Hajin returned from the mountain battle with injured companions who refused to let victory excuse a single untreated wound.
Vella knelt on the flattened dirt three meters away, spreading clean linen wraps over an upturned supply chest.
Loccy rested her back against a reinforced crate four meters out, cradling both splinted arms against her chest.
Ferra swept shattered ceramic shards from the dirt with deliberate precision, clearing space around the treatment mat.
"Hold still..." Vella murmured, pressing two fingertips right below his lower ribs with steady precision.
The sharp sting of her touch anchored his breathing as deep tremors shuddered through his aching chest.
"The command sentence never rooted in your lung tissue," she observed softly, watching his reaction.
"It latched straight onto the resonance conduit beneath the sixth ring," he said, exhaling through his teeth.
