Thank you.It was a whisper through her mind—there and then gone.But she could have sworn it sounded like Okab.
They had done it.They had won.
Her body was so sore that she could feel each muscle individually.A deep ache ran through her brain.There was a brief memory of claws clutching her mind, and then it was gone.Rigil’s body lay next to her, his golden irises dimmed and unseeing, but trained upon the sky, where his people were again trapped.
Iyana sat up, clutching her head.She remembered killing the Alpha, but it was like watching it through someone else’s eyes.Once the Aztia’s magic had taken over, she was no longer in control of her body.She frowned.There was something important she was forgetting.
“Iyana,” a voice gasped near her.
Everything rushed back to her.Emmeric turning to get to her, Hadar shoving the sword through his stomach, his blood bright on the ground.
Oh, gods, no.
“Emmeric,” she whispered, twisting until she saw him.He was mere inches away, his arm outstretched towards her.A trail of blood extended behind him from where he had crawled across the field, all to reach Iyana.To bring her back from whatever magical state she had descended into.It had been his blue eyes that pierced through the haze and called her home.
A sob ripped out of her throat as Iyana scrambled on her hands and knees to reach him.
Her shaking hands hovered over him.Blood still trickled out of his stomach, a little more with each beat of his heart, but it was slowing.Iyana peeled his shirt away from his skin, making him hiss.He was still breathing.She could fix this as long as he continued to breathe.
“Oh, Em,” she said, horrified.The blade had pierced through his back, severing his spinal cord and leaving his lower limbs paralyzed.The opening in his abdomen was jagged, and Iyana gagged at the sight of his intestines barely being contained within his body.
Iyana placed her hands on his wound and called forth her magic.Not only her healing magic, but that of the Aztia as well, hoping the combination would be more effective.It was sluggish, but she forced it down her arms and into Emmeric’s body.The bleeding began to slow, and his skin started to knit back together, but then her magic stuttered out and his bleeding began anew.
“No no no,” she muttered.
“Mouse,” Emmeric said, forcing the words out of his throat.It created a coughing fit, blood spraying from his mouth.Iyana shushed him, still trying to connect to her magic.
“I’m so sorry,” he continued.Em lifted a hand to touch her cheek.Iyana felt the stickiness of his blood covering his own fingers, and her eyes fluttered closed at the contact.
“No,” she snarled.“You do not get to say goodbye.”
“I love you.”
Her magic flickered in and out.She couldn’t concentrate.
“Shut up, Em.You can tell me you love me when you’re better.”
Footsteps pounded towards them, and she saw Zane, Talon, and Kaz in her leopard form quickly closing the distance.All of them were covered in multiple small injuries.Talon was running with a limp.Red and black sludge coated the two men.
“Oh, fuck,” Zane whispered.
Talon dropped to his knees beside his best friend and clasped his hand.
“Tal,” rasped Emmeric.
“It’s okay, old man,” Talon said, his voice wavering with unshed tears.“Iyana will get you patched up and you’ll be just fine.”
Em shook his head, the movement slow and choppy.“Dying.”
No.No, she couldn’t let that happen.
“Somebody get my medical bag!” Iyana shouted.Kaz sprinted away.She would be faster than any of them in her big cat form.
Frustration and panic rattled Iyana, as she was still unable to rally her magic.It was similar to when she was first learning, and it would run through her fingers like water.Only now, she knew what she was capable of; she’d simply used too much magic on the battlefield, and it wasn’t replenishing fast enough without her Kanaliza.
The small amount of magic she was able to harness kept Emmeric from slipping away, but he was clinging to life by his fingernails.If Iyana stopped, or let up for even a second, he would be gone.
Kaz skidded to a stop, spraying muddy grass over them, and dropped Iyana’s medical bag into her lap.She shifted back to her human form, a frantic look in her eyes.
