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Dismiss! Break out the crossbows! And watch the perimeter. Obey the order!
    -          Sergeant, let me see. I can cure wounds – the priest came closer and discourteously pushed Whisker aside. Then bended over the injured who was already lying without his armor. The priest found a really bad bleeding rough-edged wound on the left side of the unconscious soldier. The dense leather pants were ripped apart making the legs with stripes of wounds seen.
    The sergeant just shook his head gloomily – he had been serving for a long time and had seen much more serious injuries. He could easily say what weapon caused a wound but not in that case. His great experience seemed to be useless. Whisker just couldn’t imagine what kind of weapon had been used to make such a wound – a large piece of flesh had been torn out of the soldier’s side, as for the wounds on his legs, they looked like marks of a predator’s claws.
    -          It looks as if it was torn out by one pull – the sergeant said it automatically without realizing that he articulated his thoughts while he was looking at the wide open wound on Fesces’s side.
    -          It’s quite possible, sergeant – the priest said with reserve, keeping his hand on Fesces’s blooded forehead. – I stopped the bleeding, but he is very weak.
    -          Will he survive, Father? – the sergeant asked in a low voice squeezing his fists helplessly. Fesces had been serving with him for over five years. And despite subordination he was his friend. The sergeant completely forgot about his antipathy towards the priest and was looking at him doglike.
    -          It’s on the knees of the gods, my son. The wounds are quite serious, he lost much blood but his internals are unaffected.
    -          Did he tell you what had happened? – the she-mage asked coming closer. She winced with aversion when she saw a pile of blooded bandages. The grey-bearded mage got frozen behind her back, he was staring at the horse’s torn sides with great interest. The she-mage was actually asking the priest, but he ignored her getting concentrated on the soldier’s wound.
    The priest answered Whisker instead:
    -          No, he didn’t. He’s unconscious. And he doesn’t seem to come to his senses soon.
    -          It’s not a problem – the older mage murmured – Actually I want to try one spell of a mental whip. We can get an interesting result. Let me come closer, Father.
    -          Hey! – the sergeant shouted indignantly stepping forward to hide Fesces as he felt some danger – He is a soldier of the Imperial Army! Besides he was injured in a battle! I won’t let you do him any harm! 
    -          Sergeant – the mage spat scornfully – Know your place. We need the data and this soldier is going to provide us with them. Get out of my way!
    -          Try to move me from this place – Whisker snarled angrily and pulled out the sword from the scabbard with a rasp. The other cuirassiers were standing on the same places but their armed crossbows turned towards the mages all of a sudden. Magic is magic but can you dodge from dozens of targeted crossbow iron bolts!
    -          Belay, sergeant! Put your sword back into the scabbard – the priest didn’t look like a humble man of the clergy anymore, he resembled a forest viper ready for the fatal attack.
    The priest waited for the sergeant to obey his order, then turned to the mages and said firmly:
    -          As for you… Come back to your horses and keep your mouths shut.
    -          What? How do you dare to give us orders?! – the young she-mage started protesting but she sulked and allowed to take her away when she faced the warning in the eyes of the grey-bearded mage. Obviously she saw something important in them.
    The sergeant followed the mages with an angry glance and forgot to get surprised at the amazing obedience of