33. The Needs of Many
CHAPTER 33
The Needs of Many
SHEN & ALIA
Shen
T he Reds were runners. The creatures they brought back determined their ranks. If the critter or person was well cared for, they would rise.
Ranks were called Blades. With this new system, she gave the Reds something to do while also providing them a way to gain rank—without the killing.
No one could take away the overwhelming guilt when your hands were coated in the blood of both the innocent and the guilty, but saving people helped ease the burden of what had been done.
Yet, even with extra assistance, it was too much. Alia was the focal point of the entire system. She wrote down the needs of those in the woods and where to find them, then she evaluated them before they went to the proper people in the Matriarch’s Tent. It helped having people to send the individuals to. Doc had quite the contacts. He sent over twenty nurses and many of the healers he’d trained to assist with the injured. Many of those were older people who my pack had tossed out. Strange how the pack thought they would be stronger without them.
Even with that, Alia was the crux of everything, and it was wearing on her. Especially those she couldn’t save.
She was running herself into the dust, and the needs just kept coming. Many found their own way here. Some were put down by Reds before the she-wolf came out to play, and the entire community of Reds became acutely aware of how dangerous a protective Alia could become.
I watched as the people once more gravitated toward her on what was quickly becoming known as Meet Day. It was the last three days of the week when Alia would meet with her people face to face to hear their problems. And she would meet their needs, if she was able.
She paused in the middle of speaking with a shop owner who was demanding a dragon scale since his business was failing.
Alia reminded him of the debt he’d incurred due to gambling. He had went on a yelling spree that had lasted much longer than I would have allowed, but that was Alia’s call.
The shop owner used this to step into Alia’s space. I stepped forward and grabbed him by the nape and jerked him back. He took a sloppy swing at me, and I casually grabbed his throat.
“Leave or die,” I growled into his ear, being careful to keep my fingers from snapping his neck. Poor humans. They were easier to snap than twigs.
I stepped back and dropped him, allowing Lycus to show in the hint of my eyes.
He fell to the ground, crab-walking backward and screaming about dangerous beasts. Enforcer Markus was right behind Alia with a hand on his blade. He gave me a nod. We both knew he was prepared to deal with the man if I had not. We both also knew I would allow no other to care for Alia while I was around.
Alia took no heed of her surroundings as she put a hand over her heart, hiding a wince.
Her eyes cleared and she took off. The crowd parted for her. She ran with Markus and me on her heel. People stopped to stare, but then Alia darted down a side alley which was nearly hidden by two shops whose keepers stared with wide eyes as we bypassed the main thoroughfare of the market. She took turns with an unerring sense of direction, leading us to the woods near the western end of the city.
Markus gave a low whistle when we saw what had drawn Alia.
A massive sphinx was clacking her beak at ten Reds who had her surrounded. She sported four arrows in her wings and chest. They were attached to stakes in the ground. Her humanlike eyes were filled with pain and desperation over a beak-like nose. She had the body of a lion with the wings of an eagle. She was massive, nearly rivaling Ran in size. Her tail slapped at her flanks.
“Stand down!” Alia screamed, her voice sent with a massive wave of power which even Lycus wished to bow before.
The Reds stepped back, and that was when I saw two other smaller bundles of fur and feathers separated from the massive sphinx by a ring of Reds. Two baby sphinxes clacked their sharp beaks in warning at the surrounding Reds. One sphinx stepped in front of the other and spread his wings to protect the smaller one of the two. They were about the size of dogs.
A Red glared at us with a sneer on his face. The Red stared at Alia with a tiny smile as he stepped forward and drove his blade through the side of the little one protecting his sibling. The baby sphinx released a massive screech which the mother rebounded tenfold, struggling against her hold.
He should not have done that.
Alia released a war cry that would make a werewolf proud. She sprinted the last ten feet, moving with lithe grace.
The Red’s eyes narrowed as he turned to meet her. Her blade crashed into his. She stabbed his arm with her other dagger, and when he dropped his blade, she stabbed him through the neck. His eyes widened. He gurgled with surprise, fear, and betrayal stark in his eyes.
Alia had tears in her eyes as she retracted her blade.
“We no longer harm innocent creatures.” Her voice echoed amongst the trees. She turned with hardened eyes and blood splattered on her chin. “I am a forgiving matriarch, but I am done forgiving those who harm innocents who are coming to us for help. Do not harm those who do not harm you first.”
The snarl in her voice caused the surrounding Reds to drop to a knee.
“You’re drooling,” Markus said dryly.
I closed my mouth. He chuckled. I bit back a growl.
