Healing the Broken

Kye and I both slightly pushed the curtains aside to peer through the windows. Of course we couldn’t see much, everything a yard away was pitch black. Kye grabbed his spear from out of the corner of the hall. I grabbed one of the lit oil lamps hanging on the walls in the hall. Kye opened the door cautiously. The door was wide enough for both of us to see the perimeter of the front of the house but it was still cloaked with darkness. Kye usually placed a lantern outside during the night until he went to bed, but I guess my unexpected visit had sidetracked him. The frail wood balcony in the back of the house began to shriek from heavy stepping. The low creaking proceeded toward us.
“I hope you’re not planning on killing me,” A familiar voice said.
Kye and I both breathed in relief. Kashon appeared at the entrance of the door.
“What happened to the lantern that’s usually on the front,” He said. “I almost couldn’t find this place.”
“I forgot to put it up,” Kye said. “I had a pleasant surprise.”
Kashon peered through the house, noticing me. “Zey! How are you?”
He walked toward me and we both gave each other a good squeeze.
“Good, glad to be home,” I replied.
“Was that you screaming?” Kye stared at him puzzled.
“Yup,” Kashon admitted not embarrassed at all. “I ran into a tree on the way here. And this fell on me.”
He pulled out a small bag tied to his pants and pulled it open for both Kye and I to see. Slithering at the bottom was a yellow-greenish snake. He hastily closed it before the serpent could escape and tied it back to his pants.
“You know how I hate snakes, well, live ones. I think it will make a good meal,” he smiled, thrilled with his prize.
I squeamishly winced at the thought. Not because I had something against fried snake but because eating any type of animal was repulsive to me. Since age nine, I had rejected myself from eating meat. I had been scarred when I accidently walked on Kye skinning a rabbit.
“Speaking of which,” Kashon said. “Petily sent me to ask for yeast.”
“This late at night,” Kye remarked.
“She’s making a pie for Taun’s advancing ceremony,” Kashon stated. “None of the neighbors had any. Pie isn’t a common food made here.”
Taun was Kashon’s seven year old son. He was advancing from his studies with the other children his age. I adored him to death. Since I never had younger siblings or any younger family members, he was the closest thing to one.
“Zey,” stared at me sternly. It was his infamous solemn I-have- something-serious-to-say stare. It always reminded me that he was a general. “I know you’ve just arrived but a lot of our unit soldiers were badly wounded a month ago. They need the proper care and medicine. Can you stop by the unit base, tomorrow?”
I gave him a confident smile. “Of course, it’s why I’m training.”
His formal strictness washed away and he gave me a gratitude smile. “What would we do without you?”
I shrugged. “Whatever you’ve been doing these three months without me.”
“Yeah,” he said. “it’s definitely a lesser happy place without you.”
“Stop,” I chided. “you know you don’t have to do that.”
“I know,” he admitted. “But I’m going to be grateful for having you anyway and you can’t stop me.”
“Kashon, since you’re here you might as well stay for dinner,” Kye said.
Kye shook his head. “I would, but Petily is waiting for me.”
“Okay,” Kye said pulling out a tiny bag of yeast out of the cabinet and handing it to him. “get home safe.”
“I always do,” Kashon smiled reassuringly as he walked out the door. “Zey, see you tomorrow at the unit base. I won’t be there because of the ceremony, but one soldiers should point you to the injured. And make sure you both stop by the house and grabbed a piece of pie. Taun has been dying for you to return, he couldn’t ask for a better gift.”
I smiled, that little kid was in for surprise for tomorrow. And it wouldn’t just be pie and me.

I woke up to the smell of warm honey bread. One of my favorite meals. I slowly slid out of bed and walked into the kitchen. Kye slicing the bread thinly.
“Oh my gosh,” I said, sitting down at the table. “it smells delicious.”
I realize the sun was barely peeking above the horizon. Kye was an early bird, but he never cook this early morning.
“Did you cook this early just for me,” I said.
“Of course I did,” he said, bringing a plate of sliced buttery, honey bread, Juicy strawberry and blue berries. “you’re not the only one allowed to treat people.”
I smiled. “Thank-you.”
He smiled back and kissed me on the forehead. We both began eating our breakfast.
I didn’t have romantic feelings for Kye. I did have unconditional love for him. It was probably because he had raised, otherwise, I would have been heels over head for him. Though at age seven, I did have a crush on him but it never grew into anything more. Of course, I was a child and he was a young adult. We would play house a lot. I would be the little wife, he would be the husband, and my doll would be our child. Even now, I felt like we were playing a couple’s life. If that was what Kye wanted, I would marry him. I had no plans of meeting a boy, getting married, and leaving. Most girls at fifteen dream of that but I love my life here. Being an orphan and being passed on to many homes made me appreciate my family and my life. I also knew that Kye didn’t want that. His true love had been murder. She had brought the two of us together. For that, I was forever grateful to her and would do anything to make Kye’s better for him and her.
