Chapter 16

Merlin
Gwendydd - sister
Morgenau - brother
Morial - brother
Morien - brother
Mordaf - brother - Naci’s father

Finally, we exited the portal, landing much softer than we had in all the previous landings. Smiling at Naci, when we landed, she kissed me and then went to set up the camp.

Waving a hand, a chair appeared before me as I stretched out my hands, projecting the bubble to hide us. I then took a deep, calming breath and made several false camps around us. Then, I added a bit of magic to each for further confusion. Let the ass come after us now.

For a few moments, I watched as Naci set about making our camp. Again, I waved my hand, making the remedy book appear again. Remembering what Naci had told me, I started slowly making each ingredient before moving on. Within a half hour, I had enough for another three remedies, though I was in no hurry to partake.

I saw that Naci had been watching me nodding as I took a deep breath before I moved on. “You are starting to use your breath more effectively now. I am glad, Toman, husband.”

I nodded as I checked the first remedy before I downed it. At first, I felt a lot better at first, but then it hit my stomach, and my eyes widened. I grabbed my stomach and held it in as long as possible. Then again, I thought this was as bad as the second one I had tried, although I had all the right ingredients for this one.

I watched Naci as her face held a look of horror. It was then I noticed that the skin on my hand was a pale green color. ‘Damn,’ I thought, ‘had I forgotten something?’ Going through everything in my head, I saw that everything was there.

Naci finally ventured to where the book was, and I heard her gasp. “Why did you use this one, husband? You’ll be sick a day from this; it’s almost as bad as that, which helps.”

Gasping, I told her, “I had to, Naci; the tear I have is the only one that can help.”

“I’ll make you a counter to the rolling stomach it will give you.” She said as she moved off to start what she was making.

I knew I had to hold this as long as possible. I could feel it racing toward the tear even as I fought to hold it. Crap, I thought, this was bad. There was no way I could hold it as long as I needed to. Laying down, I felt a little better ‘til the whole world started to spin. This, of course, made me feel far worse.

A moment later, Naci appeared beside me with a foul-looking concoction. “Husband, take this, and you’ll feel better soon.” She told me.

I nodded as I took it from her, turned it, and started to drain it. It was as if I had swallowed half of it, and I saw the look of horror pasted on Naci’s face. Oh shit, I thought as I stopped, this wasn’t going to end well.

Sure enough, I felt it, at first, the gentle rolling through my stomach. Then, just as suddenly, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach by a giant fist. Again, I glanced at Naci as she was rapidly making something else that looked much more foul than the first she’d handed me.

“Slow, husband, or you will be sick far longer than we have time for.” She told me as she held the foul brew to my lips. By all that was holy! I almost retched from the smell alone, though, as I thought it was nothing compared to the horrid taste.

It took everything I had to not completely lose the full contents of my stomach. Then, strangely enough, I felt the pain start to ease. Laying down, I knew I was far from out of the woods. Barely able to reach in, I nodded as I felt that ninety percent of the tear was sealed. Shaking my head slowly, I knew I needed the last one if I would be whole in two days.

“Husband,” Naci started as she finally breathed a sigh of relief. “I will make the rest of the ingredients.” Looking over the third potion, she then shook her head. “Well, all but this last ingredient. Even with the increases you have done, I don’t have quite enough for that.”

I tried looking at the page, but moving was not good. Finally, a few moments later, I saw what she’d been talking about. I tried to nod, even though I had a problem with what she had indicated. It was exclusive to the magic dimension, so I had to do this carefully. Ugh! I fell back, breathing hard; well, as soon as I felt much better.

Perhaps two or three hours later, I could finally rise off the cot without the world turning rapidly counter-clockwise. I could barely make my feet as I made my way outside. As I thought, the fresh air was doing wonders for me. Then, I was reeling as I fell into a chair that appeared behind me.

