Chapter 28

“Wake up, we have preparation before the sun rises” Al’ik said to Nessa.

Groaning she opened her eyes, it was still dark out, “I thought we were waiting for the sun to begin” Nessa said rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

“Yes I am waiting for the sun to rise before I get to work but we need to prepare the wound and prepare you mentally for the day” Al’ik replied, “The longer we wait the more that will take its toll on you and you will never regain your full strength.”

Standing up Nessa followed Al’ik outside, there was an altar style bed already setup just outside the cave mouth with a cloth thrown over the wooden frame. I hope this works Nessa thought to herself, the wound was sapping her strength everyday and she wanted it fixed as soon as possible. Al’ik threw Nessa some dried fruit and meat for something to eat before saying, “You should meditate before the sun rises to help clear your mind of doubt, I can help dull the pain with the drink I have been brewing, but it will still hurt, a lot.”

Nessa sat in front of the bed, crossed her legs, and closed her eyes slowing her breathing to be controlled breaths in and out. To her surprise the first thing that entered her mind was Rex. The time they spent in the school yard which moved on to the date night before the fight took place, that brought a sense of calm over her whole body. For a reason she did not fully understand, Rex seemed to be the best and worst thing in her life, he had brought her happiness and kindness but also sadness and pain all at once. Opening her eyes as the warmth of the rising sun hit her face, she noticed she had been smiling. “Still thinking of him young one?” Al’ik said grinning at her. She felt her face go hot when she realized Al’ik knew what she had been thinking about. “He is a pain in the a**!” Nessa said trying to cover it up. “They all are” Al’ik chuckled, “You will need a strong thought to anchor yourself for when we begin, lay down up there, it’s almost time.”

Standing up, Nessa laid herself down on the bed. “I cannot heal a wound through a shirt, please remove it.” Sitting up in shock Nessa snapped, “I am not getting naked just for this!”

Shaking her head and chuckling again Al’ik said calmly, “Ease up, I said shirt, naked is not needed.” Looking around Nessa said gingerly, “What if someone comes and sees me?”

“You are wasting daylight girl, the choice is yours, do it my way or not at all.” Al’ik snapped putting her hands on her hips. That seemed to work because Nessa removed her shirt laid back and put the shirt down next to her at the ready if she heard someone arrive. Silly girl Al’ik thought, now the real work can begin. Taking the cup in her hands she poured a little into Nessa’s mouth which made her cough and gag, “It is not a pleasant drink, but it will work.”

It worked quite quickly for Nessa because only a few seconds after drinking she felt her lips and fingertips start to tingle and numb a little, like dipping them into ice. Strange sensation but a searing burn pain shot her thoughts straight away from that the instant Al’ik pulled the wound apart to get a better view. “You need to remain incredibly still now, we will do this is patches to give you a rest and no doubt I will need it too.” Al’ik said putting a hand on Nessa’s shoulder. Muttering words under her breath Nessa saw that Al’ik was somehow concentrating sunlight onto her hands like a magnifying glass does and creating an odd thick sticky string like substance that was the colour of a rainbow and it started to flow out from Al’ik’s fingertips. This must be the weave she spoke about before Nessa thought, using the newly created weave Al’ik started to work it into the muscles stitching them back together. The moment the weave touched her flesh Nessa screamed and bucked. “That f**king burns!!” she screamed.

“Yes girl, it is also removing the magic that is keeping this wound from closing up, I told you to prepare yourself, if you move again I may weave something incorrectly and it will take longer to fix.” Al’ik snapped.

Laying back down, Nessa grit her teeth, looked at Al’ik, who already seemed to be sweating, that’s odd, it’s not even hot yet. This is already got someone as powerful as her straining. Nodding and looking straight up into the sky, Al’ik once again brought the weave forward and starting layering it into Nessa’s wound, Nessa did everything in her power not to move again so instead she tried to focus on breaths in through nose and out through mouth to distract her. I helped a tiny bit, but the intense burning she felt was nearly impossible to ignore.

After working for a few hours Al’ik stood up straight and said while breathing heavily, “It is time for a break, I am already wearing out. We shall continue in 10 minutes, stretch and drink and eat. You are doing good.” Al’ik walked over to a bucket of water and splashed her face before falling into a chair with a cup of water and some dried meat strips. Sitting up Nessa groaned and then stared at Al’ik, it looked like she had run from one side of Dracoterrum to the other without stopping, her face was red and sweaty from effort and she was breathing heavily, I had no idea any healing magic required this much effort. Looking at her shoulder, she could see that Al’ik was already a quarter done, seeing muscle and sinew were whole again and some of the bleeding had stopped. She should be done by the end of the day at this rate, if Al’ik can last all day.

