There was a system of ladders and walkways leading up the cliff face to several cave openings. There were cloth coverings hung over some of the caves, firelight pouring out of several more, and there were people moving around. Lots of people. 

A few of them were coming down one of the ladders to meet their party. Several more tribesmen, including the two who had run on ahead, accompanied by two women wearing slightly more clothing than the men, with purple and blue painted bodies. One of them appeared to be older, judging from the gray hair and lines on her face. She seemed less stern than the tribesmen, and her pale eyes sparkled as she approached Darryn. 

“Arushkta. You return to us.” 

Mik’s eyes widened as he realized the woman had spoken in Federation Common. 

“Well met, Anaka.” Darryn bowed, placing one hand across his chest. “It has been many cycles of the sun since I saw you last. And I know I am not truly one of the People of the Rock…”

The woman held up a hand. “Speak not so, Arushkta. You  will always have a place by our fire. You earned that honor long ago.”

“Thank you, Anaka.” Darryn stepped aside to let her see Jaxon. “I need your help.”

The woman, Anaka, knelt down next to the stretcher and examined Jax, her brow furrowing in concentration as she pulled back the bandages. “He is of your tribe?”

Darryn nodded. “Yercht.” 

“Then he is of mine.” The woman stood and gestured towards the cliffside village. “Bring him to my cave.”

The leader of the tribesmen moved to stop Darryn as he went to pick up the stretcher again, and said something to Anaka. From his gestures, Mik thought he was objecting to the idea of their group coming into the village. 

Anaka held up a hand, stopping the man from speaking. She said something in a much gentler tone, then gestured for the men to go back to the canyon. The man grumbled and glared at the Viper crew, but after a moment he led the rest of the original tribesmen back into the crack in the cliff. 

“Come.” Anaka gestured and led the way up the cliff face. 

The younger woman stood back, waiting for the group to follow the elder one as they entered the single file walkway. She kept her eyes down as they walked past, so Mik gave her a curious glance as he went by. She seemed much younger than Anaka, closer to his age than the elder woman’s. She was wearing much less body paint than either Anaka or the guards, with only a few stripes on her face and down her sides. She kept her eyes averted, but Mik was still struck by how much more delicate her features appeared to be compared to the rest of her tribe. 

Anaka led the group far up the cliff face to a cave covered by a long piece of tanned hide. She held the covering aside as the group entered, waiting until the younger woman followed the crew inside before she let it fall back down. 

The cave was lit by a blue fire burning in a corner, light grey smoke escaping through a shaft carved into the roof. There were simple carved bowls made of some chitinous material laying on another piece of tanned hide on one side of the cave, and several strings of strange materials and things that looked suspiciously like herbs were hanging from the roof, though Mik had no idea where they would have come. 

“Lay him down here.” Anaka pointed to the center of the floor and began searching through the various items lying about the cave, gathering some of them up and relaying instructions to the younger woman in their tribal language. 

Darryn and Rocky set the stretcher down in the center of the room and stepped back, waiting for further instructions. Mik bit his lip and watched Anaka as she began grinding up several ingredients in one of the bowls before passing it off to her assistant. 

As the younger woman began to finish working on whatever was in the bowl, Anaka knelt next to Jaxon and began inspecting him, placing her hands on his chest and forehead. She frowned as he thrashed and grunted feverishly. “He is….as you were?” she asked, looking up at Darryn. 

He nodded. “Warsick, yes.” 

Anaka closed her eyes and listened. “His life is strong. The body I can heal, but the mind…I cannot do much, but I will do what little I can.”

“The body is all I ask.” 

Mik heard a low scoff from Eralis. “Oh please.” The man was leaning against the wall on one side of the cave, looking on with disdain. “This primitive witch doctor couldn’t heal a broken leg.”

Darryn glared at the Fed. “Honor, get him out of here.”

The Steeleyes nodded and grabbed Eralis’ arm, shoving him out the cave entrance. 

Anaka looked over at her assistant as the woman carefully measured a small amount of water into the bowl and began mixing the ingredients into the liquid. “Aureth, anada hoi.”

The younger woman brought the bowl over and handed it to Anaka. She swirled the bowl for a moment, inspecting its contents. “All infection must be purged from the wound.” She looked up at Darryn. “It will burn as fire.”

The captain nodded at Rocky, and the two of them took hold of Jaxon’s shoulders, holding him down. 

Anaka whispered something in Jaxon’s ear, then began to pour the contents of the bowl over his wounds. 

Jax’s body thrashed wildly as a strangled sound somewhere between a scream and a roar escaped his throat. Darryn and Rocoram pushed down as he fought against their hold. Anaka  ignored his struggles and continued to calmly and methodically pour the mixture into his various wounds, moving across his body. 

Mik closed his eyes as Jaxon’s screams filled the cave. He tried to block out the sounds, but they only seemed to get louder the longer he tried. His breath came faster and faster. Surely it would be over soon. Surely the screaming would stop. 

 He waited a few more moments before he couldn’t take it anymore. He turned and stumbled out of the cave, past Honor and Eralis and lunged for the railing of the walkway, grabbing it just in time to hurl his lunch over the edge of the cliff. 

“Mik?” Honor’s hand was gentle against his shoulder. “Are you alright? 

Mik didn’t answer. He just closed his eyes and leaned against the railing, trying to block out the screams that continued to emanate from the cave.