The smell of o-zone permeated the air as bolts of lightning formed numerous bridges between the city and the storm clouds overhead. The noise was audible even through my suit it automatically redacted the noise of the city-wide thunderclap to save my hearing.

  The ground shook, and the air itself vibrated, even through my suit. Whether that was psychosomatic or not was anyone’s guess, but it impressed the hell out of me.

  “I would say that was the cavalry, but I’ve never seen a line of horses incinerate an entire city of bugs from the sky before.”

  We’d slogged back through the city, twice. Once to rescue our initial group and twice more to try and get as many people out as we possibly could.

  I’d taken all four of us out to help protect the civvies as we transported them back to the secure zone. The trip back to the perimeter of the military quarter was relatively peaceful with nothing more than a few minor skirmishes. That is, until we reached the gates. The gate and walls were clear for all of thirty seconds before we were rushed by what seemed like hundreds of hounds. The streets were so thickly filled I could’ve crossed the street on their backs without ever touching the ground.

  Fortunately, there weren’t too many to deal with, which actually surprised me. Most of the things out in the open were cooked instantly Mostly it was the mages on the walls throwing out lightning like it was going out of style that helped so much.

  There were a lot of targets to be serviced, but each bolt of lightning hit five or six targets each. With over fifteen mages throwing lightning around the streets quickly became more of a barbecue than a threat.

  The four of us more than carried their weight, but we had four rifles to our name and a couple of mortars that had stopped firing a while ago. The few rifles we’d handed out had stopped being effective when their users had died or the ammunition had run out. We did a lot of damage with our efforts, but really it was the mages and the overbuilt nature of the military quarter that made the biggest contribution in my eyes.

  I remember watching our civilian charges being lifted over the wall as we tried to keep the mass of clawed monsters back, but that’s it. That’s the last memory I have. The next thing I know, everything was different and I was enduring the slow process of waking up after a long sleep.

  The bed beneath me was different and the air was too warm. I lay supine on the unfamiliar surface, eyes closed, motionless, breathing steady and slow. Someone was in the room with me. I couldn't see them with my eyes closed and the room being so dimly lit, I knew enough to know I wasn't in the barracks and that wherever I was, it was dark.

  It felt strange not being in my armour. It was always an odd feeling to finally be free of the form-fitting contraption after days or weeks of not taking it off, but the odd bedding beneath me only reinforced the feeling. I heard nothing. I tried to discreetly reach out over the NFC network. I used my eyes to do the work, since moving my jaw and other related muscles would be conspicuous.

  To my relief, the person next to me was Larsen. Her implant responded to a simple ping command. She was the one in the room. My eyes opened and I turned to her, feeling the tendons and muscles in my neck protest the motion fiercely.

  She was wearing her suit, but her helmet was clipped to her armour.

  "Hey, take it easy. You gave us quite a scare."

  I remained still, content to lie on the stiff bed while I took in my surroundings.

  The room was plain, but it wasn’t Terran. The walls were made of sterile stone and wood, all polished and smooth. The room I was in was small, no bigger than ten metres in length and half that in width. There were no monitors displaying my vitals, no nanite patches and no recognisable Terran technology at all, besides Larsen’s suit, of course.

  “You’re in the Halls of Healing. We got you a private room. It wasn’t a big ask for a saviour of Ebonwreath.” Larsen’s lips quirked up in a small smile. “Of course, all of us are. Something about rescuing civilians and heroic deeds and such.”

  "Saviour? I’ll take it. Sounds way better than ‘dumbass who got shot’ and doesn’t even remember it. What happened, exactly? I don’t remember anything after storm clouds. I assume whatever Lilith did worked out in the end?" I asked.

  Obviously, something had happened. I didn't remember anything about how I'd got here, or where 'here' was, exactly. I had a few blurry, disconnected memories of bringing back the civilians and seeing them float over the walls. Then, I was in a strange bed feeling like a wrung out towel.

  "It worked out. She shot lightning The city was attacked and before you ask, no, we didn’t get everyone out, not even close. We did save seventy-three civilians, though. The rest either sheltered in place, found their own way to safety, or didn’t make it."

  Somehow it was made worse knowing that these weren’t my people that had died. It made every death feel heavier. I knew I wasn’t responsible, and that this would’ve happened anyway, but it didn’t make it any easier to think about. This was a city of thousands. Small by our standards, but every death here was one too many.

  “We helped, you know.”

  “I know.”

