Escape! (plot)

[dragon]

Dorava looked toward the infirmary as Aonith sent her the images that Crevesk had shared, and deflated. "The infirmary is overrun." She said, to the other two riders nearby. The stench of the dead Benden attackers nearby was starting to sift through her awareness.

"We had better not take Kalierre that way." She mentioned, slowly sifting to the ground in pain. Her spine hurt. But at least she was next to Kalierre ... and at least they didn't have to figure out how to move the woman across the river.

"Find me some sticks, smooth and straight. I need to splint her wrist before it becomes permanent. I don't suppose either of you have numbweed on you, do you?" She asked.

Softly and gently, she sifted through the unconcious Healer's clothing, looking for wounds. Thusfar, it only looked like surface bruises, beyond the broken arm, the strained hip injury ... Dorava hoped that the injuries sustained from being raped with a cane weren't too bad. There wasn't anything she could do for that away from the infirmary.

Tying torn clothing bits back together for some measure of decency, Dorava concentrated on that wrist. Carefully, she maneuvered it in line, until she felt the bones line up. She was quite grateful that Kalierre was unconcious for that, because it definitely would have hurt a lot otherwise.

And she held it in place, waiting for the supplies that she had asked for.

"I am going to need one or both of you to move her, once I get this secured." Dorava explained. "My back is ... not good." She didn't really know what was wrong with her own spine. Cracked bones? Bruised spinal collumn? Displaced vertebre? She didn't know. But it hurt like all blazes and a wrong movement in the wrong direction made it flare up and left her gasping in pain. Picking up Val had almost been more than she could handle... and he was teensy.

And still crushed, piled into her breastband where he wouldn't get maliciously stomped again. He was alive, but only barely.

"There should be some ground-weyrs near here. We should head that way. See if we can't find one that's occupied to take her to." A dragon in a weyr would greatly improve thier odds drastically if they got attacked again, definitely. But they definitely had to get away from the river.

Aonith, love. Be careful. I'm not coming to the infirmary anymore.[/b] Dorava informed her dragon.

[Kisha-Ra]

R’fuin’s eyes flashed around, he couldn’t see anyone moving in their direction but his nerves were singing with tension now he was out in the open with a crowd of noisy women. No, that was unfair, Dorava’s cry had distracted the benden riders in the first place, and Darya in turn had distracted them from Dorava. Whoever ordered the greenriders taken over here should be expecting some screaming, though probably not as enraged as the sounds that were actually emerging from the area. Besides Dorava was right, getting Kalierre away from here was a priority.

Darya slowly regained a one to one relationship with the world. So that was what battle fever felt like, she mused as the berserker look drained away from her eyes, possibly in response to the adrenaline rush wearing off. She stumbled a step forward as the cuts on her left hand began to hurt and throb in time to her pulse. She lifted the hand and looked at it for a moment. Bone deep cuts on the back of the left wrist and the palm of the hand wher it met her fingers. Well that would teach her not to grab knives. She hoped she was lucky enough to keep the use of her hand.

Darya spotted R’fuin moving toward Kalierre, and without thinking used her undamaged hand to stop him. ‘I’ll take her, I don’t want our only healthy fighter without a free hand.’ She didn’t add that she didn’t think it was a good idea for him to carry the greenrider on the basis that he was male. Darya had seen what some of those northern girls turned up like, and she didn’t like it at all. She was looking for a safe, or semi safe, way to pick the dragonhealer up when Dorava’s actions caught her attention. Darya’s jaw clenched with anger when she realised what the greenrider had picked up.

A salamandyr? R’fuin’s heart twisted at the sight of the broken little blue. Had the person who’d done that known how closely they were bonded to their owners? Probably not, he had to admit. Surely he was not dead? R’fuin had a feeling that if the blue had perished, or did so soon, Dorava wouldn’t as stable as she currently was. Boat. Right. Time to go. He made a move but Dorava looked distracted and Darya just shook her head once at Kalierre’s prone form.

