The Healing Begins

Rhian kept her bow drawn, arrow trained on the strange-looking woman, until the man stepped between them, arms still stretched in front of him like someone trying to calm a startled horse.

“I’m sure we can introduce ourselves shortly, but your friend doesn’t have the time for that now.” His head nodded towards Sierra. “Nyxia can help, if you’ll allow her.” He gestured to the blue woman.

With a huff, Rhian lowered her bow. She jerked her head in Sierra’s direction as if gesturing to get on with it, as she returned the arrow to her quiver and slung the longbow over her shoulder.

“Blessing of the God...” The blue-skinned woman started to chant. At her first words, my stomach lurched as if I’d just gone over the drop of a roller coaster. Warm light bathed everyone present, illuminating the ground in a circle around Nyxia.

She stopped dead as Rhian sprang backwards, landing gracefully outside the circle and glaring coldly at Nyxia. Her fists were clenched tightly as if she struggled not to grab her bow again.

With a raised eyebrow, Nyxia began again. Her staff slowly sweeping in a wide arc. “Blessing of the Goddess Lyria, light those fallen in your name and offer them your mercy: Area Heal.”

The lurch in my stomach started again as soon as she spoke, but her final words dropped me to my knees. There was no pain, but I felt the bones in my left arm and right hand shift and crack back into place. Two ribs on my left side shifted and popped as they moved to a place that felt more natural, and my left shoulder crunched as it shifted around three inches upwards and loudly popped back into its socket.

I opened my mouth to cry out at the sickening feeling of limbs and bones re-arranging themselves, but stopped short when I realised with a flood of relief that the stabbing pains over half my body had been replaced with deep aches that felt merciful by comparison.

The Elven man dropped a companionable hand on my shoulder. “The first time always takes your breath away.” He offered a hand to help me to my feet, which I gladly accepted, feeling my body merely protest and ache as I moved instead of screaming at me.

“Nyxia has stabilised everyone – aside from your Forest Elf friend – she can take her time now fixing the more serious wounds.” I nodded dumbly, still disorientated from the healing.

Nyxia had moved to lean over Ellie. With Sierra’s more obvious wounds I’d barely had time to worry about what had incapacitated the tiny Witch. She held her left hand out towards Ellie. Holding the staff with her other hand, she Commanded, “Status.”

Her left eye blazed for a moment with bright white light, matched by a glow from the ring on her outstretched hand. As the glows faded, she nodded, as if satisfied by what she’d seen. “She emptied her mana in the fight. She’ll be exhausted for a couple of days – there’s no fix for that – but I can bring her around.”

Without waiting for confirmation, she started a Cypher. “Let light wash away the darkness...”

As she began, my stomach lurched again, but instead of the brief dropping feeling there was an urgent need that forced me forward a step. Like a fish being reeled in by a force it doesn’t understand. Blood rushed in my ears, my skin itched, and the hairs rose on the back of my neck.

“ ... that clouds this hero’s path: Minor Restoration.” As she finished, something rushed into place. Like my bones snapping back to where they should be, there was a disconcerting feeling and then relief as something clarified in my mind. I felt a wave of comfort, like the solution to a nagging problem had suddenly occurred to me.

Nyxia looked up at my step forward with a serene but slightly bemused smile. As if a toddler had just interrupted her, but she’d expected no less from the toddler.

“Can you...” I began awkwardly, having no intention of speaking before the words forced themselves out of my mouth with a need I didn’t really comprehend, “ ... Minor Cure.”

“Of course. But your wounds, and your companion’s especially, call for something a little stronger unless we want to be here till nightfall.”

Nyxia looked for a moment at my obvious disappointment with a thoughtful expression before holding out a hand to my left wrist.

I looked down at the angry red cut, noticing the bone was no longer visible and the bleeding had stopped, courtesy of her earlier healing, as she began, “By Lyria’s grace. Fix the broken, mend the wounded, cure the sick: Minor Cure”

I was ready for the lurch in my stomach this time, but the need still caught me off guard. I shuffled my feet in anticipation. The feeling of flesh knitting as the wound pulled itself closed was irrelevant compared to the rush in my mind as another wave of relief washed over me.

With a grin that must have made me look half-mad, I quickly glanced down at my wrist and the inflamed red welt that had replaced the deep wound. “Thank you, thank you so much.” I nodded enthusiastically before wheeling away.

Rhian still stood awkwardly just outside where the circle had appeared, as if it had left a threshold she couldn’t – or wouldn’t – cross.

Her breathing was heavy, and blood was dripping from her still clenched fist, running in a slow but steady stream down her arm and soaking half the front of her vest.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched my approach but quickly switched back to Nyxia as she hovered over Sierra. Rhian’s jaw clenched tightly, staring down the woman who was ignoring her in return.

I spread my hands in front of me, mimicking the calming gestures the elven man had made while greeting us. “Rhian ... you need help.” I cautiously took another step towards her, “Unless you plan to stand here until you collapse from blood loss.”

That brought her attention back to me, but not in a good way. Her eyes flared with a stubborn anger, suggesting that was exactly what she planned to do.

I tried a more conciliatory tone. “Ellie was right, I saw ... their Healer and I think ... No, I know I can do it.” I didn’t really know I could do it. I felt an urgent need to try it, and confidence that I could, but a part of my brain clung to logic and what I’d known before. I pushed it away as a distraction.

I pushed on. “I’m pretty sure you don’t like me. That’s fair. And I’m sorry I couldn’t help Sierra before. I just didn’t know how. But now I do.” I took a cautious step forward. “You need my help and I can’t watch you suffer when I could do something about it.”