Adder's Bite
1341 Words
As the girls walked back toward the Kala'ree pavilion they chattered contentedly, feeling more normal than they had since the attack on their towns. Their Ula'mor companion had not said a word to them and Kaia looked up at him curiously. He was incredibly tall and even Kaia who stood over a head taller than the other two girls had to crane her neck to look up at him as he strode along beside them. His face was still shrouded but he turned his head locking his dark brown eyes with her blue ones. Kaia could see no menace in his eyes, only cold indifference as he looked down on her. Kaia wondered what the rest of his face looked like underneath the strip of black fabric that covered him from the nose down. Realizing she was staring she quickly turned to face in front of her, but not before she thought she saw a spark of curiosity in the Ula'mor's gaze. Sarah and Mary, oblivious to the awkward encounter between them were still chatting about what they wanted to eat for breakfast as they entered the center of the encampment. They made their way toward their tent when Kaia spotted Azra speaking to a group of Kala'ree nearby. The Ma'Kala'ree looked up as they approached and greeted them with a smile.
"There you are, I was beginning to wonder where you'd gone off to." She said warmly, looking at the three of them. She turned her gaze up to the Ula'mor warrior. "Thankyou Carzak." She dismissed him in Razaaki. The warrior bowed his head, turned on his heel and strode off to a group of Ula'mor sitting around a camp fire nearby. Azra turned back to the Creesan girls and spoke, "You two can go find your mentors," She gestured to Sarah and Mary, "I'm sure they have some training planned for you. And you Kaia can come with me," Kaia felt a small surge of excitement. Azra had been so busy that Kaia had spent very little time with her since she had been named Azra's apprentice. The Ma'kala'ree gestured her to follow and turned, her red silks swaying from the movement and Kaia trotted after her. They made their way toward a large tent that Kaia had never entered but had often seen Kala'ree and Ula'mor coming in and out of. As they made their way through the entrance Kaia immediately realized it was a hospital. A few Ula'mor lay spaced evenly around the room on make shift cots consisting of heavily blanketed sleeping mats. Some seemed to be nursing only minor injuring's while others had large bandages wrapped around an arm or a leg. They all turned to look as the Ma'kala'ree entered with Kaia trailing behind her. She thought she saw some curiosity in their unmasked faces when they caught sight of her, but she kept her head down, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. Azra pulled her off to a private corner and spoke quietly,
"This is our infirmary, although Ula'mor all receive basic healing training but the Kala'ree are far more advanced in the arts. The Yaigul in particular," she gestured to a Kala'ree in yellow who was kneeling by the side of a Ula'mor, "Receive the most extensive training in healing, which takes years to master." Kaia watched the Yaigul dressing a wound with a thick yellow paste with careful, methodical movements. Azra continued, "Do you have any training in healing?" She asked. Kaia looked at her, she did not want to disappoint her mentor but she decided to answer honestly, she shook her head,
"No, none at all." Azra nodded.
"Good, no bad habits to unteach then." She said, and Kaia sighed with relief. "We shall start simply, you can observe, ask questions and remember what I am doing." She waited for a moment and Kaia nodded in understanding. They strode over to an Ula'mor laying on his stomach. He was hunched over as if in pain and Kaia saw that his back and left are were bare and covered with huge ugly boils. She tried to keep her face calm and relaxed as the man glanced at her suspiciously. Azra ignored him and kneeled down by his side, patting the spot next to her for Kaia to join.
"Come to see the show?" The man's rough voice rumbled in Razaaki, sounding bitterly amused. Azra tutted at him, chastising,
"My apprentice is here to learn, now be silent or we'll wait until the rash spreads to you balls."
Kaia stifled a laugh, turning it into a cough. Azra flicked her gaze to her for a moment, looking amused. But the Ula'mor appeared not to have noticed and simply turned his head from them to face the other direction. Azra gestured to the large oozing boils on the mans back,
"Have you seen anything like this before?" She asked, reverting to Creesan. Kaia looked carefully at the rash, thinking hard. She had seen something similar before, but not nearly to this degree.
"It almost looks like the sting from a plant some children will get on their feet when they run through the forest with no shoes on. Adder's Bite, I think its called." She said carefully. Azra nodded, looking impressed.
"That's right, we call it Adai'kai." She said. Kaia was confused, this rash was far worse than she had ever seen.
"Why is it so bad? It is normally just a small annoyance for foolish children who run barefoot in the wrong place." Azra laughed then, a sound Kaia had not heard before. Her laugh was as beautiful as she was and all the men in the room, apart from the one laying next to them, looked over to see what was happening curiously. Azra ignored them, looking at Kaia,
"You're right, for your people Adai'kai is no big problem, but the plant does not grow in the desert, and we have no immunity to it. So when we come in contact with it, it forms a much bigger reaction. The rash forms these large boils filled with burning pus and it will spread until it is taken care of. Especially," She gestured to the big man who was still sulking, "when our foolish children decide to use the Adai'kai's large soft leaves to dry themselves after bathing." She said with a small smile on her face. Kaia gasped covering her shock and a little amusement that she couldn't contain. Azra smiled good naturedly along with her. Finally she clapped her hands together, "Alright let's get started, the first thing we must do is lance and drain the boils, then we apply a special healing salve to the entire infection, making sure it goes deep into the drained pustules." Kaia wrinkled her nose in disgust, but a stern look from Azra made her straighten up and nod. They set to work, Kaia holding a cloth wrapped around clean instruments for Azra to use, as she showed Kaia how to lance each boil with a long sharp needle and squeeze out the contents. It took ages, with the man occasionally groaning in pain during the process, but finally they had finished and Azra had Kaia assist her in layering on a thick brownish paste from a bottle which Kaia could read was labeled 'ADAI'KAI' . They left the wounds uncovered to breath and then Kaia strolled alongside Azra around the room, stopping at bedsides as the Ma'kala'ree explained various illnesses or injuries that plagued the warriors and how they had been treated. Finally they made it to the last bed in the infirmary. The man laying there was sitting up, with a thick blanket covering his legs and chest. One arm was in a sling, thickly wrapped and his right side of his face and head were obscured by a swathe of bandages. He was awake however and Aseem's wide grin was unmistakable, even through the coverings.
"Finally! I thought it was going to take all day for me to be seen".
- Writer
