their way down the tunnel once again heading back the way they just came from.

  Halfway down the tunnel Tayla materialized next to Bjorn. “Hey, I thought you had run off.” Bjorn said to her.

  Her appearance was worse for wear. Her normally dark red skin was dyed a darker shade of red. There was a large gash on her face that was still actively pouring blood. The gash started at her left eye brow and ran all the way down to her chin. The socket that used to hold her eye was now holding one half of her eye as the other half was dangling out of her socket held a part of her body by the optic nerve. That section of eye was cupped in one hand and held up next to her face as she plodded forward.

  She gave Bjorn a small smile. “You aren’t going to get rid of me that easily.” A fit of coughing overtook her body as the smile quickly faded from her lips. “Don’t make me laugh you ass.”

  Her appearance startled the guards who saved them but upon seeing no one else reacting they relaxed and one of them even offered to help carry Tayla. She brushed him off and they continued.

  As they walked they fell into a mindless trudge walking back the way they came. Occasionally someone would rouse from their plodding and take in their surroundings, only to be reminded of what they saw that day. They walked through the corridor passing both their fallen comrades and spider corpses alike.

  When they made it back to their starting position they saw the mutilated corpses of friends who had been alive not even 20 minutes ago held upright by the acid webbing that had held them in place. The guards ushered them past the battle site and into the cavern.

  The main force had moved into the room and were pushing their way through the large room. 40ish feet away from where they stood was the backline of the army. It was a flurry of activity as people were moving every which way. Small groups moved forward to take the place of troops being either rotated out or retreating with hurt companions. It was common for two people to be carrying a limp body or screaming person in between them quickly making their way back through the large room.

  On the front of the battle they could see soldiers holding strong against the mass of spiders. Webs and arrows were being thrown every which way. Occasionally the tall tale glow of magic could be seen peppering the humanoids ranks. But each and every time that happened the magic casters presence was known. Each caster had the same effect on the battlefield of at least 10 other soldiers.

  “Come on, let's get you to the medics.” The guard said, turning and leading the soldiers under his command down the same tunnel as all of the injured guards took. It was the only way they had to get out of the room.

  They quickly made their way through the tunnel and it opened up to another large cavern. The cavern had some rough defenses that had been built in the opening. Wooden stakes were driven into the ground pointing towards the opening that the wounded were funneling through.

  Before them a large camp had been set up. Which was also a flurry of activity as support staff traveled every which way providing their services wherever they could. A large group came up to theirs and words were quickly exchanged. The wounded were handed over to the support staff and their saviors saluted before heading back the way they came.

  With little choice they followed after the support staff as they herded them through the camp. They didn't have to travel too far to get to the large section set up as the field hospital. Upon entering the area designated people quickly rushed over to the new large group of wounded fighters. They were separated into different groups and whisked away to different areas of the camp.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  When the attendants got to Bjorn and Meira they did a quick once over of both of them with confusion evident on their faces. Bjorn explained that they only had minor injuries and just needed a place to rest. The attendants nodded and directed them through the field hospital.

  It was a cruel reminder of the horror of wars. As they were walking through they passed by several people who had serious injuries. One person was missing a limb. The next person’s skull was visible as it looked like they suffered from some acidic webbing. Another had a 6 inch wide hole in her gut. All of them were still alive.

  Upon seeing the mass suffering Bjorn realized something. These levels and stat points were both a blessing and a curse. Someone who had a hole in their gut could still survive as long as they had hp to keep them alive. Back on earth that type of injury was a death sentence, but here with magic. Bjorn paused and shuddered at the implications. Someone could be kept alive with healing magic and forced to suffer through their injury. Everyone thinks of healing magic as a benevolent force that only does good. As he walked through the camp he realized its potential to do harm as well.

  Up until this point Bjorn had almost died several times. But each time he almost died from a multiple of wounds, rarely had it only been one large wound. So each time he was able to quickly heal up from either his increased regeneration, or a healing potion. He didn’t have to go through the long healing process. He was fortunate to not have suffered a large wound that would need time and magic to survive. Based on the wails of agony and moans of pain that left their mouths the magic didn’t do much to negate the pain they were suffering.

