Fevered Dreams

Lest wakes up to the sound of children playing nearby. She opens her eyes and sees blades of grass. Her body was achy all over and feels like it has been doing an all-day battle practice with Bryce. The sun was fading in the distance. Or was it rising? She slowly sat up but her head was still spinning. How long has she been out? Where is Vane?! In panic she scans around only to see him laid out not five paces away from her. His face was to the ground and was clearly knocked out. She laid back down for a while until she heard the voice of children coming closer. Next to them, was a stout and gentle old woman. She could have easily passed off as a gentle grandma except that her face was that of a wolf and was covered in fur. The children were also wolf-like in appearance but with more rounded and gentle features.

Lest once again try to get up. But the old woman merely sits by her side and tells her not to fret. A blue light emits from the Wolf lady's hands, the unmistakable color of Healing magic. The warm sensation of rejuvenation washes over her as it reconnects broken bones, joints, bruised tissue, and hemorrhaging organs. She can also feel her depleted mana slowly restoring as well as her stats.

"Call me, granny Cordelia." The old lady said as she smiled. Though as a wolf, it revealed part of her sharp fangs. Her eyes smiled as well and her Healing gave a comforting feeling like having warm soup on a cold winter's day. When granny Cordelia was done healing her, she moved on to Vane who was clearly sleeping. He looked serene except for every once in a while, he would wince in pain. Granny Cordelia took much longer to heal Vane. This did not escape Lest's notice.

"What's wrong with him?" Lest tried to ask as politely as she could.

"He is quite hurt, dear. He had more broken bones and internal damage than you received. It appears he has also been poisoned. Im not sure how, but none of my kind would dare bite a human."

"Lest's eyes looked away from the Healer. "No, we were attacked by werewolves. He was bitten. We were able to escape but just barely." She tried to leave off as many of the details as possible. After all, she wasn't sure if these wolfmen would be friends or enemies in the future.

Granny Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief. "If that's the case, then there should be no problem. You are my guests and as such are under my protection while in the territory of the wolf tribe." Their conversation was cut short when a handful of wolfmen arrived carrying two makeshift stretchers.

Most of the children have left but two remained: Tura, the wolf boy with a distinct coloring that looked like an Alaskan Husky and Laria, a wolf-girl with all white fur. Both had taken a liking to Lest and kept offering her food even after they arrived in Granny Cordelia's hut. By the end of the night, Laria has flat out refused to go home. It wasn't until her parents came looking for her that she folded and unwillingly went home.

Vane hasn't woken up at all. Granny Cordelia promised to keep watch through the night as Lest also needed her rest to fully recover.

Lest tried to stay up but her consciousness faded multiple times during the night. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she needed to recover quickly. The thought of her friends but she was in no position to be helping anyone in her current state. She tried calling them through the messaging feature of her crystal but there was too much mana in the air causing disruption to be effective for more than a couple miles. Hopefully, they aren't too far apart and that they could reunite soon. This was her last waking thought as her mind drifted completely into the night.