The fleet landed on the destroyed gates of Brampi, past beyond the flooded lowermost area of the Icean Spine. Welcomed by the half-flooded, half-burnt city that had been conquered by the son of light and the guns of Aon, reinforced by the giant steps of Arkshield Island. Gabrio stood along with the others, traveling their gazes on the sight of the city.

"Proud city, taken down by our best," Dom said on the side. "Have to be done, or at least that's what's the best thing to think about."

Most of the fighters and soldiers are subdued by the makeshift cages made from grown trees. Aon had been a proud country of war, and with the forward forces accompanied by the best and the best soldiers, no one was surprised that they won. It wasn't pretty how the dead gathered on a pile. The houses, buildings, and infrastructure were half-broken. On the tallest, largest building was the flag of Aon, the Fleet's Banner above the flag of the Icean Spine.

Proudly flying, as if it was nothing more than a declaration that they triumph against them. Most of the soldiers who came to clash with the Arkshelled Island had occupied most of the city. Gabrio could tell who was the enemy and who was theirs by the floating ball of light on the shoulder that translated their words. He had no idea how the balls of light worked. They are sprites attached to the soldiers to make them understand the natives.

Gabrio might have the treeheart, but it was nothing more than a new heart that made him live longer. It didn't give him benefits other than a borrowed lifespan. And if Mana was right, he was still human with the inability to speak the tongue of the elven-kin.

"Doctor ahoy!" one of the soldiers shouted. Some of the soldiers of Milostiv were garrisoned to the forward force. Seeing familiar faces, the troops started thumping Gabrio as he made his way to the place set up for him.

"Anyone injured, line up. You know how I do things," Gabrio took a wooden container. "You get your candy when you behave."

Seeing the candy, the drunkards felt like they were seeing the best treat they had for days. Others looked oddly at the candy before someone explained what the candy was. "Only for the injured," he said, wiping his face and looking at the battle-weary soldiers of Milostiv.

Dom sat on the crate while Robert and the others placed the tools in the area. Dragging his stool, Dom sat, unfolded his leather-bound record book, and started writing down whatever the volunteers could tell him about the events that had happened. Dom was the historian, record keeper, and the one making sure that all are listed.

While he worked on getting testimony, Gabrio started treating soldiers with their injuries. He wasn't the only doctor here, and yet they were busy enough with all the wounded. They had their medics, but it was best to check them out to prevent casualties. People die more because of the complication in their wounds than in combat.

Gabrio had to make combatants honest by telling truths that would spook them. It was simple, if they don’t speak of truths, they will die of their own stupidity. He reminded them that pride and the likes was fine, but don’t let it kill them.

The treatment of the soldiers went orderly. The rest of the soldiers gathered supplies from the city's warehouses, pulling them using the captured mounts. The Milostiv personally have still enough to last them for months, but with the amount of supplies they were getting, they would last for a year.

Gabrio saw how the carpenters and engineers of the Grand-Galleons made immediate repairs. No need for scaffoldings when the elven-kin were able to make use of their Vitae, the living trees to hold them while they reinforce or repair. It made the Fleet look like happy bandits and from the faces of a few, there were those who did not like the thought of robbing normal folks of their things. Of course, coming from a more civilized continent, most of the folks didn’t dare to scare, spook, and harm the non-combatants unless they started getting rowdy.

Most of the soldiers in the cages didn’t look too happy. The citizens watching from inside their homes had worried gazes. Why would they be happy? They took their supplies, and had destroyed their walls. Not to mention that the districts near the canals were flooded. The city was divided by two walls that separated it. The lower part of the city had it worst, but the higher elevated districts were spared of the flooding. The surge of water coming from the Great Seas had stopped when they arrived, and the journey to this city would have been far different if they didn’t have the elven-kin singing their songs of wind to push the fleet forward against the flow of the Great Seas.

What are the thoughts running in their heads? Do they think that they are doomed? Gabrio tried not to think of what may happen, but nonetheless, there was a big part of him that wanted to help. He was beating that big part of him, constantly telling him to shut up.

“So much for my oath as a doctor,” Gabrio said to himself. But this was not peace, and this was against the people. He knows what will happen to them. What will happen once the fleet is done with them. It bothers him, but what can he do about it? One man might be able to change the world, but to have that ability, one must also have the power and influence. And even if he does think this way, a huge part of him rationalized that this was for the sake of their goal, and mission.

It was a pit where any thought would eventually be drowned by the dilemma if this was the right thing to do. It wasn’t. But they had a reason, and the moment they said no to the fleet, this was the only path they could take.

*****

As Gabrio worked in the tent, he heard a commotion outside of the tent. He got out of the tent, and spotted a team of soldiers holding back a couple and a child.

“Get back!”

“Healer, inside, right? Help, my child is sick, I’ll pay!” The man took a pouch with minted gold coins. The soldier stayed frosty, and said nothing.