Darya muttered an absolutely foul curse insinuating that the invaders were descended from a mating between whers and tunnelsnakes at the latest news from the infirmary. Just wonderful. Without another word she moved aside for Dorava and turned her attention to the dead bendenites. Maybe their clothing could be purloined as bandaging, but no off the man she’d killed. He was a bit messy with the stomach wound and then having his throat cut. She divested the other dead man of his tunic, tossing anything she didn’t want to one side.

R’fuin shrugged, turned away to look for something to use as splints, then coloured and turned back to Dorava. ‘Well I feel like an idiot now.’ He admitted, handing over a small jar of numbweed from his belt pouch. ‘It won’t go far though.’ He commented, unnecessarily, as he turned away to look for those sticks again. A couple of minutes later he returned with a selection of bits of wood, not having been quite sure what Dorava wanted.

‘I still think it’d be best if I carried her.’ Darya stated, Offering strips of the bendenman’s tunic with her right hand. ‘We’ve got nothing to hold her flat on, and we might need R’fuin to fight. He may feel like an idiot but he’s in the best shape of all of us.’ She nodded agreement to Dorava’s plan, they couldn’t get to the infirmary but they might be able to find more supplies in a weyr, and a dragon to give them a hand would be very useful, particularly once these corpses were discovered.

[dragon]

Dorava nodded with thanks, as she took a peice of material. Not knowing what it originally had been, she wrapped a thing layer tightly around Kalierre's wrist as padding to prevent chafing and irritation from the splints. Then she applied a selection of the splints to keep everything in place. And then she fastened it all as tight as she could manage with more strips of cloth. It was by no means a proper cast, but it would at least ensure the arm healed straight, between now and when a proper treatment could be done.

She also gratefully accepted the numbweed from R'fuin, and applied a good bit of it to the arm. The rest she applied to the bruises and surreptitiously also applied to to Kalierre's nether regions. Dorava seriously would not be surprised if Kali went on a rage against not only everyone around her, but also against canes. Considering that the perps had not all been male...

When she finished, she backed off, and let Darya have at it. But then she stopped the woman, seeing the bleeding she was doing. "Wait." She stripped the sleeve away from the wound, and inspected the cut. "Well have to clean this later. But for now..." She applied some of what was left of the numbweed to the cuts, and then wrapped them both securely to keep excess blood from being lost. "Alright. Now. I'll be wanting to work on that again, when we get somewhere safe." She remarked.

She might only technically be staff, or just barely an apprentice Healer, but Dorava knew quite a bit, having read a lot of scrolls and texts. And having some hands on knowledge both from her agricultural upbringing and then what she'd managed to garner here at Selenitas ... she was not at a total loss for dealing with things.

"Help her, R'fuin." Dorava requested, having noted the man's name when the woman had remarked on him. "At least to get her up off the ground safely." That said, Dorava worked to get her own self off the ground. Staggering to her feet, she looked around and drew one of her knives again... just in case.

Now that things were slightly more peaceful in thier general area, Dorava had recognized Darya, having met her once or twice before. But she didn't deign to comment on any of that. But she was quite glad to know that they had half a shot of survivng the night...

[Kisha-Ra]

R’fuin’s eyebrow rose at the level of splinting Dorava seemed intent on, still if the infirmary was taking heavy fire who knew when Kalierre would be properly treated? He hoped the healers had enough sense to run away. Benden wouldn’t waste so many men and dragons on a distraction. Even if they did have that’we can always breed more’ attitude towards blues and greens that came with having a fair few queens and a weyrleader who didn’t give a toss. What did they even want at the infirmary? Or was it just a ploy to draw out and kill selenitas riders? R’fuin definitely counted himself among the selenitas riders; he hadn’t had any loyalty to benden Weyr even when he’d actually lived there.

Darya gave R’fuin a look and snorted softly. Woolgathering. She’d kick him if he weren’t more useful upright. She was once again considering how best to pick up Kalierre, preferably without hurting her anymore, when Dorava stopped her. One look at the other woman’s face told her she wouldn’t be getting away without her hand looked at and arguing would waste more time. She shifted impatiently the entire process, nodded curtly at the suggestion that Dorava would want to look at it again, and flexed the hand. Well the fingers were still moving. Good enough.

