My thoughts stop when I see the woman's mouth move a little.
I slam down on my knees and check her pulse. It's weak.
She's still alive.
Turning to the oldest girl, I shake her until she looks at me.
"Where is a healer!"
She's dazed and hysterical, so I slap her.
"Girl! If you want your mother to live, tell me where I can find a gods damned healer!"
My words seem to shake her out of her stupor.
"M-M-M-Miss Gillis has a shop halfway down the street that way."
She points to the left and I nod.
"Stay here, I'll be back to retrieve you after I take your mother to her. Stay out of sight."
I scoop the woman up in my arms and run hard, the rage hasn't fully left me and I'm swift as I run.
Knocking over two people, I finally see the shop and bust inside.
"What in the gods forsaken-"
An old woman cuts herself off as she sees the woman in my arms.
"Quick, lay her down over here. I said quickly boy, move!"
I deposit the mother on the the healers table and rush back out of the shop.
"Where are you-"
I don't hear the rest as I make my way back to the alleyway.
I panic when I don't see the kids where I left them and think I've messed up again.
Suddenly I hear a voice to my left.
"M-mister? Is that you?"
The breath of relief I suck in is tremendous.
"Yeah, come out you three."
Soon the sniveling children reveal themselves from the alley trash they had hid in.
I return to the healers shop a short moment later with a little boy hugging his arms around my neck and two girls in my arms.
The healer doesn't look up at me as she speaks.
"Are any of them injured as well?"
"No ma'am, they're just her kids."
"Good, I'm going to need all my concentration for the next few hours."
I nod, but it's a useless movement because she's not looking at me.
Turning to the kids, I tell them wait for a moment and I leave the shop again.
"Hey boy! This isn't a daycare-"
Going back to the alley, I spit on the corpses and kick them around for a bit to release a little frustration. Then I bend down and get what I came back for.
I'm 13 gold richer as I make my way back to the healers shop for the third time.
It's a long and brutal wait, but she was able to stabilize the mother. Both the children and I let out sighs of relief at this news.
I pat the children on the head tenderly, they hadn't let go of me since I returned.
"How much do I owe you?"
The old healer ponders for a moment and shakes her head.
"Don't worry about it boy, I'll treat your mom for free."
I can't believe she just mistook me for her son, I look nothing like the family I took pity on.
My long and thick hair is a stark black and my angular face is quite different from the pale blonde children and mother.
"Ma'am I'm not-"
The little boy then looks up at me with his big blue eyes in delight.
"Does that mean mister is my big brother now!?"
"Well no.. it's just that.."
My words trail off when I see the boy starting to cry.
I hang my head in defeat.
"Thank you ma'am…"
I stay with the family a little longer and slip the unconscious mother 6 more gold pieces. I leave 4 on the counter as I leave. The children are allowed to stay with the mom until she recovers.
Walking back outside, I realize that the sun had drifted below the city wall already.
The weather is a little chillier from last night and I head back towards Elias's house at a jog.
When I find myself standing in front of the door, I hesitate to knock.
Elias let me stay last night, but I don't know if that invitation was only for last night.
I pull back my hand and prepare to walk away and find an inn, when the door opens.
The old butler looks me over and welcomes me in.
"Master Kelric, I hope your day was pleasant."
"Uhh.. yeah it was alright."
"Very good, master Kelric. You should find the young master in the sitting room."
His voice lowers a little as I step inside.
"Young master has been sulking since he got home because he couldn't find you."
"Oh.." is all I could say back.
Making my way over to the rooms door, I open it to find Elias sprawled on his back and staring at the ceiling.
He slowly turns to look at me, then jumps up when he recognizes me.
"Kelric! Where have you been, I thought you abandoned your brother after failing the exam in shame!"
My lips pull into the half smile.
'My family seems to be quite large nowadays with so many claiming me as a sibling.'
"First, I don't remember us being brothers. Second, I passed my tests."
He looks at me with such a disbelieving face that I want to hit him again.
"Kelric… it's okay if you failed. There's always next year.."
"I didn't fail you.. you- you nitwit!"
Elias's smile is all I need to see to know that he's teasing me.
"You're so insufferable.." I say softly. I know it's a lie as the slight smile never leaves my face.
"I know I am! And actually I heard all about your Subjugation test, it was the talk of the whole school when we got out of our written tests. Say, did you really flip a Hell Boar into the air on its back?"
I crack my knuckles and walk towards him.
"Wanna find out."
"Brother! Violence is never the answer!"
An old man watches the two boys from a crack in the door, a tired smile pulling wrinkles back from his mouth.