Moondance rejoins her a minute or two later and squats down in the snow. "Starwind has them contained," he says out loud. "Abras, would you look at me?" He holds Abras' head steady with one hand, peering into his eyes, and then his expression goes slack and he's silent for another minute. 

"No critical injuries," he says finally. "Though he has, again, abused his channels sorely, and it seems something struck him quite hard. Abras, did they reach you with a blunt-force attack?" 

Abras is tearing up too, actually, and shaking like a leaf. It's partly pain but mostly adrenaline crash.

"Y-yes," he croaks. "And I fell out of the tree and I tripped."

"...Fell from what height?" Moondance looks more concerned now. "Did you hit your head?" 

"Um, not that high?" Don't ask why he was in a tree, don't ask why he was in a tree. "I sort of hit my everything but mostly not my head I think?" Is not being sure whether he hit his head or not evidence that he did?

Nod. "I think you are fine, but head injuries can be subtle to detect even with Healing-Sight, early on." Pause. "Why were you in the tree - did they chase you there?" 

"No, I was. Um. I was already in the tree."

"Because I thought if I jumped out of a tree maybe it would unstick my magic but then I was scared I'd hurt myself and just. Stayed in the tree."

"I see." Moondance seems startled, and unsure how to react, but not angry. 

...Then he chuckles. It turns into a real laugh. "Well, lad, perhaps that part did not work, but it certainly seems that you defended yourself with magic." 

"I did! Maybe I'll be able to do things again now."

". . . Did I kill anybody?"

"No." A pause. "Had they been five yards distant instead of ten when you struck, then perhaps, but the attack was...not aimed. They were simply stunned. My shay'kreth'ashke has them contained now– Are you cold? You are shivering." Moondance starts taking off his cloak, and wraps it around Abras. "Better? I will do a heat-spell also." 

"That's good." (But it was just luck, really, he wasn't thinking clearly enough to try not to kill them and he doesn't know how to feel about that.) His muscles appreciate the warmth; the trembling recedes, though not completely. "Thanks. . . . Can I have something for pain, please?"

More concern. "I do not have anything here. We came rather in a hurry. But we ought bring you back to the Vale and then I have medicine I could give you. Where does it hurt?" 

Nod nod. He takes a moment to sort through the chorus of bruises clamoring for his attention. "Uh, my magic. And my face. And my torso."

"...I did not assess your mage-channels very thoroughly," Moondance admits. "Perhaps the damage is worse than I thought, if it is causing you so much distress. May I look deeper now? It may hurt slightly more but I will be quick." 

"You can look."

It hurts a lot more, enough that his vision goes red-black, but only very briefly, and then Moondance is cupping his cheek again and looking into his eyes. "I am sorry. You need a warm bed, I think." 

He doesn't stop to ask if Abras can manage riding, just picks him up, and Yfandes knees so he can get on while carrying Abras in his arms. Yfandes can move quite fast without much jarring, it turns out. The heat-spell follows them.

Abras is a limp dead weight. He's not quite injured enough to pass out and not uninjured enough to do much else. He does remember to ask, "Who were those people? How did they know my name?"

"We are not sure," Moondance admits. "We will find out when we question them, I suppose. You focus on resting now." 

Then they're back to the Vale, and still riding but at least it's warm, and not long later they reach the ekele. Moondance undresses him, gently enough not to jar any of his bruises too badly, and lays him down in the bed and tucks him in, and then comes back with a cup of very bitter herb-tea sweetened with honey. "Drink this," he says. "And sleep. Worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes." 

He drinks the tea. He has a lot more questions and maybe when he's slept he'll have the words to ask any of them. 

His dreams are dark and fragmentary and unsettling.

He wakes briefly at sunset, dizzy and groggy, with Savil sitting at his bedside, and Moondance coaxes him to eat and drink and then gives him more of the pain-medicine. Either it's very strong or he's just still sleep deprived, because he nods off again and doesn't wake until the room is full of morning sunlight. 

Yfandes is the first thing he senses, after 'sun'. :Chosen, love, feeling any better?: 

He now feels like he's just had a lot of sleep, rather than like he's been awake all day, then awake all night and in a freezing cold tree for most of it, then running for his life, then injured. :Yes, much! I want to do another lesson as soon as I won't screw up my channels more and see if I got my brain unstuck for good.:

:That’s wonderful, Chosen! I’m so glad. Why don’t you come out here and have a soak before breakfast?: Her mindvoice doesn’t really hurt, though there are a couple of twinges there, like cautiously putting weight on a recently healed sprained ankle.

Abras, if he stands up, will find that he’s very stiff and sore across most of his body, but probably a hot  spring trip is exactly what will help there.

Yup, that's what happens when you alternate between moving too much and not moving at all. :Oof, yup, good plan.: He goes with Yfandes to the hot spring and slides into the water with a quiet hum of relief, stretching and rotating his limbs. Stretching hurts too, but it's a good putting-things-back sort of pain.

"So, about the--people I was in a fight with. Did you find out what they wanted?"

:Starwind isn't finished with the interrogations: Yfandes admits. :He'll probably come talk to you once he is. Preliminaries - they were looking for you in particular. They had...some sort of artifact, a homing-token to detect people outside a Vale. They came from a very very long way away, and may have had a local guide since they made it this close to k'Treva without being caught: 

She falls silent. 

:Abras: she sends finally. :I'm...not angry with you, I swear: She isn't – it would be obvious in her mindvoice if she was, but the only emotions there are pride and worry and...guilt? :I know why you did it, and, well, it ended with no permanent harm done, and perhaps with some benefit, if it got you past your mental block. But you scared the living crap out of me. Please, PLEASE, next time you're lying awake ruminating and have a brilliant idea, run it by me?: