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The human looked out of place in Petra. Not because of his species. While humans were always a minority in the region of gods-reach, they were hardly unheard of, and all were welcome in the little retreat. Not because he was male, either. Petra seemed to attract significantly more women then men, but they weren't so rare as to be unusual. A large part of it, perhaps, was that he was dirty. Dirt was a part of life, and certainly many of those at Petra did chores that involved getting dirty, but this man looked as if his answer to 'when did you last bathe' would have to be the name of a month. And then, of course, his wounds were quite out of the ordinary for those seeking sanctuary in Petra.
His armor seemed to be split open in several places, the worst of which was a long slash over his belly that he held with both arms. As Nadia watched, he collapsed to his knees. His skin was unnaturally pale, and most of the rest of him was red. With magical aid he would survive. Probably. Without, he'd be dead within minutes at most. And despite her efforts over more than a year, it was clear that he was far beyond the angel's meager talents.
Fortunately, she wasn't the only person in Petra with magical ability. A brown-haired elf, as unabashedly nude as the angel herself, knelt beside the man and set her hands on either side of the man's face. The blood quickly darkened in color, drying, and steam rose from the man's body. He grimaced, and looked up at Nadia. [Color="Sienna]"Orcs."[/color] He collapsed the rest of the way to the ground, and Sarah shot her lover a puzzled glance.
Several minutes later he awoke in the infirmary. His first sight, having had the attentions of several healers but still with all his well-earned exhaustion, was of the perfect, nude body of an angel, followed by a scarcely-less-beautiful elf wearing nothing but a green ribbon to tie back her deep brown hair. For about a second he smiled like he had just won the lottery. Then he sat bolt upright. [COLOR="Sienna"]"Why are you still here!"[/COLOR] He threw off his sheets and swung his legs out over the side of the bed, then grabbed at the bed on both sides like it was trying to shake him off.
"Well, we've just saved your life. This is our home. I work in this building, and Nadia is in charge of all of Petra. Is that -?"
The man cut her off. "Didn't you hear me? Orcs! Tens of thousands of them! Gods-Reach has already been overrun, all the humans and elves either dead, fled, or enslaved! Run if you have any sense, get out before they get around to purging Petra of non-orcs! Or try to fight for all I care, I'm not stopping again until I reach Lockacre!"
Sarah put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Are you sure you're all right, it sounds like you've still lost too much blood. And if you're just going to run, why did you even come here, Petra isn't on any road to Lockacre that I know about?"
The black-haired man had apparently gotten over his bout of dizziness, and managed to get to his feet. "What? Well for starters I'd be dead by now without healing - thank you very much - but maybe I felt I still owed you for saving me the first time this place was overrun."
A closer look at the man's face, no longer covered in blood, brought back the memories. This was Jack, one of the dozen or so who had survived the Invasion along with Nadia, when the aliens had attacked Petra. There were new scars, and he was much more tan then when he had left shortly after the retreat had been retaken, but it was certainly him. Sarah seemed to be having the same realization, stunned out of whatever remark she had been going to make.
Jack grabbed his sword belt off the table beside him and started for the door, stumbling only once as he pulled the belt on, and he was halfway there before Nadia could react. "Fight if you want to, maybe you can hold out for a while, but there are too many of them. The whole North together isn't going to stop them now."
His armor seemed to be split open in several places, the worst of which was a long slash over his belly that he held with both arms. As Nadia watched, he collapsed to his knees. His skin was unnaturally pale, and most of the rest of him was red. With magical aid he would survive. Probably. Without, he'd be dead within minutes at most. And despite her efforts over more than a year, it was clear that he was far beyond the angel's meager talents.
Fortunately, she wasn't the only person in Petra with magical ability. A brown-haired elf, as unabashedly nude as the angel herself, knelt beside the man and set her hands on either side of the man's face. The blood quickly darkened in color, drying, and steam rose from the man's body. He grimaced, and looked up at Nadia. [Color="Sienna]"Orcs."[/color] He collapsed the rest of the way to the ground, and Sarah shot her lover a puzzled glance.
Several minutes later he awoke in the infirmary. His first sight, having had the attentions of several healers but still with all his well-earned exhaustion, was of the perfect, nude body of an angel, followed by a scarcely-less-beautiful elf wearing nothing but a green ribbon to tie back her deep brown hair. For about a second he smiled like he had just won the lottery. Then he sat bolt upright. [COLOR="Sienna"]"Why are you still here!"[/COLOR] He threw off his sheets and swung his legs out over the side of the bed, then grabbed at the bed on both sides like it was trying to shake him off.
"Well, we've just saved your life. This is our home. I work in this building, and Nadia is in charge of all of Petra. Is that -?"
The man cut her off. "Didn't you hear me? Orcs! Tens of thousands of them! Gods-Reach has already been overrun, all the humans and elves either dead, fled, or enslaved! Run if you have any sense, get out before they get around to purging Petra of non-orcs! Or try to fight for all I care, I'm not stopping again until I reach Lockacre!"
Sarah put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Are you sure you're all right, it sounds like you've still lost too much blood. And if you're just going to run, why did you even come here, Petra isn't on any road to Lockacre that I know about?"
The black-haired man had apparently gotten over his bout of dizziness, and managed to get to his feet. "What? Well for starters I'd be dead by now without healing - thank you very much - but maybe I felt I still owed you for saving me the first time this place was overrun."
A closer look at the man's face, no longer covered in blood, brought back the memories. This was Jack, one of the dozen or so who had survived the Invasion along with Nadia, when the aliens had attacked Petra. There were new scars, and he was much more tan then when he had left shortly after the retreat had been retaken, but it was certainly him. Sarah seemed to be having the same realization, stunned out of whatever remark she had been going to make.
Jack grabbed his sword belt off the table beside him and started for the door, stumbling only once as he pulled the belt on, and he was halfway there before Nadia could react. "Fight if you want to, maybe you can hold out for a while, but there are too many of them. The whole North together isn't going to stop them now."