Next to the cell where Varya was trapped, a chained creature could be seen sleeping on his tattered bed. further inspection revealed that the creature was of the species of ursine, but severely malnourished and so thin he looked more like a starved warg than a bear. Lines and tubes could be seen attached to his body, and those medical items seemed to be connected to a red, orb-like container by the corner of his room. His cells were dirty and smelt rancid from blood and other filth.

---

Widernia was a mere steps away from the cell door when the medallion she wore hummed. In utter fright she spun around, recognizing the attack, and stepped back. A kick she could get away from, but what followed was a poled weapon came down diagonally. One of the three gems attached to her artifact shattered, a shield sprung awake, and a backlash in the form of an electric ring triggered, but the scythe swung wide and unhindered, slashing her chest.

Confusion and horror dawned as the blood gushed from the wide gash, staining her sweeter and white coat. "You! How dare--"
The red-haired mage raised her staff, pointing it forward to shoot a wave of lightning in her general direction. Under her feet, similarly colored white sparks of electricity surged on the floor and spread rapidly, covering the entirety of the corridors and cells before the caster herself finally flopped down.
___

The jar landed square on Ted's temple and broke on impact. And because he was practically wrestling with an animated armor with an orb of fire for a head, it took no time for the doused alcohol to ignite his furs.

It was painful and frightening. When the fire crept upon his head and blinded him, Ted felt that whisper again, low, harrowing, and in agony. "Where are you, my boy... I am... dying..."

The whisperings and the blistering pain sent Ted into a terrible frenzy. No longer concerned about taking down the armored thing, he shifted sideways and released his grip, arm outstretched to maul everything in front of him, and in pure rage, he charged. With fire blocking his sense of direction, the Bear-Gladiator slammed his shoulder against one of the cabinets and pushed through, bulldozing everything in his path.

The cabinets shifted with a creaking noise and toppled, glass shattered, and bottles of many kinds and colors broke and rolled about, spilling their contents onto the floor. Ted opened his jaw and swayed his muzzle left and right to clamp someone with his enormous (and flaming jaw). For now, the blind-raged bear rampaging about was still the immediate threat.

Location: Underground complex, Lab area, Stritzel's Estate, Western Kindeance.

---

Her opponent was to be praised for her reaction time. Despite being a pure mage and the assassin having the drop on her, she still had something up her sleeve. Veronica's blow was blocked by some form of magical shield, and a crackling ring of lightning thundered into flesh and-

How about not.

Veronica pulled out of the precognitive vision, as her body entered that familiar, watery-feeling state, internally clicking her tongue in annoyance at her kick being dodged but still committing. Just as her vision predicted, something triggered from her attack. But under her protective magic, she sluiced through it effortlessly, her scythe landing a grievous glow across the redheaded woman's chest. Blood sprayed, and Chigestu greedily slurped it up with its passage.

There was a scream, and Veronica flinched inwardly, as a retaliatory flash of lightning to the face threatened to put spots in her vision. Her protective spell warded her against actual damage, but it wasn't like it did anything for having her vision outright physically obstructed by tongues of lightning blasting her head-on. Veronica's intended follow up attack staggered under the onslaught, briefly blinded by the attack, and her stomach lurched, the scent of fresh blood suddenly flooding into her nostrils to join the chorus of the thick ambiance that she'd been doing her best to ignore all this time.

Veronica shook her head, trying to clear the crimson tint from her senses, the urge to feed right here and now. It had been sneaking up on her, but she hadn't made a fuss, had powered forward for the mission's sake... But she'd not gotten a full meal in over a week. Even before the scouting team had met back up with Jazdia, she'd been using her magic, and she'd continued to use her magic even more all throughout this mission, her reserves of blood slowly but surely draining. And now, her appetite was very much whet.

It was for that reason that Veronica almost had to physically bite and tear into her own lip to stop herself from jumping Widernia while the mage was down, as the tantalizing scent of mana-rich life essence sucker-punched her senses in the face. She had to stop herself from swinging her scythe back around to finish the job, as Widernia's magic unleashed crawling lightning across practically every surface of the prison area. The vampire forced herself to focus her senses on something -anything- else in that moment, and the act managed to drag her back down to earth.

The sounds of screams and bellows of rage thundered against her eardrums from outside the cell-block, the scent of burning hair and flesh accompanying it. In the corner of her vision, she caught sight of a horrifically familiar creature, secured in a cell with a collection of lines and tubes sticking out of him. The scent of filth and blood that was so old even her vampiric instincts quailed was so rancid that she had to tense her muscles to drown out the fresh wave of unmitigated fury that swelled inside her towards this piece of shit. And now, the bear's suffering was being further added to by the crawling tongues of lightning that swelled out from Widernia's position to electrocute both the bear and the similarly trapped Varya alike.

