Chapter 23: Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

For the next three days, I’m confined to bedrest; orders from the ever so present, pain in my ass, healer Gedric. Since I cannot heal with magic, and Malay is terrified to get anywhere near me, Gedric and Stanya are the only ones allowed near me. Stanya keeps me company with childhood games, while Gedric sees to my care. His doting is starting to get on my nerves. What hurts the most is when he makes me stand, and do frustrating exercises to regain motion in my legs. My legs are stiff, and my shoulder is worse. Stupid Ari. Stupid me. Stupid Fates.

“Ow,” I snap at Gedric when he touches my kneecap. “Quit it.”

“You need to move it Nat,” he tells me, keeping a smile on his face.

“You’re lucky I’m still recovering from this overload,” I mutter when he helps me to my feet.

“I bet I am,” he says as he accepts my weight; I had leaned into him so I can get off of my leg.

“She’s not kidding,” Stanya chuckles. “The only reason she’s putting up with this abuse is because she can’t access her powers.”

“I believe it,” he says, leading me towards the door. “How about I take you to visit Halthin to make up for it?”

“Halthin’s awake?” Stanya demands while I check Gedric’s face to see if he’s serious.

“He woke up an hour before I came in here. Malay asked that I keep you two out until she had sometime to check him over.” Gedric flinches when Stanya playfully punches his arm.

Stanya bounds out of the room while we trail right behind her. Normally I can walk fine, but with Gedric’s therapy I’m more sore than if I had just walked on it. I forgot how humbling it is to physically heal.

When we walk into the room, Halthin is laying with cloth covering his skin. “You’re more covered than I usually am.” I comment when we enter his room.

His eyes widen as he looks me over. “What happened to you?”

I wave him off, “Same old reason. How are you feeling?” I ask while Gedric sits me on the foot of his bed.

He looks me over. “Nat, what happened to you? You’re hurt, and that’s not normal.”

I give him a measured look. “I fought Ari to allow the others to get you into safety, which sent me into overload. I recently went through another one, so I can’t heal right now. I’ll be okay. Gedric is being an excellent healer. Now, I’m not important here. How are you Halthin? We’ve been worried about you.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Stanya cuts in, interrupting his redirect. “What were you thinking? What happened in that village?”

“I-I-I” He stutters while looking at me. “I’m so sorry. I went in the store to get supplies and ran into someone. We started arguing and he threw me outside. I shielded my fall out of reflex. The man called out a spell and started attacking me. Then Ari showed up.”

Halthin flinches. “I didn’t even last a minute before he had me pinned. He was trying to break through my memories, but my charm held up. Out of desperation I forced a window to break with my magic. He thought someone was coming to help me and let me go. I ran and collapsed after I found you.”

He looks at me. “I told you to run.”

I snort, “Since when do I listen to you?”

“Is that how you got hurt?”

I shake my head. “No. I fought him off in the village. This is from an encounter with him when we were about to enter Ridgewilf to get you treated.”

“You’re still an idiot for attacking him.” Stanya says, glaring at me. “You were already near overload from pulling us up a mountain. Then you just had to try to kill him with Halthin’s blood magic.”

I roll my eyes; feeling extremely annoyed. “We’ve already been over this Stanya. I did what I could with what I had. I’m not going to apologize for trying to protect you three.”

“Well I’m still upset,” she snaps.

“Clearly,” I say then take a deep breath. “Now, how are you doing?” I ask Halthin. “I’m not going to ask a fourth time.”

Halthin is just staring at me with horrified eyes. I cut him off-“We’ll talk about my intellect when you’re better. Now answer my question. It’s important.”

“Sore, but I can breathe. I’m just a little cold, but I think it’s because of the weather.”

I touch his forehead, making the other two tense. “It’s from your fever. It’s finally broken. Keep going,” I tell him when I grab his hand and roll up his sleeve. His skin is slightly pale, but still a very healthy colored compared to where he was at.

“I have a headache,” He answers, watching me.

“Normal,” I say, motioning him to continue.

“My chest is itchy…” He trails off, unsure what I’m looking for.

