Seeing Drayce like this made Caelan sick to his stomach. His best friend felt like shit and was getting weaker by the day. The worst part would be having to leave him behind. Drayce would not take that well. He would try to follow them whether he was strong enough or not. And that would make matters worse, put his friend in even more danger. Caelan needed to do something.
“Drayce, I want to try something, but I need you to not freak out.”
Naturally, Drayce tensed and started to turn his head so he could look at Caelan over his shoulder. Caelan tightened his fingers in Drayce’s hair and held his head still. “What?”
“I want to see if I can get rid of some of your nausea with the power of the Life Stone.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” There was a small waver in Drayce’s voice that made Caelan smile.
“Of course. Tula is the Goddess of Life; she’s a natural healer.”
“I don’t doubt that, but no offense, Cael, you’re not a natural healer.”
Caelan snorted. “You’re just thinking about what you’ve seen me do with the God of Storms’ powers. It’s not like I’m going to set Kaes loose in your stomach.”
Drayce groaned painfully and curled up a little more on the edge of the bed. “Are you sure you can keep all the gods and goddesses separate in your brain? What if Kaes is in the mood to play? Ugh. Or torture?”
With a sigh, Caelan shifted on the bed, scooting lower so that he was spooning his friend. He removed the hand he had in Drayce’s hair and very carefully set it on Drayce’s slender waist. His friend flinched, his body tensing.
Caelan remained completely still, waiting for Drayce to relax. “Do you really think I’d do something to hurt you?”
“No, but do you actually have control of all those gods?”
“There’s only one god in my head, and Kaes isn’t interested in making your life hell.”
Drayce relaxed a millimeter and glanced over his shoulder at Caelan. “What about the goddess? Isn’t she in your head?”
“She’s not in my head until I bond with the Godstone in Erya. I get to borrow some of her power. That’s all I need for this.” Caelan bent his free arm and used it to pillow his head. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I need you to relax. Breathe with me.”
Caelan took another deep breath, held it, and then slowly blew it out through his mouth. On the next one, he felt and heard Drayce match his breathing, putting them in sync. Slowly, the fear and worry drained from Drayce’s muscles, allowing him to sink into the mattress again.
After a full minute, Caelan carefully moved his hand from Drayce’s waist and slid it up his chest to rest over his heart and lungs. His heart was beating fast, almost like a hummingbird was trying to break out of his body.
“Relax. You know I would never hurt you,” Caelan whispered.
Drayce’s hand moved up to cover his before his fingers wrapped around his wrist, not to remove his hand but to simply hold him. “I know. I trust you completely.”
Caelan smiled to himself as he exhaled again, opening a door in his body to allow the power of the Life Stone to flood into him. In his mind, he saw it as a wispy green mist that surged in through the soles of his feet and filled up every part of him. The energy was warm and free. It was happy. When he pulled on the power of the Life Stone, there was always some part of him that felt at peace.
Seemingly of its own volition, it touched all the little aches and pains in his body, healing them with the light touches. He was relaxed and rested, ready to tackle any new problem. But right now, his main concern was Drayce.
Tightening his focus, Caelan called on that energy to narrow into an incredibly slender green thread that he pushed into Drayce’s chest. He moved so very slowly, directing it around Drayce’s heart to check that all was well there.
“Oh,” Drayce said, a note of surprise in his voice.
Caelan froze, not withdrawing the energy, but not moving forward either. “Okay?”
“Yeah,” Drayce sighed. “Yeah, I’m okay. That’s…that’s nice. It’s like a kitten has decided to cuddle against my heart. Warm and…happy.”
Caelan hummed. “Yeah, Tula is really chill. It’s nice.”
Drayce huffed a laugh, sounding very sleepy. “I’d hate to see her pissed.”
He had to agree with that. It was the quiet ones you had to watch out for. It would be his luck that she was crazier than Kaes. But none of that mattered right now.
Since Drayce was calm and happy, Caelan directed the energy toward his stomach, still letting it slowly creep through his body, ready to pull all the power out again if he showed even the slightest discomfort.