Seven days have passed since Rory went to visit Skiree's family. Since then, he's run one errand on Shadow business – stealthily escorting a courier from where he met the Eeee, by the Tower of Babel, on almost a day's journey to a neighboring town. Everything went smoothly, though Rory was maybe just a little disappointed that nothing happened to force the courier to reveal what he was transporting to the mage. The rest of the time he's been spending with Tanieta, helping with sick patients.

Today they're on outing together to this clinic. It's one of the larger but more squalid that they've visited. Tanieta doesn't play favorites – she's even taken Rory to a Sunala-endorsed hospital to help the people there – but in some ways, the little unicorn likes the Rinala hospice best. The priestess and her acolytes are actually nice, and the patients seem more appreciative of his efforts than many of the Eeee. More than a few of the people he's helped elsewhere look at him suspiciously, as if wondering what he wanted from them. Just for you to get better! he wants to shout sometimes.

The candles for his ritual are the best source of illumination in the tower, which is getting even darker as the sun sinks on the horizon. Rory is working on a ritual to help a diseased woman ("Cursed by Gorphat, because she would not contribute to their temple!" her sister said) recover. Her sister is on the other side of the ill woman … because of the unusual nature of Rory's training, he finds it helpful to have an example of a "well person" similar to the sick person handy. He's not too good at diseases, either, but Tanieta's been helping him in that area. The ritual is almost done, and he hopes it turns out well.

The little unicorn performs a slow, calculated dance around the ritual circle – not a clip-clopping, high-hoofing sort of dance, but more of a slow series of motions, tracing imaginary runes and geometric forms in the air, as he gradually makes his way about the circumference. His prolonged time in Babel around genuinely sick and weary people has sapped much of his 'easy-going' nature, such that he hasn't the heart to throw in needless jigs and frills … even if the manifestations of his spells and the images incorporated into his magic circles still look like the scrawling of a child in wax crayon.

The sick Eeee smiles a little as a shower of tiny white figures of light, looking like stick drawings of Eeee medics, carrying bandages and doctor's bags, descend on her body at the completion of the ritual. She closes her eyes as the tiny figures race over her fur, then dissolve into her body. "Thank you, sir mage," she says softly, in Eeee.

Rory just stands there for a bit, catching his breath, and bowing to the patient. At last, he says, "You're very welcome, ma'am. I really really hope you feel better very soon."

"I feel better already. I am not deserving of such attentions," the Eeee woman says. Her sister, standing up from where she'd been resting, smiles at Rory, too. She doesn't look like she gets much practice in smiling. Over by the entrance, there's a commotion, and one of the acolytes gasps and rushes over, as an Eeee enters, half-carrying a slumped figure, the front of whose leather tunic is soaked in blood.

The little unicorn starts. "Uh oh," he says. "I think someone's really badly hurt. I'll be right back to clean my chalk up, okay?" And then he rushes over to see what's wrong.

The acolyte helps the first Eeee carry the wounded one over to a bed and settle him into it. There's a slash down the front of his tunic, cutting it open, and the wound appears to deepen at the abdomen. Blood drips every where as the acolyte takes out a knife to cut off the tunic from the Eeee's body and expose the wound.

The unicorn looks about quickly, anxious not to interfere if a more experienced healer is appropriate to the task, but seeing the gravity of the wound, he decides it best to do what he can until someone more capable pushes him aside. "What happened?" he squeaks in his non-Eeee accented form of Babelite. He takes a look himself, and does his best to try to guess just what this wound means to an Eeee's anatomy.

"We were attacked," his companion says, gruffly, as the acolyte strips off the tunic. Rory notices that both newcomers wear knives and sheathes for swords, though the wounded one has no sword in his. But what draws his eye more is the narrow slit of the cut down the man's chest, revealed as the acolyte sponges away the blood. The gash deepens as it reaches the abdomen, and in the unicorn's opinion, the gash has probably sliced through vital internal organs. Without serious immediate treatment, he'll die.

The unicorn tries to control his breathing, and says, "I'll try to find out where he's hurt." Realizing there is no more time to waste, he quickly chants a cantrip of Diagnose. I don't know enough about Eeee bodies, he reasons, to be able to know where to put the healing without taking a look first.

