Wolves of War

Lub dub lub dub. There is no way that Asai’s heart is beating after being stabbed through the neck. There is no absolute way. Lub dub lub dub I sucked in a breath. I must be hearing things my emotions are playing a cruel trick on me. It’s quite possible for my mind to play tricks on me in order to prevent despair from settling in. But… even knowing that I want to cling to hope. There have been reports of wolves losing up to 90 percent blood volume and surviving with little implications in their overall health. Lub dub Lub dub. I abruptly sat up and quickly surveyed the situation. There is a lot of blood everywhere. Asai had to have lost over 70 percent blood volume. His neck is still pouring out blood. There is no time to round up wolves and find someone that's a match for a blood transfusion. I’ll have to use the wasted blood around him. But it's dirty and will cause infection to run rampant in his body. There is no point in trying to heal him that way, for an infection to take his life later. There is no time I need to think of something. “What’s wrong?” Mihira asked. I could hear her slowly walking up behind me. She can hear it, right? Asai’s beating heart? I hugged Asai and pressed my ear to his chest again. My logical self and my heart fought for first place in my mind. I went over in my mind the likely hood of me hearing a beating heart in the chest versus imagining it. Lub dub Lub dub. “He is still alive” I whispered. “Sweetheart, let’s get you cleaned up” Mihira said, still slowly approaching me. “His heart” I said a little bit louder for her to hear me. “He lost a lot of blood love” Mihira responded gently. “Listen” I told her. As I lay there with my ear pressed to Asai’s chest, I was more and more confident that I could hear his heart struggling to beat. “Do you hear it?” I asked her. Mihira nodded her head, her lips pressed in a line. “I need to heal him” I told myself in a panic. The beat is getting weaker. I need to do something, anything. “There is nothing you can do” Mihira said, a hand on my shoulder. My fight with the fire deity and healing Serberus had drained all of my energy. I won’t be able to write a healing seal. But… the seal on the earth, the one made to heal Serberus… I can use that. “I can heal him” I said softly. “Sweet heart, unless you can turn back time… its best if you let him pass on. The physical and mental strain is too much for your body to bare.” Mihira tugged on my arm in an attempt to get me away from Asai’s body. I gasped. Heal him by turning back time? Turn back time? Due to my lack of energy, I can’t make a new seal, but I can rewrite an existing one. Keeping the healing elements intact, I wrote in the new order to turn back 30 minutes to before the fight began. Gathering up the last bits of energy in my body, I released it and activated Lumina’s Healing Seal. “Nooo!” Mihira yanked me away from Asai’s body but it was too late. The seal was activated. It received and accepted the orders it was given. With the little energy and will that I had left to me, I used it to save Asai’s life. Mihira and the other bystanders gasped in disbelief. The seal grew brighter and brighter, engulfing not only Asai’s body but everyone in the clearing. The seal continued to work its magic, feeding off of my will to completely heal Asai of his fatal injuries and anyone else who was hurt in the battle with the fire deity. My body grew weaker and weaker as the price for performing a large scale healing spell started to take effect. My legs and knees began to quiver. Barely able to stand on my own two feet, I sank to the floor. Mihira supported my weight, slowly helping me to the ground where I lay waiting for what was to come. “Stop now, you are going to kill yourself!” Mihira yelled at me. She shook me trying to get me to break my connection to the seal, tears rolling down her cheeks. I chuckled “I’m the main character in this story. I cannot die. Not yet anyway.” Too weak to hold my arm up, I let it gently fall to my side. I smiled up at Mihira and shook my head. The light began to dim. I turned to look at Asai. The blood that once covered the ground around Asai began to flow backwards and into his body. Once every last drop was accounted for, the wound in Asai’s neck closed. My eyes are heavy and my body feels like lead. I watched intently from my place in Mihira’s arms the steady rise and fall of Asai’s chest. I couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t smell anything, couldn’t feel anything. I’m so tired. I blinked repeatedly. My eyes were dry and I was trying to get moisture back into them. My vision, fuzzy from the dryness, began to clear up. I focused on the blob of Mihira above me, waiting for the image of her to become clearer. My eyes squinted as they tried to make out my surroundings. The first thing I noticed was the smell. Fresh scent of spring grass and blowing flowers fill the air around me. The second thing I noticed is that I am not lying in a bed or a casket. Tall grass surrounds me, which explains the fresh grass smell. I can feel my fingers and my toes. I can feel the grass under me and the light breeze on my skin. “Are you awake?” I tried to look around to find the voice but my neck wouldn’t allow it. My body feels heavy and stiff. I tried moving various parts of my body but I was unable to. A face that bears a resemblance to mine pops into view. She smiled down at me and patted my cheeks. I wanted to ask her where I was, if I was dead, and who she was. My voice eluded me; not even a grunting sound escaped my tightly closed lips. “Welcome my daughter”