Merriwyn marched with the others, one the outside the flag bearers carried the flag which had brought such hope in such a dismal time, it felt good to finally be part of something, something actively helping the people, defending the weak rather than claiming to, helping the poor rather than caring for it's own selfish gains. It seemed all of the Watchers had been pulled from the front lines, from the refugee camps, from the villages and even the elders from the Watcher Stronghold had abandoned the safety of its walls and made for Halwall Castle.
She could see them at the front, they rode steeds rather than walked, the Grandmaster at the head of the large force, unlike the rest of the Order, Merriwyn had been stationed in one of Lord Ulfric's villages, tending to the ill and injured, so the journey wasn't as long for her, but for most it had been a gruelling and tiresome journey, having travelled miles upon miles to get to Lord Ulfric's domain, let alone the seat of his power.
As they approached the looming walls of the city, a sense of dread washed over Merriwyn, she felt nothing good coming from the city, she spotted the guards on the walls whisper to each other, she looked at the rest of the Watchers, most were too exhausted to look around. She knew a lot of the force wasn't even order members, some of them were caravans who decided to join the force in an effort to seek refuge from the war. When the gates shut, she was in a panic, watching as the chaos descended on the surprised force. She spotted a child, one of the caravanners daughter, the attackers were unrelenting, cutting down everyone in their path, one stood for the young girl. "NO!" Merriwyn screamed, running for the man, she threw her hand out as she cried the incantation. "Bela ed' templa!" The soldier was hit by an invisible force which sent him flying a few metres back.
"They have mages!" She heard one of the soldiers shout, she glanced to the side to see who had shouted it, thenshe felt someone grab her arm and yank her.
"Merriwyn, they'll kill you if they think you're a threat." Merriwyn recognised the voice, it was Tevran, one of the Order's knights, the man she loved. "Please forgive me." He whispered before kissing her, followed by a blunt smash to her head, Merriwyn instantly blacked out.
***
Merriwyn sat up in her cell, panting and cold from her sweat, her head ached as she moved to quickly, she put her hand to her hair and when she removed it to inspect it, it was wet, red and sticky. Her head throbbed as she focused her already weaning energy on the cut. "Tanka harwar." A faint glow emanated from her palm as the many glided over the wound and healed it. Merriwyn didn't dare stand for fear of fainting again.
"Hello? Are there any of my brothers and sisters of the Order alive here? I am Brother Valeryn, and-" Merriwyn recognised the voice.
"Valeryn!" She picked herself up and approached the iron bars. "Valeryn, it's Merriwyn! Did you see what happened to Tevran? Is he alright?" Merriwyn leant against the bars, she spotted the fat guard, her face visibly contorted to show her disgust at his overall appearance. "Excuse me! Please! I should see to the Watchers, if their wounds are too-"
"Enough o' yer jabberin'!" He slammed the pommel of his mace against the wall. "Me lord said nuffin 'bout healin' scratches."
"But no doubt, he expects to make an example of us at an execution, he'll be expecting this number, and if less come out, he won't be happy. His example won't have the same impact." The guard seemed to ponder her words, before nodding, a sigh of relief washed over Merriwyn as he took the bait.
The guard unlocked her cell and yanked her out, his hands were dirty and calloused and not soft, his rough skin making her delicate and soft skin bruise under the pressure, her robes had been torn and blood soaked, she did not represent the sisters very well. He brought her to Valeryn's cell and shoved her in, the push forced her to fall onto the dirt covered floor and ruin the robes more.
However, Merriwyn picked herself up and turned to see Valeryn's arm, her expression of anger turned to worry and she audibly gasped, she spotted the bone and visibly shivered. "I need to clean the wound before I do anything." She lifted her hands and hovered them just above the wound. "This will hurt." She warned him, she took in a deep breath and before she uttered the incantation she placed her hands on the wound, the blood soaked her hand and she swore she could feel some bone."Ama handasse." The spell made a green aura flow from her hands and it danced around both her hands and his arm, the spell would only cleanse his wound of infection and dirt, but in no way would it numb the pain, it would be the equivalent to pouring boiling water into the flesh, Merriwyn could feel him squirm but she had to stay connected to him, so she had to apply more pressure to keep in contact with him.
Having cleansed his arm, she reeled back, her head throbbed worse than it had a few minutes ago, she was becoming lihght headed and draining too much energy too quickly, she steadied herself against the bars, but her whole body ached, her head throbbed and her arms were too weak to move, her back felt like she had sat arched for too long and strained the spine, but if she didn't do something, Valeryn would loss his arm or worse, die of infection.
Merriwyn sucked in a deep breath and pushed through the pain, "Give me your arm, this won't hurt, I promise." She hovered her hands over the wound this time and uttered the same incantation as from before, "Tanka harwar." The familiar white glow shown down in beams and the wound visibly healed itself, but her hands started to shake uncontrollably, she was using too much power and she had only started the incantation, she was no great healer from the Bastion, she couldn't heal without growing tired, but she was all the Order had that was close enough to a healer from the great bastion of the True elves.
Merriwyn visibly swayed as the spell came to an end, the magic hadn't fully healed the wound but it was enough to prevent any serious consequences. Merriwyn quickly set herself on the floor, her breathing was deep and loud, her skin was pale and looked far less vibrant than before, her eyes even seemed to have clouded over, too much magic at the one time had drained her.