While Rory investigates the injury, Tanieta flies down from the second floor. "Rory?" she calls. "Are you ready to go? I'm sorry I took so long – it's pretty late."

The Diagnose spell doesn't take long – good thing they're on the surface! – and Rory is able to determine that the cut has managed to miss the stomach and several other organs, but the small intestines have been severed in several places. They need to be re-attached – or maybe some smaller pieces could be removed entirely and the rest sewn together – and the mess of the wound cleansed by magic, or infection from half-digested waste will kill him even if the wound doesn't.

The unicorn's eyes snap open, and he verbally regurgitates to the best of his ability the information he's just received, though lacking the authority a true physician would have, since he is merely a novice healer. "His intestines are cut up," he says. "I need to put them back together, or he'll die! It … It's going to take a Greater Heal, and I'm not even sure how powerful of one. I can stop some of the bleeding right now but … " He looks to Tanieta, registering what she's just said. "I can't go now! He needs help!"

The robed Eeee flies to the bedside, where the man's companion is staring at Rory, his jaw agape and an expression of awe on his face. She clenches her left hand into a fist as she looks at the injured man. The acolyte is layering pads on top of the gash, and they are soaking with blood almost as fast as she can apply them. "Rory … " The older life mage stares at the injured Eeee, and the unicorn can see the pity in her eyes. "It's too late, Rory. The sun is almost down. You can't start a Greater Heal now – we have to get back to the guild hall before dark."

"I … can't go with you," Rory says, feeling his stomach sink. "If I do, I'm killing him."

"People die every day in this city, Rory. It's not our fault we can't save them all." Tanieta sounds like she's trying to convince herself as much as the unicorn. "Every day. It's too dangerous for you – for either of us – we don't have time to argue, Rory." The dying sun sinks on the curve of a mountain, while the acolyte piles another pad of cloth on top of the Eeee's wound, futilely trying to staunch the bleeding.

"I'll take care of myself," Rory says, then it occurs to him that he hasn't only himself to think about. "We can stay here at the temple, can't we? Just give me a few minutes, at least. It may not work … I'll rush my ritual … but I've got to at least try. I know we can't save them all … but maybe I can save this one right here."

The unicorn, however, sees the darkening cloths, and figures that there's no time to lose. He starts chanting a spell to slow the bleeding – not a full-blown ritual, but a Minor Spell of Lesser Healing, not sufficient to save a life, but to his mind, hopefully to prolong it enough to make up for the time he's spending arguing the point.

"There is space for you here, mages," the acolyte says, her face screwed up and her expression unreadable. "It is not much … "

Tanieta looks angry, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides, as she glances from the wounded man to his companion. "Street gangs," she mutters. "You're responsible for these injuries, you and your endless, pointless fighting," she growls.

The unicorn cowers at the exchange, but still chants, determined not to lose focus of this man's imperiled state.

The other Eeee – splattered by blood, maybe that of his friend, maybe someone else's – bares his teeth for a moment at Tanieta. "Yeah, blame it on us, mage. Go ahead. But we ain't the ones who killed the High Princess, or dropped the Boomer on the city. Or – " He stops, though what deters him from going on isn't clear.

Rory's head lowers even more, as he chants feverishly, placing a hand on the wounded man's side, begging and pleading his body to please hold on, to please hang in there for just a while longer, to have a little more strength, to hold onto that precious blood.

"You ungrateful piece of – " Tanieta shrieks. "How dare you – what do you think I'm – " she sputters, then staggers over to the other side of the injured Eeee, pushing the companion back. "Get out," she tells him brusquely. "Leave me alone, and maybe I can save your friend's life. Give you a fine story to twist, and tell all your gangs and gossips how mages killed him and your precious High Princess resurrected him at your prayers. Rory, you work on keeping him alive. I'll do the Greater Heal." She starts to chalk a circle around the bed.

Rory nods faintly, and keeps on chanting. He refuses to be relieved – not with the terse exchanges going on about him – but inwardly he feels a glimmer of hope as Tanieta consents to stay … having half-feared that she would simply drag him, bawling, away. He raises the pitch of his chanting ever so slightly, half-singing the arcane words, trying to work his feelings of hope into the "song."