Teeth clenching in a snarl that might have cracked something if she bit down harder, Veronica adjusted the grip on her scythe, flipping it around in her grip with a flick of her wrist, and jabbed the opposite end -the spearhead- down at the mage, before another thought made her strike abort before contact. She stood there, frozen in indecision and realization, as her rational mind clawed up from the depths to reassert itself over her vampiric instincts. She looked at the magical ward that was keeping Varya trapped, then back at the injured mage, who was bleeding enough that the vampire knew she likely needed immediate medical care... She mulled over little tidbits she'd observed and her mission objectives, and...

And...

Gaze refocusing more properly through the haze of hunger, Veronica shoved down the urge to fall upon this extraordinarily acceptable target in a feeding frenzy, because... she was more than that, right? The was the whole reason she was here and now, serving her King and her country, because she wasn't just a rabid beast, a mad killing dog to be pointed in one direction and set off her leash. She had to believe that. And because of that... no matter how much she wanted to kill Widernia for what she did to Cedar... no matter how much she wanted to drain her dry...

"One chance," the vampire enunciated clearly towards Widernia, her voice a cold whisper, as she stood on the electrified floor untouched by the crawling tongues of lightning. "I heard you use some sort of magical command on that bear. He's a victim, isn't he? You can control him. So..." Her grip tightened on the shaft of her polearm. "Use that control to make him stand down, agree to free those imprisoned here by your magic, and we'll spare your life. The darkly clad man in the other room, fighting your bear?" She jerked her head to the side. "He's the best doctor I've ever known, and he'll save you, no matter how badly you're injured."

Briefly closing her eyes, Veronica sucked in a calming breath and almost flinched at the fresh swell of blood that battered her senses, her body stilling like a statue, before her eyes reopened, reasoning restored... for the time being. "For whatever it means to you, I make this guarantee on my life and honor. You will be treated humanely, according to due process and the law of the land, and I will defend your life to the best of my ability, even from my own comrades, for as long as you remain in my custody." She let the pause hang long, as she dared to raise her spearpoint slightly upwards, away from the injured mage. "If you are having trouble speaking, a nod will suffice... Deal?"

---

Well then, it sounded like Veronica was able to do something with the magic caster. A scream followed by bolts of lightning peaked through the other room Veronica disappeared into. With Varya also in that room, they had the advantage. Veronica has displayed enough tact and skill to be able to handle a mage. And hopefully whatever stunned Varya would have faded so he could lend his aid. That must mean the enraged bear was left to Solomon and the bear girls.

Solomon’s gaze turned to the bear and Bartholomew. The twins had the marvelous idea of sending a jar of alcohol careening towards the battle involving conscious fire. As soon as the glass shattered, and liquid chemical doused the bear, it took barely a second for the sparks of Bartholomew’s head to ignite. A wave of heat and embers washed over the two fighters.

“Ha ha ha! Fire!” shouted Bartholomew as he was also splashed by some of the burning fuel. Streaks of fire trailed down his chest plate, furthering his appearance of a flaming entity. Bartholomew leapt back, carrying the momentum of the Bear’s swat to keep him out of the path of the charging beast. Swinging his axe up and over onto his shoulder, Bartholomew continued laughing heartily. Bartholomew followed the bear, position his axe for a downward swing.

“I guess you’re not a fan.”

Solomon watched as the bear and the armor both in their own ways crashed into the cabinet of chemicals. Though the necromancer hadn’t a clue about what exactly was stored on those shelves, he knew enough about various concoctions to assume a few of them were flammable. If not flammable, some might as well be toxic to inhale dispersed into the air.

“Girls, stay back. I don’t know what’s to happen, but the situation has gotten potentially more dire.” Solomon knew he really couldn’t control the bear sisters, but a warning he called out anyway. He backup from his spot near the cabinets. Alone he wouldn’t be able to handle any resulting fire or chemical contamination. He paused to think if any of his currently unseen allies could.


Outside, the cool air was starting to silence as the rest of the party secured the battlefield. Many of them were badly hurt, evidence of the team’s infancy. Among those down was Athena. Thankfully not forgotten, Louise had approached calling out sweet words. Athena’s chest still rose and fell as breath passed through her lips. Unfortunately, Louise words alone were not enough to wake the unconscious nekomata.

Louise is carefully closed by Athena. Kneeled and leaned her upper into her. Rested her ear on the chest to check her breathing.

She has a heart beat. That's a relief!

Louise checked the body parts of Anthena and identified which part bones that are dislocated. She scrutinized the alignment of the cat woman dislocated bone and then. Cracked. Bone therapy has been diagnosed by Louise. It is surprisingly well done.