R’fuin turned his attention back to his companions as his name was spoken and mentally kicked himself, he’d been standing around speculating while he might have been needed. As Darya had pointed out he was the only totally able fighter left in the group. Nevertheless… ‘Are you sure you don’t want me to carry her?’ He offered tentatively, only to have Darya glare and shake her head stubbornly.

‘No. Just give me a hand here.’ Darya ran her undamaged hand through her hair and considered things for a moment. ‘I think it would be best if you could arrange her across my shoulders, less chance of me doing any more damage to her hip or that arm. Not mention less chance of me dropping her, which I really don’t want to do.’ Maybe she’d still be able to get her belt knife too, if she really had to. Though she sincerely hoped things wouldn’t get that desperate.

R’fuin, his face a picture of doubt, picked up the inert healer and arranged her carefully with her wounded hip facing upward and her arms and legs hanging down Darya’s front. ‘Are you sure you can move like that?’ Once again he was given a glare. ‘Okay. Ground weyr?’

‘Ground weyr.’ Darya agreed, straightening up with care. ‘One of you had better walk behind me as well, in case she wakes up and starts struggling.’ With determination Darya started walking, the sooner they got out of here the better.

[dragon]

Dorava watched the two riders work to get Kalierre up. She nodded slightly, mostly invisibly in the dark with approval. Good, good. The arrangment was more or less good for Kalierre ... as long as she didn't have any busted ribs. If she had busted ribs, that would drive the bones into her organs. But what other way was there? At least the wounds they knew about were being taken precautions against inflaming.

"R'fuin." She stated, again. "You lead. Clear the way. I'll cover our six." Dorava stated, moving to take up the spot behind Darya. She might not be able to do much more than slow Kali's fall if it came to that. But she was also in no condition to clear the way if they ran into an invading rider or two.

Sparing a hand for her back, Dorava tried to ease the ache and pains of it by rubbing the injured spot lightly as she walked. Oh, what she wouldn't give for a really soft place to just lay. Water would do wonders. To just be able to float in some water. No pressure on her spine... But that would have to wait. Wait until after the attack passed over, if it ever did. After Valliant got some care ... she so hoped he would live. As much as she had read and learned and watched and learned, she had next to no idea about anything about taking care of Salamandyrs. And other than sit there and encourage him, she had no idea what to do for him. Hopefully his little bones hadn't been entirely smashed to bits inside of him, much less his teensy organs.

She stopped her thoughts from going that direction. She had to stay positive, not drag herself down with bad thoughts. Kalierre would get better. And then maybe Kali would have it in her heart to do something for Valiant.

Dorava took the time every dozen steps to do a slow spin, and inspect the area around them. To ensure that they were not being followed or snuck up on. If only Aonith were there! She could keep them safe. But Aonith was at the infirmary... where Dorava had started out headed. So the green had tried to meet her there.

But instead the dragon was now stuck there, and Dorava was stuck away from there. Horrible, horrible circumstances!! Most of the weyrs should still be occupied, though ... by dragons at least, if not thier riders. So they shouldn't have to go too far to find a suitable place to hole up and tend to Kalierre...

[Kisha-Ra]

R’fuin’s gaze swept back and forth, looking for any movement in the, unfortunately, quite large amounts of cover the riverbank offered. The main battle, from the sound of things, was still centred around the infirmary. Ylonth was intent on the dragons in the sky and longer passing on reports so R’fuin didn’t even have that much clue as to wheather anyone was headed this way. In short, move fast, and hope for the best because that was the best, and indeed the only, plan right now.

