Free Fimbulwinter (Daniel Black) by E. William Brown Page B

or six
    miles a day, and I don’t see us going more than a day or two without another
    attack.”
    I frowned. “I was afraid of that. Well, it looks like there’s a blizzard
    coming in, and even if the cold doesn’t bother frost giants I doubt they can see
    through falling snow. So we’re going to collect what supplies we can and hole
    up maybe half a mile from here, just far enough that no one’s likely to find us
    before the weather clears. You collect supplies and get everyone organized
    while I do what I can to keep the wounded from dying on us. When we find a
    good spot I’ll work some magic to make a shelter and keep it warm.”
    He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Sounds like a plan, sir. Any chance
    you can save the Captain?”
    “I’ll try, Thomas. Just show me where he is.”
    Captain Rain was a grisly sight. Apparently he’d been popular with the
    refugees, because a few of the peasant women had gotten a little fire going next
    to him and were carefully tending his wounds when we arrived. But most of
    his right arm was missing, and there were bubbles of blood on his lips.
    One of the women looked up, and hope blossomed on her face.
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    “Lord wizard!” She said pleadingly. “Are you here to save him?”
    “I’m going to try,” I told her. I knelt next to him, and laid a hand on his
    forehead to feel out his injuries.
    It was bad. His chest had been crushed by the giant, and the broken ribs
    had punctured both lungs. They were filling with blood, which he had precious
    little of left after losing the arm. Frostbite was already setting in on his feet,
    and he had a concussion on top of everything else.
    “Damn,” I muttered. “Sergeant, I’m going to need a half hour or so just to
    get him stable enough to move, and even then we’ll need a stretcher. You said
    there are some other serious cases too?”
    “Yes sir. The worst is Dorgen, he got bit by a wolf and survived
    somehow. Then there’s a stab wound from that giant’s spear, and a lot of bad
    gashes and broken bones.”
    “I see. Figure a couple of hours for me to get them ready to move, then.
    Avilla’s making wolf steak for everyone, so at least we’ll be well fed. We’ll
    set out as soon as everyone’s eaten.”
    “Yes, sir. I hope we have that long. Not much left to stop another attack
    with those damned deserters gone.”
    “Can’t be helped, sergeant. Maybe you could arm some of the peasants?”
    He considered that. “Better than nothing, I suppose. I’ll see to it.”
    He turned to go.
    The woman who had spoken before tentatively put her hand on my arm.
    “You can save him, my lord?”
    “I think so. If the monsters leave us alone long enough.”
    She blinked back tears. “Bless you, milord!”
    One of the others, a pretty girl who might have been fourteen, smiled
    happily. “See, Vasha? I knew we shouldn’t give up.”
    “It’s a good thing you didn’t,” I told them. “He wouldn’t have lasted this
    long otherwise. But I’d better get to work now.”
    It was an exhausting two hours. My amulet might recharge my mana, but
    working magic continuously for long periods was still a strain. The knowledge
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    that I didn’t have the time or energy to fully heal any of my patients was an
    added complication, because it meant that I couldn’t just flood them with
    healing energy and let it do what it wanted. Instead I had to focus in on specific
    trouble spots, forcing the magic to heal only what I wanted it to and leave
    everything else alone.
    Shifting Captain Rain’s broken ribs back into place and fixing his
    damaged lungs took most of the time I’d estimated. Then I had to deal with the
    shock, blood loss and hypothermia, all of which were systemic issues that
    were almost impossible to touch without half my energy flow bleeding off into
    his other injuries. At least the concussion wasn’t a bad one. I had a headache
    by the time I was done, and it wasn’t as solid a job as I would have liked.
    “Keep