Naci appeared a moment later, “Here, husband, eat this. It should help.” My eyes narrowed as I passed a hand over it, then again a second time. Satisfied she’d not put any major spells on it, I started on it. Several bowls later, I was feeling amazing, almost normal. “It is good, husband. You hadn’t eaten in almost two days. I was afraid you were going to waste away!”

I turned to stare at her, astonished it had been that long. “I need that last ingredient,” I said as I concentrated. It wasn’t the easiest thing I had done recently, though it was not easy. Finally, almost an hour later, it appeared. Almost exhausted, I handed it to Naci to mix. Follow the instructions to the word.” I told her as she nodded.

“Husband?” Naci stated as she looked at me with an extremely worried look. “This is one of the most dangerous healing potions. I have only seen it used once. That did not end well at all. Please, husband, I fear for you using this as they say the pain is unparalleled. I couldn’t go on if something happened to you.”

I turned to stare at Naci. What was she talking about? Couldn’t go on? I reached out to her, though I was weak as could be. Was it possible, I thought? Trying harder, I didn’t feel a deep bond, though as I said, I was weak at the moment.

“I’m sorry for worrying you, Naci. I need this last potion; it is the only one strong enough to finish what the others started.” I told her it did nothing to ally the look of fear on her face. “I will watch you. That way, there will be no mistakes. Does that make you feel better?”

The look of concern lessened a bit, though nowhere as much as I hoped from what I suggested. She brought everything next to me as I lay back, watching her slowly and carefully mix the powerful potion.

“According to the instructions, it has to sit for an hour before you take it.” She suddenly turned toward me, the look of worry returning to her face. “There is no counter that I can give you, husband. As strong as this is, it could easily kill you. Especially as weak as you are.” Then, the tears started to fall from her eyes. “I hope that you can, husband. I need you as bad, if not more than the magic dimension.”

I stared at Naci, and then I did something I hadn’t expected myself to do. I reached out, drawing Naci to my chest and holding her tight. I felt her sigh and then relax in my arms. I also could swear that I heard her whisper that she loved me. That shocked me the most; we’d been out of time hiding for almost a year, though it only felt like a few weeks.

Naci released me and then watched me with quivering lips as I looked at the book and slowly started to drink the potion. I knew this would be bad the moment I felt the powerful potion hit my lips. The smell and taste were by far the worst I had ever used.

I had to steel myself up as I felt it start to slide down my throat. Here, I thought the last few were putrid. They all paled to the taste of this. Even though I was drinking it slowly, I could feel it as it rushed through my body, rapidly attacking the tear in my magic. Finally, I thought I could feel the last of the tears mending.

I think I had four percent left when I finally managed to down the last rancid-tasting brew. Now I thought I just had to hold out ‘til it finished. I had to, as there was no other option left strong enough. I needed everything I had if I was going to defeat the last nine council members, plus Ukobach. I wasn’t as worried about his half-son Rigal, though now that I thought about it, he was half-demon.

It was another hour as I was suffering through a hell of a lot of pain, fighting to stay conscious. I was at ninety-nine percent now, though that would have been nothing if I had reached hard. I could easily rip my magic again if I didn’t completely heal the tear. The pain was far beyond anything I had felt before. Even the severe beating that Merlin and I had administered to each other wasn’t this bad, and THAT had been bad.

Finally, I felt the tear close, though it was still weak. Shaking my head, I tried to hold on longer as I felt that the tear was starting to shore up far more. ‘Almost.’ I thought, ‘Come on!’ My magic was back as I nodded to Naci. [Going to sleep a bit, Naci. Watch like I showed you. I just hope I have enough to help you.]

I saw her nod, still a worried look on her face, and I felt the darkness flow around me and then drag me down. I looked around as I entered the dreamscape; damn, I was hoping that ass Rigal was dead.

I reached out expecting Rigal to appear, and then I was shocked when I felt two presences. Ukobach and Rigal both appeared a moment later.

“Hello, bastard seed,” Ukobach said, pointing a slender red finger at me. “I see that my worthless excuse of a son failed to get you. It is of no matter you’ll soon be dead, then I will take that sweet virgin wife of yours.”