Chapter Text
“Damnit…”
Pacing wasn’t doing anything helpful, but Fjord couldn't just sit still in their current situation. He’d shifted all the rocks he could from the fall; the rest were too large or too heavily wedged in the pile of boulders to move. So, even though it didn't help calm his growing claustrophobia, he found himself trekking back and forth with short strides occasionally scraping his head on the low earthen ceiling.
A large section of the tunnel had collapsed from unforeseen tremors after the impromptu battle on their journey north to Felderwin. Thankfully it had helped take down one of the two large burrowing worms the group had been struggling with. Unfortunately, the party had been split because of it, and the second worm had forced Jester, Beau, Yasha, and Nott to draw their foe away towards the surface or risk the pocket Fjord, Caleb, and Caduceus found themselves in completely caving in.
Fjord paused his circling to lean his head against the impromptu wall of stone before sighing deeply and turning to his companions. The small space was lit by Caduceus' casting of the light cantrip on a larger rock that had rolled to a stop in the middle of their prison, so it wasn’t hard to spot the two. Caleb had his right arm crushed in the fall and Caduceus removed his standard wraps to fully assess the damage. He had numerous fractures throughout his forearm and wrist along with a dislocated elbow. The limb was obviously swollen and darkening to a purple, but Caleb managed to bite back most of his cries as the firbolg gently turned it over in his lap.
“Almost done, Mr. Caleb. You’re doing so well,” he was saying calmly, maybe with a little more strain in his voice than normal, but Fjord thought nothing of it considering the circumstances. He laid the arm down gently and pulled out a few items that looked like cinnamon sticks from a pouch. “Now chew on this. I’m sure your arm feels quite uncomfortable at the moment.”
Caleb shot the cleric an incredulous look but took the outstretched bark in his left hand. He was unsure of what to do with it until Caduceus shoved a piece into his own mouth, chewing slowly with his back molars. He carefully did the same, clenching his eyes and hissing through his teeth as the pain in his arm spiked closer to an unbearable amount.
“Gah…scheiße…” he hissed through clenched teeth.
“What is it, Duceus?” Fjord asked, walking over to where the duo had settled in a corner of the rough 10 foot square that had been left in the earth. The human was leaning heavily against the firbolg’s side at this point, unsteady and unfocused.
“This is a crush injury, the worst I’ve seen,” he said as evenly as ever, taking only a moment to tuck the roll of bark he’d been chewing behind his own drooping ear. He didn’t lower his voice, but it didn’t appear like the wizard was listening as he continued to focus inward. “The muscles and tissue were damaged along with the bones in his arm, and the swelling and blood pooling are causing pressure to build which is why the pain is getting worse.”
He took a moment to brush Caleb’s hair away from his sweaty forehead with a gentle palm. The human surprisingly responded by turning his face into Caduceus’ solid shoulder with a shuddering gasp, reaching up to clutch the firbolg’s grime covered sleeve with his shaking left hand. The bark he’d been chewing had fallen to the side, all of his focus solely on trying to maintain his composure.
The cleric allowed the man a moment before bringing it back to his lips.
“Mr. Caleb, keep chewing on this. It’s willowbark; it’ll help with the pain some and then I can start fixing the damage.”
The wizard looked blearily at the large pink form in front of him.
“Do you understand?”
“Ja…” Caleb rasped, opening his mouth and biting down again. He kept the majority of his face pressed tightly against the healer’s form.
“Good, that’s good…you’re going to be fine,” Caduceus said steadily, running long fingers down the back of Caleb's hair. “We’ll take care of you.”
Fjord crouched down in front of the two, concern evident on his face; his eyebrows were raised.
“You can, right?” he asked in a low voice. “Fix him?”
Caduceus gave a nod, his eyes hooded with exhaustion from the stress of the day. “I have one healing spell left, but then I’m tapped until morning.”
Confused, Fjord’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why haven’t you used it on him yet?” His eyes darted back to Caleb who let out something close to a whimper.
Caduceus sighed. “Need to make sure I set everything correctly, resituate the fractures and the elbow, otherwise he could lose full mobility in that arm. Could even lose function of some fingers.”
The cleric didn’t need to explain the full extent of his concern. Even as an amateur spellcaster himself, Fjord knew just how important a mage’s dexterity was to his casting. His mind froze as he thought of the delicate motions and signals Caleb made for a number of his spells. A mage without the use of a hand…he was sure the wizard would adapt, he wouldn’t dare underestimate the human again, but he didn’t want the man who had already overcome so many struggles to be handed another.
Caduceus sighed, resting his wide palm on the back of Caleb’s neck. The human was completely focused on the bark and it seemed to be making some sort of difference - his breathing had evened out slightly, only being lost to a hitch every dozen or so breaths.
“I’d rather not do what I have to without some kind of pain relief.” At that moment, the firbolg pulled his own piece from behind his ear. “In ideal circumstances, I’d add this to some tea but…well…” He waved the little curled wood around their stone prison before chomping down on it again himself.
“Are you hurt?” the half-orc asked, noticing the slight crease of pain between the firbolg’s eyes and how purposefully he was macerating the stick of natural pain relief. He thought back to the moment after the ceiling collapsed before the cleric cast the light spell; Caduceus’ torso had been partially wedged under a few large stones at the edge of the remaining open space. It seemed easy enough for the two of them to shift the rocks and slide the firbolg from underneath, but he hadn’t had a chance to check on him since discovering Caleb’s entire arm had been completely pinned. Fjord wasn’t quite sure how he himself remained practically unscathed from the day’s events. “You must be pretty sore.”
Caduceus made a thoughtful noise before lightly waving his hand again. “A little banged up here and there but better than our friend.” He attempted to clear his throat. “Do you have any water on you?”
Fjord passed his waterskin from the bag of holding and watched the cleric take a mouthful of water, swishing it around to clear his teeth from the bark and dust particles, before tenderly pulling Caleb away from his shoulder to drink as well.
“Slowly…slowly now…” he was murmuring. “I need to make sure this settles, and then I’ll get to work, alright?”
“Ja…ja...”
The man nodded wearily with unfocused eyes before shuddering and curling limply back into Caduceus’ side, his loud trembling breaths filling their space. He was alarmingly pale, his forehead beaded with sweat that the dust easily stuck to. The firbolg supported him there with a steady arm around his shoulders for a few moments before his long fingers felt along the human’s neck, resting against a pulse point.
“Mr. Fjord,” the healer turned sharply, “can you help me situate him? We can’t wait anymore.”
“Of course. What’s going on?” The warlock couldn’t help but notice the change in tone surrounding this situation.
“He’s going into shock and that’s not good.”
At Caduceus’ gesturing, Fjord took Caleb’s legs while the firbolg held his shoulders, cradling his head against his broad torso and making sure his injured arm was situated on his own chest for the time being. Together they lowered him to the ground, elevating his legs on one of the many rocks available to them. Caleb moaned slightly, the whites of his eyes showing more often than his pupils, the cold sweat and dirt smudges not hiding the ashen appearance of his skin.
“Okay, Mr. Caleb,” Caduceus muttered, kneeling at his side and gingerly grasping his arm. “I’m sorry for this, but it has to be done."
He looked up with solemn wide eyes.
"Mr. Fjord, I’m going to need you to hold him down.”
The warlock couldn’t remember experiencing fear like this before - the fear of causing pain to a friend - but he placed his calloused hands on the wizard’s shoulders and prepared for the human to buck him off.
Caduceus let out a deep sigh. “Here we go…”