Darya’s body was not particularly happy about carrying a whole extra person’s worth of dead weight, actually her back and shoulder muscles were queuing up to protest at the treatment they were receiving. She ignored them and carried on walking. Her head turned in various directions but the sounds that caught her attention were most always generated by the little procession heading into the canyon. They were going into the first weyr they came to whether R’fuin turned in there or not. Darya nodded vehemently at her own thought, a gesture both covered and impeded by Kalierre’s prone form.

R’fuin’s skin prickled and his nerves hummed, expecting an attack at any moment. It was almost a disappointment when the first weyr entrance appeared without any incident whatsoever. He couldn’t recall offhand whose weyr it actually was but he waved the ladies in ahead of him, out of a desire to watch their backs rather than any chivalry.

[dragon]

Dorava looked at R'fuin for a moment, as she walked past him in to the weyr. "Let me help you get her down..." Dorava said, quietly, skirting around the dragon occupying the weyr. "Here, on the bed." She added, guiding Darya as she kicked at random things to make a clear pathway for walking. And then she tried her best to help get Kalierre down safely. Though her back spasmed and flared with pain in protest to the treatment.

Hissing, Dorava grabbed at her own back after Kalierre was down. She didn't know who lived here, nor did she care. Kalierre was safe now, thankfully. Dorava took a moment just to breathe, and figure out what to do next.

[Kisha-Ra]

Darya picked her way across the room after Dorava. She didn’t bother looking at the dragon, they hadn’t been attacked on sight and that was good enough for her. Getting Kalierre back off her shoulders without doing anymore damage was quite some operation, the woman seemed to have gained at least a stone since Darya started carrying her. Getting the greenrider down was a relief but only a minor one. Azrath was a bigger worry. The blue had closed her out of his mind, a sure sign he was planning something Darya wouldn’t like much.

R’fuin also walked past the dragon occupying the weyr they’d taken shelter in without so much as an acknowledging thought. ‘Good news, we don’t seem to have been followed. Bad news, I can’t actually see all that much out there.’ He reported succinctly. Suddenly R’fuin’s expression changed as Ylonth contacted him. The information his dragon relayed was pretty bad, and one look at Darya was enough to tell him she didn’t know her dragon had gone after most of a benden wing. He didn’t want to be the one to tell her either.

After warning Ylonth not to go after the dragons with Azrath R’fuin gave his companions a worried look. ‘Things are looking pretty bad at the infirmary. The sky’s full of dragons and benden riders appear to be all over the place like a really bad rash from what Ylonth can see and hear. He’s going to go after some of the riders.’ He still didn’t have the courage to mention what Azrath was up to but he did mention the attackers in the air.

((Epicfail. x.x))

[dragon]

Dorava slumped into a seated position near Kalierre on the bed. She took a moment to lift Valiant out of her shirt. Cradling the little blue sprite in her hands, she rested him on a corner of the bed, too, out of the way. After a sad look to her barely-breathing mandyr, she turned her attention back toward Kalierre.

There really wasn't much she could do for her anymore... not like this, not here. Except make her comfortable... or as much so as was possible. She took some of the messy furs and clothes scattered awry across the place, and rolled them up. Propping them in various locations around the dragonhealer's body, she attempted to make her just as comfortable as she could be, the arm with the broken wrist resting slightly elevated on a soft pillow of clothing.

"Can you find out if there is some sort of emergency first aid kit in here somewhere?" She asked, of Darya. And then she shook out a fairly clean looking fur before draping it over Kalierre. If there was any chance the woman was in shock - which she probably was - Dorava wanted to be sure she stayed warm. It was the least she could do, given the circumstances.

And then she took a moment to look for Aonith in her mind. Just in time to feel her get her back and wing laid open again. She gave an involontary cry before stifling it again by biting her fist. Aonith![/b]

I'll be okay. He didn't follow me down. I will be with you soon, Domine. The infirmary is on fire, I am going to try to get some people out before I leave.

Do be careful!![/b] Dorava pressed, before blinking away a tear and refocusing on what was immediately around her. She turned her attention to the dragon fidgeting in the weyr. "Is there a healing kit in here anywhere?" She asked, as she realized it might cut some time off the search if they asked the resident dragon.