As Louise aligned Athena’s arm, the yokai’s face would scrunch an her eyes tightened ever closed. Pained groans escaped her mouth as she started to stir. The shock of the sudden movement sends to awaken the nekomata. Louise would take this as further sign of Athena’s vitality.

Holding firm, keeping brace, Athena’s arm was popped back into place. In an instant Athena’s cried out, her eyes wide open. Not knowing what was happening, Athena’s swiped at the the closest person she could see. Thankfully, she missed. Quickly Athena turned over and tried to run away on all fours. She only got a couple meters away before her shield arm gave way and she crashed. It was just enough to knock some sense into the injured yokai.

Athena turned back around to see Louise digging through a medicine pack. Slightly embarrassed but still very much in pain, Athena struggled to stand and walk back to the wind knight.

“S-sorry” said Athena.

"I am going to treat both of you and that baron mage over there. Do you need something to move you to the Baron?" Louise politely asked the cat woman.

“No no. I can walk.” Athena insisted.

"Is that so. Alright then follow me." Louise replied and walked into Evan's place. Despite it, she tried to help the cat woman walking.

With not much reason to contest, Athena agreed with a slow nod. As they walked Athena would occasional turn her head looking to see the remains of the battlefield and that if their foes.

Louise and Athena headed to Evan. The cat woman rested once the two found Evan's location.

"Baron Mikkelsen, are you still with us?"

Rose wasted no more time, as the fire quickly started spreading through the broken glass vials that had been in the cabinet, now demolished by the enraged, roaring, and blindly swiping man-bear.

"OH NOES YOU DON'TS YOUS SUMMBITCH!" she bellowed, bringing the hugely over-stuffed blanket full of heavy books to bear over her shoulder like a giant rucksack while rapidly sprinting over the intervening space, winding herself up to begin delivering a a truly brutal and relentless barrage of heavy blows with it, in percussive cadence with her now angry and forceful shouting, as she belligerently beat the ever loving, living shit out of him, knocking him brutally and forcefully out and away from the shelving and back toward the far wall, striking him across the swollen and infected part of his face several times in the exchange, whenever and where-ever the opportunity to strike him presented itself.

"YOU. DO. NOT. GET. TO. STOP. ME. FROM. SAVING. MY. BROTHER. YOU. DIRTY. MANGY. UGLY. SMELLY. SON-- OF-- A--- BITCH!!"

Meanwhile, Lily looked mortified at the growing conflagration on that side of the room, then ducked behind her fully-committed sister, back into the far bedroom once more, looking for a solution. The bed in the room was quite nice, with a well made and pretty coverlet, a nice fluffy pillow, and a well made (in fact, surprisingly well made, as if for something or someone very heavy) wooden frame. The nearby spherical pot of blood now looked VERY useful to her.

One should not be confused by her, or her sister, when it comes to fire control. They grew up with a human parent, who made and used fire regularly, and lived in a forest FULL of flammable materials. How to extinguish a fire was a very important, and very early life lesson for the both of them-- She would have never thrown that jar full of alcohol at that incomprehensibly stupid, thuggish brute (no matter how handsome his butt was) if he had not decided to pick a fight, and then fail to comply with their initial plan to subdue him safely. Confronted with "Do not confront-- and sacrifice her brother" and "Confront unsafely, and see this through to the fucking end"-- she chose, and would always choose, the latter. End of discussion.

While her sister could be heard percussively and derisively pummeling the idiot behind her, she stripped the coverlet and sheets off the bed, threw them out onto the stone flooring, picked up the large crystalline looking container, and threw it down in the center against the hard floor as hard as she could, watching the contents explode onto the fabric, saturating them in the rank smell of her brother. It infuriated her the moment the smell hit her nostrils in a way that was impossible to put into words. The room seemed to go dark in the corners, time slowed to a crawl, her vision tunneled, sounds become muffled and indistinct, and she became aware of herself making a low, deep, guttural roaring.

She fought it back, and time resumed its normal cadence-- the sounds of her sister beating the shit out of that fucker returned to her ears, and she was never more happy to hear her sister beating a fucker to death in her life.

She looked at the blanket, and frowned. It was not wet enough for the job.
"FUCK DIS BITCH!!" she cursed, then squatted on the blanket, and pissed on it as hard as she could, with as much vendetta as she could muster, rapidly saturating it the rest of the way, before grabbing the soiled, rancid smelling, and sopping wet bedding in her arms.

Rapidly traversing the gap, she quickly began deploying the filthy fabric over the top of the burning fluids and cabinets, then began stomping on it to put it out.

Evan's eyes jolted open as if awoken by a nightmare, just before Louise approached and called her name.
He pushed up with his left elbow -- really, his only usable arm, and turned his head to glance at Louise and Athena. He gave the grass a dejected look, then fully turned and sat with his left knee up and his left arm atop it. He winced, getting up to that position.
"C... call me Evan."
This has been around the third time he's had to say it, and there will seem to be many more incoming. He's just not used to the whole baron thing.
"Hello... Athena." Evan waved at her with his left hand. There's an attempt at a smile underneath that tall scarf.
"How do you make... purple fire?" Straightforward as usual.