  My lungs felt weak, my whole body did. Thankfully, not from muscle atrophy, but from exhaustion. Though, in hindsight, there probably was some limited muscle atrophy from stasis sleep and while it wasn’t serious, it probably did mean I wasn’t in top physical form.

  “Any word on my condition? How’d I get here?”

  Larsen’s eyes glowed softly. “You took a hit to the left lung, some kind of serrated spike. Turns out that the hounds aren’t the only new threat in town. A bunch of slithering snakes showed up, not many, but they managed to give us a real fight. The spike went straight through your armour. We won, obviously, but I’m just glad those things are more fragile than the dogs. Your left lung was almost lost, but between the pod, your suit and the mage-doctors here, they saved it. I managed to drag you to safety while everyone else covered you. The mages on the wall seemed really pissed, for some reason.”

  “Oh? Nice to know I’m appreciated, but why were you anywhere near me? I thought I told you to stay on the walls?”

  She nodded. “You did. You went down as you turned the corner onto the street in front of me. Carver and I repositioned to cover your retreat. Chen has that crystal, by the way.”

  “Good. Should score us some points, I hope.”

  “It had better.” Her expression darkened. “It was dumb luck it didn’t hit your heart or spine.”

  “Don’t hold it against him. I agreed at the time. In hindsight…, well, you know what they say about that.”

  “Yep. Hold it against who, though? Chen?” She gave me a short chuckle. “I was thinking more that shopkeeper, if I’m being honest.”

  “Then don’t start a diplomatic incident.” I looked at her pointedly. “I’ve read your file, you know.”

  “You have? I didn’t think a mere Corporal would have access to that kind of information.”

  “Usually, no, but I have connections. Or, had, I guess.”

  “Twelve thousand light-years from home.”

  The silence was heavy for a moment, before I interrupted it.

  “What happened after the battle was over?”

  “Well, they stopped coming at us. There might be a few stragglers but I doubt it. Patrols are on every street corner now.”

  “They angry?”

  “The civvies? A lot of them are, yeah. Perfect time to recruit, right?”

  “Can you handle that?”

  “Not me, I’m staying here. After Chen and Carver are freed up, we’ll see. I imagine it won’t be too long until we start though. Recruiters back on Earth or Mars would sell their mothers to have this many applicants waiting. I should say applicants-to-be, actually. I don’t think more than a handful of people know we’re in the market for an army just yet.”

  I stifled a chuckle, pushing the offending stabbing sensation down and away. The pain I was in was less than I’d expected, even with a double dose of nanites and whatever painkillers they came with. The little machines would’ve helped save my life and stabilise me, even taken care of the whole wound, given enough time, but despite their potency the pain was still surprisingly soft. I’d have to remember to send the doctor a nice fruit basket, or something. Although, on second thought, a medical textbook seemed a more fitting gift.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  “Lilith sent someone to come fetch you and Eric to take you both to the Halls so they could work magic on you—literally. He’s in the room opposite yours. From what I understand, he’s lucky to be alive. You’re just lucky I don’t smack you for being stupid.”

  “Hey, I do outrank you, you know? It’s hard to see a bullet coming with your back to it.” I glared at her for all of three seconds before I couldn’t keep up the act. A jovial smile broke out on my face and she mirrored it.

  “I guess being right next door Eric and I will be able to catch up a bit. I’m assuming someone wants to debrief me before that happens, though?”

  “Correct. Lilith got most of the important stuff from the rest of us but if I was her I’d want to be thorough too. She should be by later. Until then, well, I’ll brief you and then figure out if I can get you some real food, that is, if you feel up to it?”

  “My stomach’s fine—I think. I don’t want to know what passes for hospital food here, though.

  An itch in my chest rose to full strength before dimming for a moment. I hadn’t noticed it, but now it seemed to be there and there to stay. I frowned. I knew from experience it would pass, but it always annoyed the shit out of me. It was *literally* an itch I couldn’t scratch.

  “Any nanites in my system?” I asked. I knew there had to be, but how many was an open question. I also was curious how much of my recovery was due to our own medical efforts and how much was due to the efforts of our allies.

  “Two standard doses. We had trauma nanites left in the pod and I was able to get to them in time.” She looked sheepish, all of a sudden and I was certain there was a solid story there. “We’ll be rationing them carefully until we can make more. You’ll be sore and tire pretty easily, but you should make a full recovery inside a few days from what the docs tell me.”

