Blood Magic's Bond

Ch 18: The Healing Ward

The moment Astasha had lost consciousness, the pain had ceased in Calder's chest and the panic rose.

"Tasha!" He shook her hand and reached out for her face. It was pale and fragile. "Is she...?" He couldn't bring himself to say the word. If she was... He couldn’t even fathom the things he would do.

Errant focused his energy over her heart. "There is a pulse of life within her still, though it’s faint. Hurry. I cannot help her like this."

Zephyr used his power to help lift her on the air and carry her through the palace, while the older Fire Witch and Errant used theirs to try to hold back the bleeding, and no doubt, the demon.

But Calder refused to let go of her hand.

Finally, they reached the Healing Ward and called for servants to bring fresh linens and warm water.

Astasha was placed gently on a bed, but the sight of the still open wound running down her chest made Calder sick to his stomach. He didn't care what pain it caused him, she needed to be healed.

“For f**k’s sake, why haven't you sealed the wound yet?" He demanded.

Helia was examining her while Errant ordered the other sorcerers to prepare herbs and cast barriers at the doors as a precaution if the demon escaped. The Grand Sorcerer had forbidden the King from coming in until they knew it could be contained, his position be damned.

"With a wound such as this, it can be extremely painful and traumatizing, Your Highness.” Helia shook her head as she looked at the scar on the Prince's chest. “Without knowing what it is binding you to her, I don’t know that we can risk the potential harm it could cause you should her body begin to fail.”

"I don't care what happens to me, fix her damnit.” It was eating Calder alive that the only reason she was still suffering was to spare him.

Errant returned to the bed and examined Astasha as well, his eyes occasionally flickering towards Calder’s chest. At last, he sighed and stepped away. "Until we understand this bond, we cannot use magic to aid her, not without knowing what consequences it could have."

Calder blanched. “And what about the consequences of the demon breaking free? Cutting her open like this is exactly what is required in the ritual to free it. Leaving her like this is the easiest way for it to escape. For all we know, it’s already trying. I lived with that thing in my head for long enough to know it isn’t going to sit around and wait if it senses an opportunity. You were the one willing to risk my life to destroy it, yet now you risk everything to spare me? Isn’t that the exact opposite of what you told Tasha in the woods? The needs of the many, isn’t that right, Errant?”

The Grand Sorcerer held Calder’s stare for a moment, jaw clenched, before taking a deep breath and turning to exchange a glance with Helia.

She shook her head slightly. “Your Highness--"

"Please, just, do it." He couldn't stand to see Tasha like that anymore. They had covered her with a sheet at least, but blood was soaking through it and she was pale and drenched in sweat.

The Fire Witch looked into his eyes for a moment and then nodded, turning back to Errant. “Perhaps there is a way we can counter the effects for the Prince, keep him stable should anything happen. I doubt it will do much, but we can at least try to soothe the pain if nothing else."

Errant nodded in agreement. “Perhaps.” He turned to find his Water Witch. “Cordelia, a frost spell should do the trick, though make sure to keep it from getting so cold it does damage. Just enough to ease the burn while we cauterize the wound.”

Cordelia hadn't said a word since she had spoken up in the garden, but she nodded and approached Calder, head down. “Of course, Grand Sorcerer.”

There was a collective pause, like a deep breath before leaping off a cliff.

Calder didn't take his eyes off Astasha as Helia pulled the sheet down and held her hands over the wound on her chest. Cordelia lifted her palms over his own and Errant placed his on either side of Astasha’s head. The Grand Sorcerer nodded and the three began muttering under their breaths. Fire burned in Calder's chest, but as much as he wanted to yell out and close his eyes in pain, he set his will against it. He refused to look away from his love, refused to cry out no matter how great the agony.

There was a slight reprieve, no doubt, from the Water Witch’s spell, but the true relief came from seeing the wound on her chest cauterize, and the bleeding cease.

Astasha moaned slightly and her head and hands twitched, but she remained unconscious.

At last, the sorcerers finished their work, and Calder felt the pain subside, an audible sigh leaving his lungs in relief.

Errant's brow furrowed as he looked over the Prince before shaking his head and turning his gaze back to Astasha, who he began to examine.

He wanted to shake the old man, curse him and cast him out. It was his fault Astasha was there, like that. If he had just been reasonable, had just tried to find another way...

The Grand Sorcerer turned to face him. "I don't need to read you to know you hold me responsible, Your Highness. The anger flowing through is like a tidal wave of fury. But if you wish to help her, please, either leave or focus your energy on something productive, like saving her life. I don't need any further distractions."

Calder felt the heat of his hatred dissipate. He was right. Placing blame wouldn't help the woman he loved right now.

"What can I do?"

Errant took a deep breath. “Focus on sending her your love. Perhaps if she feels it, she’ll want to come back to it.”

Calder shook his head. "I'm not a sorcerer, Errant, I don't have those abilities."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, he grabbed the Prince by the arm and led him to Astasha's side. "Everything in this world has energy. It passes from one thing to another. We as sorcerers may have the ability to channel it, but that doesn't mean you can't share it with her still. Just focus on the feelings you want her to have. Focus on her. She'll feel it.”

As the sorcerer returned to his examination, Calder reached out and took Tasha's hand. It felt like fire. "Why are you helping her?" Errant froze and Calder tore his eyes away from Astasha to bore into him. “You were willing to let her die to destroy the demon, willing to sacrifice me to do so as well. What does it matter if she and I both die now so long as it accomplishes your goal?"

Errant wouldn't look at him as he answered, only at the scar on his chest. "As old as I may be, and as much as I have studied all there is to know of the ways of magic, there are some magics in the world that have been forgotten, or are not yet known. What I saw, or more, what I felt, coming from the scar on your chest, was something unknown to me, and something I feel needs to be further explored before decisions are made that could have immense implications. Nothing I do is without reason, Your Highness.”

And with that, he walked away to get the herbs Bryn had been preparing into a paste.

Calder watched after him for a moment before turning back to Astasha.

There was no point in dwelling on Errant and his bullshit reasons at the moment, not when Tasha needed him.

Focus. He told himself. Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward, his free hand brushing deep red locks drenched in sweat from Astasha's face. What he would give to see those eyes of gold looking back at him, to see a smile upon those beautiful lips. "Tasha."

Something seemed to pull from inside him towards her. The blood ritual scar began to glow like dying embers upon her breast again. Her lips parted and he could have sworn he heard her breathe his name.

"Come back to me, my love. Please." He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it, closing his eyes, feeling her skin upon his lips.

He barely registered the sound of Helia's voice calling for Errant, though he knew something was happening.

Opening his eyes, he silently begged his Tasha to feel him, to come back to him, to know he was there, that he loved her.

Suddenly, Astasha’s eyes shot open, her chest rising as she inhaled deeply, like a person deprived of air.

Calder's own breath caught as he moved closer to her, the golden fire of her eyes turning to meet his gaze. "Cal." Her voice was raspy and soft.

"I'm here." He whispered back to her, his hand moving to her cheek. She closed her eyes, feeling his hand with her own.

The lovers’ reunion was cut short, however, as Errant stepped beside them. "Sorceress Astasha. I am glad to see you awake. It seems there is much we need to discuss."

Tasha’s eyes opened and moved to look at the man who had taken her to the edge of death. But to Calder’s surprise, there was no animosity in them, no resentment. Simply determination.

“Yes, Grand Sorcerer, it seems there is."