---

The night was quiet, the air cool, and the environment bloody. Athena’s head hurt and her body was sore. However, she was feeling more nimble as she got her muscles to move again. For now, the pain she was suffering from most was her arm. Taking the full brunt of Jonas’ light spear had done a number on her. Perhaps she should have considered herself lucky that she still had an arm.

Athena sat in the grass as Louise went to check on Evan. Despite collapsing, he didn’t seem terribly injured. Given the amount of power he displayed, perhaps he had just overworked himself in a short amount of time. Athena couldn’t blame him. Jonas and his false honor felt too powerful without giving it all they had. Yet, in typical Evan fashion, he posed a question. Perhaps not the best time to ask, but it was a distraction.

“Uh hmm. I really couldn’t tell you.” said Athena. She never really thought about it before. When she awakened twenty odd years ago, she just sort of understood that she had these capabilities new to her person. For one, she awoke from her slumber in a completely different form. Creating fire was just something she discovered she could do as she grew into her new identity. She really couldn’t say why is was purple either.

“Ever since I rediscovered myself, I’ve always been able to just do it.”

"We might be... similar."
Evan knelt, beginning to stand up, right arm still in his coat pocket. He took a deep breath, and winced. Clutched the right side of his torso. "I have been wielding ice s... since I can remember."
He stood up, let out a sigh, and began walking towards and around Athena. "Sorry... My ribs..."
Then, he slowly knelt on one leg, near Athena's left side. "I am fine... compared to this."
It was difficult to ignore. Athena's left arm was in absolute shambles. Aside from the multiple fractures he could see from the blood in her bones, there were also these gruesome cuts from leather straps tearing through her flesh.
"I have not yet fixed an... an arm that was not my own... It does not inst... instill confidence, I guess."
Every pause, burdened by laborious breath. A short chuckle at the end of the last sentence, followed by a wince. He hesitantly hovered his left hand above Athena's left arm.
"But... please let me..."

"You sure are okay to move, Sir Evan?

Well in that case. The way she threw herself earlier by Jonas Delving's attack was a bit brutal. Expecting something nasty upon hitting the ground. We must locate her bleeding to stop it, so that Sir on the black robe can do the doctor job. If you could move into her, do a local pressure on the bleeding part, I will light a fire here quickly and do the bandages later.” Louise replied Evan. Concerned on the cat woman's state but not trying to give up.

She hurriedly pile some dried grasses and branches nearby Evan and Athena.

(Mommy I am back~)

(Welcome back, my Sylphy. Hope in, bad guys had been defeated.)

Sylphy joined her while Louise gathering some flammable materials. The squire woman united with her daughter, put out some firestarter to light their campfire from her convenient adventurer bag.

Nodding, was the only response the Red Haired mage could give before finally lying flat on the floor with eyes half opened. Blood pooled around her, and it seemed the only movement she did was clutching the wide gash on her chest.

The electricity struck Varya and Cedar. The kidnapped bear got lucky because he was lying on a bed with wood as support, insulating him from taking full damage yet still powerful enough to jolt him awake. Varya however was hopeless to do anything to save himself from being energized.

___

The ball made of books hit Ted the Bear on the nose.

The hulking, flaming, angry, and desperate beast bellowed, shaking his head in pain as he flailed his right hand to reach for anything. Satisfied with the first hit, the juvenile bear continued her assault, undaunted by the enormous bear twice the size of her, she aimed to score a hit on Ted's face again.

But the Bear-Gladiators were not backing down, as the bundle of books and bedsheets hit him on his neck, Ted the Gladiator recalled his gladiatorial training and did his hardest to ignore the pain and focus. Using his acute hearing and sense to pinpoint the attacker's whereabouts from the previous blows, his arms outstretched wide, his claw unsheathed, and in a sheer rage, he swung it toward the pesky attacker, it connected on Lilly's arm and he grabbed it, sinking his claw deeper as he yanked the juvenile bear toward him for vicious bite to the shoulder, and letting her taste the fire she caused on his face and the burning floor beneath him.

He almost had her pinned when he felt another heavy blow to his back.

Out of pain, he released his grip on Lily and charged forth, stomping the juvenile bear and toppled cabinets in the process, and got stumbled by the ordeal. Ted and his bulk rolled on the floor and stopped at the other end of the laboratory, near the exit. Blood rushed out from his nose and back, and coagulated at an unnaturally fast rate as it dropped on the floor, sizzling.

