Beyond the tower, the healer staggers to a gnarled oak and sinks against it. Moonlight beads on the leaves above, and the forest holds its breath around them.
The captive lies still at their feet, chained wrists slack. The healer presses two fingers to the pulse at the throat, then lets out a trembling, relieved exhale.
The Healer
Still there. Weak, but there.
Izalette Reinloft
The night sounds are gone.
The healer tips their head back against the bark, eyes shut, gathering themselves. Their hands do not leave the captive for long, as if they fear the breath might vanish if unattended.
The Healer
You held the stair well. Better than I hoped.
A soft wind stirs the branches. The open path to the tower waits behind them, but for the first time tonight, nobody moves toward it.
The Healer
If you have a moment, sit. I can spare a little water, and maybe a name, if you want it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Stabilize the captive
“I have my own water and a bit of jerked meat if you need any. Reaches into pouch and pulls out two straps of Jerry before sitting down near the two. Pulls around my waterskin and takes a small swig while offering one of the strips to the healer.”
SUCCESS (Good Health, rolled +0)
Izalette sits beside them with careful ease, drawing out water and jerked meat. Moonlight catches the mouth of the skin as she takes a small drink, then offers the strip across her palm.
The Healer
That helps more than you know. I was running on fear and stubbornness.
The healer accepts the food with shaking fingers and bites down, then passes the waterskin toward the captive’s slack mouth. A little color returns to the still face.
The Healer
Not cleanly healed, not yet, but steady enough to move if I must.
They glance toward the tower, where the buried iron ring glints faintly in the masonry beyond the path. The forest stays quiet, listening.
The Healer
I should have said it sooner. Thank you, Izalette Reinloft. For the stair. For staying.
The healer keeps one hand on the captive’s shoulder and one on the waterskin, then lifts their eyes to Izalette with a tired, open question, waiting for the next comfort or the next move.
+ New Item Acquired
Waterskin
“I've been wondering since I came across you in this tower, why did you come after this guy instead of waiting for me to go get him? Healer lan, you're the only healer in town, So you should not be risking yourself.”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled -1)
Izalette Reinloft
You came after him instead of waiting for me. Why risk yourself, healer? If you are the only one in town, you should not be throwing your life away.
The question settles in the moonlit grass between them. The healer blinks once, then looks down at the captive, thumb still pressed to a pulse at the throat.
The Healer
Because there was no time to wait. Because he was already fading when I found him.
The Healer
And because if I had left him there, I would have spent the rest of my life wondering whether I had let him die for the sake of caution.
They wince, then huff a tired breath and accept the cost of saying it aloud. Their free hand drags a wet streak of blood and rain from their sleeve onto the roots.
The Healer
He is not cleanly healed, but he is still here. That is enough for now.
A faint shiver runs through the captive, then stillness returns. Far behind them, the tower keeps its silence, and the iron ring in the masonry catches a thread of moonlight.
Izalette Reinloft leaves Forest edge beside an abandoned tower behind and arrives at campsite.
“If you think he's secure enough to move, we should get going. I have a few wraps of clean linen and some healing salves in my campsite. It's not very far from here.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)
At the campsite, the oak roots cradle a small hollow of ash and moonlit fern. Izalette guides the healer to a flatter patch of ground, and the captive is eased down beside the fire ring with care.
Izalette Reinloft
If you think he is secure enough to move, we should get going. I have clean linen and healing salves at my campsite, not far from here.
The healer answers by testing the captive's shoulder and jaw with a practiced hand. The unconscious body gives, but does not collapse.
The Healer
He will move. Not well, but enough. And your supplies would help more than my hands alone can manage.
Together they lift him. Izalette takes the legs, the healer the upper body, and the weight shifts cleanly between them as they cross the grass.
The Healer
You kept your word at the stair. I noticed that. It is rarer than it should be.
At the healer's side, a faint silver glimmer catches in the ruined tower behind them, the iron ring in the masonry still visible through the trees. The healer sees Izalette notice it too.
The Healer
When this is done, I want to know why that ring was built into the wall. But first, show me the way to those salves.
“Rummages around in my pack and pulls out too tightly packed rolls of clean linen and a tin containing a very pungent healing ointment. I turn and hand the supplies to the healer who's still sitting by the former captive.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +1)
Izalette kneels by her pack, fingers working fast through the tight roll of linen and the small tin wedged beneath it. The lid gives with a soft click, and the sharp stink of healing ointment rises into the cool air.
She turns back to the healer and lays the linen and tin into their hands. The healer’s shoulders ease at once, as if the weight is not just cloth and salve but time itself.
The Healer
Good. This will do. Better than I hoped.
The healer unwraps the linen with quick, careful motions and starts working the ointment into the captive’s skin and bandages. The captive’s breathing stays shallow, but it steadies.
The Healer
Still in danger, but no longer slipping.
Then the healer pauses. Their head lifts toward the dark line of trees, and their hands still on the captive’s shoulder as if listening to something beneath the night sounds.
The Healer
Wait. Do you hear that? Someone is moving out there.
Beyond the fire ring, the forest answers with a faint, deliberate scrape, and the moonlight catches once more on the iron ring far off in the tower wall.
“I placed my finger to my lips to indicate that the healer should stay quiet before quickly, but quietly unsheathing my rapier again. Then I strain my keen half elven ears as I search for the source of the noise , the healer mentioned.”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled -2)
Izalette lifts a finger to her lips. The healer catches the sign at once and stills, mouth tightening around a breath. In the same smooth motion, Izalette frees her rapier, the steel whispering bare only once before she lowers it beside her knee.
The scrape comes again, faint, from beyond the fire ring.
Izalette goes very still and listens. The sound is not random. It drags, pauses, then drags again, as if something is testing the ground and circling wide to stay downwind.
Izalette Reinloft
...Quiet.
The healer nods without looking up, one hand now pressed firm to the captive’s bandaged side. Fresh ointment glistens darkly in the moonlight, and the captive’s breathing holds steady beneath it.
Then Izalette catches a second detail, a soft hitch between the sounds, and the line of trees no longer feels empty. Someone, or something, is tracking their camp from the dark.
The Healer
Did you find it?
Quest Complete
Stabilize the captive
New Gift: Field Medic