Lunar Flare Book 1: Crimson Moon

Chapter 21

Everything had felt like it was moving in slow motion when Beowulf watched Thedrick get hit by three arrows to the back out of seemingly nowhere. The jester coughed blood out of his mouth, and red patches formed on the white linen of his clothing around the wounds. Beowulf had reached out and grabbed the small man, quickly pulling him against his chest to protect him, even though it might already have been too late.

Beowulf jumped to his feet, holding the vampire close against his body, and looked in the direction the arrows had travelled from, which must have been elevated given their angle of flight. He could see a figure running past the open windows on the second floor, and though he couldn't make out much about them, Beowulf knew who it must be. The vampire hunter.

The large soldier started moving, running back into the castle while shouting at the nearest guards to go get Cassian and pursue the attacker. The guards looked at Beowulf holding the wounded Thedrick with confusion for a moment, but when he yelled at them again they jumped into action. Beowulf then headed for the infirmary as fast as he could.

As he ran, Beowulf looked down at Thedrick who he held firmly in his arms. The vampire had his eyes closed, and was coughing, while the red stains on his shirt continued to grow. Fear seized Beowulf as he prayed desperately that the arrows hadn't hit Thedrick's heart. The soldier practically knocked down the door to the infirmary as he roughly shouldered his way through it, before running over to a startled looking Balthasar.

"Gods be good, what happened?" Balthasar snapped as Beowulf held Thedrick out slightly to show him. Beowulf saw real fear in the chirurgeon's eyes for the first time as he stared down at the wounded vampire. "Quickly, lay him on one of the beds, on his side," Balthasar instructed before Beowulf could even begin to try and answer his first question.

Beowulf did as he was told, laying Thedrick gently down on a bed on his side. The soldier kneeled beside the bed, keeping one hand holding onto Thedrick's side as the small man continued to cough. Balthasar had stepped over to his desk to grab some tools, and came hurrying back with them. He also fell to his knees on the other side of the bed, and reached out to touch Thedrick as he examined the wounds.

"I don't think any hit his heart, but they probably tore through his lungs which is why he is coughing up blood," Balthasar said, his usual clinical tone wavering slightly.

"Can you save him?" Beowulf asked in a panicked tone.

"I don't know Beowulf!" Balthasar snapped with a look of stress. "But I will damn well try. Now hold him still."

Beowulf placed his large hands on the jester's small body to hold him in place while Balthasar started snapping off the arrow heads poking out of Thedrick's chest. Then he switched places with Beowulf, moving around the back and started carefully pulling the arrow shafts out. Thedrick went quiet and limp.

"Quick now, roll him on his back and apply heavy pressure to the wounds!" Balthasar instructed, and Beowulf obliged, rolling Thedrick over and then pressing his large hands down heavily on the wounds in Thedrick's chest. He could feel the jester still breathing shallowly under his hands.

"I'm so sorry Thedrick... I shouldn't have believed him when he said he was going to leave... I shouldn't have taken you outside and put you in danger..." Beowulf sniffled as tears began to well in his eyes while he looked down at the vampire's pale face.

"Stop your crying boy, it isn't going to help him," Balthasar snapped in annoyance as he was pulling open Thedrick's shirt, working around where Beowulf was applying pressure. "Now lift this hand," he tapped gently on one of Beowulf's hands with a finger, and Beowulf removed it from the wound. Balthasar quickly uncovered the wound, wiped some of the pooled blood away with a cloth and then pressed a piece of cotton gauze covered with some sort of poultice against the wound, before grabbing Beowulf's hand and pressing it down over the wound again.