Bowom whispered, then shook his head. He gave her a kinder look as he leaned on the side of the vat. Erin decided she was too grateful to be embarrassed; she couldn’t object to having her life saved. The [Mad Doctor] nodded at Erin.
Bowom the [Mad Doctor], Ulvama, Fraerling-sized, and a young [Healer] wearing a pot on her head and hiding behind what remained of an overturned table were the only people in the healing cottage. Or rather, what remained of it.
She was trying very hard to shield Erin’s view of the chaos outside. The soothing tone was not helped by Bowom. The [Mad Doctor] grinned as he tossed the pot aside with a crash of broken pottery. He winced.
He turned to the younger [Healer] poking her head out from behind the table, looking at Erin as if she were a Creler newly-hatched. Bowom was injured, Erin realized. The three-armed [Mad Doctor]—with a roach’s leg—had a bleeding forehead and several bruises already growing large on his body.
“Oh, fake arms, fake legs. We used to do that before Bowom became a [Mad Doctor]. These days, whenever someone loses a limb, he slaps one on. It’s usually better. I heard the big cities do replacement limbs or even regrow anything. Not enough magic here for it.”
He sat on the table as Erin spoke, and she noticed a few more late-morning breakfasters come over to listen. They were unapologetically interested, if not as bloodthirsty as Bowom, and the [Mad Doctor] was soon disappointed.
Her face had closed off, and the [Innkeeper], who should have been dead, walked through the village, barely taking notice of the other sights for a moment. If Bowom had been as badly irradiated as she had been—he would have been a pile of ooze days before he’d reached this place. The [Mad Doctor] was then understanding, professional in his way, but he regarded her with a kind of authority.
Bowom and another Fraerling popped their heads out of the library, and the [Mad Doctor] lowered the book he’d been holding. He tip-toed over as Erin’s breathing grew calmer.
Are you stupid? Erin was asking Midias what he was carrying to fight the dragonflies, and Ulvama punched her fist into her palm as she glared at the [Mad Doctor]. Bowom, on the other hand, just beamed.
The [Mad Doctor] was breezy and perhaps on a caffeine-rush, but Erin gave Ulvama a second glance. Based on what she knew of Ulvama, Erin doubted the [Shaman] wasn’t interested in that kind of text.
