The noise repeated itself and this time there was no mistaking what it was
a stone striking a body
Ilvir heard the feminine cry of pain
the sound of a body falling to the ground and the sound of more stones being picked up
and a angry sounds of a crowd
"Death to the Witch" the murmur came
Ilvir rapidly ran around the bushes and came apon a scene of cloud people villagers
both male female
adult and child
getting ready to hurl their deadly ammunition at the target who lay
wobbling in a crouching position
A target who wore a suit Ilvir was unfamiliar with
but which troubling enough
bore the colours of the Sky Kings men
And whoever this figure was wore a helmet that was peculiarly deformed
and had glittering green glass where
eyes should have appeared.
Then the next hail of stones flew and Ilvir heard bones crack.
Damn,here he was gawking away and staring at
simple minded cloud peasants
stone this mysterious suit wearor to deah.
Spurred to action Ilvir chased
the protesting farm serfs away
then returned to the victim,who lay on his/her side and wheezing and making
painful breathing.
Clearly the person needed air and Ilvir
felt around the base of the helmet and
KLIK
the helmet seemed to come free and Ilvir just about dropped it
for he now knew why the helmet was deformed
its wearer had the somewhat extended jawline of a firedrake complete
with little flickers
of flame that raced back and forth on her
the victim was clearly female
scaly skin.
Yet her hair and unseeing milky white eyes were those of a cloud person
and her hair certainly was.
She was a hybrid from two planes
of creatures.
Ilvir felt over her suit which seemed more
a heavy fire padded bit of armour
and could feel her bosom still rising
and falling
more weakly with each passing minute
Ilvir felt under a fold of the suit and pulled out a well thumbed book and what
he knew was a Healer's
medicine pouch.
Frantically he tore open the pouch
and saw many medicines,of a refinement that seemed beyond
the skills of current bottlemakers
and one fell into his stony
palms
Glycera Aqua
the medicine to maintain a pulse in a fatally wounded
patient
Which seemed what Ilvir had here
He took the bottle and was surprised when a small needle suddenly
emerged from its cap
Guessing how it worked he plunged the needle into a throbbing
vein in her neck.
She jerked on the ground,as if in great shock
but Ilvir knew not else what to do
Then came the whispers of the returning serfs
come to rob the corpse of their victim
and this time Ilvir did more then merely shout them away
he hurled the stones at the peasants
to chase them away good.
He returned to his patient and felt about under that
suit with many pockets.
Many pockets stayed sealed but which ones
did open to his touched revealed
many finely refined devices
he knew were not from the past or the present.
The medical book itself
was a 30th reprint,one hundred years in the future
and
not surprisingly
had been written by Ilvir himself 50 years in his future.
The subject
Medical Treatments for Corrupted Patients
Ilvir picked up her helmet and gazed through its lenses from the inside
It was a machine and clearly
its light allowed detection of
Corruption
Ilvir pondered these strange matters all night
and the next morning,Ilvir's greatgranddaughter
a Healer from 125 years in the future
woke up from her deep healing sleep
and said
"Greatgrandfather Ilvir?"