Common Crowns

One

Evelyn's POV

    "Concentrate Evelyn!" 

    The bucket of water immediately came washing over me as Mr. Morningdew's loud voice boomed across the courtyard. I could hear the chuckles of my classmates as I wiped the water from my eyes. 

    They wouldn't be laughing if they knew what I was really doing, I thought to myself as I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I flicked my hand, my pale blue dress and long white hair immediately drying up. 

    "Fill it up and go again." 

    I let out a small huff of air before starting the spell to conjure water, refilling the bucket before using a float spell to raise it above my head. As soon as I'd had it repositioned, the door flew open, banging against the wall with a large thunk. I jumped in surprise, then shivered as the water once again dumped on me. Right after followed the bucket, smacking me on the head before falling to the floor. 

    "Ow," I whined, rubbing my head and turning towards the sound. Much to my surprise it was Mikael, my mother's closest advisor. He looked terrible. Deep bags appeared under his eyes, he was slightly slouched, and his long brown hair was a knotted mess. Scratches covered his legs and his usually covered right arm had scales burned off. A trio of large gashes was still leaking blood from his left shoulder. His red eyes frantically scanned the room, a look of relief crossing his face as he spotted me. 

    "Evelyn you have to come with me right now," he said, crossing the room in moments and grabbing me by the wrist. 

    "Excuse me, we're in the middle of a class here!" Mr. Morningdew exclaimed as he started to intervein. "Where are you taking her?" 

    I opened my mouth to inform him that everything was alright, but Mikael had already turned and drawn an axe to his face before I had the chance. "Mikael! What on Earth are you doing?"

    "I said we're leaving, let's go Evelyn." Mikael tugged me roughly by the arm, almost dragging me from the room. 

    "Mikael, you're hurting me. What's going on?" I demanded, trying to pull my wrist from his grip. His hand only tightened in response, his eyes frantically scanning our surroundings. "Mikael, answer me."

    "Not here," he growled out as he dragged me down the stairs. I struggled to keep up as he raced throughout the halls. 

    "If we're leaving can I at least grab some clothes? This isn't really great for traveling in." Mikael looked at me incredulously, shaking his head before dragging me faster. 

    "Sorry Princess, but we don't exactly have time for that," he replied, his tone sounding almost disappointed in me. It kind of hurt my feelings. I hadn't seen my uncle for eight years while I've been away at Magic School, and he just shows up dragging me around and not telling me anything? What the heck is going on here?

    I decided against saying anything and kept my mouth shut until we began crossing the courtyard. I could see a group of my mother's elite soldiers standing at the gate to the building. They all looked about as torn up as Mikael, if not worse. My jaw dropped a bit, seeing the state they were in. 

    "Alright, we're off school grounds. Can you please tell me what's going on now while I heal you all?" I begged. My mind was racing, I couldn't understand what could possibly lead my mother to send her best fighters to come drag me from class like this. It was starting to settle in that something was seriously wrong, and not knowing was killing me. 

    "I'll tell you when we get further away, don't worry. We need to reach the rendezvous point and meet up with the others first, you're not safe here." 

    We'd ran through the forest for hours. My feet were killing me, and I was practically floating through the air as Mikael pulled me further. Just as I felt like I was going to collapse, the circle of guards around me split. I had to fight the impulse to put my hand to my mouth as I looked around. In front of me was a clearing, filled with tents and horses. Injured soldiers milled around a fire, each looking as battered mentally as they did physically. It was clear they hadn't slept much in at least a few days. 

    "Oh lords. Take me to the most injured," I commanded. Mikael nodded, leading me into a tent to our left. Laying on the floor were two male and a female elf, all horribly battered. One elf was missing an arm, a belt secured around the stub to stop the bleeding. The other had a bone protruding from their leg, and a clearly broken arm to match. The female seemed to have the worst of it, deep gashes crossing their chest, face, and legs. 

    I knelt by the elf with the gashes first. Her breathing was heavily labored and at first I was worried I'd been too late. I shook my head, attempting to shake the fear from my heart as I took in her condition further. There were burns underneath the scratches. The skin had started to c***k and ooze an awful green color. There was nothing I could do for this woman. Her skin was too far gone for it to be able to heal and close the wounds. Infection had already set in, despite the cleansing balm someone had applied. She was just waiting to die. 

    "Have the others had their last words with her?" I asked softly. Mikael's face darkened further. They appeared to be around the same age, I wouldn't doubt that they were friends. 

    "Her brother's been waiting to see if you could heal her. Would you like me to fetch him?"

    "No, not yet. Let's see what we can do for the others first, then we'll allow him some time to say his goodbyes in solitude."

    Next I made my way to the elf with missing arm. It was a fairly clean tear, and it appeared they hadn't lost too much blood. I could help this one, I realized as I let out a breath of relief. 

    "I can't bring his arm back, but I can seal the wound."

    I closed my eyes, letting everything around me fade out. His heartbeat was all I still heard, and I focused on following the sound to his lifeforce. My sense of self melded into his, I could feel myself physically floating through his body. Feeling out the place where his energy was missing, I sent a wave of energy towards the gap. 

    I could feel our energies combining, a part of me becoming part of him as the skin of his arm began to close. I felt myself become further entangled within him as the nerves and muscle in his arm began to regrow. Once he was finally through, I with drew my energy from his arm, moving back towards his heart and filtering through it, providing the extra energy he'd need to recover fully. Feeling that he was stable now, I slowly withdrew myself back into my body. 

    My legs were numb when I came back fully, and I tried not to let my legs shake as I moved to aide the other elf. Helping this one would be harder, but not impossible. The trick was going to be inserting my energy at the same time I slipped the bone back in. 

    Mikael put a hand on my shoulder, shooting me a concerned look. "Are you sure you're alright to do this?" 

    "It needs to be done," I replied, grabbing hold of the protruding bone. "If you're squeamish, now's the time to look away."

    In one swift movement, I slid the bone back to it's original place, sending my energy into the gap in the bone. It was a different feeling this time, my sense of self felt like mud holding the bone together and stimulating the cells to reconnect. It took a while, and in the back of my mind I could feel my body's hands shake. The bone and connecting cells healed to normal and my sense of self began to feel more watery as I moved through the body and towards the broken arm. This was easier to heal with it just being fractured. I felt myself enter the c***k and mix with the bone as it hardened. Then I moved through his body up into his heart, giving him a bit more energy as well. 

    I felt sick when I pulled back into my body with a jolt. I tried to stand, tried to get my own blood and energy pumping through my body, but the pins and needles continued as my vision darkened. I could vaguely hear Mikael's worried voice in my ears, the world swirling around me as my consciousness slipped away.