It had been a long time since she had been home. A strange letter had arrived days earlier that required her to meet with a man to join a band of mercenaries called the Crimson Company. It wasn't unusual for healers to accompany mercenary bands to help keep them at fighting strength but the way she was invited seemed a bit odd. Why would they summon her to meet in Esterfell? Her hometown was barely even a town and mercenaries wouldn't have much work in that area. There was no payment discussed in the letter either so she assumed that they would negotiate in person, which was probably to her benefit. 

Upon her return in the midday she went straight to the Spotless Rock Inn to see her brother Jonathan who had nothing to do during the day when everyone else was working the mines. They had a few laughs and reminisced about their childhood. It was good to be home, even if she wouldn't be staying long. She made a point to visit her old mentor Thadius who was more than happy to talk her ear off and insisted that they share a drink, and then another, and another. When she finally wobbled back to the Inn she was far too drunk to deal with the Crimson Company or anyone for that matter. Jonathan gave her a room to sober up in and Emilia made sure that Jonathan wouldn't let them leave without getting her out of bed. 

She slept for several hours before waking up to the sounds of rumbling. They were subtle at first and slowly they started to build up. It was rhythmic like footsteps but nothing in town was big enough to cause that kind of disturbance. She started to right herself out of bed then suddenly the entire building shook, throwing her out of bed. Emilia scrambled back up and slung her bag over her shoulder rushing downstairs to investigate. Whatever had shaken the Inn had to be bad news and Jonathan would have been working the bar. 

What she saw when she got downstairs seemed unbelievable. A boulder had smashed through the Inn, rubble was strewn about, and beyond the breach that it had made in the wall were giants rampaging through town. She stood in awe of it all for a moment until a thought came up. [i]Where's Jonathan?[/i] She cried out his name as she clambered over the rubble and debris to get behind the bar where he was likely to be. On the other side lay Jonathan and Ansa, the barmaid. Ansa was crying over Jonathan who was laid out on the floor among broken bottles and tankards. Jonathan was in bad shape. He was bleeding from various cuts, many of them deep, and a splinter from a fallen support beam had punctured his right lung. Ansa cried out, "You have to save him!" Emilia immediately cleared a spaced of broken glass and laid out her satchel. His pulse was weak and she couldn't risk anesthetizing him. She fought back her panic and tears while trying to stop the bleeding with restorative magic. He was conscious and she could see him trying to speak but no words came. Emilia tried to console him, "Just stay with me Jon, okay? You're going to be alright." Her words barely resonated with him as he struggled to breathe. The bleeding from his punctured lung was starting to fill his chest so she made the decision to open him up. It was risky with all the cuts he already had but she had managed to stop most of the superficial bleeding. The tears came pouring out of her as she reached for her scalpel, made a hasty incision and then placed a tube inside to relieve the pressure. "Emi..." She could see the pain in his eyes as he finally spoke. "I know it hurts, just stay with me please." Emilia smiled but the battle for his life wasn't over yet. She still had to remove the splinter. 

Emilia took a deep breathe and readied her hands to remove the splinter. "This is going to hurt a lot worse. Are you ready?... one... two-" She started to pull using psionic magic to keep him steady as it slid out of his chest. Jonathan cried out in pain but she couldn't stop, she had to save him. The moment it was clear of his chest she started to close the wound using restorative magic, mending the flesh to keep his injuries from getting any worse. Once that was sufficiently repaired she had to remove the bits of glass that were left in his cuts. One by one she removed that shards of broken glass while trying to keep him stimulated. Covered in blood, sweat, and debris, she started telling him a story as she continued to work closing each cut with magic. The process was painfully slow. 

"Remember when we were little? You always used to tell me that I was too clumsy and that I would get hurt if I wasn't careful. In the end I always ended up being the one to patch you up, just like I'm doing now... You used to make up funny stories when you got into fights about how you'd found a dragon in the mines and had to fight it off to save the world or a horde of undead Dwarves had tried to invade Esterfell. You always had the best stories. Do you remember the last story you told me before I left? You said that Hector, the big one, tried to bribe you to make me marry him and you got into a big fight because he wouldn't let me see the world. I know that one was true. You tried to pretend it was just another story but I always knew. I always fixed you up then... Jon?... Jon?!"

She checked his pulse....... nothing. His heart had stopped. She started to panic. "Jon you can't die!" She put herself on top of him and placed her hands over his heart. A single brief pulse of magic went straight to his heart. She checked his pulse again........... nothing. Another pulse, still no effect. Another pulse, and another, and another. "Please Jon don't die! I can save you! Please!" She was begging, to her brother, to god, to anyone or anything that would listen. He was already gone but she wouldn't give up. Another pulse... and another... again... again... again...