  The magical properties of his body were amazing. He was able to run faster than he ever could, he could lift weights he could never have done, hell, he had taken injuries he never could have survived back on earth. He was stronger, tougher, and more resilient than should ever be possible for a human. But now he was seeing the detriments to his magical body. Tens or even hundreds of people were all laying in this camp suffering from their wounds. All thanks to whatever magical healing this camp was using they were able to prolong their lives.

  The field hospital was swarming with people who were either checking on wounds, casting magic, or working with herbs. For every two people who were injured there was at least one healer dedicated to watching over those.

  Not all of the healing was a success. They passed on several occasions bodies who lay on beds unmoving with their spark clearly gone. Small two person teams were dedicated to moving throughout the small compound and removing those who weren’t able to be healed in time and expired.

  The attendant led he and Meira through the camp to a large open tent that had been set up with multiple low cots set up along one side. There were chairs set up sporadically throughout the space. The tent was filled with quite a few people who all sported minor injuries. They were those who were injured enough to need healing, but their situations weren’t dire enough to warrant immediate attention.

  “You may take any bed you wish.” The attendant said, before bowing and making her way back through the camp of screams and moans.

  Bjorn walked over to one of the empty beds and set Meira’s unconscious body down in it. After making sure she was as comfortable as he could make her he drug a chair over and sat down in it looking over her. Her condition wasn’t bad. She just had several small cuts and bruises that covered the parts of her body he could actively see. She just had one larger cut across her stomach from when one of the spiders got through and hooked her with one of its claws, it cut through her armor and the soft skin underneath with ease.

  He turned her onto her side and started to slowly and methodically remove her leather armor being as careful as he possibly could to not disturb her rest. After several minutes of slow attempts he was able to pull the cut leather from her body revealing the cut fabric underneath. Slowly and carefully he peeled the blood soaked cloth away from her skin getting a better look at the cut. The cut was wide and long but not deep. It ran from right below her right breast down to her left hip, it was slightly curved just barely traveling above her belly button. The blood seeping out had slowed dramatically, but there was a little still seeping out.

  Once he saw how the wound wasn’t too bad over all he picked his head up and gave the surroundings a better look. There were 30 beds in total in the tent, with roughly half of them occupied. There were roughly the same amount of chairs that were also occupied. The people who were in the tent had slings holding arms in place, or bandages covering wounds that covered their body. Many of the bandages were soiled by blood and puss that had seeped out of their improperly treated wounds. Off to one side was a neatly organized area filled with bandages, clean water, and various different healing herbs.

  Getting up from his seat he made his way over to where all of the different healing supplies sat. Upon closer inspection he was able to find needles, thread, cleaning solutions, and large bandages, all of which was exactly what he would need to treat Meira’s wound. He picked up what all he needed as well as a cup that he filled with the clean looking water, just to make sure it was clean he cast his purify water spell on the cup to make sure it was in fact sanitized. Much to his relief nothing came bubbling out of the water cup.

  He made his way back over to where Meira was laying. He set the stuff he brought over and set it on a small table that had been placed near the head of the bed. Reaching into his pack he pulled out a small vial that he prepared just for this occasion. One benefit he got from his time with Medera was all of the more mundane recipes he had learned from her. This one was a weak painkiller, which he planned for Meira to drink.

  Reaching down he placed one hand on Meira’s shoulder and gently shook. “Hey, wake up. I need you to drink this.”

  Meira stirred softly under his attempts to wake her. Her eyes fluttered lightly underneath her eye lids and then opened. Her soft forest green eyes met with his for a moment before his words sunk in. Her eyes drifted slowly down to the vial in his hand and the cup of water in the other. Without hesitation she took the vial and upended it, spilling the liquid into her mouth. She then took the cup of water and took a small drink from it. As she swallowed she let out a little cough and a grimace of pain crossed her face. She then handed the cup back over to him and lay back down, falling back asleep.

