Whispers From Below

Chapter 27

Helping Poppy get upstairs to her home, she was getting older and having more trouble getting around. Ione was staying late at the school so I stayed late to help Poppy. After getting her situated, getting the place picked up was my next task. It helped take my mind away from the day, till the basement door was being banged on.

Great. Running down and opening it a few hulking men piled into the room holding another who was covered in blood, before they dumped him on a table.

"Where's Poppy?" One of them demanded harshly "She's in bed, so you have me right now. Tell me what happened." Taking a knife and cutting the man's clothes off, peeling the cloth away from skin that was torn apart by claws and bites.

"Walking into the city we were attacked by Coffinmorph's." Small creatures that live in packs, they were hairless with massive blacked out eyes that took over most of their face. Razor sharp teeth and crushing molars. Odd since they only went after highly decayed carcasses. They never attacked or bothered the living.

Looking at the rest of them they were also bleeding and scratched up. Running around gathering clean rags, water, a needle and some threading.

"You all use these rags to stop your own bleeding and sit still."

The man groaned in pain, I watched his skin more closely as it tried to heal, he was a shapeshifter. Even with the crystals out those who had self healing still luckily worked just much slower than they once had before.

It took me an hour to get his bleeding under control and stitched up. Before putting on a blue clay paste to help with healing once he was stable, then tended to the others.

"Someone like you should not be covered in blood and seeing this kind of stuff."

The man I was stitching was studying me, "and someone like you probably should be able to defend himself better." Tightening the bandages hard, making him grit his teeth in pain.

"He should stay here overnight, I'll watch over him but for the rest of you, get home or wherever you came from. You all smell like a barn."

They cautiously looked me over to see if I could be trusted before agreeing and leaving out the same door they came in.

Binx padded down the stairs to me, "perfect timing, I need you to take a note to Ry." Writing one out saying I had to stay the night to care for someone injured by a bizarre coffinmorph attack outside the city. Binx took it and ran back up the stairs.

Through the night I took samples from the bites to see if I could figure out if the creatures had anything wrong with them like a new disease. Watching the man closely giving him numbing herbs every time he would start groaning.

I didn't recognize him, or any of the others. Poppy made sure her doors were open for all, it was a neutral space and we would tend to anyone or anything that came through them. It only made sense, even if they were from an opposite guild I would tend to them, kicking a person while they are already down wasn't something I was okay with.

There has been multiple times were I tended to people in here after I had just beat the shit out of them. It was comical to me especially went they'd go on ranting about the fight. Though it worried me, were these men from Thornegrave? Did Kade finally start his move?

The man survived the night and most of his wounds were healing nicely, sneaking up stairs to swiftly put together breakfast for Poppy and the patient. "Eventful night Lily?"

Nodding, "yup but everything is under control, don't worry."

She smiled "if it's you handling the situation I will never worry. Gives these old bones time to wake up."