lantairvlea | Saving Kallon and Thelus' background

They made better time getting back to the front door. They only paused briefly at each hallway intersection. Sray found it progressively harder to feel the air around them. It was hard to feel out when hot rage was rising. Just two weeks before Kallon would have gone to Engama Alekandler Triden had taken him. Had Triden been a little slower, none of this would have happened. Kallon would have been long-inducted by now and Triden would not have dared then. Had she convinced Kallon to not go, to stay in Engama’s bounds, he would have been safe. Having two others with him hadn’t been any safeguard. Triden had sent five men. Five of them to bring Kallon here. And then what did they do to him for the last five months?

“Sray,” Thelus prompted, his voice low and urgent.

She jerked to attention. How long had she been standing there, staring down the hall?

“Sorry, yes, it’s clear.”

They continued on. Sray tried to focus harder on what was around them instead of the heat rising inside her. Domman had very few people still residing in it. A building that would have been bursting with residents just 24 hours before was virtually deserted. There were even fewer people on this side than there had been on the other. They made it back to the entry hall. The hole in the door didn’t look large enough for Thelus to get through carrying Kallon.

Thelus bent to slide Kallon off his shoulders. Kallon groaned and then went from limp to rigid.

“Kallon!” Sray said the name as loud as she dared.

He jerked away from Thelus who raised his hands and stepped back. Sray rushed to Kallon’s side as he staggered.

Thelus was reluctant to discuss his prior military experience. It was requisite. You had to serve your country. You should serve your country. He didn’t like hurting people, even if he was good at it. It didn't sit well with him that the Brotherhood had power to protect people and refused to for fear of exposure. You weren't supposed to reinforce your armor and shield or use it to make the edge of your blades last longer. He served his time, but it soured him on the Brotherhood. He would have stayed holed up, raising horses, donkeys, and mules and pretending the Brotherhood didn't exist. Now I wonder how Danrick Mishor found out about Thelus. A promising master of his craft who very nearly threw it all away. Thelus had made his vows and he's a man of his word, but he couldn’t be actively involved in an organization that willfully let people suffer for the sake of its own secrecy.

Sure, persecution could be hard. Being judged and persecuted for something you couldn’t help was awful, but at the same time, what couldn’t a trained Meim do to protect themselves? Shield yourself and it would take more than a human to break through. Thelus has some skill working with living tissue. He’s essentially a veterinarian and trainer. He can stitch someone up like Desta. He’s probably set a few bones in his time as well. He probably knows that marsupials don’t like construct. You could triage yourself if you knew how to work living tissue. Hold together a cut until you could get to someone who could really take care of it. Brace broken bones so they didn't shift further out of place.

Seri burst with the story of the young man that came in having broken a bone. How Desta had guided one of the older students on how to set and then brace the bone.