  Once she was asleep again Bjorn slowly and carefully started to pull her shirt up leaving her wound free to work on. He then took the cleaning solution and first applied to it one of the spare bandages he brought over then started to gently apply it to the wound site on her stomach. The first time he did so her body tensed up, but she didn’t wake up. The next time she tensed up less. By the time he was done with cleaning the wound she lay perfectly still each time the solution soaked bandage was applied to the wound area.

  With that done he stood up and walked back over to where all of the supplies were set, he pulled out a small candle that was buried in a small stack of candles. He walked over to where a small lantern was set out, lighting the candle he made his way back over to Meira’s side. Taking a small amount of the cleaning solution he washed his hands, he figured that this world likely had germs and bacteria as well, so better safe than sorry. Thinking about it, this world likely had magically enhanced germs and bacteria, who knows what that would do to those affected.

  Picking up his hooked needle he pulled some of the tread off of the spool. Its consistency was weird, it had a heavy waxy feeling. He pulled off 4ish feet of the thread before he used his knife to cut it, he then threaded it onto the needle. He then took the needle and heated it in the candle for 30 seconds letting the metal heat up and hopefully sterilizing it in the process. He then tied a knot off at the end of the thread and began to slowly and carefully stitch the wound back together. He didn’t know what he was doing, but he figured that his stitches would be better than nothing.

  It took well over an hour to stitch her fully back together. The entire time he was very careful not to pull too hard or go too deep with his needle. It went in one side of her skin and out the other, grabbing the sharp end he would grab it and gently pull all the thread through. The pain killer was still in effect because she didn’t stir at all while being stitched up. He was so engrossed in making sure he did a good job that he hadn’t noticed a healer walk in and come up behind him while he worked.

  The healer watched him work but didn’t say anything. He stood there watching for a good quarter of an hour before Bjorn finished. When he finished he looked up startled to have someone standing directly behind him, looking over his shoulder.

  “Tacky, but not bad.” The healer said before turning and walking further into the tent and started looking over the rest of the patients.

  By the time Bjorn was finished with sewing Meira back up he was exhausted, the invigorating effect of the stamina potion having worn off hours ago. Still he had work to do. He stood up and took the needle and thread back over to the supply area and replaced the tread. There was a small basin that was filled with dirty tools. Bjorn dropped the needle into it and walked back over to where Meira lay.

  Seeing how she hadn’t stirred he laid his head down on the bed next to her and drifted off to sleep.

  When he next awoke the healer was nowhere in sight. Meira still hadn’t made any signs of stirring. Sitting up he looked around, the beds which had been half full now were completely filled. There was a man sitting on a chair right behind where Bjorn had slept. “Did we win?” Bjorn asked the man.

  Instead of responding with words the man just slowly nodded as his eyes stared off into the distance not seeing anything.

  He turned back around to check on Meira, who was sleeping peacefully. He noticed upon waking that the camp was quiet. It was disconcerting, so he stood and started to walk over to the edge of the tent. Once he stepped outside of the canopy of the tent the sounds of pain and agony filled the entire cavern. A frown crossed Bjorn’s face, so he stepped back under the canopy and the sound went away. Just to make sure he wasn’t crazy he stepped in and out of the tent several times. Settling back into the blissful silence Bjorn started to survey the tent.

  Over where all of the supplies were, a single orc woman in a white gown was working on collecting supplies. Bjorn walked over to where she was moving almost frantically. “Hey, are you here to heal these people?”

  She stopped for a second looking up at Bjorn, surprised. “Yes, I was tasked with looking over everyone here.”

  Looking into her face he could see that she was overwhelmed. “I don’t know a lot about healing, but I do know a little. I will gladly help you if you want it.”

  After hearing his words there was no discernible change in her demeanor. After a few seconds she nodded. “Very well, start with him, him, and her.” She pointed to two people who had cuts and their wounds didn’t seem too bad, but if left untreated they could worsen.”

