Chapter 5
The Endless Night
Without stopping to think, Callie ran back to the bathroom to grab what she might need. Knowing that she would not have access to the kinds of potions and poultices that would help, she tried to think of anything that might help her. There wasn’t much in the little room, but there was a small pail in the corner. Callie picked it up and stuck it under the running water so that she could clean up whatever wound Caden had. Clearly, he had been bleeding heavily, but she had no idea why—he had commanded her to stay down, so she had seen next to nothing of their escape. With her mind trying to find all the possible scenarios, Callie knew it could have been when he burst through the door, when he had torn up the Fanatics, or even during the descent down the hill. After all, hadn’t she looked at him from the hilltop? Surely she hadn’t been so oblivious.
Pulling several towels from the shelves, she hauled everything back into the room. Callie looked over Caden, trying to figure out what had happened and how he was hurt. As she got close to examine him, she noticed a hole in the jacket that was difficult to see because his coat was like midnight, hiding the blood and wound as if by magic. She had no doubt that some magic had ensured that look. She knew that the color and the coat’s appearance had made it so that no one would have been able to see his wound unless they looked closely at the blood trickling down his hand. Frowning, Callie also knew that the wound could not be the source of the blood that had been running down his arm; it was in the wrong place. The blood would have trickled down his back, not his arm. Worried that it might be a sign of something worse, the apothecary pulled off his coat, her hands brushing the muscles. Her cheeks flushed because there was nothing between the coat and his bare skin. It was impossible to keep her eyes from taking in his nearly perfect figure as she hurried to tend to the wound, but she managed to keep her attention focused once the coat was off. Tossing the coat to the side, she carefully moved him, and it was then that she saw that an arrow tip was lodged in his shoulder close to his neck. She was shocked for a second by the fact that he had been able to break the arrow without making a noise to let her know anything was wrong. Instinctively, she knew that it had been the arrow that had nearly missed her. Because it had missed her, though, it had struck Caden. Trying to set him down gently, she placed him carefully on his stomach. A nearly inaudible gasp escaped him, and Callie realized that he would not lay down flat. Pulling him up a little, it was only then that she noticed another broken arrow in the front of his shoulder. That was the injury that had left blood on her hand. Furious that she had not noticed either of these injuries in her awe of the town, Callie propped him up on his side with a pillow to keep his weight from pushing the arrow in the front in any further. She then worked furiously to stop the bleeding and remove the rest of the arrows. Caden had stumbled several times, but she had thought he was tired or that he was having trouble descending the hill. There had always been some explanation, and he had clearly not wanted her to know he was hurt.
Trying to dig out the arrowheads without doing further damage was difficult, and she wasn’t sure that he would be able to use his arm the same way once she was finished—she refused to even consider any other outcome. It was not the kind of wound she was accustomed to mending because bows and arrows were too expensive for anyone in the village. Even getting the tools to make them was beyond the ability of the people of her hometown. This was entirely different to any other treatment she had given, and Callie knew that the possibilities of doing serious harm was high if she did it wrong. The first arrowhead was easier to remove because it was not very deep. The second arrowhead was more difficult; not only was it in deeper, the shaft had been broken off further down so that she could not grip it. Callie had managed to stem the blood flow from both wounds, but she became increasingly concerned that she would not be able to remove the arrow in his shoulder.
As Callie struggled with the second arrowhead, Caden’s breaths seemed to be getting shallower. She closed her eyes, trying to find the connection that he had mentioned, and there it was like a golden thread between her and him. It was wavering in the space between them and she could feel pain starting to bloom in her shoulder and near the back of her neck. Opening her eyes, Callie shut off the pain, and her hands started to work faster. One of those was a potentially fatal shot, and the additional blood loss nearly ensured that there would be no way to heal Caden.
