Grimoires and Gunsmoke

"Wait! Just... wait!" Elijah yelled, throwing his hands forward when he saw the look on the blonde Elf’s face.

Her grip on the stone had tightened, and her arm tensed as she cocked it back to throw it. “You think I’m just going to allow some FREAK to rob me!?” She barked in anger. “Can’t you losers wait until I at least die!?”

“W-What!? We're not here to rob you!” Elijah said slowly detaching the more portable aid pack that was attached to his waist. “You're hurt, and I have the skills to provide… uhh, care. It's not magic, but it will work."

The woman hesitated, her arm still raised but the intensity of her posture lessening slightly. Torn between her instinct to defend herself and the intense pain that coursed through her body, her gaze darted between the strange man’s medical kit and his earnest face.

In an attempt to assess and weigh her options, the injured Elf studied the contents of Elijah's satchel. Everything in it resembled what she might expect from a rudimentary healer in some town, yet far more sophisticated. There were neatly organized bandages, antiseptics, and various medical tools that she had never seen before. It was clear that this man was not lying when he said he was a healer.

Albeit a mundane healer, but was she really in a position to be picky?

With the pain gnawing at her and weakening her resolve, she finally relented. Her hand, trembling slightly from the strain, slowly lowered the stone to the ground. She made a decision to gamble on the trustworthiness of the man in front of her.

"Fine," she said in a pained and reluctant tone, wincing as she adjusted her position to grant better access to her injuries. "But if this is a trick..."

“You can bash my head in with a rock.” Elijah replied, walking forward before taking a knee right next to her. He then pointed to himself and said, “Elijah.” Then he pointed towards the man who still had a strange weapon trained on her. “Bennett.”

A look of wariness colored the woman’s face as the strange healer introduced himself and his companion. Her gaze flickered to the one called Bennett who was still training his odd weapon on her, and then back to Elijah. Despite the pain and her initial reluctance, there was a sense of curiosity in her expression.

After a brief pause, she seemed to relent with an exhausted sigh, and she reciprocated the introduction. "Azeline," she said, pointing at herself.

Elijah began to nod, surprised things were going as well as they were. “See? This isn’t so bad.” He said, glancing back at Bennett. “Right Ben?”

“Fuck you.” The engineer barked back angrily. "You're a goddamn lunatic," he added, reluctantly lowering his weapon. "All this cosmic bullshit has scrambled your brains."

Elijah chuckled derisively, unable to refute the accusation. "Maybe, but it's working, isn't it? We're making progress here."

Azeline watched their interaction with a mixture of confusion and interest. She couldn’t understand a word they were saying, but the familiar dynamics between the two men were similar to that of Freelancers. But she wasn’t going to let that distract her from her vigilance. Azeline still needed to stay alert and gauge whether their intentions were as genuine as they claimed.

As Elijah began to assess Azeline's injuries, his brow started to furrow at the extent of her injuries. He knew his basic trauma kit and lack of resources would allow him to provide very limited care, but he had to make the best of whatever he had.

Pulling out his shears, he slowly cut away at the fabric around Azeline's wounds to get a better look. “Jesus Christ… How haven’t you bled out already?” He mumbled as he pulled out his antiseptic wipes and started cleaning the stab wound. He knew he couldn’t do much about the internal damage at the current moment, so now his only concern was infections and preventing any further blood loss.

While Elijah worked on his new patient, Coleman emerged from the shadow and walked up right next to Bennett. He observed Elijah's work for a moment before turning to Bennett. "You think she knows anything?" Coleman asked, his voice low and contemplative.

Bennett turned around and eyed the surroundings before offering a simple shrug. "I’m more concerned about how in the hell we’re supposed to get her out of here with those demon bats lurking about." he responded with a slightly frustrated tone. It was clear that the presence of the menacing creatures in the area was weighing heavily on his mind.

Coleman let out a sigh, the presence of the menacing creatures in the area also weighed heavily on his mind. The extraction of this woman for interrogation and further treatment made things a lot more complicated.