The unwounded ganger slinks back from the bed, watching the two work with that all-too-familiar mixture of dread, suspicion, and hope on his face. The tableau of the two mages, working together in counterpart over the near-dead Eeee, goes on for hours. Occasionally, the acolyte brings them drinks of juice or fruit to nibble at. The bleeding on the belly wound stopped soon after Rory's first minor spell, and since then he has been working to cleanse the Eeee's body of potential sources of infection, and keeping the temporary magical "patch" over his torso, while Tanieta works to knit the flesh and intestines back together in a lasting manner. By the time they are done, the room is only lit by a few candles … but the Eeee sleeps peacefully on the pallet, his breathing even and untroubled.

Once the magic is all complete, Rory bites on his lip to keep himself from bursting out noisily and disturbing the man's sleep. Instead, he turns to Tanieta and whispers, "I am really really sorry, Mage Tanieta. I really didn't mean to cause you any trouble. I had to try … and I don't think he'd be okay if you hadn't fixed him up. Thank you so much." He wrings his hands nervously.

"It's all right, Rory," the Eeee mage answers, sounding tired. She brushes a lock of white hair back from her light-brown face. "I … we'll be all right. Some how. And. You are right. He would be dead if we'd both left … maybe even if only you had stayed." She glances to the Eeee's friend, slumped on the floor across from his bed, arms and wings curled around his bent legs. Tanieta's lip curls back, then she shakes her head and walks off. "Let's find an acolyte and something more to eat."

Rory hurries to catch up with Tanieta, and tries to keep pace with her. "Please don't be mad at him. He's just been told lots of lies about us. Maybe he'll see we really want to help him. If all the other people do is hurt the Babelites, and we keep trying to help, they've got to figure out we mean well … right?"

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Tanieta mutters. "Do you know what I heard the other day?" The mage slows to Rory's normal pace, and she takes the stairs instead of flying to the second level.

"Uhm … no, I don't know what you heard, ma'am," Rory says, keeping his voice low.

"Remember Envoy? Apparently she's taken up Life magic. And disguising herself with black fur dye – you know, so the big bad College won't punish her for helping people with her Life-magic powers. Even as we speak, she's wandering the streets of Babel with a Yodhsunala companion, healing the sick and weary. While we high-and-mighty College types sit snug and high in our tower, indifferent to the sufferings of the masses." The Life Mage makes no effort to disguise her bitterness.

"Whoa!" Rory says, grinning. "That's dark! I didn't know she could do that."

"She can't," Tanieta grumbles. "Think about it."

The unicorn ponders this, then looks to Tanieta, blinks a few times, then says, "So they're making it up?"

"Worse. They're talking about us, Rory! You and me! Only suddenly we're Envoy and some Yodhsunala working for the good of Babel against the evils of the College." The Eeee reaches the top of the second flight of stairs, where the acolytes and their high priestess are conducting a late-evening service. Automatically, Tanieta lowers her voice further out of respect for the service.

Rory works his mouth a bit, then catches himself, and physically lowers his head while trying to keep his voice down as well. "That's not fair. That's … that's wrong."

Tanieta nods her head, her eyes shining with anger, and something else.

The priestess is singing a song before the altar, with the acolytes chanting in unison behind her. The song seems to be about taking care of all living things – birds, beasts, plants, and so forth – and keeping them healthy and well. The statue behind their altar is of a beautiful Eeee, carved of obsidian, with her face bowed and a long chain binding her to the altar before her.

The unicorn's ears blush a bit as he actually listens to the song. He whispers, "But we don't really need to get credit for it. What matters is that we're helping. We know the truth. And the people we help know the truth. We just … we just gotta help a lot more people, right?"

The older mage nods again, weary. She listens to the priestess complete her song, which finishes by exhorting the Yodh of Rinala to be faithful and true to their service and goddess, as Rinala is to her service and Father. "But it's not fair," Tanieta says, almost under her breath. The Yodh finishes her service, and the few other attendees – mostly, patients well enough to be out of bed but too sick to leave – rise and bow.