Meanwhile, the attempt to put out the fire was slow and tedious. Whatever substance that had been ignited by the fire was not only flammable but also hot to the touch, almost like burning lava, and the wetted blanket could only do so much. The wooden cabinets blackened in a smoldering fire as the spilled substance continued to burn underneath it and spread onto the next ones. Black smoke began to cloud on the facility's high ceiling and its fumes felt irritating when breathed.

Location: Underground complex, Lab area, Stritzel's Estate, Western Kindeance.

---

Upon receiving the mage's assent, Veronica was on her knees beside her in a single, swift movement. Her scythe was cast aside, still within easy arm's reach, but safely away from the growing pool of blood around Widernia. She didn't want her weapon feeding upon that right now, as they -specifically Solomon- might be able to do something with it later... preferably return it to its owner. She idly also reached out to grab Widernia's staff and toss it a little further than her scythe away.

"SOLOMON! I NEED YOUR EXERPTISE RIGHT NOW!" she bellowed back into the greater lab, her voice reverberating in an echoing boom, before refocusing on her task. She was already holding breath to stave off the worst of her olfactory senses inciting her bloodlust, as she yanked her gloves off and dropped her backpack to the ground, reaching inside to yank out her medical kit. Yet, as she did so, her hands brushed up against something that she'd forgotten she was carrying.

The potion! This could-! Well, maybe it won't be necessary?

She'd been hoping to save it for Cedar...

The vampire swiftly moved to inspect the mage's wound, however, and grimaced. This amount of bloodloss... major arteries had to have been cut. She didn't think she had the mundane tools or expertise to handle that fast enough to matter, but there was something far more pressing at hand. Keen eyes and a harried inspection of holding one hand briefly before Widernia's mouth told her something that would be lethal far sooner: she wasn't breathing.

Oh, fuck my life.

But after a moment of panicked thought, Veronica wasted no time, knowing approximately what she should do.

Clicking her tongue, she withdrew the skin stitch potion and uncorked it. "Fair warning," she drawled, setting her medical kit aside and pulling out a biting stick, which she offered the mage's mouth, "this is going to hurt like a motherfucker." Making sure to pull any potential intervening fabric away from the wound with her free hand, Veronica dribbled a healthy splash of the potion over the areas in the torso she recalled the major arteries were located, and she would keep dribbling until it looked like the only wounds remaining were surface-level. She made an attempt to conserve as much of the potion as possible, leaving any wounds that could be dealt with seemingly with a bit of bandaging. If anything else was wrong, she doubted anyone here but Solomon could detect it.

Once that was dealt with, it was time to address the other major issue.

The vampire scooted over, inhaling a deep breath and nearly staggering at the incredible scent that flooded her lungs, as she held her breath again. Grabbing Widernia's head, she pinched her nose closed with one hand and opened her mouth, firmly sealing her own lips over hers and beginning to exhale. For the vampire, whose lungs did not absorb oxygen, this would hopefully be even better than regular mouth-to-mouth, as her exchanged breathe wouldn't be diluted by carbon dioxide. She kept a careful eye on the mage's chest, one hand reaching down to physically inspect her sternum and feel it swell from the influx of vital air.

Once she got the feeling it was reaching the limits of what the mage's lungs could safely take, Veronica released her liplock, before moving to push her hands down atop Widernia's sternum, giving it several pumps to force the air back out of her lungs. All the while, the sucked in a new deep breathe, vision swimming from yet another bout of bloodlust, before leaning down to breathe back into Widernia's lungs again. This she would do on repeat until Solomon gave her any particular reason to stop, doing her best to act as Widernia's lungs until Solomon could do something about it or until her ministrations hopefully miraculously kickstarted something critical again.

Varya Chandrar

Varya saw in the deprecated cell next to him was a horribly malnourished ursine shape. By process of elimination it had to be Cedar! Suffering, but alive. Varya was so close to his objective, only an iron cage bolstered by unknown magics barred his way. He couldn't take it all in for long though before his body surged in mind boggling pain! His body convulsed and spasmed as energy surged through his body, lighting up his pain receptors. His face was frozen in a rictus of agony, unable to even scream. Holy HELL does it hurt! This had to be up there as one of the most physically painful experiences of his life, as much a shock to his psyche as it was to his body. Thank Merciful God it came and went. A few moments later he finally regained motor ability, but it would be a few moments before before he could conjure the will to move. The first thing he did was groan in pain before slowly stumbling to his wobbling legs. Such an excruciating blow knocked the wind out of his sails, though the intensity of the situation was gradually waking up his body out of necessity. You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

As Varya began to orientate himself he was bombarded with sensory information. The horrible woman was bleeding out on the floor with Veronica trying to stabilize her, bargaining her all the while, his nostrils were hit with the sour smell of burning chemicals, and his eyes saw the gargantuan bear now on fire and fighting with a burning phantasm in plate mail. Everything was chaos, and there was nothing Varya could do about it. Varya walked to the edge of the bars closest to Veronica, taking care not to touch the bars. All Varya could do now is put his Faith in The Great Spirit and his now companions to rescue him from his current predicament and turn this terrible situation around. With nothing left to do, he got to his knees and prayed for a miracle. If Varya couldn't be saved, then please save Cedar. So long as the mission was successful, he could die with some measure of peace.

