The assault abruptly collapsed into a jagged silence. The strays slipped into the trees, and on the edge, a few painful groans and commands could still be heard, then only the scent of blood and smoke remained. I knelt beside Sera, took off my cloak, and tucked it under her shoulders over the blanket so the damp earth wouldn’t chill her. I was naked, yet I didn’t feel the cold. Only the heat of her skin, her short, shallow breaths.
“Keep the pressure, Darius!” the healer slid into the tent, already unpacking their bag on the way. “Here.” They pointed to the long scratch on her left side. “Cassian, light!”
Cassian pulled aside the tent flap, shoved a torch in, and stepped out to hold the cordon. The healer worked with quick, practiced movements: clean cloth, potion, needle, thread, tweeze