  “Will do. Oh and when she wakes up.” Bjorn pointed to where Meira was sleeping. “She has access to a single healing magic spell, she will gladly help out as well. I just wanted to let you know so you aren’t startled when she starts to cast magic in here.”

  Hearing that got the woman to relax, her tense shoulders dropped and the worry lines on her face disappeared. “Thank you, I really appreciate it. You are both welcome to do whatever you can to help.”

  Bjorn then left the woman and went to work. Over the next few hours Bjorn spent it cleaning wounds, changing bandages, sewing up minor cuts, and purifying water whenever they ran out of clean water. Not far outside the tent there was a small well that had been built long ago. The well is the reason why the field hospital was set up in this section of the cavern. When they ran out of clean water the orc lady picked up the bucket and started to walk off through camp. Bjorn called out to her and convinced her to take water from the well. Although they had water nearby the water apparently was not clean water and needed to be purified before being used.

  Her eyes almost jumped out of her skull as she watched Bjorn cast his purify water spell. She looked at him and then at where Meira was laying eyes wide. “Thank you for your help.” She said and gave Bjorn a bow.

  “Stop that. You don’t need to bow to me. Let’s get back to work. We have people to help save.”

  They then went back to work, and each time their clean water ran out Bjorn gathered more and purified it once again. After a few hours of work Meira finally stirred.

  She sat up and looked around groggily and her eyes frantically searched for Bjorn. When she saw his back leaned over the leg of a woman she relaxed. She then took in her surroundings. After a few minutes of that she swung her legs off of the bed and got to her feet. Walking over to where Bjorn was working she placed her hand on his back and took a look at what he was doing. The woman’s leg was black and blue right around the middle of her shin. It also was also held straight by two pieces of wood tied to either side of her leg.

  “Broken leg?” She asked as Bjorn worked on securing the splint.

  Without looking up he replied. “Yeah. She got knocked to the ground and one of our guys moved forward to save her. He saved her life but unfortunately stamped down on her shin, breaking both of the bones in her leg.”

  “Hmmm. What was the skill level needed to learn that weak mend bone spell?” Meira asked.

  “I think 7. Let me finish up here and I will check.” Bjorn deftly tied off the splint and checked with his patient making sure she was comfortable. He then stood and together the two of them walked over to the supply station where the orc lady was now working on washing some of the bandages. Bjorn then reached into his portable pocket and pulled out the weak mend bone spell book that had been sitting in his pocket for almost a year.

  The actions of the two caught the attention of the healer, who looked over to see what they were doing as she worked. When she saw the ornate spell book in Bjorn’s hands her eyes almost fell out of her head again. “Is that a spell book?” She asked her tone a mix of reverence and incredulity.

  Bjorn simply nodded. “Yeah, it is. It is a spell book of weak mend bone, we are just making sure that Meira is able to learn it.” Bjorn did just that, he used his W.A.I.L.A. ability on the item in his hands.

  “Yeah, you were right. It takes a skill level of 7 in life magic to learn it.” Bjorn said.

  “That shouldn’t be too hard, I have a skill level of 6 now, and by the looks of those injured here I bet I can get to 7 here.” Meira said.

  The orc just stood there looking between the two. “Who are you? How is it that you both have spell casting?”

  They looked at each other and then back at the women. “Uh, we are just adventurers who have had good and bad misfortune.” Meira said.

  “Still, that book is worth more money than I have ever made in my entire life.” The woman said. “How do you have it?”

  Bjorn was very conscious of the other spell book he had in his portable pocket. “Like I said we had some fortunate circumstances. We were enslaved in a gnoll camp and after it was wiped out by drow we found that book in the wreckage.”

  The look of incredulity just got worse. “Anyways, let’s get back to work, I have a skill level to gain.” Meira said before turning back around and heading over to one of the more injured people. She immediately started casting her weak slow heal spell and the open wound that had been struggling to scab over started to knit itself back together.