---

Athena stared at Evan as he spoke about his own power. He looked human, but maybe there was more to him that pointed otherwise. Still, being able to control ice on instinct was such a marvelous feat on its own. Athena could see there was a lot of potential in that power. He still looked young, so there was room for him to grow and develop it into a formidable threat, offensively and defensively.

“I, uh, you know medicine?” Athena asked as Evan sat down next to her. She wasn’t too sure, but Evan looked more injured than initially let on. Still he offered to lend some aid towards Athena’s arm. Beyond the pain, the yokai didn’t actually look at the damage it had sustained. Clear bands were indented into her skin from where the leather was torn from the sleeve into the wounds cut in by her shield. It looked worse than if felt. It was like an oddly tingled pain, almost numb.

Before Athena answered Evan’s offer, Louise spoke up, still working with the medicine kit the wind knight had on hand. Athena looked at her arm again. Any blood that was there was a mixed in with the dirt, and the leather looked to minimize how much blood she was actually losing. A majority of it had dried, where light would only glisten around the wound itself. Athena looked back up at Louise, “It’s mostly my arm. It doesn’t look to be bleeding terribly.”



Underground in the basement lab, the fire was continuously growing. Heat was building and the smoke filling every nook and cranny it could across the ceiling. All the while, Bartholomew was continuing his assault. A clean hit, the enraged bear seemed to lose a lot of momentum, charging forwards towards the exit.

“Trying to flee are we? I’m not done yet. Ha haa!” said Bartholomew as he lifted his axe up once again, holding it close across his chest. He walked through the burning liquids, past Rose as she lay tossed aside from Ted’s grapple. He walked past Lily attempting to put out that very fire. Though he lacked eyes, one could tell Bartholomew remained focused on his foe. “Is that all you have? I’ve fought men with more spirit than that.” Bartholomew’s axe rose high ready for another downward swing.

Solomon watched the fire swell, and Rose’s answer to controlling it. In all honesty, he wasn’t surprised by her solution. In fact, it reminded the old doctor of the trick Cedar employed at Fanghorn. Still, with Bartholomew and Ted engaged by the flaming cabinets, it was going to be risky. Black energy started to condense in his palm when suddenly Ted appeared just in front of Solomon, fallen to the ground. The energy Solomon was concentrating dissipated as Solomon gave up on the summon. He saw Lily tossed aside, and the fire looked to only be getting worse.

“Lileh, Rose. You’d best get out of there. It’s getting much too dangerous, and we are losing our exits.” said Solomon taking a better look on how the situation was progressing. At the moment he heard Veronica call for him. Something must have happened. Did she or Varya fail in some way to take out Widernia? Solomon looked at the wall that separated the two sections of the lab, and then back at the bear sisters, “I’m serious, get out of there now!”

Solomon turned pitch black even in the bright light of the fire and his body clipped into the wall as though it never existed. Shortly thereafter his form reappeared again outside of the prison cells. What he saw was just as horrifying as the fight with Ted, but in its own different ways. Cedar was barely awake, strapped to a table, looking drained in more ways than one. Varya was in a cell next to him, looking a bit electrified. And then right in front was Veronica and Widernia. Blood soaked the redheaded mage’s top, and pooled around her back. Veronica was on top of her supplying air. Solomon stooped closer, lowering himself to the ground at Veronica’s height, his bones cracking.

“I see. Let me have a look.” said Solomon earnestly. It didn’t take much for Solomon to realize that Veronica was trying to save the redheaded mage. He had little reason to question her decision either. Solomon didn’t give Veronica much time to move as he started looking over Widernia’s condition. The gash across her chest seemed freshly patched in some way, almost like someone tried to peel the skin with a scalpel and stopped part way through. Noticing the partially used bottle of the healing potion provided by Yvonne answered as to why, “That potion. That’ll be the reason she lives. She’s lost a lot of blood. Any more and she might... Well, it’s still too early to tell.”

Solomon examined the injuries that remained, The major bleeding seemed to have slowed significantly. He noticed how hard Widernia was breathing. Short labored breathes. Even her skin was looking very pale almost blue. Solomon worked quickly to pull out a satchel and a roll of instruments. He felt around the mage’s chest, keeping his ear close listening. Once he was satisfied with the result, he removed some instruments and pierced the redhead’s chest. Blood and liquid exited the tube, followed by a little air. It should be enough for Widernia to resume normal breathing. Solomon then started quick patchwork of the remaining injury, stopping the bleeding, and covering the injury from further contamination.

