As he entered the clearing with the crackling fire pit and its circle of log benches, he looked off to the side. The hut was right where it had been, and he felt a surge of relief. This was going to be okay, he told himself—the old female was going to fix this. She was going to take care of everything.
On the approach, he started to jog, but when Nadya moaned, he slowed down. The hut had its flap down, and he tried to visualize the old female in there, by the fire, by the stream—
His feet faltered.The stream.
Just as the thought entered his mind, the heavy bolt of cloth covering the shelter’s entrance was swept aside and the one person in the world he wanted to see emerged.
The white-haired female stepped out. Tonight, she was in sunflower yellow, her hair braided into a thick rope that lay down the front of her.
Her eyes did not go to Nadya. She just stared into Kane’s face.
When he opened his mouth, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help her.”
“Wh-what—you have to.” He held his arms out in desperation, and then captured the edge of the towel he’d wrapped his female in to keep it in place. “I need your help.”
“There is nothing I can do—”
“Please—she’s dying!”
“I cannot—”
“You can save her, like you saved me!”
The old female shook her head. “There is only one of the energy, and you were chosen to be asked. After which you chose to accept.”
Kane opened his mouth to argue, but then the heat emanating off of Nadya’s fragile body refocused him.
“Please,” he begged. “Help her.”
The old female reached out and moved part of the towel back. When she saw what was under the covering, she went still.
“Who hurt this child?” the mystical female whispered.
“He’s dead.”
“Good.”
The old female softly stroked Nadya’s cheek. “Bring her inside.”
“Thank you,” he said as he ducked down.
Inside the hut, he went to the pallet he’d been on—
No, it had been a coffin. He’d been lying in a coffin.
Shaking his head to clear it, he knelt and laid Nadya out on the blankets. “Here you go. You’re safe and we have aid now.”
Then he fell back on his ass and tried not to lose it.
The old female put her hand on his shoulder. “You care for her very much.”
“She helped me.”
“She is your healer.”
He nodded and brushed his fingertips over the patches of soft hair on Nadya’s head. “She’s the reason I’m alive, and when she was looking so weak, I gave her my vein—”
“You didwhat?”