Alia pointed at a Red and told her to get Doc. Alia eased over to the little sphinx who was lying on the ground, his tiny whimpers hurting even my cold heart.
I stepped over.
“Free the mother. I will care for him,” I told her.
Alia glanced up at me and blinked. It took a moment for her to realize she was frozen, her hands stained with blood from both the dead Red and the little sphinx.
The little sphinx stopped hissing and blinked up at me when I neared. The human emotion there nearly broke me. He did not understand why he had been harmed for protecting those he loved.
Neither did I.
I pressed against the wound in his side and soothed him with a low purr. He responded better than expected, relaxing into the ground and lifting his wing so I could better see the wound.
It was an ugly, jagged hole in his side. I packed it with clean cloth that I kept on hand. It was soaked with yarrow powder to help the wound clot.
The smaller sphinx was a tiny ball, her wings covering her head as she shivered with fear.
A low keen came from above me. I turned to find Alia before the massive sphinx. It would be a boon to have Ran around, but I suspected Alia asked her to stay away to make them feel less threatened.
Alia released the ropes. The mother sphinx stopped clacking her beak. Alia bowed before the massive creature and set her forehead on the ground. “I am deeply sorry for how you have been treated. I have no right to ask, but please allow us to help you and your little ones. It will be my personal goal to care for you and yours until you may choose a pathway forward to whatever destination you desire.”
The sphinx flapped her wings, glanced at me caring for her pups, then bent down and booped her nose against Alia’s bowed head.
Alia looked up and smiled. She reached up a hand and set it on the creature’s beak. The sphinx released a massive sigh that fluttered Alia’s hair. Alia rose and put her hands around the sphinx’s neck, unable to reach halfway around.
The sphinx melted. Tears dropped from the mother’s eyes as Alia embraced her.
The baby sphinx beneath me released a tiny moan as I pressed tighter against the wound. “Forgive me, little one. You will be cared for,” I said, to which he relaxed.
A massive wave of displaced air settled above me. I glanced up to the mother, who stared at me with mistrust.
“Should I release him, he will bleed out,” I said, meeting her eyes with understanding. I showed her my neck, allowing her to see I was no threat to her or her babe and would allow her to kill me easily should she wish it.
She pushed her beak against my head. A tiny, unmanly squeak escaped me.
A giggle came from just beside the sphinx. Alia covered her mouth with her hand, but her eyes were dancing with laughter.
My pride took a hit, and I ducked my head to hide the redness of my cheeks, but if my embarrassment was able to make her eyes sparkle, I would make such a fool of myself a thousand times over.
Doc arrived in a bustle of energy and took over, getting the wounds field dressed and bleeding stopped before he directed them through the city toward the Matriarch’s Tent.
The sphinx followed Alia through the city as placid as a draft horse with its master, although her back reached halfway up the two-story shops.
I stood guard outside the massive tent as Alia and Doc got the sphinxes settled, watching the people around us. What was once a human Red village was quickly becoming a melting pot of wild magical creatures and humans. The humans of the village were a bit uncertain at first, and a few had fought with the new creatures, but overall, co-existing was going much smoother than should have been possible.
Just outside the massive tent were unicorns munching on grass along the cobblestones, human and werewolf children running and playing at their feet. Horned rabbits hopped along the pathways of gardens, causing massive surges in growth since their magical inclination was to assist in plant growth when they were happy.
Alia placed recovering horned rabbits with farmers who grew food, and it was causing a massive upsurge in the food supply.
Elves were rare, but one limped from the tent and nodded to me before heading over to a human on the other side of the market. The human’s eyes nearly glowed when she spotted the elf, and her smile made his steps quicken. Meanwhile, another human hmphed and mouthed a curse against evil.
A large part of this integration was due to Alia sensing needs before they became explosive. She gave a family of nine flour and meat and a horned rabbit with seeds to grow before they starved to death. She hugged an elderly woman before she sought retribution on a werewolf for the death of her son.
I stalked the streets during the night, ensuring no one caused trouble while my Red slept. I had busted a few heads, accidentally stolen a few fingers, and knocked some sense into a werewolf who was attempting to steal from a shopkeeper.
Through it all, Alia remained strong. A few weeks passed and her nightmares worsened. She hardly slept, and the only time I could speak with her was when she was slumped before a fire eating dinner prior to being carted her off to bed by me.
She was killing herself, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
And I had to leave.
Mother’s Command was insistent, and it could overtake me should I not listen. It tugged like a string. She had sent me for the matriarch who was no longer matriarch, so it did not matter much this month. But she had a Command over me to report on every full moon, which would be when her three Commands were restored. Anxiety coiled in my gut like a sleeping serpent.