“What’s this about?” Gabrio asked.

Robert, who was on guard with the soldiers, replied. “A couple, doc. Looks like their young is sick. Should we help them?”

“Check if they are armed first, then bring them inside. Watch my back, Robert.”

“Got it, doc,” Robert turned to the couple. “Doc says let them in, pat them, make sure they don’t carry anything,” he spoke in a different language the family of three couldn’t understand.

The family approached Gabrio. The man, the father, spoke first. “I saw tents, injured warriors being treated, I thought of a healer! Please, my son, sick!”

Gabrio examined using the lamp on his side, ordered a soldier to get the light close to the child. From the lower ear to the collarbone, there were bumpy rashes that had covered the child. The soldier who held the light frowned at the sight, but never spoke a word about it. The child, who had watery, swollen eyelids, cringed at the light.

The child was breathing heavily. He could tell that he was suffering from a fever at first glance, but the rash on the child was dangerous. If I remember correctly, usually such rashes are a sign of infection, no, it was hard to have studies about these things, and even my Teacher didn’t have much to say about such problems other than skinning them off the body.

Gabrio felt clueless at the sight of the rashes. Surgery had more advances, and internal medicine had always had failings even back in Aon and was incomplete. No one knows what it was, and yet it alarmed him.

“Robert, you wrap cloth around your mouth, tell the folks who touched the child to keep clear, and wash their hands,” Gabrio spoke softly, in the language. The sprite didn’t translate their words for them, surprisingly.

“Why so, Doc?”

“Kid has rashes. Looks like some have pus as well. Don’t know if it's some pox or not, but I ain’t taking the chances here. Honestly, I don’t have medical knowledge or the research to assess this. I can give medicine to reduce the fever.”

“That won’t solve the illness.”

“It won’t. Medicine doesn't work instantly, and it would just give these folks false hope,” Gabrio searched the crates, and found the concoction. He signalled the father to tell his child to open his mouth. Gabrio fed the child a medicine made of yarrow, and white yellow bark. The kid wanted to spit it out. “Drink child, it will heal, reduce your pain.”

Gabrio turned to the couple. “When did he have this?”

“Don’t know, healer, he just had this and his skin was burning!”

The father was clearly clueless. The mother as well. The child looked greened, but managed to swallow it. Despite having the damn treeheart, it’s still ain’t going to make me suddenly amazing, Gabrio said to himself. Research, study, I need more time, but at the same time we don’t have the time or resources to do research.

“Go now, and take this,” he handed the couple the concoction. The father of the child handed the gold coins to him. The three left the tent and disappeared from their sight.

“Everyone, clean up, who knows if the kind had disease that might be infectious. If you feel anything, itchiness, scratches, and fever. Come to me immediately, so we can somewhat prevent it. For now, take a bath, wash yourselves!”

Gabrio turned to Robert. “Have a squad take their shift.”

“Aye, Doctor,” he saluted, then turned on his men. “Now you heard the doctor, wash yourselves up, we ain’t bringing sickness from this place! Go!”

The soldiers nodded, taking Gabrio's words seriously. Gabrio sat down, and then thought that he should take a bath as well since he had contact with the children and the family.

He washed himself up, returned to the Milostiv for a moment, and went back to the tent where he found Dom inspecting the pouch of gold coins. “This is yours?”

“A family took their child here. Had quite a disease that I don’t know what it is.”

“You look down, doctor,” Dom observed.

“I am,” Gabrio wasn’t going to hide. “Don’t know what that disease was, and it only means that we are still extremely lacking. I took measures immediately since it might be this continent’s pox.”

“Sounds worrisome.”

“It is. It looks like the other healers in this area didn’t have the guts to heal it because they sent the family here, thinking that it would do us harm.”

“Ah, that could be their own way of revenge, isn’t it?”

“It might be. Or that we’ve become too distrusting of people. I’ll tell Robert to drive out anyone that might have intentions like that again. Fire warning shots if possible.”

Dom nodded. “Can’t have an unknown disease be in the ship now, can’t we.”

“That’s right.”

“Should I send a messenger to the other medical tents?”

“We should. Make it clear that there are people who have diseases we have no idea about. Oh, and we should send a message to the quartermaster about their food here, who knows what might happen if we eat some of the food we got from these people.”

“If that's what the Doctor orders, then let it be done.”

Gabrio nodded slowly. He folded his arms, and rubbed his hair furiously. “That was a mistake, shouldn’t have done that.”

Gabrio felt frustrated. It bothered him that even a small kindness like that might cause problems. He should have thought better. What family would come to an enemy tent unless it was desperate enough for them?

The next day, the family returned, but this time, the soldiers kept them from approaching the medical tent and told them that the next time they come, they will be shot.

The horror and look of betrayal on the parent’s child made Gabrio’s heart sank for a moment before he turned away, and worked on the crew member he was helping.