“That would work for now, at least until we can get her out of here.” said Solomon. He looked up at the prison cells containing Cedar and Varya. He recognized the runes around the lock. If Solomon had more time, he could decipher and eventually overturn the magic they sealed, but time was quickly running out.

“Are you awake? You will be fine.” Solomon attempted to see whether Widernia was cohesive. He looked to Veronica, then back down to his patient, “We need you to unlock the cells. We’ll get you out of here to safety after that’s done.”

"Medicine... what is that?" Evan replied, definitely instilling confidence towards his offer.
His eyes glowed gold for a moment, as thin hairlike strands of ice emerge from his hand. They hover towards specifc spots on the arm, their ends pointed down like needles.
"I am going to... manually piece your bones back together... then clean up and stitch this," Evan weakly gestured over the leather cuts, "this thing."
This sleeve cloth is in the way. Maybe it should be cut out, at the same time as the leather straps?
"It is going to be cold... and it will hurt... but the cold should reduce the pain... maybe."
Evan stared at the arm, instilling in himself the process and the order in which to do it. He wouldn't notice Athena doing any head movement if she did so.
"Then... we will wrap your arm in a cocoon... and wait for the bones to heal thems... themselves." He wasn't entirely sure how long. He usually just analyzed his own injury and didn't keep track of the days.
Didn't keep track of any day. Did not have a birth date.

"Much appreciated."

Water...

Jazdia opened the silver flask and gulped its contents down. It felt burning in her throat, was that Rum? Whiskey? Didn't matter, it was terrible all the same. Trying to recollect herself, she switched to the water bottle to wash the alcohol down her throat and dilute the alcohol she had been swigged.

As the fire began to light up in front of her and her power started to do its thing, Jazdia dared herself to release the pressure on her bloodied bandage and reached for her blade to cut the bindings. The hemostatic substance in the gauze did its wonders to partially staunch the bleeding, but there was just too much blood it had been dissolved and needed to be replaced ASAP. Immediately she sheated her blade and undo the wrapping. Blood was still leaking from her wound like a wet sponge being squeezed whenever she made a move, and just seeing a glimpse of that made her feel light-headed.

"There is a medkit in my bag." she said to Yvonne, trying to sound unperturbed despite the trembling.

The so-called medkit was a relatively small nylon pocket with many things crammed inside but could be easily accessible after unbuttoning its only fastener and letting it roll open. Inside, several strange items were secured in their individual pockets and containers. The items were as follows: a small scissor, a pocket containing four squeezable things fitted with a needle on each, palm-sized wet gauze pads that smelt like alcohol and pinecone, a roll of bandage with a strange corrugated design, another pad that looked extremely thinner than usual, a roll of flexible tourniquet, some strands of transparent thread and a needle with curved design, and lastly, a small tube containing three red tablets.

Jazdia reached for the tube and chewed one of the tablets before washing it down with water again. Wincing, it was extremely hard to keep the movement minimal when you have nothing to lean for.

"Okay, now let's do the ugly part."

With a faint hiss the spark caught the kindling, the little pinprick of flame as bright as the stars in the darkness of night. With careful handling Yvonne kindled it further, until it gave rise to ember and from ember into a proper campfire. It'll still gradually rise over the next few minutes as it consumed the wood, but now it was sufficient to try save the wounded elf.

And boy, that wound didn't look good at all.

"You almost got ran through, didn't you?" She couldn't fully conceal the worry in her voice, quickly unrolling the aforementioned medkit. Yvonne stared at the stuff in a few seconds, recognizing the more normal items but some were practically alien to her. Still, the whole array looked and smelled like how medical supply should be. She certainly had worked with worse, patching wounded men with little beyond repurposed fishing supplies. "You'll get through this, Sparky. I've seen people recovers from worse."

It was an honest opinion, from someone who had seen more wounds than most people. That kind of wound looked rather bad, but it didn't strike anything vital. Maybe clipped the liver, which would hurt like a motherfucker, but that isn't fatal. Plus, Sparky's surprisingly resilient. It'll be fine, as long as Yvonne didn't screw up. So, no pressure there. None at all.

She wish Solomon was here.

Taking a deep breath, Yvonne steadied herself as she removed her gauntlets. Let's get this over, yeah? Sooner everything's treated, the sooner she'll get to rest.

"Hookay, lets do this. Tell me how to use these stuff."

---

Athena watched as Louise started to make a fire of her own. It was small and would likely burn out quickly in a few short minutes, but the light and warmth was welcome. Athena could tell Evan meant well with his words, but if he didn't know what medicine was, Athena didn't feel comfortable about Evan doing any sort of procedure. Some of what he said made sense regardless, but in his explanations he didn’t sound confident in what he was saying. It was though he knew what to do in theory but not so much in practice. Athena could not get over the idea of using ice, even finely controlled ice, would be a good idea.

