Tangled By Fate

The man introduced himself, "I'm Major General Orion. My secretary, Emily, will take you to your tent. Please rest for the day. In the evening, we will instruct you about your mission."

"Thank you, Major General," the healers shared their gratitude.

"And, I would like to have a little chat with the leader from your side. There should be one elder." Major General Orion's sharp eyes skimmed through the guests.

"That's me." The black-haired girl stepped forward. Noticing the confused gaze from the militaries, she stated, "I may not be the elder you were imagining but I'm the one who led them here. My name is Ivona. It's an honor to meet you."

The Major General came back to his senses. He took her hand and pressed his lips on the back of her palm. "The honor is all mine, Miss Ivona. I've something urgent to talk about. Can we head over to the temporary office?"

"Sure," Ivona agreed.

As she went to a tent, other healers went in the opposite direction. In one tent, four healers had to stay. Veronica, Violet, Leticia, and another girl got one tent. They changed clothes and laid down on the bed that was prepared for them.

"I want to take a bath," Violet commented. She wished to get rid of the stinky smell from her body.

"Water is very essential in the desert," Leticia remarked. "Didn't you see that even the soldiers didn't take baths? I thought I was going to puke."

"There is nothing we can do. We have to get adjusted to it," Veronica shared her opinion. "It's hard to believe that Ivona is your leader. I didn't expect her to be in charge."

Leticia replied, "She wasn't supposed to be in charge. But the royal family couldn't let the elder healers come to the war when half of our healers already disappeared. We need people to teach healers and guide them. Ivona was tutored privately by the eldest healer. That's why she became our leader."

"She must be a good healer then," Veronica stated.

Violet nodded. "She is. Moreover, she has a good background. Her family is backing her up. That's why she is special."

"People are very lucky to have a family who supports them. It must be nice." Veronica smiled.

"…" Other girls exchanged glances.

To the other girls, there was a hidden meaning behind Violet's words but she couldn't understand it. They didn't explain it to her either.

Veronica stood up and wore her boots.

"Are you going somewhere?" Leticia asked her.

Veronica answered, "I'm going out to look around. Do you want to come?"

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"What is the situation?" Ivona asked the moment she entered the temporary office. Her first interest was healing people and her second interest was knowing about her fellow mates who disappeared.

Major General Orion's expression turned grave. "As you can see the situation isn't that good. We had to hold off Riverhill's soldiers until you arrived. Many soldiers got injured and they were given treatment by the medical team. However, it's not enough for them to stand on their feet and fight."

Ivona frowned. She was expecting this outcome but it was worse than she thought. "It's not good. You should have let us heal people as soon as we got here."

Major General Orion shook his head. "We couldn't. We were ordered to treat you like royal guests since you are the last remaining healers. We can't bear to lose you as well."

"It will be better if you find my friends. How did they disappear? Any clue?" Ivona asked, showing her second interest.

Major General Orion answered, "It is still being investigated. But we are . So, the investigation has been held off. We will resume it after we corner our enemy."

Ivona made a decision. "Then there is nothing we can do about it. First, show me the direction of where the injured soldiers are kept. I will call my team to heal them as soon as possible." Since her hands were tied, she had only one duty left and that was healing people.

"We will remember your kindness." Major General Orion sighed in relief.

"It's our duty." Ivona busily went out. She called her team and they began to treat the injured soldiers.

The situation was simply outrageous. The enemy must have found out that Synetians didn't have healers. Thus, they mercilessly attacked the enemy soldiers. More than five thousand soldiers were wounded.

The healers got tired after treating them all one by one. How could twenty six healers heal all those people? It was simply impossible. They grew tired before they could heal two hundred.

Ivona wiped her sweats. Her head was dizzy. She announced, "That's all for now, people. Let's take a break."

Violet sat on the ground with her shaky legs. She couldn't feel her fingers anymore. "I don't think I can do this anymore for today. I need to sleep," her tired voice rang in the room.

"There is no other option. We have to give our best shots. Since we are outnumbered, we have to treat the critical wounds first." Ivona looked around and mentioned, "I see only twenty five healers including me. Where is the girl from the temple?"

Leticia answered, "I think she went out to look around."

Ivona frowned. "And she said she was going to help us. Is this how she helps us? How useless!"

At that moment, Veronica entered the tent and declared, "Everyone, I bought food for us!"

"Where were you?" Ivona demanded answers.

Veronica explained, "I was helping the chef to cook. If I didn't assist him, we wouldn't be able to have any meal before midnight. So, I thought I would give him a hand. I know you all are hungry."

Ivona was satisfied with her answer. Since Veronica decided to help them, she helped in any way she could. It was better than doing nothing at all.

Everyone thanked Veronica and then she began to eat. In the evening, the temperature dropped. The warmer it was in the morning, the colder it was at night.

As if they came to the mountain range, the healers began to shiver. They were wearing their light uniform because of the heat. They had to wrap their bodies with shawls.

Veronica quietly sat on the ground and looked at the vast, empty land. Her mind was off to the library in the town back home.