I told Alia I had to leave the day before the Blood Moon, as it was the first day of the full moon. She nodded, though I was not certain she even heard me.
Head Enforcer Markus gave me a nod on my way out. He was one of the few I trusted to protect her while I was gone.
It nearly broke me to leave, but it would be absolutely devastating should I be unable to return.
Alia
The baby sphinx died in my arms. His sister was recovering, but this baby… he was too emaciated and the wound was too deep. Not even Doc nor a mage stone could save him. Even mage stones weren’t all-powerful, nor could it save us from the eventual end that comes for all.
I gently closed his eyes and kissed his little bird head. The feathers were coarse and hard beneath my lips. Most legends said the sphinx had the head of a woman, but these guys had the head of an eagle and a scrunched beak that could almost be seen as human from the right angle. But the eyes... The eyes were undeniably human. They conveyed human emotion. Like fear. Pain. And utter sorrow and betrayal.
The child’s last expression would be branded into my mind’s eye for eternity.
Doc set a hand on my shoulder and I jumped, a blade in my hand before I could blink. I stared up at his light-blue eyes behind his glasses. Understanding swam in them.
He saw my pain. He felt it.
“I’m sorry…,” I began, my voice breaking as I sheathed the blade.
“You have nothing to apologize for, my dear. I startled you, so I should apologize.”
I nodded, turning back to the babe. I would have to tell his mother. After all she’d been through, she may die of a broken heart.
“Why?” I whispered.
“Why what, Alia?” Doc asked in a gentle voice.
“Why can we not save them? We know their needs. We have every resource available. But even with everything here, we still lost him.” My voice choked off as my soul screamed. Everything was hitting so quickly. Shen had left, Elder Pulma had just told me off for using so many of our resources for a dead man’s errand and not giving enough to our people. And now, the little guy we fought so hard to save…
My heart was already broken. Now, it shattered as if an anvil had been dropped on a broken chalice.
“Who is in charge of this world, Alia?” Doc said.
“Source,” I replied without a second thought.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him nod as he took a seat. We were in a cordoned-off cubby in the Matriarch’s Tent, which looked nothing like it once did. Where there was a dias and large open area before, now there were about thirty cordoned off areas for the sickly and four large areas for intake of the sickly where some of the larger creatures had to remain. There were healers, nurses, helpers, assistants, huggers, and everything in between running around between those cordoned off areas within these walls. We sequestered the different areas with skins and sheets—literally whatever we could find to give some privacy to those coming to us with needs.
It was beautiful. And it was dreadful. Thus was the life of a Giver.
“And who is the master of life and death?” Doc asked, bringing me back to the present.
“The Creator,” I said.
He nodded, leaning forward and rubbing the little sphinx’s head with his thumb before sitting back and wiping a tear from his eye. “So many times, we like to think ourselves more than we are, little one. You see, if we believe we are responsible for the death, we can change it by doing better in the future so it doesn’t happen again, right?” He shook his head, turning to meet my eyes with tears floating in the bottom of his lids. “But dearest one, we can only do so much. The actual healing is not in our hands, but in the hands of the one who loves us most.” He took out a handkerchief and wiped his eyes. “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. What we feel and do is still valid, but in the end, we are not the ones responsible for the ultimate healing. All we can do is our very best, and the rest, we must put into Source’s hands for safekeeping.”
I bent my head over the little sphinx’s head, giving him one last squeeze. “Fly high with my grandpa, little one. Let him know I love him. I entrust you to the one who made you now,” I whispered, my bottom lip trembling.
I closed his sightless eyes and stood.
I glanced over at Doc, who was staring into the distance, as if seeing those who he had lost in times before. He knew my pain, but he also knew how to surrender what’s not our burden to carry. “Thank you,” I whispered.
He glanced up with a sad smile.
I walked out, hoping this death wouldn’t cause another and knowing that that ultimately wasn’t in my hands. I was doing my absolute best, giving all I could. I would entrust the rest to Source.
That night, as I cuddled the little baby female sphinx who was slowly recovering, she looked at me with eyes so trusting and so gentle that my heart both melted and even mended just a bit.
Perhaps we didn’t do it for the ones we lost along the way, although we would always carry them in our hearts. Perhaps we did it for those who lived.
The mother’s cries had caused a building to collapse. It fell on a mother and daughter, and it was only thanks to the werewolves’ strength that we got them out. The mother’s leg couldn’t be saved.
Guilt made my heart squeeze in my chest. Many blamed me.
Unrest gathered, and I wasn’t sure if my people were going to follow me much longer.