Polites snapped out of his shocked stupor just in time to feel a strong grip on his arm tugging him backwards. He was about to turn to ask what was going on, but he was interrupted by a sickening crack and a blinding pain shooting up his arm. His cry of agony was drowned out by the deafening crash of the cyclops’ club against the cave floor.
Oh right, the cyclops. Polites groaned through his teeth and clutched his arm, blinking water out of his vision as he was pulled further back. The club had just grazed his free arm, but it was enough force to completely break the bone. The skin around the unnatural bend was already turning concerning shades of purple. Polites looked up over his shoulder to see Odysseus was the one bringing him out of the cyclops’ range, his face pale as he kept his gaze on the beast.
Once they were safely out of the way, Odysseus set Polites down and promptly froze up as the cyclops raised its weapon again.
“He’s got a club.. HE’S GOT A CLUB-!”
“Captain, what are our orders? CAPTAIN-!”
Polites closed his eyes, shuddering at every horrible sound of impact that came with the blows from the giant club. He looked up at Odysseus, the latter still frozen in shock as more and more blood splattered onto his face. He grit his teeth and kicked Odysseus’ ankle, making his captain jolt and snap out of it.
“Captain, you have to help the others!” Polites pleaded, quailing at the sounds of more carnage.
“Right- right!” Odysseus drew his sword and came back to himself, shouting orders to the remaining men.
Polites sat against the rock and closed his eyes again, breathing through the pain as he tried to pull his arm straight. He had a lot of experience fixing broken bones, courtesy of both the war and being friends with Odysseus and Eurylochus, but he had never had to do it on himself. He tore a strip of cloth from his chiton and folded it to bite down on, then slowed his breathing as he’d often told the others to do.
Polites cried out and bit down on the cloth hard as he managed to straighten out his arm. He winced and flexed his fingers gingerly, each movement sending waves of pain all the way up to his shoulder. He let out a shaky sigh and let himself relax for just a moment, then stood and nearly threw up as he witnessed the carnage the cyclops had inflicted. He only had a second to take it all in before there was another loud, violent crash and the cyclops fell to the ground, unconscious. Polites averted his eyes from the blood and gore as best he could, preferring to search the standing warriors for his friends.
The two looked up at Polites from their positions and simultaneously let out a sigh of relief when they saw that he was okay. Odysseus made a gesture to which Eurylochus nodded, already running over to Polites. The warrior looked the pacifist over worriedly, breathing a bit heavier than normal, but seemingly uninjured himself.
“Captain wants us to get all the injured back to the ship. Are you in any condition to carry anyone?”
Polites rubbed the back of his neck with his good arm and looked down at his broken one. “Ah.. maybe?”
Eurylochus’ eyes followed the other’s and he hissed through his teeth. “You know what, you try to bring back anyone who can make it, I’ll take back whoever’s out.”
Polites nodded gratefully and went to search for more of the people who had been injured.
The small group of injured warriors who could do so on their own had made it back to the ship. Many of them sported broken bones, but many more were mortally wounded. Some had lost limbs, others had deep lacerations on their heads or chests, and more were just suffering from the shock of the whole ordeal. Polites’ heart ached once he had done a headcount when the remaining members of the crew had made it back to the ship. Seven soldiers had been lost to the cyclops, and quite a few more were injured.
As Odysseus was yelling to the cyclops, Eurylochus went back to Polites and pulled him away from his work.
“Captain wants you to rest. I want you to rest. You can’t go on healing everyone with your arm like that.”
“I’m fine, Eurylochus. The others have far worse injuries than I do, if you’d just let me-“
He struggled, and Eurylochus was forced to pause in bringing him to his quarters. Despite his kind and loving demeanor, Polites was evenly matched with Eurylochus in strength, even more-so on his best days. However, his broken arm prevented him from fully breaking free from his friend’s grasp, any slight bit of pressure sparking pain through him.
“Polites, if you keep struggling, I’ll have no choice but to bind you to your bed until you calm yourself.”
Polites sighed and reluctantly walked with him, giving worried glances to the other injured soldiers. “Fine.. just, please don’t try anything, okay? You and I both know you’re no good at medicine.”
Eurylochus rolled his eyes, but a smile formed on his face. “I know, I know, I’m leaving it to you. Ody’s going to come to you shortly. He was so worried.. I’m sure seeing you safe and recovering will help him a lot. Now, stay in bed. I don’t want anybody telling me that you were up treating them, understood?”
Polites nodded solemnly and carefully sat in his bed, beginning to fashion himself a sling for his arm. Eurylochus relaxed when Polites stopped fighting him, and he gave the pacifist a reassuring smile before turning and closing the door behind him.
Polites was left alone in his room, the sounds of crunches and splatters and the smell of blood still far too fresh for him to be comfortable with.