  It was another hour before Meira had gotten that skill level. When she did she walked over to Bjorn, got the skill book and took a seat in the corner of the tent. Picking it up she began the absorption process, which was a success. Everyone in the tent who was cognizant of what was happening stared in wonder at the entire process.

  Once she had her new spell she started using that. As people’s injuries were healed they would make their way out of the tent and go report to their commanding officer. So by the time she was able to cast her new mend bone spell there were very few people left in the tent. Most of them had some sort of broken limb. Her new magical capabilities were amazing. It allowed her to basically return every single one of the injured soldiers back to full strength over a few hours.

  Now that he was basically useless Bjorn took his leave to find food for him and Meira. After a quick search he was able to find the mess tent where he got some smoked jerky and stale bread for both of them. By the time he made it back to the field hospital Meira was almost done with the healing. The last person she got to was actually the woman with the broken leg. It took multiple castings of her mend bone spell to fully fix both of the bones. She then used her weak slow heal a few times on the woman to repair any damage to the tissue around the break.

  By the time she was done Meira looked drained once again. Her normally pristine posture was slumped and hunched over as she sat in one of the now empty chairs. Bjorn brought the food over and the two of them ate in silence, both thoughts wandering all over the place.

  The orc walked over and gave a little bow to Meira and Bjorn. “Thank you very much, you both have done more in the last few hours than I could have done myself in a week. I will go and report this to my commanding officer. I am sure if you are willing they would welcome your healing magic to help out the more intense cases.”

  Meira looked weary at the thought of going through that again. “Maybe in a bit, I need some rest before I commit to anything.”

  “Of course, I wasn’t suggesting right away, just something for you to keep in mind that would help out greatly. You can do things that no one without magic can do.” She gave another small bow before backing away and out of the tent.

  Once they finished their food they sat there quietly. “How are the others?” Meira asked.

  “I haven’t checked on Alaric or Tayla, I was going to go seek them out but I didn’t want to leave you alone.” It was a few moments before he continued. “Chase is dead.”

  “I know.” Meira replied in a solemn voice. “I watched him burn to death in the webbing. I made a choice, I could have likely saved him. But instead I decided to try and save all of us. I don't know why Jenkins ordered you and Tayla back to the back of the formation. But he needs to pay for this. This can't go unpunished.”

  “I don't think he will. We have met Gram, he doesn't seem like the type to just let something like this go. If I was to venture a guess Jenkins is ears deep in shit right now.”

  “You're probably right.” Meira shifted and a grimace crossed her face.

  “You didn't heal yourself?” Bjorn asked. “Why not heal yourself first before working on the others.”

  “Its just a little pain, I can handle that. They needed it more. But I think it's about time I take care of myself.”

  Meira then placed her hand over her stitches, her hand briefly glowed and tension that Bjorn hadn’t noticed she had left her face as relief washed over her. Once the spell's cooldown had elapsed she cast the spell again. She then lifted up her still blood covered shirt and looked down at her stomach. The stitches that had been holding her skin together were nowhere to be seen.

  Bjorn took a closer look at the wound site and still nothing. It was like they never existed to begin with. If the thread was still there they should be able to see at least something. The pitch black thread would have stood out if it was still in her body, but no, all he could see was the smooth unblemished skin that normally covered her flat stomach.

  Meira just shrugged. “Oh well. Do you still have my spare shirt?”

  Bjorn reached into his portable pocket and pulled out a pale green shirt that Meira had picked out because it matched her eyes. Without hesitation she started to pull off her bloodstained shirt. Bjorn’s eyes grew wide and he turned his back trying to keep her decency. A foolish errand as they were standing in the middle of a completely open sided tent.

  Once she was changed she yawned deeply. “Go on and try and find our friends, I will be here and I will be fine.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t mind watching over you.”

  A smile crossed her lips. “As nice of a thought that is, It would be better for you to find out what happened to our friends. So go on, get!”