Pressing down on his push-to-talk, Coleman spoke into the headset. "Baron 2, this is Baron 1. We've made contact with a local that needs to be extracted for further treatment. Stand by for next, over." he relayed the situation, his voice firm yet tinged with the strain of their predicament.

As the acknowledgement came over the radio, Coleman turned to Elijah and spoke up, “Hey, can we move her?”

Elijah continued to work on Azeline's injuries as he replied to Coleman without looking away. "We can move her, but it's going to be tricky," he said, his hands skillfully applying a final bandage to the stab wound. "She's got a fractured hip and a broken arm, which complicates things. The stab wound is stable for now, but I’m going to need my full kit real fuckin’ fast."

The medic then moved to assess her hip. With the resources at hand, he couldn't do much more than ensure she was as comfortable as possible. "We'll need to be gentle with her, especially with that hip. Any jostling around could make it worse," Elijah explained. He then moved to get her into a sling for her broken arm.

Finishing up, Elijah stood and faced Coleman. "We should try to keep her movements to a minimum, but I don’t got a stretcher on me.” He said, pulling off his latex gloves. “So that means one of us is gonna have to carry her through the forest.

A difficult look spread across Coleman’s face as he started to think. “Can you sedate her?” He asked, looking behind him at the path they took to get here.

Elijah hesitated for a moment before answering. "Ehhh... Yes...? But I'm not particularly familiar with Elf physiology. We're limited on supplies, and while reports show that they’re compatible, I still can't predict how she'll react to our shit," he cautioned with a look of uncertainty on his face

Coleman furrowed his brows as he processed this information. After weighing his options for a moment, he came to a quick decision. "Sedate her. I’m not going to be the one responsible for her screaming in agony all day," he stated firmly, unwilling to let something like that weigh on his conscience. “She’ll either die of shock or die high as fuck, but without pain. And if I had to choose, it would be the latter.”

The ODA team leader then turned his attention back to the radio and pressed down on his push-to-talk button. "Baron 2, this is Baron 1. Prep the vehicles for exfil. When we get there, we're hauling ass out. Expect an injured plus one. Over," he instructed clearly and concisely, following proper radio protocol.

After receiving the confirmation from Baron 2, Coleman switched channels to contact another team member. "Baron 3, this is Baron 1. Prep nine bangs and start dispersing them in the forest. Create a diversion and cover our exfil. Sync for ten minutes. Acknowledge, over."

Lister's voice crackled through the radio, "Baron 1, this is Baron 3. Copy that. Prepping nine bangs for diversion. Timing set for ten minutes. Out."

A few beeps resounded as Coleman started the timer on his watch. He then turned back to Bennett and Elijah, "We got 10 minutes, drug her up and prep her to move." His gaze lingered on Azeline who was staring at him with a confused look on her face.

Azeline, watching the interaction with growing apprehension, finally spoke up, "What are you talking about?" she asked Elijah with a voice full of apprehension while her eyes flicked between the men.

Elijah, who had been preparing the sedative, paused and looked at Azeline. His grasp of her language wasn’t exactly ideal, but it was still enough to hold a proper conversation even though there was still a slightly janky quality to it. "We need to move you," he explained carefully. "We don't have the proper supplies here to treat you fully, and there’s a horde of those weird monster things out there. It's not safe."

“The Rotwings? Or do you mean the Grovemaws?" She asked with a look of concern on her face.

Silence reigned for a moment as Elijah gave her a strange look, but after a few moments he then pointed to one of the dead scavengers nearby. “Those things”

“Ah. Rotwings…” Azeline nodded. “Harmless alone and cowardly even when in groups, but if there’s enough of them then it’s a problem. It’s rare, but if they swarm and-” Azeline was suddenly cut off by a sharp sensation at her side, causing her to jolt and exclaim, "Hey! What was that for!?"

A thoughtful look clouded Elijah’s face for a moment before he waved his hand dismissively. “Ahh, don’t worry about it. I’m stopping your pain.” He explained.

He had been careful with the dosage, seeing as her species’ were rather sensitive to such medications, but the effects immediately became noticeable.