Rory says, "Well, I know you're really great. You stayed to help that man, even though you don't know him, and maybe … well, maybe he got himself into trouble, not like just anybody who happens to get sick. But you're a really nice person, and you helped him. Babel needs more nice people like you. A whole lot more."

Tanieta cants her ears back, looking embarrassed, while the priestess makes her way back to them. "I concur," the Yodh says, smiling. "Thank you, both of you, for your time spent in the hospice today," she says, warmly. With the singing gone, Rory can now hear the noises outside, partially muffled by the shuttered windows. It sounds like someone else is preaching on the street nearby.

Rory's ears genuinely blush this time. All this time in Lamu, he's forgotten just how well voices carry around Eeee. "And like you, too," he quickly adds. "You're all very nice here, and I'm glad you're helping people." He turns toward the windows. "Uhm … is that one of your priestesses preaching outside?"

The priestess frowns, and shakes her head. In the hush that follows, the voice is briefly more distinct, then it's drowned out by the shouts of many people. Tanieta and the Yodh exchange glances. "I don't like the sound of this," the mage says. She walks toward one of the shuttered windows, and cracks it open.

Rory rushes up to the window, peering out, his ears perked forward. The riot at the Guild Hall is all too fresh at his mind, and his mind quickly fills with horror scenarios of a similar thing happening here … only with a great many sick people unable to defend themselves caught in the middle.

Seen through the slit, the scene outside looks like his worst fears. A male Eeee stands high on a parapet of a tower opposite, calling out exhortations to a swarm of bats above and below him. "What have they given us?" he shouts.

"Death!" the crowd shouts back.

"What will we give them?" The Eeee spreads his wings, leaning forward, one hand braced on a flag pole, shaking his fist.

"Death!" the crowd shouts again, and the chant dissolves into ugly shouting.

Rory frowns, and whimpers, "This is going to get ugly, isn't it?" He looks to the Eeee beside him. "Who do you think the 'they' is this time?"

Tanieta shakes her head, ears canted to listen. Perhaps she can make out something Rory can't hear, because her ears go ashen-pale, and she shrinks back. "No. Not again … "

"Death to the interlopers!" The leader Eeee takes flight, circling around the crowd. "Death to the meddlers! Death to the ones who scorn our ways and Wounded our city!"

The reason the Eeee chose this neighborhood to rally the people now becomes clear, as he flies, silhouetted to Eeee ears, against the empty, gaping hole of the pit. The crowd roars its anger.

Rory looks up to Tanieta. "What should we do? Are they going to go attack the Guild Hall again? Are they going to attack us? Are the people safe here? Should I send a shadow-creen back to the Hall? I don't think it's gonna be fast enough… "

"Death to the mages!" the rabble-rouser screams out, and then wings his way towards the distant tower. Howling, the crowd rises as one into the air to follow.

The older mage covers her face with her hands. "No," she whispers, "I don't think it's going to be fast enough, either."

The unicorn looks on the verge of tears. "We have to do something. Is … are there any other places mages are in the city that we can warn, in case the riot goes after them next? Or … or … or maybe … or maybe we … maybe we had better be ready to try to head out and help people who get hurt, because someone's gonna get hurt tonight. Real bad."

"You can't go out into that!" the priestess protests. She places a sympathetic hand on Tanieta's shoulder. "The city is not safe at night in the best of times, and now … "

Tanieta shakes her head. "No. Rory's right. We have to go back. Now."

Rory nods, and says, "Ma'am, maybe you can get the rakhtor and bring it up where I can get on? I can't fly down to the rakhtor … and I can use the time to get at least a teensy little spell going to obscure us, maybe … and I look really weird and they might think I'm a mage, since, you know, I am one. Uhm … just an idea."

The Eeee mage nods, and heads downstairs, while the Yodh looks unhappy. "Wait," the priestess says. "My friends … if you are determined to go – at least let us provide you with less obvious attire." She takes Tanieta's arm and guides her firmly towards a screened section of the chamber, behind which she normally trades her vestments for ordinary garb.

The unicorn nods. "Whatever you think is right," he says … and then starts working on a very rushed spell…