“No, no, no, Caden. I did not stop you from getting killed earlier so that you could die in Enfeh.” No matter what she did, Caden seemed to be slipping further away. After about 30 minutes, Callie had removed the second arrowhead, but she no longer needed to focus to feel his pain because it was bleeding through into her consciousness. “You knew. You knew, and yet you tried to get me here safely and set me up. Where you trying to escape out the window? Was that your plan? You should have told me in the woods, then you could have told me what to do. I have no idea how to save you without your help.” Her voice was shaking, and Callie was fighting back tears. Still, she kept talking, trying to bring him back to consciousness, to make his yellow eyes open and explain it was going to be alright. She wanted to hear him tell her everything would be alright. It didn’t matter that they hadn’t known each other very long; he had made her feel much calmer every time he had spoken to her. She didn’t know what the extent of his powers were, but he clearly knew how to help her use hers. Callie knew she needed him if she was going to succeed.
When it became clear that he wasn’t going to come back without something more powerful, Callie took a deep breath. No one needed to tell her that it would be risky to try to use magic without training and without her powers being fully developed. But it was all she could do. Clearing her mind of the pain and taking it back to when she was fearful of losing Michechel, she remembered the motions and thoughts that had kept him alive. A mild electrical pulse traveled down her arms at the thought, and she placed her hands on Caden’s body. Part of her wondered about the sensation—that definitely did not happen last time—but she tried to channel the feeling into Caden. Her hands and arms mimicked the same motions, certain that some of them were unnecessary since she didn’t need to reattach an entire appendage. Her hands each went to a wound, and she tried to pull up a mental image of what she wanted to happen. Keeping her eyes shut, Callie let her hands move over his body, trying not to let her mind interfere with the process. It was entirely counter to the way she usually worked, but Callie knew that she did not know enough to be actively engaged. She had never been one for prayer, but as she worked, Callie begged to any god who would listen to let her be successful.
To herself, Callie swore if Caden lived, she would never take him for granted again. She had only known him for a short period of time, but he had been taking care of her for most of her life. He was willing to go off and die to convince her that she needed to flee. Then, he sacrificed himself to get her away from the danger she had put them in by not making a decision sooner. He had known, and yet he had done everything he could to get her out. After all of that, he had kept his own pain from her as he led her through the town. Surely there must have been signs that he was hurting, but she didn’t pick up on any of them. Perhaps he had counted on that.
It seemed like time completely ceased to move as Callie let her body and mind weave magic that she couldn’t fathom. She could feel something happening, and the thin golden connection was growing stronger, even as her body began to feel drained. At one point she thought she felt Caden move under her hands, but Callie was too afraid to look. Whatever she had started would have to be sustained if she wanted it to work. A part of her already knew that once a mystic started something, it was dangerous to stop.
Aware that her hands had begun to move more rapidly and that her body was growing stiff from the effort, Callie shoved the discomfort out of her consciousness. Through her eyes, it looked like the light in the room was growing brighter. As curious as she was to see what was happening, Callie was afraid that it would distract her from her work.
At one point a small voice worked into her thoughts. Shocked out of her reverie, Callie opened her eyes and looked at the patient. Caden’s eyes were still closed and it appeared that the injuries had mended so that they would not need stitches, but his breathing was still too shallow. There was a strange light around Caden that should have been blinding, and she knew what had caused the bright light. Wondering if it was visible from outside the window, Callie hoped that it would not attract attention to them. The last thing she wanted was to have to explain the use of magic in a country where it was forbidden.
The voice was a little louder now that she was aware of it. “Close your eyes.”
Callie couldn’t help but talk as she closed her eyes and tried to resume what she had been doing. “Are you alright? Will you make it?”
“Move your right hand to the left and draw back.” Without any explanation, Callie’s mind started to pull away from the experience. The light dimmed and the sensation in her arms disappeared. Her hands continued to move as they finished what they had started, but Callie suddenly realized that she was exhausted. As soon as her hands stopped moving, she tried to open her eyes. Everything looked blurry, almost like she was seeing it through a dream. Now that her body was not humming with magic, she was freezing.
