Chapter 256

Natalie woke surrounded by five pretty faces hovering above her, eyes wide with concern. In most circumstances, she would consider that a pretty amazing way to wake up. Unfortunately, she felt like she’d been used as a high-ranker’s punching bag. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she let out one of the most pitiful groans of her life.

“Natalie!” Liz said. “You’re awake.”

“Of course she is,” Malice said. “I told you she was fine.”

“I don’t wanna be awake,” Natalie moaned. “Oh, gods, everything hurts.”

“You blew yourself up!” an infuriated Sofia’s voice came. “Of course it hurts!”

Blew herself up. That kick-started her memory. She shot upright, ignoring the agony that lanced across her body. “We’re safe?” Her eyes flicked around them, first seeking out her hammer—which was lying to her side, dragged over by one of her teammates—and then the chieftain’s headless corpse. She relaxed, but only slightly.

“Would we be sitting around if we weren’t safe?” Jordan asked dryly. She pushed on Natalie’s shoulder. “Take it easy. Liz is still patching you up.”

Natalie resisted briefly before allowing herself to be laid back down. Her muscles protested the movement. She really wasn’t in great condition, and this was after Liz had layered a few heals into her? And by the weird aftertaste in her mouth, after she’d been force-fed a potion? Healing could only do so much, and it came with diminishing effects. She was going to be one enormous bruise tomorrow, wasn’t she?

She supposed she should be happy she was alive and doubly so that all her friends were. She hadn’t considered how strong the blowback of an [Empowered] [Smite] would be.

With their safety now obvious, her distraction was gone: the aches and pains returned to the forefront of her attention. She groaned loudly a second time.

“How bad is it?” she asked.

Another of Liz’s heals washed through her, taking some of the edge off, but the effect was muted—much weaker than what she was used to. Natalie had definitely already been hit by a number of the spells, and each successive one was getting weaker. She’d take what she could get though. The fight was over, and Liz wouldn’t need the mana. Besides, Liz could dip into Natalie’s own mana pool if need be.

“That’s for you to tell us,” Jordan said. She glanced at Malice. “And you should put Malice in her capture core. She’s hurt.”

“This?” Malice sniffed. “This is nothing.”

Natalie’s concern spiked as she remembered what had happened. “Your arms!” A vivid mental image shot through her head of the wolfgirl’s forearms breaking, snapping like twigs while blocking a punch from the chieftain. “Are you okay?”

She wasn’t. Malice’s arms were hanging to her side, and there was an odd bend to both of them. Natalie gaped before spinning to Liz. “Why didn’t you heal her!”

Liz was instantly flustered. “She told me not to,” she returned just as heatedly. “Of course I would’ve.”

“I’m fine,” Malice said, rolling her eyes. “The capture core will fix me. The healer needed to focus her attention on you.”