Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Trauma Responses

In the dead wizard’s robes, found a heavy fabric purse, half opened as if he’d been trying to retrieve something from it while I killed his friend. I cut it free before walking over to Justin. 

Justin hadn’t moved from where he stood, looking horrified. I handed him the purse and waist pouch, but he didn’t take them at first. “Is there something wrong with your hands?”

“Scaleen, I- didn’t think you’d-” he took the bags finally. “You killed him.”

“Yes. We need to leave.” I turned away, to walk away from the main alley Justin and the mages came in from. We had so little time before scavengers would see what could be stolen before the Guard showed up. No one here would talk, I was pretty certain, but the murder of three wealthy mage-students would not go uninvestigated. 

I moved several steps, distracted by the notifications that popped up as combat ended. I quickly dismissed them unchecked and realized he wasn’t following and looked back. He was shaking. “Justin! We need to go, now!”

He nodded, shakily and I redoubled my pace, knowing he should have no issue keeping up. I was struggling not to limp as my body was just wave after wave of pain. I didn’t l need to see my menus to know I had at least two different status afflictions, preventing my stamina from recovering properly. I’d have been very dead if I hadn’t taken {Internally Motivated} and earned the additional buffer. 

I followed this narrow passage as far as it went, then turned away from the university, then turned again as soon as I could. I was looking for- there. “Can you open this grate?” 

He wasn’t far behind anymore and had managed to secure the pouches somewhere in his scorched but intact robes. He looked like he was in shock. He probably was. Given his foresight, he probably had never considered a situation where he was so completely disarmed.

He moved to pry up the grate, fitting his fingers between the bars and pulling. It didn’t give. I gave him a second to examine the mechanism, and he muttered a few words. The edges of the grate suddenly started to ooze some liquid and he pulled again. The metal gave a small squeak, before succumbing to the grease. I glanced down into the hole. It was only six feet deep, practically a crawl space as far as this city’s tunnels went. I jumped down and turned my collapse into a roll, to give Justin space. I retched. Nothing came up.  I forced myself back to my feet. 

Justin followed, casting another spell that made his eyes flash for a moment. He pulled the grate more or less back into place. We wandered about a hundred yards up the tunnel, where a more or less dry landing existed for us both to step onto. “This should be far enough,” I said, nearly gasping. 

The less said about the grime we’d stepped through, the better. 

I turned to face Justin, catching my breath and trying to figure out where to start. 

He seemed to be trembling again. I didn’t know how to fix that. As a guard, they never sent me to trauma response training for mammalian sentients. I think they thought Kobolds couldn’t learn how to manage and comfort traumatized sentient mammalians. I was certain the City Guard were not experienced in Kobold terror states. 

I knew how Kobolds generally responded to trauma. What was I doing? Rationalizing, seeking hiding spots, and pushing myself to my limits. 

Trying not to flee Justin to find a corner to die in.

Defensively, he stuttered, “Is this where you tell me ‘I told you so’?”

People rarely came to me for support before either. I was considered rather prickly by the temple initiates.

“You already know what I said, I don’t need to make a point of it. Are you okay?”

He looked at his hands then the singed sleeves of his robes. “Mostly. I need therapy more than anything.” He ended this with a small humorless laugh.

“Maybe after the coronation.”

He looked at me again and swallowed hard. “Why are you being so nice to me? I… I left you behind.” 

I patted the satchel I’d packed on my side, surprisingly still intact after all the flame. “I brought the stuff you left at my place if you still want to go it yourself.” He was silent, and I answered his question. “I was the one who set you free in this city. And you reminded me why I had wanted to be a City Guard. I owed you.” And he was a child, I can’t blame him from being angry at me for using him. 

This seemed to be too much. He took a step forward and fell forward, to his knees and wrapped his arms around my neck, like he needed my support to keep from collapsing. I shuddered and squacked, but managed to keep from hissing and biting him in pain. He in turn seemed cogent enough not to squeeze

He started sobbing again and I tentatively wrapped my hands around his midriff, not sure what else to do with my hands. This seemed to only make him cry harder. We stood there for a while. I was unsure of what to say, but Justin didn’t seem to mind. I was able to lean on him for support at least.

He finally calmed down enough to pull back. His face looked messy and wet and very, very young.

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“I’m- I’m really sorry, Scaleen. I should have listened about the trap.”

I didn’t belabor the point. “I am sorry I left you alone down there, trapped, while I waited for them to arrive.”

“You were already there?” He sounded hurt and confused.

“I was waiting on a roof nearby.”

“I must have gotten more lost than I thought.”

“I do know this city very well.”

“Oh. Yeah. Look… can I- will you help me still? I get it if you are tired of me going off all cock-sure and half-wise.”

I gave a small snort of amusement, then whimpered when it moved the scorched off feather pinions. “I didn’t come just to tell you off further, previous experience not-withstanding.”

He smiled, wiped his eyes on the ruined, very expensive robe sleeves, and asked, “What next?”

“I need to find a healer. I am not going to recover naturally.” I set automated notifications to be auto-dismissed. I didn’t need to see how my status declined rapidly.

“Wait, how hurt are you?”

“Not too hurt to make it to a healer closer to home.” I hoped. 

We didn’t make it out of WeSum, but we did manage to make it to the north side of the university. This might have been better, other than I was now wheezing quietly and Justin was nervously prancing around me. My stamina had been going up until sometime after the fight, but was now slowly draining as I pushed myself past my Brawn’s limit. 

On the surface streets again and it was Justin, who’s stats weren’t being clouded by blood loss and burns, that saw the sign for a medic. 

“Just… play along with whatever they assume, okay?” I was almost all rasp and chirps, very stereotypical ‘uneducated Kobold’.

“I know, I know. Safe your breath, Scaleen. 

Justin opened the door for me and I limped into the waiting room. There was what looked like a handservant on the far side of the room, but I slowly walked up to the counter, Justin racing ahead. The Human nurse on the other side of the counter looked bored and irritated that we were here, his scrub robes looking fresh for the middle of the night. 

Justin started, and said, “Uh, sir, my friend, they are very hurt. Could you summon the healer please?”

The nurse looked down at me and said, “They look like they are standing just fine. You not careful enough with your spells, your toys, or both?”

Justin took in a sharp breath but I offered a weak hand, holding a small bag that jingled slightly. He swallowed his anger and grabbed the bag and put it on the counter. The nurse unabashedly opened it and poured out the contents, a dozen silver and some gold, but enough to spare us further wait. 

“Follow me.” He walked out from behind the little counter and opened a door that led further into the small private healer’s office. We ended up in a narrow room barely large enough for a small bed, a pair of upright mammalian chairs, and a standing desk with a cabinet against the wall. “Healer Havram will be in shortly.”  

Justin seemed unsure of where to be, but I motioned him to one of the chairs. “Look through those bags. They likely had more coin. I don’t-” I wheezed, “know if what I have left will be enough.”

“Okay. Your back, its so-” We were in the bright white light of a glow orb now. I didn’t know what he saw, but I would be lying if I said I could tell where the leather cloak ended, and my own flesh began. Every time it moved, it pulled on my skin. There were a few places I couldn’t feel at all. 

“I know.” I crouched low on the floor, too focused on breathing slowly to keep myself from keening softly with each breath. Kobolds couldn’t cry. I didn’t think I could spare the hydration anyway. 

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