  As for how much of each respective approach was responsible for my rapid recovery, it was about a sixty-forty split, our way. Two doses would’ve taken care of most of it, but I’d probably have been out of it for three to four weeks, maybe a little bit longer. Six days was an absolutely miraculous recovery time considering what we had on hand to treat serious injuries.

  I had to wonder how well magic would deal with more complex and traumatic injuries, but I hoped I’d never find out firsthand. It was best questions like that were left as hypothetical ones.

  “Great. Stuck in here for days doing nothing. Mind helping me up?” I deadpanned. Not that I wasn’t pleased by the news, but I wanted to be out there doing something useful, not stuck in the medieval equivalent of a hospital ward.

  “You almost lost your lung and woke up after nearly a week. They put you into a coma and apparently it took this long before you could wake up.” Larsen stared at me flatly, making no move at all to help me up.

  “*A week?* When the hell were you going to mention that to me, exactly?”

  “I just did. There was nothing you could’ve done, and don’t worry, I’ve kept on top of the other two. We’re on schedule with fabrication and your armour’s as good as new now.

  “So the plan is…”

  “Delayed. We would’ve started immediately, but most of our efforts had to wait since the raw materials we ripped from the ground went into rebuilding. Chen’s out clearing debris and assisting with repairs. Carver’s assisting with new construction efforts and I’m here guarding you. Oh, the mortars are a wreck by the way, but nothing else of ours was damaged. The city’s seen better days though, let me tell you.”

  Everything sounded reasonable, “Wait a minute, back up. Guarding me?” I pinned her with a quizzical stare.

  “I volunteered. Someone needs to keep you safe and none of us quite trust anyone else with the safety of one of our own. It’s nothing personal but—“

  “—You don’t need to pull your punches with me. I get it. If they’re offended because we’re paranoid, well, this’ll be an offensive alliance and they’ll just have to deal with it.” I smiled.

  I would’ve expected my friend to be guarding our equipment or perhaps assisting in the rebuilding or repairs, but I could see the argument for guarding me instead. We had no idea what had happened to the cult and seeing as how we hadn’t actually seen any human attackers, I was betting they were all still very much alive. I wouldn’t say it was out of the question for any of them to take a shot at us, literally or figuratively.

  Larsen continued her report. “The rebuilding efforts are ongoing, but there wasn’t as much damage done as you’d expect. No explosive damage, well, not much. By the time they were in the city the mortars were taken out.”

  “Sounds like everything is in order. How long until they’re in a position to help us?”

  “Militarily? No idea. In terms of providing support with food and logistics? I’m not sure, at least a few weeks, I would think. By the time you get out of here the rebuilding should be just about finished. There was shockingly little damage, that or they just build really tough.”

  Remembering the overbuilt wall and the similarly overbuilt interior fortifications leading to the military quarter, I could only nod my agreement.

  “Probably a little of both, I imagine.”

  “The King wants to meet us all, he should stop by later tonight.

  “The King? I take it you mean the one that didn’t run away?”

  “The then-Prince, yes. He took over and is very interested in meeting us, from what I understand.” Larsen nodded.

  “Well, is there a doctor around or…?”

  “You aren’t intending to meet him now, are you?” A light note of censure coloured my friend’s voice. “I said once you’re up and about, not before.”

  “Yeah, well, I’d rather be doing something useful, instead of nothing. It’s a punctured lung, not my legs.” I snorted.

  “You’re laying here healing, not doing nothing.”

  “Look, there’s still work to be done and I’m not doing anyone—“

  Larsen twisted and walked to the door of the room. Swinging it open she stuck her body out halfway, leaning out the doorway in much the same way as she would in combat.

  “Doc! Yeah, you! He’s awake.”

  Standing upright again, she muttered under her breath, too quiet for me to make out. It was probably some approximation of “That hopeless dumbass is going to exacerbate his injuries” or something.

  Rather than wearing scrubs or a white lab coat or anything remotely normal, a young woman wearing blindingly white robes walked through the door and into my modest hospital room, or I suppose, healing room, since this place wasn’t a hospital. The robes reminded me of a kimono, somewhat.

  “You. Lay there, sit still, touch nothing!” She said, striding over and lifting a hand that seemed to distort with some kind of projected heat wave.

  “Demanding isn’t she? I thought I was supposed to be the demanding one.” I smirked, directing the comment to Larsen. My friend stood next to me, practically towering over me in armour.

  “Will he live, Doctor?”

  “Healer.” The mage corrected.

  “Healer.” Larsen amended.