“What do you mean- wooaaah….” Azeline tried to reply, but suddenly became unsteady and started swinging about. Her pupils then began to dilate as she looked at Elijah with a mix of surprise and drowsiness. "I feel... weird," she mumbled with slurred words.

Elijah rubbed his beard for a few moments as he monitored her closely. He had tried to give her less than what was recommended to take the edge off, but it appeared much more effective than he initially thought. “Huh… would you look at that.” He muttered to himself, a hint of surprise in his voice. "I guess even a small dose is pretty potent for you. I could just water this shit down-.”

Suddenly thunk resounded as Azeline fell back with her eyes staring up at the sky.

“Woaaaaaah…” She moaned in awe as colors and strange shapes populated her world. “Is that what purple tastes like?”

Everyone looked at each other for a few moments, unsure what to make of the situation.

Bennett was the first to speak up with a voice tinged with a mix of concern and practicality. "We should… uhh. We should probably move her now while she's calm and high as shit,"

“Ya, that’s probably a good idea…” Coleman replied pulling off a nine bang from a pouch and giving Elijah an accusatory look. “How much of that shit did you give her?”

Elijah, noticing the look, put up both his hands in a defensive gesture. "Look, I tried to give her less than what was recommended, okay?" he explained, his tone a mixture of frustration and concern. "Elves clearly react differently to this stuff. I didn’t expect it to hit her this hard."

Coleman gave his medic an incredulous look before turning his attention back to his watch. "Look, just make sure she's stable for the transport. I don’t want her freaking out in the middle of the forest.” He said as Elijah grabbed Azeline’s arm and hoisted her up into a fireman's carry with a grunt.

A surprised look came over Elijah’s face once he got her settled on his shoulders. Despite her slender appearance, Azeline was surprisingly heavy. "God damn, she must be all muscle or some shit." He commented, adjusting his grip to better distribute her weight before walking towards Coleman.

However, Azeline suddenly stirred in Elijah's hold and pointed to her makeshift camfire. "Wait, wait," she mumbled, still completely out of it. She weakly pointed at her satchel lying right next to where she slept. "Can you grab the thingy thing? I need the thingy thing.” She slurred, trying to convey the importance of her belongings. “It has all my bribe money and the patrol maps and the bribe money.”

Everyone froze in place and turned to the woman as she hung limply on Elijah’s shoulders.

“Patrol routes? What do you mean by patrol routes?” Bennett questioned curiously as he and Coleman eyed the satchel intensely.

"Mmmhmm, patrol routes," she said with a nod, her words slurred and her eyelids fluttering. "We got maps, lots of squiggly lines and dots... shows where the big, bad, shiny guys march and set up camp for when we smuggle stuff." She gestured vaguely in the air, as if drawing invisible lines.

"And the bribe money?" Coleman chimed in, trying to piece together her disjointed information.

A gasp resounded as Azeline slapped her mouth with her hand. "Oh, oh, the money! I completely forgot about the money!" She exclaimed with a sudden burst of energy, only to slump back down. "Yeah, we gave shiny coins to a shiny man. He told us secrets, lots of secrets. About the thingy maboops... with the Imperials." Her voice trailed off as she seemed to lose track of her thoughts. "Did I mention I can't leave the bribe money? I need that to get past those stupid forts they just built."

"Huh... ain't that some shit," Elijah muttered, as Bennett jogged over to the satchel and began rummaging through it.

As the engineer’s pulled out and unfolded a piece of what felt like leather parchment, he let out a whistle. "God damn, they even got the rift on this bitch," he said with a voice full of awe and disbelief. He held the parchment up, revealing a detailed map that included not only troop concentrations and patrol routes but also marked areas that were deemed no go zones.

It was a little rough, but it provided a general overview of key strategic points and it was still invaluable for its potential to offer a broader understanding of Imperial movements and fortifications if it wasn’t out right garbage. However, they were still tasked to reconnoiter these areas and if there was even an inkling of truth to the map, then their jobs would be made a lot easier..

After examining the map, Bennett recognized its significance despite its roughness. "This might not be perfect for detailed planning, but it's a solid reference point," he noted. "It gives us an idea of what we're dealing with."

