The following morning Herman woke up and performed the knee operation on the slumbering Anarion. Amma and Bwoire assisted with the operation, it took roughly two hours. Thankfully the damage was not severe, which was amazingly lucky. He could walk on it as soon as he woke up.

“We are going to have to keep watch over him twenty-four hours a day. I am not sure when he will wake up, but when he does we don’t want him trying to bounce out of bed. It was easy stitching these wounds while he was asleep, but doing them while he is awake is a different story.” Bwoire nodded in reply. “We’ll come up with a shift. Hopefully, he won’t be like this very long.”

“He’s taken a massive shock to his body, I’m still amazed he’s breathing,” said Herman. He gave Bwoire a curious glance. “I’ve been inside since last night, I never asked how the hell wound up like this.” Bwoire motioned Herman to follow him. Falcon was waiting outside along with a group of the townsfolk. “Keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn’t move when he wakes up,” said Bwoire to Falcon.

Herman was in awe already. From his window, you could not see it because of the building in front blocking the view, but Anarion’s five hundred foot ice wall still surrounded the village. One lady asked Herman. “Is he okay? Is he going to make it?” Herman replied to her question. “Yes, I believe so, if you’ll excuse me I need to be going somewhere.”

Bwoire escorted Herman towards the gate. Through the door Amma melted during the fight. The Ice Wall was still stained with blood. There were blue Oren bodies, limbs, digits, skin, guts, severed heads just from the view as he walked there. Herman prepared himself as he stepped through the door.

For as far as the eye could see, it was pure carnage. Dead Oren everywhere. Herman fell to his knees and started crying. Not for the dead Oren, that someone would put their own life at stake against such terrible odds. “We estimate this force was at least ten thousand strong. He is not even a full-fledged Swordsman yet.” Herman wiped the tears from his eyes. “This is a debt we can never repay. If it were not for his quick thinking, if it were not for the fact that he was there, a force that size would have consumed us even if the rest of you are here. Surely you could have killed them all, but Holsten would have been leveled in the process, all its people would have been lost.”

Herman stood up. “I will do everything in my power to make sure he has a speedy recovery. The town will handle the cleanup.” Bwoire looked at Herman “Are there any dependable lads in this village? I need to send a message to Terathil” he pointed to multiple spikes of metal on the ground. “Anarion can’t use Metal Elestran, which means there was an Oren trained as a Swordsman in the group.”

Herman recoiled at the thought. “My nephew can handle the task, he’s traveled before. I’ll put you in contact with him right away.” Bwoire nodded. “I should return to my subordinates, we’ll put together a schedule for watching Anarion.” When Bwoire returned to the Doctors Tycondris was sitting inside. Anarion was sleeping rather peacefully still with Falcon watching over him. Tycondris volunteered to watch Anarion as well.

Falcon would watch Anarion in the morning. Tycondris in the afternoon, Ithilious in the evening and Amma at night. A full day passed and Anarion had not woken up yet. People from the town were eager to see him but Herman said he was gravely wounded and needed rest. A second day passed with no change. His sleep was rather peaceful. Finally, during the night on the fifth day, he started to stir.

Anarion’s eyes slowly began to open in the darkness. Amma did not notice at first, however, when he groaned in pain she practically jumped out of her seat. “You're awake! Don’t move! You have a lot of stitches that you don’t want to tear.” Amma knocked on the door to the apartment. “Doctor Herman, he’s awake!”

Herman jumped out of bed and rushed into the room. Anarion’s eyes were slightly open. “Can you hear me, lad? Blink once for yes.” Anarion blinked once. “Don’t move for the moment lad. You may feel the urge to, but you have been severely wounded, you are starting to heal but if your stitches tear you’ll be in a lot more pain.” Herman checked his pulse and took his temperature. His heart was beating normally, he did not have a fever.

Amma was having a difficult time not jumping for joy, she had spent so much time worrying about him. Anarion suddenly waking up put a spring her step. “We are going to slowly sit you up. Don’t use any of your muscles, we will do the work.” Amma and Herman slowly sat Anarion up. “Whatever you do, do not make any sudden movements. Move slowly and carefully.”