  “He’ll live, but he’s healed remarkably fast considering the wound he sustained. The same is true of Lord Wintersbane. Is it really true you poured metal dust into the wounds? Thinking metal dust?”

  The mage-doctor’s—or rather, healer’s— face was unabashedly curious, so I enlightened her.

  “It’s true. It’s very complicated, but that is one simplistic interpretation. They travelled through my body and began to accelerate my natural healing and actively manage the wound.”

  “I imagine that explains why Lord Wintersbane yet lives. Remarkable. I have to thank you, both of you, for allowing us the use of your healing light.” She looked at me with wonder, though I’m not sure if it was my wounds, or the medical tech I could offer that sparked the awed and perhaps hungry look in her eyes.

  “Healing light?” I asked.

  “Red light therapy.” Larsen supplied.

  “Ah.” I nodded. Certain wavelengths of infrared light promoted the healing of wounds and sped along recovery. While there was a limit to how much it could do and how effective it was, it could help a great deal.

  “Listen, Doc, I can’t leave his side, not even for a moment. Would you mind doing us a favour?”

  “A favour?”

  “He hasn’t eaten since before the battle and I… well, I’m just plain hungry.” She admitted cheerfully.

  “I’ll see what I can do.” The doctor laughed, before turning to address me. “Your body is strong and it’s recovering from your injury quickly, but that means you’ll be ravenous and exhausted. Powerful magic never comes cheap. With any luck, you won’t have to be here for too long. That does not, however, mean you can do whatever you want. Stay in bed and rest.”

  I nodded. It was obvious to me that even if it had been six days, the medical personnel must still have been swamped by all the injuries suffered in the last week.

  “I know I’m supposed to be resting, but would I be permitted to receive visitors?”

  “As long as you’re not inviting them in for a party, I’ll entrust that to your fellow soldier here.” The doctor busied herself with passing an implement over a section of the wall and I saw a faint glimmer of silver flash like sunlight reflecting off a mirror. The implement in question looked like a metallic toothbrush, except with a head at each end and a handle on one side. The entire interior of the room glowed slightly as she ran the device over the wall, then the room dimmed again.

  “You… what was that?” I asked.

  “I was just checking your health. The room is heavily enchanted.”

  The doctor went on to repeat the information I’d already been given by Larsen. All the medical bits, anyway. I was going to make a full recovery inside of a week, I was healing very fast and I had new bits of a lung that had just finished regrowing and I would be tired and weak for a while.

  As the mage turned to leave, she looked back at me with an unreadable expression, then she closed the door, turned and left the room.

  “I think you’ve got an admirer, there.”

  “What?” I exclaimed, perhaps a little too hastily.

  “It’s not every day some armoured knight from the sky comes and saves the day and rescues people from certain death.”

  I scoffed. “Bullshit, you’re messing with me.”

  She grinned. “Yeah, I am.”

  I rolled my eyes, comforted by the familiar light-hearted banter, though to an outsider it probably looked quite hostile. We chatted for a while as I checked over my implants. I was able to see an exact log of my movements and it was no surprise to me that I was in an underground hospital. It was likely one of the safer places to be right now and it seemed everything important was underground. It made sense given

  A few hours passed and I finally got the chance to relax and take it easy. Bedpan notwithstanding, it was a nice change of pace. A dull trio of thumps at the door interrupted the conversation Larsen and I were having on the potential merits of magical Viagra versus the mundane alternative.

  “The King wants to see you.” A muffled voice stated through the door.

  Larsen stood and walked over to the door, opening it without a care in the world. With the benefit of her armour’s sensors she’d know what was behind it long before she got there. At that, I wondered where my armour was. Hopefully, somewhere safe.

  “The King?” Larsen asked.

  A man in black and grey robes over leather, looking very much like a monochrome paladin stood on the other side of the doorway a ways back.

  “Yes. He’s anxious to meet your leader and wasn’t content to wait until his recovery. I trust this will not be an issue?”

  Larsen glanced back at me and I nodded my assent.

  “Please, enter. We have much to discuss.”

  As the first guard made his way into the room, I had to admit I held no small amount of curiosity about the King. If I understood things correctly, the man had suddenly been handed the right to reign in the absence of his father, and I knew nothing about the former Prince, except that he was probably a fair sight better than his father who’d run away. I’d expected some kind of coronation first or formal announcement but if there had been one, I’d likely slept through it.

  I hadn’t planned on meeting royalty in hospital clothes while reclining in bed, but on the bright side, at least I wasn’t half-dead or completely naked.