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If she had just one more moment with him before the world turned dark, it would be worth it.

With a deep inhale, she doubled the spell. Pain stabbed through her chest once more, and this time white light shot in front of her eyes. It took a second for her to reorient herself as she blinked her eyes open.

And then she heard it.

The steady beat of his heart.

Now she cried tears of joy as she pressed her ear to his chest and listened to it. The most beautiful sound in the world.

But she had no time to bask in glory because the hard work needed to begin. She hadn’t saved his life yet. She had simply bought him a fighting chance.

With all of her supplies around her, it looked like she was in a field hospital. First, she began with all of the spells Obryn had used to minimize the poison from the Dark Magic.

Mira worked meticulously and with precision.

She injected him with replenishing potion as well as a magic cleansing potion.

Hours went by before he was stable enough that she could attempt the next step. She unbuttoned his shirt. The incantation and scars were a deep gray, almost black. Hopefully her potion was strong enough to remove all of the underlying Dark Magic.

She found a good vein in his arm and injected the gray fluid. His heart pumped it through his body, and she waited, holding his wrist.

He had been only a teenager, vying for his father’s approval. While she had been working with her friends and her parents, Aidric had been all alone, tortured and turned into a weapon. An executioner. But he wasn’t alone. Not anymore.

The Dark Magic dissipated, and the scars on his torso vanished until only the incantation was left.

She followed Obryn’s instructions carefully and drew a chalk circle around Aidric. Every letter had to be removed individually using potions from different spheres and Dark Magic counterspells. Each time she had to restabilize him and make sure his magic levels remained steady. It was tedious work with no room for error.

But one by one, the letters on his chest disappeared. She hadn’t noticed how long she’d been working on him until the sun began to set as she removed the last letter.

“I wish you could see this right now,” she whispered, wiping tears from her face. “You’re finally free of it.”

She injected more magic replenishing potions until the dark veins around his eyes finally began to lighten.

Then she lay next to him, watching the sun finish setting and holding his hand. She talked to him about the beautiful color of the water. About the scar removal potion. All while staring at his diagnostics, making sure his heart was still beating, checking his brain function, and ensuring that she got out all of the Dark Magic.

When he had stabilized enough, she sent a scroll to Obryn. He had the council open a gate for her because she couldn’t coin travel Aidric in his condition.

The second they arrived in Ivercrest’s infirmary, Obryn took charge of Aidric’s care, but Mira didn’t leave his side. She watched wordlessly as Obryn cast different spells and commanded healers. Through it all, she just held Aidric’s hand and stared at his face.

It was close to midnight when the Highmage was done with his work.

“You should get some rest, Miss Winters,” he said to her. “We will let you know when he wakes up, but I don’t anticipate that to happen tonight.”

“It’s fine. I’ll wait here.”

“It’s a miracle he survived.”

“I had a good teacher,” she replied with a smile.

Obryn’s lip quirked but didn’t quite form a smile in response. “I’m afraid this was all you.”

—

Mira felt exhausted. To the bone. Emotionally and physically. But every time she was about to drift off, she jolted back awake and cast a diagnostics in a panic. Terrified to see Dark Magic creep back in again. Terrified she might have missed something.

When the first sunrays came up, she was still sitting in the same spot. A healer brought her water and food, but she wasn’t hungry.

“His vitals are good, miss,” the healer said to her. “You can rest now.”