Sheridan frowned, but nodded. “Show me.”
I led the two of them to Vellum.
Sheridan knelt down, put a hand to Vellum’s chest, and then winced.
I turned to Elora. “You didn’t happen to bring Derek or Keras with you…?”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t teleport all the way back home from here. Not enough mana. Sheridan was at the party, just in the other ballroom with the second-years. No one attacked that room. What happened after I left?”
I waved a hand across the room. “A mess. Vellum managed to banish Mizuchi somehow.”
I gritted my teeth as I remembered Professor Conway hitting the ground near me. “I need to check on anyone else who might still be alive.”
“Banish…?” Elora frowned. “That’s…unusual.”
“We can worry about that later. Help me find people who are alive?”
Elora shook her head. “I’m going to go get more healers.”
“Even better.”
“I already sent messages to Derek and Keras to hurry here, but it’s a long distance. Even with their speed, it’s going to be a while.”
“What are the odds that Mizuchi comes back?” I asked Elora.
“Unlikely. Banishment spells usually take a while to shake off. Days, at least, if not longer. Not that Mizuchi should have been able to get out of the spire in the first place…”
I nodded. We’d have to look into how that had happened later.
I had ideas, but I didn’t want to think about them at the moment. My focus was on finding and helping survivors.
Minutes passed as I found anyone with a pulse and threw a Lesser Regeneration spell on them. With my minimal expertise, it was the safest way I could treat them without risking further harm.
I had no experience with triage, but I understood the concept readily enough.
I had to ignore the people who were too far gone for my meager treatment.
A few minutes later, I saw Sheridan’s shoulders slump. I rushed over to them.
“It’s done,” Sheridan said. “Vellum’s heart is pumping. She’ll live. For a little while longer, at least.”
“Th-thank you.” I managed. I let out a deep breath.
Sheridan smiled. “It’s my job. Now, let’s see who else we can help, shall we?”
We went to Patrick next. I felt terrible that I hadn’t gone to him first, but I knew a stopped heart was something that needed immediate attention.
“He’s doing fine. But, uh, try not to remake any bone until you know what you’re doing? You’ve got some bone in parts that should be cartilage.”
I winced.
“I can fix it before he wakes up. But here, watch.”
I watched, and I learned.
Hours passed.
At one point, I stopped to take a vial out of the Jaden Box. I walked to the area where Sera had managed to land a cut on Mizuchi’s leg.
I collected what I could of Mizuchi’s blood. I knew it could be extremely important.
I asked Elora to check on Sera and Marissa as soon as she got back. She reported that they were outside recovering.
That was good. It meant I didn’t have to worry about them immediately.
I pointed Sheridan to a few people that had been alive, but beyond my ability to treat. They treated some, and, like me, had to move past others.
Elora arrived with more healers, and more guards.
The guards weren’t in case Mizuchi came back. They were to keep anyone who wasn’t a medic from coming back into the room.
There were some surviving teachers and staff that had been in other rooms, deliberately avoiding the chancellor’s speech. And the second-year students had been in a separate ballroom, so they hadn’t been affected by the attack.
They were outside now, consoling children and directing people home.
After the healers came the people who were there to move the bodies.
I knew some of those bodies.
The old woman who had hosted the party.
Chancellor Wallace.
Professor Conway.
That last one…hurt. It really hurt.
He’d saved my life.
If I’d moved just a little bit faster, maybe I could have saved his.
I tightened my hands as I thought about it, but I couldn’t cry.
I still had more wounds to stitch. More blood to wipe off my hands.
I worked until I couldn’t, and then I worked some more.
I found Cecily waiting outside.
“You’re a jerk.”
I nodded to her. “I know.”
Cecily looked away. “You should have just come home with me when I asked.”
I shook my head. “No. I might be a jerk, but by being here, I saved a lot of lives. So did you.”
She turned her head back toward me. “I was scared, you know. I’m still scared.”
“I know.”
“Come with me back home now? I…don’t want to be alone right now.”
I shook my head. “I need to make sure Patrick and Marissa recover. They’re in bad shape.”
“I…” Cecily frowned.
“But you can come with me. We’re going to be at Elora Theas’ estate. She can teleport us there once she’s recovered a bit more.”
Cecily sighed. “Everything always has to be done your way, doesn’t it?”
“In this case? Yes. Yes, it absolutely does.”
“Fine.” Cecily folded her arms. “But you owe me some answers.”
“That’s fine. I wouldn’t mind hearing what you think about a few things, too.”
Cecily and I found the others shortly later.
Patrick had woken up after Sheridan’s treatment, but he was still in a lot of pain.
Sera and Marissa were both asleep when I found them, huddled together under a blanket.
Apparently, the healer that Vanniv had found hadn’t been skilled enough to treat them completely, but he’d been able to treat the most serious wounds and gave them something to help them sleep until better healers arrived.
Vanniv was still there, being uncharacteristically quiet. He rested his hand on Sera’s forehead. I thought she’d probably find that comforting.
Derek and Keras had apparently arrived a couple hours before, but hadn’t been allowed into the manor. They’d been briefed on what had happened already, and they were standing guard over our injured companions.
Sheridan and Elora were both still working. I sent Elora a message with our location, so they could find us and teleport us back when she had sufficiently recovered.
I didn’t trust my own meager skills to do any better with the healing on my injured comrades directly, so I just cast a Lesser Regeneration spell on each of them and sat down to rest.
My hand ached. My head ached.
I’d dipped below my safe levels in both attunements.
There was no alternative, as far as I was concerned.
I couldn’t check my mana watch. I’d disabled it by draining out of it during the fight. Still, I knew I was deep in the negatives. I didn’t care. There were too many cases when even a basic regeneration spell might have saved a life.
After a little while, Patrick started crying.
Vanniv took his hand off Sera to move closer and rest Patrick’s head on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything.
I waited, worried, and felt useless.
Hours passed.
Eventually, Elora and Sheridan returned.
They took us home.
We were all hurting when we arrived. Physically, emotionally, or both.