Anarion was still coming to, he was not exactly sure what happened. After a few minutes of thinking he remembered. “How long have I been out?” Anarion asked softly. “Five days,” said Herman. “Moving as slowly as you can, see if you can move around on your bed.” Anarion slowly moved his arms, then his legs. He tried to move his torso, but it was too painful.

“I think you can go to the bathroom by yourself.” Herman reached under the blankets to Anarion’s surprise. “Don’t move, I’ll be as gentle as I can.” He slowly removed a catheter. Anarion was trying not to squirm while this was happening. Amma handed Anarion a pair of pants. “I’ll go get Ithilious.” Amma ran as fast as she could to the tavern and woke everyone up. She returned with Ithilious to help him with his pants.

“Your so shy Amma, I’m pretty sure you’ve already seen it anyway.” Amma punched Ithilious in the arm. “Just do it asshole.” Amma waited outside while Herman and Ithilious helped Anarion get his pants on. Herman called her back in when they were done. “We are going to see if you can stand up, but we are going to do this slowly.” Anarion nodded. He was somewhat out of it.

Slowly they stood Anarion up. “The bathroom is just a few steps forward through the door on the right. Try to make it there on your own, we’ll be behind you.” Anarion carefully stepped forwards, moving hurt tremendously but he did it anyway. Walking to, into, and out of the bathroom. He slowly sat back down on the bed.

“If you take things slow you should be able to recover in a few months. You can stay here for that duration however someone will need to tend to your meals and make sure you are taking things slowly. If one of the stitches on your major wounds tear it will add greatly to your recovery time.”

“The tavern is already taking care of our meals, I’ll make sure they deliver some hot meals. As for watching him, everyone has to prioritize their training. Tycondris could probably watch over him after his shift, as for the rest I’ll ask around.” said Bwoire. Amma looked disappointed, she was about to volunteer for the whole thing. “I can handle night time, he will likely be sleeping. It’s the least I can do,” said Herman.

“As for now, he should continue to rest.” Anarion slowly sat down on the bed and closed his eyes. He felt like an invalid. “Can I at least finish my shift?” inquired Amma. Bwoire sighed “Sure, go ahead.”

Everyone left Anarion to sleep while Amma resumed her shift. When she was sure Anarion was fast asleep she started to silently sob. She had been so worried about him, now that he was awake it was a massive relief.

Morning came, with it brought in a hurricane of noise. Anarion was annoyed by this. He slowly opened his eyes and sat up, he removed his bed sheet. The entire room gasped, he was not wearing a top, you could see all of the stitches and damage he suffered. It took Anarion a moment to realize that Bwoire brought the Tavern Staff with him.

Hilda was holding a giant bowl of stew in her hand. Arnold stood beside her with a proud smile on his face. At the corner of the room was Giselle, her face was bright red. Next to her was Johanna with a shocked expression on her face. Ilya was standing next to Arnold.

Anarion did not speak, he was exhausted and in extreme pain. He glanced at Bwoire, giving him a look that was like asking what was going on, saying it would be too much work. “Everyone at the Tavern will be taking care of your food needs, they’ll personally deliver whatever you need,” said Bwoire. “I can’t believe he’s still alive!” exclaimed Arnold. Hulda walked over to Anarion with the bowl of stew.

“Are you hungry?” Anarion nodded. Amma folded out a table that was attached to the bed. Hulda put the bowl of stew on top of it. Anarion slowly took the spoon and began eating. While eating Giselle, Johanna and Ilya got a look at his back and were equally horrified. “We should give the man some peace,” said Arnold as he started moving his family out the door.

It took Anarion quite awhile, but he ate the entire bowl of stew. Bwoire ordered Amma to return the bowl to the Tavern, eat something then get to work on the wall of ice. Bwoire was going to take the morning shift. The day went by slowly for Anarion, the pain did not go away. He had little energy that first day. Amma brought him his final meal for the day and stayed with him in silence for a few hours until he fell asleep.

He was too tired to feel awkward around her.