"Bag everything we can use. We only got a couple minutes until we bust out of here," Coleman instructed as his eyes stayed glued to his watch.

Bennett carefully pushed the parchment back into the satchel and then proceeded to wander around the makeshift camp scooping up anything and everything that looked even remotely interesting or useful. As he finished gathering whatever he could, Bennett then secured the satchel tightly before he made his way back to stand next to Coleman.

Checking his rifle, the engineer made sure he was ready to go as Coleman pulled the pin on his nine bang and started counting down over the radio. "Five... Four... Three... Two... One... Mark." As he shouted the last word, he threw the device deep into the forest.

The nine bang was designed as a replacement to the standard M84 stun grenade. It was made to create multiple deafening and concussive explosions to disorient the enemy and it worked exactly as intended. Almost immediately after Coleman's throw, a series of loud blasts echoed throughout the forest at different locations. It wasn't perfectly simultaneous, but the effect was just as effective.

Startled by the sudden cacophony and bright flashes, the horde of Rotwings screeched in panic and in a large, chaotic mass, they took to the sky, fleeing in disarray. The dense canopy of the forest was momentarily filled with the dark silhouettes of the creatures, creating an almost surreal spectacle as they flew off into the distance.

“Boom, boom, boom, boom…” Azeline murmured in a dazed and distant tone. Her words were almost lost under the sound of the nine bangs and the panicking creatures.

Coleman looked up through the canopy before turning back and looking at his men before giving them a nod of satisfaction. "Let's move," he said, gesturing towards the path they took to get here.

Taking the lead, Coleman confidently navigated through the forest, retracing the path they had previously trekked to find their new friend that rested on Elijah’s shoulders. The medic himself followed closely behind Coleman while Azeline couldn’t help but murmured observations of the chaos around them continued, though she remained in a dazed state due to the sedative.

Bennett pulled up the rear to maintain some semblance of security in case any of those winged horrors stuck around. But it seemed that their vigilance was wasted due to the initial effectiveness of the nine bangs.

While there wasn’t a single Rotwing in the trees nor on the ground, he did notice the corpses of those monsters that Elijah had killed earlier were half eaten. “These things are cannibalistic too. How endearing," he commented dryly, cringing at the sight.

Elijah, trying to balance Azeline as he stepped over a massive root. "Nature's charming in its own twisted way," he responded with a grimace.

With a shake of their heads, the three men continued their journey through the now seemingly empty forest. Not a single Rotwing let alone any being bothered to stay behind after their little stunt, but the silence added another layer of eeriness that put them on edge. The exodus of the monsters must have more than likely drawn a few discerning eyes, so they needed to make like a tree and leave.

Their new friend slowed the trek, but the three finally linked up with the rest of their squad and made their way to the rest of the ODA. The team in question had shit eating grins plastered all over their faces as they waited with the Vehicles.

Sergeant Jason Kwon, the ODA’s team sergeant, watched with a raised eyebrow as Elijah approached with their new charge. Kwon, a medium built Asian American, carried an air of authority and experience in his athletic frame that told of years of being in the field in multiple theaters of conflict. The Sergeant jumped out of his GMV and moved to Elijah’s vehicle to open the door for him.

“Of course you’d bring back a woman," the Sergeant teased with a hint of amusement in his voice and curiosity in his eyes. The slight accent in his voice hinted at his Hong Kong heritage, adding a unique aspect to his commanding presence. "Is she drooling on you?"

A mischievous chuckle left Elijah’s mouth as he bent down and placed her inside one of the GMV’s. "Heheh, yeah, I swooned her," he explained.

Kwon and the team laughed as they started to climb into their vehicles.. "Roofies don’t count," The Sergeant joked as he shook his head.

A snort left Colemans mouth as he climbed into the turret of his GMV. "Alright, alright. Wrap it up, let get the hell out of here before someone gets wise and checks this shithole out." The Team Leader interjected, before spinning a single finger in the air to signal to everyone it was time to make their leave.

The engines of the GMVs hummed to life, and the convoy began to make their way out of the treeline, leaving the eerie forest in their wake.