A moment later, a female figure stood tall and proud, caged by the many rock formations that stood around her. She was tall, nearly seven feet. Her naked body was gray and cracked as if she were made of ancient stone. Through the cracks, her essence was revealed. It looked like molten lava and was the source of the red glow, which also escaped through her eyes, nostrils, and mouth. Hair like fire cascaded around her shoulders, framing a face that was like a shard of glass, angular and with high cheekbones. She also had horns sprouting from her forehead, and sharp claws that glowed like hot knives.
Demon.
She was a demon.
I had seen this glow before. After coming across an ancient tome on how to heal demons and studying it in depth, I’d once healed the Prince of Hell from a mortal wound, and his insides had looked exactly like this. This creature didn’t belong in this realm, but somehow she’d crossed the veil, made her home in Elf-hame, and figured out a way to cause trouble.
“Take the curse away,” Kalyll demanded.
Caorthannach bared pointed teeth and grunted. “Fine. You know what to do.”
Kalyll sheathed his sword and instead pulled out a dagger from his belt. Without hesitation, he plunged it into his chest and drove it downward, creating a ragged wound down his sternum.
I gasped in horror and dropped the torch. “No.”
The others stepped forward as if to brace their prince, but before they reached him, some sort of force took hold of Kalyll, elevating him in place.
Caorthannach beckoned with a clawed finger. Dark energy began flowing from the wound Kalyll had created. Blood and blackness oozed out of the Seelie Prince, while his legs and arms hung limply as he floated in midair.
Now, it was finally clear. I was here to heal Kalyll Adanorin fromthiswound. A tear streaked down my cheek as his face contorted in agony.
I shook my head, refusing the weight that suddenly settled on my shoulders. This was too much. What if I couldn’t save him? He was already weak. If he died, I would never recover. Failure would haunt me for the rest of my life.
As Caorthannach pulled a long wisp of darkness from him, Kalyll dropped. Kryn and Silver were immediately there to hold him up. The cowardly demon retreated back to where it’d come from.
“This is your time to shine, healer,” Kryn said.
I rushed to Kalyll, my hands already glowing with healing energy, my senses assessing the damage. He was still breathing, and his heart was still beating, if only weakly. The dagger had nicked his heart muscle, and I was sure that anyone else would be dead after enduring what he had, but not my strong prince.
I had no time to marvel at how quickly I was able to determine his internal injuries. Instead, I started healing his heart muscle, knitting the damaged myocardium layer. As I worked, I perceived a swirl of darkness still lingering around his heart. I could tell it apart from the prince’s essence and knew it didn’t belong there. I also knew how to get rid of it. I’d learned it on that same ancient tome.
“Can you save him?” Kryn demanded.
“Yes, yes, I can,” I responded with certainty. I’d healed worse wounds before, and one way or another, whether or not I wanted it, I was vested in Kalyll. I would give my all to save him. It was a scary thought, but it was true.
Behind the prince, Kryn nearly slumped with relief, while Silver’s reaction seemed to be quite the opposite. I perceived the moment he made the awful decision. I would have cried out a warning in time if I hadn’t doubted my instinct, but I hesitated because Silver was Kalyll’s good friend, wasn’t he?
Too late, I reacted. “No!”
With my healing magic deeply intertwined with Kalyll’s body, I felt the moment Silver plunged the dagger into Kalyll’s back, the sharp, lethal weapon going straight through the prince’s heart.
Time slowed to a crawl.
Tangled with Kalyll as I was, I felt the wound as if it were my own. The air was driven from my lungs, and I barely had an instant to inhale sharply before I was back, mending the old and new damage all at once.
I was faintly aware of the others pulling Silver away as they shouted in rage and incredulity. Kryn pulled out the dagger and slowly deposited Kalyll on the ground, and I fell to my knees with him, working frantically, pushing all my healing energy forward in a desperate effort to repair the terrible damage to the arteries and heart muscles.
I worked on knitting everything back, but the certainty I’d had just moments before was gone. I would not be able to save him. He was already slipping away, his heart going dormant.
“Why? Why?!” Arabis shouted.
“No, no, no.” I repaired another tear, and sealed one of the pulmonary arteries. I was doing everything humanly possible, even though deep down inside I knew it was all for naught.
“Kalyll, brother.” Kryn was clutching the prince’s shoulder, his face etched with utter panic. “Hang on. Hang on.”
I shook my head.
Kryn noticed. “Save him. You have to save him.”