Standing up throwing her shirt back on and walking over to Al’ik Nessa shrugged her shoulders up and down and the pain started to subside slowly. Taking a cup of water and some food she ate quickly and then started stretching to relieve her aches from laying down for so long. “Do not stretch your shoulder too much and undo my work” Al’ik warned. Heeding her warning Nessa focused on her legs and back instead before saying, “I am ready to continue if you are.”

“Give me another 5 minutes and then we shall continue, we still have a lot of daylight left.” Al’ik huffed, this girl had spirit she thought with a smile on the edge of her mouth. After 5 minutes had passed, she sighed heavily, stood up and looked over, Nessa had already removed her shirt once more and was laying down, once again controlling her breaths. Walking back over she once again spoke the words of the weave, the sunlight being focused on her hands and started weaving once more. Nessa inhaled sharply once the weave touched her again, but she did not move at all. This might work faster than she had originally thought.

During this batch of weaving Nessa started looking around for something to draw her mind away from the pain. A glint of something in Al’ik’s ear caught her eye. As she turned her head around to inspect her work Nessa was able to get a clear view, she wore what looked like a bone earring through the top of her ear. It had a tiny red jewel on the top and seemed out of place for the other gold jewelry she wore. “Why do you have a bone in your ear?” she asked, curiosity got the best of her. “It is a desaan wedding earring.” Al’ik said smiling, she seemed glad to have some conversation to help her push through the weariness. Seeing the look on Nessa’s face she started explain that a long time ago while she was still apprenticed to a healer she had gotten married to another apprentice healer who had come from the Kadota Desert. The special thing about the earrings was that the 2 wearers could share emotions and feelings through the earrings and would prevent affairs from happening for if you thought about anyone else or tried to make love to anyone else the man would experience impotence and the woman would experience pain. Because of the connection, the other spouse would know.

Wow Madame Al’ik got married Nessa thought, a little stunned, she had heard stories that she had always lived alone and preferred for it to be that way, so she asked the only thing that was not explained, “What happened to him?”

“That is simple, he died.” Al’ik shrugged.

“Then why do you still wear the earring?” Nessa thought.

“I have worn this for quite a long time and do not wish to pursue another man, so I keep on for his memory and sometimes I swear I can still feel his presence, like a severed limp has phantom feeling and gives me a sense of calm” Al’ik said smiling, “I would like to concentrate on this more now please.”

What an odd thing to possess. An earring that forced you into sharing emotions but good to prevent infidelity she thought with a smile.

It was just after midday when Al’ik said again through labored breaths, “I am a few hours from done, but I need a rest.” Stretching her back Al’ik once again washed her face and sat in the shade with a cool drink and a light meal. Sitting up and looking at her shoulder Al’ik was right, she was almost done, the blood that was there simply wiped off with a cloth and the searing pain was getting a lot easier to deal with. This woman knows her stuff Nessa concluded throwing her shirt on and beginning her stretching again.

“There is something we must discuss when I am finished” Al’ik said when Nessa sat down next to her. Nodding in acknowledgment Nessa drank some water and ate some dried fruit and asked, “Talk about what?”

“Your future and the future of other important people” Al’ik replied, “We will discuss it later.” Once Al’ik waved her hand at her she knew she would get no more information, so Nessa hopped up and told her she was ready for the last push. Sighing again Al’ik said, “I will need a few years break after this.”

It took a few more hours for Al’ik to complete the weave healing on Nessa. She fell into her chair, drank some water and as the sun started to set on the day she dozed off. Looking at Al’ik’s work Nessa was incredibly impressed, the wound that had gone through her shoulder was completely healed, the only discomfort she felt was an itching sensation as she moved it around. I will test this tonight she said to herself and threw her shirt back on. Looking at the old woman with a smile, she threw a blanket over her and headed out towards the trees that were in front of the cave. Feeling only aches from laying flat for so long she stretched for a while before leaping onto the tree and in one fluid motion gripped it, swung around it and bounced off onto the next one, this freedom of motion again gave Nessa a great feeling once more.

“I’m back in action!!” she said grinning.

Al’ik was standing not far away watching with a sly smile, I still have it, she thought. She had gotten a vision about Nessa during the night she had found her on the sand dune and knew she would not ruin her night with and would explain in the morning, she was completely worn out and needed sleep anyway so she headed back into the cave laid down and fell asleep quickly. Nessa came in a few hours later beaming with pride, plonked down onto her bed and fell asleep as well.

‘Rex, the would-be assassin girl is healed it seems.’