As my mind whirled with the possibilities, Elysia’s yell broke through the forest.
I should have run back at a normal speed, to conserve my energy.
I told myself to do it.
Yet instinct and worry took over.
My bones cracked and pushed against my muscles as I propelled myself back through the trees. I halted with a painful groan, aching and on fire, just to see Elysia and Zandyr hovering over Calyx’s twitching body.
He had his eyes closed shut, muttering unintelligibly.
“He’s feverish!” Elysia yelled, already digging into that strange leather bag of hers, a cacophony of scents bursting out of it, both acrid and sweet. As the healers raced to help, she held up a steady hand. “No. I deal with him alone.”
The healers looked to Zandyr for orders, but he just shook his head. “She knows how to treat him.”
“Hopefully,” Elysia muttered and took out a long, strange vial.
“Get him out of the sun,” I mustered, blinking through the sudden nausea.
I grabbed hold of the nearest spike sticking out of the ground to keep from falling.
Running at those speeds had never tired me so, igniting my veins to the point of boiling.
I pressed a hand to my chest, overcome by the sudden worry that both Calyx and I had been poisoned.
But I dismissed that thought as soon as it sprang up.
Something…something else was pulling at my energy.
“Pig-headed fool,” Elysia grumbled under her breath, dabbing Calyx’s lips with a reddish concoction. “You’re going to kill me with worry before you die.”
“Let’s get him inside.” Zandyr braced and picked him up in his arms.
But the stubborn Master of Arms refused to go quietly.
“No!” He thrashed against Zandyr, protective amulet swinging so hard, it almost ripped from its leather string. “I help. I can.”
Calyx had a powerful size. Even if the wound had weakened him, his flails were forceful, especially with Zandyr trying his best not to harm his friend.
I stepped forward, arms already outstretched to help.
But that pull of energy swayed me back against the fence, the wood digging painfully into my ribs.
“You can’t both faint on me.” Elysia raced to my side and tried to grab my shoulders. The moment her fingers touched me, she yanked them back. “You areburning!”
I nodded; even that small gesture sucked the vision from my eyes.
My power ignited, racing through my veins to discover the cause.
Instead, it met a warm, familiar force. One that I had been longing for.
Allie.
The very essence of hers pulsed against my consciousness, strong and stubborn as always.
I barely registered the shock of it all when a fresh wave of fear took its place.
The world around me turned into one murky, trivial mass. The only thing that mattered was that flutter of her calling out to me.