“No no. I think I can hold out until someone more qualified can help. There is a doctor among us right? I know Lord Thernous has some healing abilities as well.” said Athena, "The bleeding has almost stopped, and my arm isn't broken."

"True..."
Evan winced, turning to sit facing the same way as Athena. He sighed. These damn ribs. "You are not really in... immediate danger."
He slowly slumped back, and lay back onto the grass. It seemed it didn't hurt for him as much to breathe deeply in this position, and so he took a deep breath.
"Healing magic... I do not really understand, the entire concept of magic... How they all vary in what they can do... or the ways they are acquired..."
Evan turned his head and barely looked "down" towards Athena. It's difficult in this angle without having to tilt his head up. "Have you ever taught anyone else, how to make purple fire?"

Jazdia tried her hardest to not grimace. "Well, ideally we need to suture the wound." she paused, grabbing the nearest tankard and washing it with Yvonne's precious liquid courage.

"Give me that curved needle, scissors, and... bloody hell... we don't have a tweezer. So we will have to get dirty. Dip your fingers in this tankard. I assume you know how to drain and sterilize the wound?" pausing to peek at her exposed midriff, Jazdia shivered like a child on her first visit to an infirmary, yet still trying to hide it with an awkward smile.

"Doesn't look that bad... surely you can do it, right??"

"Ok, first things first, do you see those syrettes? Yes, those small tubular things with needles! Remove its cap and pick the ones with transparent liquid. The booze won't do much, so we have to apply a local anesthetic. Jab the needle some four centimeters under my wound. Remember, under the lacerated tissue, and then squeeze the tube. After that, we can drain it and... and... well, let's start now."

"Yeah, that's pretty standard." Repeated the mercenary, flippant as always. "Just lay there and let me take care of you."

Hmm, so even the elf didn't have everything. Food for thought. Yvonne wordlessly took out her own supply, by itself rather meager - a slightly warped tongs, scissor, and plier made out of bronze, a pair of curved needle with silken thread, and two rolls of linen bandage. All compact enough to easily fit in a belt pouch. It was laid beside Jazdia's own kit, minimalist yet complementary toward each other.

Dipping and thoroughly rinsing her hands in the whiskey, Yvonne listened and nodded at the explanation of the mysterious stuff. Come to think of it... she's pretty sure she had saw something similar in the alchemist's workshop. Bigger and gaudier, sure, but the shape matched. So that's what they're used for.

"Got it. Lay on your side and try to relax, yeah?"

Administering the anasthetic was definitely many levels up from drowning the patient in hard liquor and hoping for the best, so off to a good start. Next, clean up the site with the alcohol gauze. While waiting the numbness to kick in, dip the tongs, then plier, then scissor into the alcohol and run it over the fire to sterilize the thing. Now... a few pokes confirmed that her patient was as numb as it could get.

Clip a fresh gauze on the tongs and gently clean up inside the wound, draining the blood pooling up inside while she's at it. She could feel Jazdia tensing through the process, but then the elf stubbornly stayed still. Good girl. After a few repeat, the gauze eventually came out not entirely drenched in blood. Squinting, she took out her dagger to carefully reflect the firelight into the gaping wound to investigate the condition.

...yeah, Delving clipped the liver alright. Minor, thankfully, but even a minor one will take a while to heal. Honestly, could've been worse. Two inch closer to the center and the elf probably would've just died then and there.

"Yeah, your liver took a glancing hit there. Normally people needs half a year to heal from this." Yvonne commented with a rather chipper tone, returning her dagger to the sheath and dipping the hand into the tankard. Flick the excess alcohol away a few times, run the hand through the fire, and flick a few times to extinguish the blaze. Clean again now. "But you'll live. Let's close you up, then you can catch a nap."

Looking at the silver linings, the wound was so ridiculously smooth that even Yvonne would have little trouble fixing it up. The muscles first, deeply crimson layer that now flapped impotently after the severance. Edges, center, inbetween, inbetween, as many times as needed until it's neatly sewn back in place. Next was the abdominal wall, same method. Edges, center, inbetween, repeat. The flesh under the skin, same deal. Edges, center, inbetween, repeat. Finally, the skin itself. Edges, center, inbetween, repeat...

...and done.

Yvonne blinked, breaking out of the hyperfocused state as she behold her work. She can already hear the company surgeon nagging about wasted threads with how they're so closely spaced, but honestly who give a shit about the threads? The suture will hold and as long as she didn't run out midway, all's good.

"Phew! All done. Sparky, you still awake? Sit up a bit, gotta bandage you. Then we're finished for real."