Chapter Thirteen

Amy has been wounded; will she be able to get the help she needs in time?

    Amy remained lying motionless on the cold, damp ground as she slipped in and out of consciousness. She wanted to stand, wanted to get up so she could do something to help Dieteru...but it was useless. Her wound had taken too much energy from her. So she remained where she laid, fighting the urge to just fall asleep. No matter how much she wanted to sleep this pain away, she knew she couldn’t. If she would do that now, the Alangi King would have already won, not even having to lift one finger of his own to defeat her. She couldn’t let that happen.

    Every so often, she would notice the pale light of the moon slowly diminish, then quickly reappear as if it were playing some sick game of hide and seek with her. She could hear the blades of the swords clashing behind her followed by a painful groan as one of them hit the ground. She wished she could turned around, to see who had won the battle, but she just didn‘t have the strength to look back. There was a faint noise as the victor's sword made its way home into its sheath, snapping in its place. She closed her eyes.

    Faintly, she could hear the victor walk towards her before stopping at her left, kneeling aside of her as he gently rolled her onto her back. She opened her eyes to find herself looking up into those of Dieteru.

    He placed a hand over her mouth as she went to speak. "Don't talk." He said in a hushed tone. He slid his hands underneath her, picking her up off the ground. As he stood, he held her close against him with a firm grasp, as so not to drop her. He glanced back down to her as he carefully began to walk back in the direction Haroheito. "Don't worry. I'll get you back to the village and everything will be all right." He took one of her arms and wrapped it around his neck. "Make sure you hold on tight."

    She did as he said, folding her arm around the back of his neck, before resting her head on to his shoulder. "It's actually not that bad right now." She said in a meek voice. "I can hardly feel any of the pain now..."

    Dieteru looked down to her again to see her eyes closed. "Hey. Hey! Don't fall asleep!" He said in a demanding tone. He began to quicken his pace. "Don't let this beat you."

    She didn't move, keeping her head upon his shoulder, her eyes opening sluggishly. "But I’m so tired."

    "You can't let him win."

    Amy raised her head, studying his face. "Him?" She asked thinking of who he meant. "Do you mean Chris?"

    Dieteru gave her a glance of confusion. "No...Who's Chris?"

    She didn't answer him as she laid her head back on to his shoulder. "You don't have to worry about him. He would never hurt me."

    "Who's Chris?" He asked again, studying her. "Hey. Hey!"

    She jumped, looking at him with puzzled eyes. "Oh, sorry. I think I nodded off for a second there."

    "I know. Just try to stay awake." He looked out in front of him. "We can't let that Alangi b*****d win."

    "Alangi?" She thought aloud, the name sounding so familiar to her. "Alangi...Angel of Black Wings?" She pushed away from him gently, wanting to get down to her own feet.

    "Hey, stay still." Dieteru said. "You can't walk right now; you’ll only hurt yourself more."

    "But, I-" she began to protest then gave up as she laid her head down again. "God, it's so warm."

    Dieteru thought this was odd because the night air felt so cold against his own skin. She was drenched in sweat and soaked with blood. Why would she feel so warm? He looked up at the path before them seeing they were now only a few short steps away from the town’s boarder.

    "It's not that far now." He said to her, but received no answer in return. He looked down to her seeing that hers eyes were now closed. “Hey! Amy, wake up!” When she remained silent dread gradually began to build up within him. "Damn it!"

    He then picked up his speed as he ran the rest of the way to the Great Hall in search for Sagieta. In a time of crisis Sagieta would always know on what to do and always remained in the Great Hall to be easily found in the time of need. He rushed up the steps, sliding open the door, which was a struggle since Amy was still in his arms.

    When he entered the room, he saw no sign of Sagieta. "Damn it!" He yelled in frustration. "High Elder where are you?"

    "I'm right here boy." Her voice sounded from behind. She watched him as he turned to face her. Her gaze then fell upon Amy lying within his arms. "Oh my! What happened?" She rushed over to him, placing a hand upon Amy’s sweated forehead.

    "The Alangi-" he began.

    "My, she's burning up." She said with a slight shake of her head. "There's not much time. We must take her to the infirmary immediately." She began leading the way to the infirmary, Dieteru right behind her.

    When they reached the building where the infirmary was stationed, Sagieta slid open the door and ushered him inside. "Lie her down on that table." She said, pointing at what looked to be a modern day operating table in the center of the room.

    As primitive as they were now, the Maraini saved as much as they could on medical knowledge from the past, knowing that without the proper treatment, even a small cut would become fatal. So they salvaged what they could and learned the ways of human methods for curing the ill.

    This room was much like that of a hospital room in the modern world. It was white and very sterile. Carts were lined up along the walls, as well as shelves and cabinets, which contained different kinds of medical necessities. However, there was only one operating table, which Amy now laid on. Set towards the back of the room was a large wooden desk where a middle aged man sat behind within his chair, watching them curiously.

    Sagieta took a few steps towards the man. "Please, we need your help right away!"

    The man rose to his feet, his once all white clothing were now splotched with blood. He came over to the table where Amy was now lying and examined her thoroughly before looking back to Sagieta, a peculiar expression crossing over his features. The man then went to the back of the room once again, this time, stopping at a doorway a few feet from his desk. Sagieta and Dieteru could hear the man speak to someone within the other room, though neither of them could hear what was being said. The man came back over to Amy in a hurried manner as a few more people rushed from the next room.

    Sagieta looked from where Amy laid to him. "Will she be alright?"

    The doctor went about his business, prepping the area for surgery as the others worked to keep Amy stabilized. "It's too soon to tell-"

    "But you have to save her!" Sagieta said in a shrill tone. "This is our savior; if she dies so does our chance of a better future."

    The man looked from her to Amy. "This is-" he then nodded his head. "I understand." He stated looking back to her. "We must move fast. If we don't, we could lose her.

    "Do what you must." Sagieta said then turned to Dieteru. She quickly began to usher him out of the room. "We can't stay here any longer. The longer we stay, the longer we prolong their work."

    Dieteru allowed her to push him out of the room. When Sagieta shut the door he turned to her, a questionable expression now lined his features. "You mean to tell me, the only reason you were worried about her is because she is the chosen one?"

    Sagieta stared at him blankly. "Why of course. We need her Dieteru. Without her we're as good as dead."

    "She almost died tonight and all you care about is the prophecy?"

    Sagieta studied him with curious eyes. "What does this matter to you? You yourself have threatened to kill her."

    He watched her angrily. "I would never wish anyone to die sacrificing their own life for mine." He looked away form her. "She jumped in front of me, shielding me from that b*****d's attack with her own body." He looked back to her, a little calmer then he was before. "I believe now that she is not like the humans we heard in the legends."

    Sagieta smiled at him kindly. "I told you she didn't seem the type to betray us." She began walking away form the building. "The spirits have made a wise choice."

    Dieteru remained watching her until she disappeared from his sight. He then looked up to the sky; at the moon high above him. How could she be so stupid? When she gets through this, I'm going to have a few words with her. He began to walk off towards his home, not wanting to think any more on what had happened to Amy.

    He knew she was hurt, and that he was partly the reason for her current condition. That’s why he had wanted to get her the help she desperately needed. No matter how much he hated to admit it, he needed her to pull through to save his people. However, no matter how hard he tried not to think about the recent events, he couldn’t get the thought out of his mind that she was in dire need of help at the moment. And he couldn’t help but wonder if he was able to get her that help in time.