The Way of Kings

Gadol spit up blood, coughing. “They break the land itself!” he hissed, eyes wild. “They want it, but in their rage they will destroy it. Like the jealous man burns his rich things rather than let them be taken by his enemies! They come!”

He gasped. And then he fell still, his dead eyes staring upward, bloody spittle running in a trail down his cheek. His final, haunting words hung over them. Not far away, soldiers fought and screamed, but the bridgemen were silent.

Kaladin sat back, stunned – as always – by the pain of losing someone. His father had always said that time would dull his sensitivity.

In this, Lirin had been wrong.

He felt so tired. Rock and Teft were hurrying back toward the cleft in the rock, bearing a body between them.

They wouldn’t have brought anyone unless he was still alive, Kaladin told himself. Think of the ones you can help. “Keep that fire going!” he said, pointing at Narm. “Don’t let it die! Someone heat the blade in it.”

Narm jumped, noticing as if for the first time that he’d actually managed to get a small flame started. Kaladin turned away from the dead Gadol and made room for Rock and Teft. They deposited a very bloody Leyten on the ground. He was breathing shallowly and had two arrows sticking from him, one from the shoulder, the other from the opposite arm. Another had grazed his stomach, and the cut there had been widened by movement. It looked like his left leg had been trampled by a horse; it was broken, and he had a large gash where the skin had split.

“The other three are dead,” Teft said. “He nearly is too. Nothing much we can do. But you said to bring him, so–”

Kaladin knelt down immediately, working with careful, efficient speed. He pressed a bandage against the side, holding it in place with his knee, then tied a quick bandage on the leg, ordering one of the soldiers to hold it firm and elevate the limb. “Where’s that knife!” Kaladin yelled, hurriedly tying a loose tourniquet around the arm. He needed to stop the blood right now; he’d worry about saving the arm later.

Youthful Dunny rushed over with the heated blade. Kaladin lifted the side bandage and quickly cauterized the wound there. Leyten was unconscious, his breathing growing more shallow.

“You will not die,” Kaladin muttered. “You will not die!” His mind was numb, but his fingers knew the motions. For a moment, he was back in his father’s surgery room, listening to careful instruction. He cut the arrow from Leyten’s arm, but left the one in his shoulder, then sent the knife back to be reheated.

Peet finally returned with the watergourd. Kaladin snatched it, using it to clean the leg wound, which was the nastiest, as it had been caused by trampling. When the knife came back, Kaladin pulled the arrow free of the shoulder and cauterized the wound as best he could, then used another of his quickly disappearing bandages to tie the wound.

He splinted the leg with arrow shafts – the only thing they had. With a grimace, he cauterized the wound there too. He hated to cause so many scars, but he couldn’t afford to let any more blood be lost. He was going to need antiseptic. How soon could he get some of that mucus?

“Don’t you dare die!” Kaladin said, barely conscious that he was speaking. He quickly tied off the leg wound, then used his needle and thread to sew the arm wound. He bandaged it, then untied the tourniquet most of the way.

Finally, he settled back, looking at the wounded man, completely drained. Leyten was still breathing. How long would that last? The odds were against him.

The bridgemen stood or sat around Kaladin, looking strangely reverent. Kaladin tiredly moved over to Hobber and saw to the man’s leg wound. It didn’t need to be cauterized. Kaladin washed it out, cut away some splinters, then sewed it. There were painspren all around the man, tiny orange hands stretching up from the ground.

Kaladin sliced off the cleanest portion of bandage he’d used on Gadol and tied it around Hobber’s wound. He hated the uncleanliness of it, but there was no other choice. Then he set Dabbid’s arm with some arrows he had the other bridgemen fetch, using Dabbid’s shirt to tie them in place. Then, finally, Kaladin sat back against the lip of stone, letting out a long, fatigued breath.

Bangs of metal on metal and shouts of soldiers rang from behind. He felt so tired. Too tired to even close his eyes. He just wanted to sit and stare at the ground forever.

Teft settled down beside him. The grizzled man had the watergourd, which still had some liquid in the bottom. “Drink, lad. You need it.”

“We should clean the wounds of the other men,” Kaladin said numbly. “They took scrapes – I saw some had cuts – and they should–”

“Drink,” Teft said, his crackly voice insistent.

Kaladin hesitated, then drank the water. It tasted strongly bitter, like the plant from which it had been taken.