“I will be back soon,” I told Kye, after I finished my breakfast and cleaned up. “I’m going to the unit base and to visit the cemetery.”
“Okay,” he said. “I will be at Kashon’s house for Taun’s advancing ceremony.”
“I’ll meet you there,” I said.
I put on a green blouse that look like vinyl fabric, brown pants and congo boots. I had both made the shirt and pants myself from the enchanted forest plants. I wore my curly hair in a woven braid that ran down the mid of my back, it was my usual hair style since it was so hot here in Bylon. Of course, a lot of women and girls did not approve of it since it wasn’t in the norm for a female to wear. The norm here was to wear long dresses and skirts. I could care less since their clothing wasn’t traveling attire. I grabbed my backpack and headed out.
As I walked through the army unit, soldiers walked back and forth among their small gray tents. A foul smell flood the air and soldiers’ faces were sullen with despair. Many times I had come to visit the soldiers would be joking, sporting, crocketting, or playing cards but because of their recent battle they were torn with grief from the comrades they had lost, with injuries they had gain, and the bloody fight they had fought through. I searched for the tent of the injured. I asked for directions, and one of the soldiers pointed me toward a large tent. I pulled back the flap, and about thirty soldiers lied on matts raised off the ground. Some of them groaned, others were so deathly silent that I was afraid that they had already passed away. A nurse surprised me, when she walked in behind me. Startled, I jumped.
“No need to be afraid,” she said “these are the fallen that we couldn’t help. Only a miracle can help them now. I hope you’re that miracle General Kant was talking about.” Kant was Kashon’s last name.
I nodded my head.
“We’ll good luck, I’ll leave you with them,” She walked out the tent.
I began working immediately on the silent ones, first. I did not want them to slip away. I pressed the plant remedy into their wounds and if they could, I would have them swallow it. Slowly they began recuperating, mostly because they didn’t know that they were healing rapidly. After, they were completely healed, they sat up stunned, and stared at me in wonder. I felt odd and alienated.
“Thank-you lovely,” a man said, who skull had been fractured.
Another man stared at me in bewilderment. “Are you a witch or an angel?”
“She’s an angel, of course,” said a woman, retreating from her cot.
I smiled.
I let them asked questions and thank me. I didn’t tell them where I got the remedy, I just told them that I had collected a plant of mystics to form the remedy. Kashon, Kye, and I agreed that I should not reveal that I had to use the queron stone to get there, or someone might steal it. As I walked out, the nurse stood in front of the tent gawking with her mouth agape as recovered soldiers retreated from the tent. As I walked by a tent, I could not help but hear a discussion of two soldiers talking within the tent
“We’re losing this war, and helpless children are being kidnap from their homes,” said a man’s voice.
“We need to move north and make sure they don’t reach Bylon,” said a woman’s voice.
They were talking about Leer’s army kidnapping children and forcing them into his army. It started off with him just kidnapping the children he had conceived by rapping women. I was one of those children but had escaped thanks to Danj and Kye. As time went on, he realized he would need a bigger army. I cringed in fear at the thought of being ripped from Bylon and abducted by Leer’s clan. Even at my age, I had heard of Leer taking people and forcing them into servants.
The woman walked through the tent, she was very muscular and her hair was cut short. A bandage was wrapped around her arm, and her eyes were darken with shadows. Sweat trickled down her forehead. She looked like she would fall over any minute.
“You,” she caught me eavesdropping. “Are you Zey?”
I nodded my head.
“Can you help me,” she asked and unwrapped the bandage from around her arm. She had a deep cut deep within her arm. I could tell it was infected before I saw it from the vulgar rotten meat smell it gave off. It was festered with yellow puss, and around the wound was blacken skin.
I pulled the remedy out of my backpack and coated it over the woman’s flesh. She grunted a bit but began to talk to me to ignore the pain.
“You’re one of the mark one’s aren’t you?” she probably saw the double headed serpent birth mark on the back of my neck as my braid fell over my shoulder.
“I am,” I admitted.
The prophesy stated if Leer could gather his children that bore his mark of the double serpent and make them apart of his army, he would be the most powerful man of all the lands. If he failed, they would turn against him and kill him.
The woman stared in awe as her arm healed before her eyes.
“Thank-you,” she said, astonished. “I am forever in your debt. I will do my best to protect Bylon but heed my warning and leave elsewhere. They are coming.
Dread infested my mind because I knew she was right.