"Elizabeth Vaughan - Chronicles Of The Warlands 01 - Warprize" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vaughan Elizabeth)

get it stopped. The bandage turned to scarlet before my eyes.

The man under my hands groaned and thrashed, trying to get away from the pain. One of the smaller lads
was flung away. The patientтАЩs freed arm swiped through the air, catching me on the cheek. Vision blurred
for a precious instant as my head rocked back with the blow. My hair came loose, and one long brown
curl floated down to lie in the blood that surrounded my hands. The felled boy scrambled up and threw
himself back into the fray, grabbing the flailing arm and wrestling it down. тАЬSorry, Lara,тАЭ he told me.

тАЬHold him.тАЭ My voice was a croak. I was too harsh on the lads who were trying their best. Their
bloodless faces were pale blurs. I heard the one next to me swallowing rapidly. Pray to the Goddess that
heтАЩd not spew on the wound. My shoulders tightened as I tried to increase the pressure, trying to staunch
the red flow. тАЬI need help here.тАЭ 1 raised my voice to carry into the main hall that was filled with
wounded and other healers.

тАЬLara? WhatтАЩs happened?тАЭ A quiet, calm voice came from behind me.

It was Eln, thank the Goddess.

The warrior surged up again, and the table squeaked in protest. We stayed with him, trying to keep him
still, trying to keep the pressure on. He cried out suddenly, then sagged back, exhausted. I gulped in
breath to answer. тАЬThe shard came out clean but heтАЩs bleeding.тАЭ

A head popped in next to mine as Eln craned his scrawny neck to have a look. My teacher for years, he
always moved like a gray lake-crane. He made a noncommittal noise, then pulled a deep breath in
through his nose. I gritted my teeth. Sometimes he decides that I need a lesson in the midst of saving a
life, even though IтАЩve held my mastery for years. ElnтАЩs head pulled back, but I could feel him standing
behind me.

тАЬNot my patient, and not my place to say.тАЭ ElnтАЩs voice was quiet, but cut through the moans of the
warrior. тАЬBut what happens after you stop the bleeding?тАЭ

I slammed my eyes shut. My patient shifted again, and we moved with him, automatically.

тАЬStubborn childтАжтАЭ ElnтАЩs voice was a whisper, but I heard it. тАЬYou may have gained your mastery but
you havenтАЩt truly learned, have you?тАЭ

I did not want to concede to his wisdom, did not want to face what the scent of waste in the blood
meant, the scent IтАЩd failed to identify a moment before. But experience had been a hard teacher, harder
then Eln had ever been. With a nod, and a strangled sob, I released the pressure on the wound. The
apprentices froze, not understanding.

тАЬCome, boys.тАЭ Eln spoke quietly. тАЬCome with me.тАЭ

I ignored them all as they filed out. One stopped, and looked at me.

тАЬWhyтАЩd ya stop?тАЭ

Kneeling to wash my hands in a bucket on the floor, I looked up into his wide young eyes. тАЬEln will tell
you, child. Go now.тАЭ
Eln would not miss a chance to give a lesson, a chance to explain the slow, painful death of a belly wound