Unable to fight off her fatigue, Callie allowed her eyes to close again. This time she felt herself fading into slumber. She was more aware of the feel of the warm body under her as she slumped over her patient. It was the only part of her that did not feel like she was freezing. Even though she was mortified knowing that she was now resting on top of Caden’s bare chest, Callie did not have the energy to move.
***
At one point, Callie saw a bright light. Believing it was Caden’s healing, she opened her eyes and found herself in a wood. Standing a few hundred feet from her were Caden and a woman who looked very much like her, thought Callie could not see her face. Caden held an arm out in front of the woman, clearly trying to protect her from something. Callie’s head turned to see what was happening. Sitting astride their horses were a small band of men dressed similar to the man Caden had killed back at her home.
Caden’s voice was a snarl as he spoke to the men, “You wouldn’t dare try to shoot a mystic with arrows. That would destroy everything in the area for the next 300 years. You would die, and I know how willing your kind are to sacrifice yourselves.” The sarcasm was palpable even through his threatening growl. “Turn and leave now, and I will not send someone to take care of you.”
One of the men sneered in response, “We don’t need to worry about your threats. If it is a matter of dying here and dying by the hands of our master, burning alive doesn’t seem so bad.” His words seemed to be a sign to the other men. As if acting as a single unit, the five men released their arrows.
Each of the shots appeared to be aimed at the woman, but Caden pushed her behind him. Callie began to scream but stopped as soon as she realized the woman was screaming. The woman cursed at the men as she tried to hold Caden up. The man who had spoken laughed as he spurred his horse forward. He pulled out a length of rope and threw it around the woman’s neck. Pulling at her, the woman dropped Caden and stumbled to the ground. The man threw another rope around her as she staggered to her feet. Unable to move her arms, she screamed as she was pulled up and onto the man’s horse.
Before leaving, he turned to look at Caden, who was crumpled up on the ground. He worked a gag around the woman’s mouth as he said, “Looks like you were right. We aren’t willing to sacrifice ourselves. Whenever there is a guardian nearby, there is never any need to worry about it. You are all so willing to throw your lives away, there is no need for any of us to die. Now everybody wins, except this abomination. We will get recognized for succeeding, our master will get the energy source he needs. And you win because you get to die for her.” His laugh was cruel as he trotted away.
Callie tried to run to Caden as he bled on the ground, but for every step forward, she seemed to be pulled back twice as far.
***
Callie felt her brow crease, but couldn’t remember what was bothering her as she woke. Something bad had happened, but at the moment everything seemed fine. Unsure how much time had passed since she had fallen asleep, Callie tried to open her eyes. Her body tingled and her mind didn’t seem to recall the previous day. After a few seconds of fighting with her eyelids, she gave up.
Something moved beside her and a gentle voice spoke into her ear, “Sleep.”
Callie couldn’t remember the voice, but it felt familiar. She smiled and rolled toward the person who had spoken
“I thought you were going to tell me to get up and work. Are you that proud of how well I did while you guys were gone?” She was smiling as she imagined one of her fathers leaning over the bed, giving her a little extra sleep while her other father was out making a house call. Something definitely seemed wrong, but it was the only explanation that she could find for someone else being close to her.
She realized that it wasn’t her father a second later, but the realization did not cause her any discomfort. There was something warm and firm next to her, and she buried her face in it as she pulled her knees up. Her body still felt cold, but she couldn’t remember why. Despite how tired she was and the strange coldness that seemed to come from inside of her, Callie felt comfortable and safe. This time she drifted off feeling like everything was fine, and she wanted nothing more than to stay right there forever. Whatever was wrong didn’t matter. Finally, she knew where she belonged. She couldn’t remember what had changed, but now Callie was certain that she was moving toward a future that had been hidden for too long. If only she could remember what that direction was. Letting out a little sigh, she moved against the warmth, and then she was enveloped in it. The feel of lips on her forehead was the last thing Callie noticed as she drifted back to sleep.