Chapter Twenty Three
1275 Words
NINA
“Are you okay? Shall I lead you back to your chambers?”
“You have no authorization to-“
“Quiet you fool-“
“I am no fool, you are the fool…”
The argument faded into the background as I brought my eyes to meet Barry’s repulsive image once more. I swallowed the bile churning in my throat as I let myself take in the decaying sight before me. It was abhorring, I could physically feel my skin crawling. Scrawny, strangely handsome Barry had been replaced by a swollen figure with rotten, peeling skin. The smell was more repulsing than the view.
What in the name of father Christmas…
“Can you help him?”
As disgusting as the sight before me was, I simply could not look away. A few hours ago I had been seated next to this man, drinking gin and laughing at the silliest things. Now, now he was a breathing corpse.
“How did this happen?”
I heard a defeated sigh escape Tamara’s mouth. Rupert and Guzman had resorted to calling each other foul names in the hallway. The two reminded me of my old bullies from third grade.
“I have no idea. We do not have healers in this realm so I cannot obtain facts about how Barry’s condition came to be like this…But you healed my father, surely you can heal my brother as well right?”
I could feel her eyes burrowing through the side of my head. What did she expect me to do? I had barely graduated from high school! I was curious about medicine but I wasn’t conversant with it. Healing King Matthias had been out of sheer luck and maybe the fact that I had dealt with tuberculosis before had also helped but Barry’s illness was way beyond me. I doubted whether doctors from my time could help him.
Way to go Nina. Tell a powerful witch that you are of no use to her. That is bound to go swell.
“Look, I cannot lose my brother especially not within the realm…”
Was that what she was afraid of? Barry dying in her arms? Surely it was not her image that she was protecting.
“Of course, I do not want to lose him in general, he is my young brother after all but him dying in my kingdom will evoke war. During the Sema war, humans were defenseless against magical creatures but with the vessel and the numbers…a war in this era might just wind up obliterating the world as we know it…Both species will end up destroyed, So please, can you help him?”
For the first time since she began speaking I turned to view her. She was a head shorter than me and even though I was certain she was older than me, I couldn’t help but see her as a child. She had on a sequined blue dress that glimmered whenever she moved to face the window. Her hair was pulled into an immaculate bun leaving her face exposed. The tear streaks on her blushed cheeks were a clear indication that she had been crying. She did love her brother.
“Why did you leave them?”
“Pardon me?”
“I know that you chose to leave Chi, why? They are your family, don’t they come first?”
I watched as Tamara’s features drastically darkened. I had hit a nerve, the wrong one at that.
“You have no right to question my life decisions. I will not ask you again, can you help him?”
I suddenly felt as if I was being engulfed by something or a very strong someone. A small scream escaped my lips as I felt an invisible force pressuring my bones to crack. My head began turning unwillingly; I could feel my neck spraining.
What was going on?
“Stop!”
Someone was trying to move me but for some reason, I remained transfixed to the spot.
“Tamara if you kill her, Baric dies…”
I couldn’t breathe. Once again, I could feel the grim reaper lurking nearby awaiting my demise. Suddenly it all stopped. I fell forward but before I could reach the ground, two burly arms grabbed me. I could feel Guzman’s warm breath fanning my neck.
“You should know better than to upset her human…”
I opened my mouth to plead my case but no words came out. My throat was burning. I coughed successively as Guzman helped me steady myself. I turned to see what had intervened with grim reaper’s plans this time. I gasped when my eyes found an unconscious Tamara on the ground. Next to her was an ancient lamp.
“Wasn’t that unnecessary? You could have used something lighter or perhaps a distraction…”
“Don’t be ridiculous, we both know how strong she is. Rendering her insentient was the only way to stop her from killing Nina…”
Guzman’s morose sigh caused some of the tendrils in my hair to levitate. He was one large beast.
“We need to know if you can help him so that we can plan our next move…”
“And if I am not able to?”
No one responded. Rupert was suddenly busy having a staring contest with the wall while Guzman couldn’t peel his eyes from the puny, still figure on the ground.
“I suppose that answers it…I have one condition.”
Rupert immediately brought his gaze on me, his eyes were flickering.
“If I manage to reinstate his health…You will find a way for me to get back home…”
Rupert and Guzman both shared a look before giving me a somber nod.
“You need to understand, however, that we can only try. We might fail to return you back to your time…”
I went rigid. Could it be possible that I was stuck here? In this time? But I had to go back, I had to go back to my time.
I had to go back to Seth.
“What Guzman is trying to say is that we will try our best to meet your demands…”
I gave Rupert a curt nod before I began approaching Barry’s death. All this time we had been throwing glances at him from the doorway. None of us had neared his bed, his death bed. Each step was harder to take than the last. My hands were involuntary quivering and I could feel a bead of sweat trickling down my spine.
Relax Nina. You have seen worse.
“N-nina, w-what i-is going on?”
My hand flew to cover my open mouth. Barry was conscious meaning he was feeling everything.
He was hurting.
“W-why am I in s-such pain?”
I felt a whimper escape my throat. He was so helpless.
Just like Seth.
“I will make it stop okay? I will make all the pain go away Barry. Go to sleep now.”
I would do everything I could to help him, question was how I was going to do that especially in this era.
“Did someone knock me unconscious?”
I whipped around just in time to see Tamara hoisting herself from the ground. She did not look happy.
Uh-oh.
- Writer