Relief washes through me as I smile. “That’s your magic readjusting in your body. You’ll be okay.”

Stanya touches my shoulder, “Does that mean he’ll be normal?”

I nod, “It’s a very good sign. It also means he can uncover himself. His body will start regulating itself once more.”

“Thank you Healer Natasha,” Malay says while entering the room. “I came to the same conclusion.”

“When can I use my magic again?” Halthin asks, still looking at me for his answer.

I motion to Malay to take the lead. Malay nods, accepting my sign of respect. She’s the healer here, not me. Malay comes over and checks Halthin’s temperature and waves her magic over him, calming some of his ailments. “Almost a month. When your chest stops itching, you’ll be able to stretch your magic by practicing minor tasks. You’re going to have to relearn the basics. Once they’re down, you’ll be able to resume using your magic as normal.”

He looks to Malay. “Thank you for healing me, Healer Malay.”

“You’re fortunate that Ari infected you so close to me. Not many would have been able to treat you when you reached me.” She looks at me, “Now, young lady, how are we feeling today?”

“Sore, but I’m feeling better. Mostly just injured.” I answer honestly. “Care to check me?”

She hesitates. “Uh…”

“Oh just get over it and touch me. You know you want to.” I say to her, mostly annoyed about how gun shy she’s been about being anywhere near me. “Just don’t use your magic and I’ll be fine.”

“What did I miss?” Halthin asks, watching Malay’s hand tremble as she reaches for me. I gently lift my long shirt to expose my waist. I slightly turn so she can check my wound near my kidney.

“Malay was the one that sent Natasha into another overload when we got here.” Stanya answers, getting ready to jump into action if needed.

“What?” He asks while Malay lightly touches me.

“To put it simply, the Fates are trying to kill Natasha now,” Stanya says while stepping into position to see my back wound. “They commandeered Malay’s body and pushed her magic into Natasha. It nearly killed her, and Malay’s been terrified to touch Nat since.”

“What did Nat do to piss them off?”

“I nearly killed Ari,” I say while I turn to my normal position. I take my arm out of the sling and allow her to flex and move it.

“And yourself,” Stanya adds.

“Will you please let it go,” I groan.

“Then don’t do it again,” she snaps.

“Fine,” I huff. “If we’re in that situation again I won’t save your life.”

“Thank you,” she says while flashing me a grin.

I stick out my tongue while Malay raises my arm. “How’s it looking?” I ask her while she helps me back into my sling.

“Better than the last time I looked at it.” She answers, moving to my knee next.

“You mean three days ago?” I ask while grimacing.

She ignores the comment. “Your flexing better, but you’re still swollen. You’ll need to be careful on that leg for a few weeks.”

I groan. “It’s almost worth the overload to just heal myself.”

“Don’t you dare,” Gedric says quickly.

“I will kill you myself if you do,” Malay adds. “Your last one nearly killed you.”

“Only because the Fates forced it.” I pout, but agreeing.

“Seriously, what did I miss?” Halthin demands. “The Fates usually don’t meddle with us.”

“Unless they want you to be their next Servant of the Fates.” I mutter darkly while Stanya flips her hair in annoyance.

“They’re petty, and can’t take no for an answer. Now no more Fate talk. They’re morons and not worth the breath.” Stanya looks to me. “Where do you want to go from here?”

“The Ancient Stream is where this all started. It should be able to give us clue as to what the missing true Fate Mark looks like. We have three, know where the fourth is, and now we just need to find the fifth. I can’t think of any texts that even mention a fifth mark. Wouldn’t someone know if they’re born with an animal marking? I did, and so did the past others.”

“Unless it’s marked inside the body,” Malay muses. “It could hide for it’s safety. The answer could be in what the character represents. Your raven mark is on the top of your back, where ravens are mostly found. On top of something.”

“Then explain the deer and owl.” I say, cocking my head. Her theory is intriguing.

“The deer and owl were inherited. Originally, Brin bore the owl on his shoulder. You mostly see an owl when it’s perched. When it hunts at night, they’re very hard to spot. The deer, when Master Gilda bared it, was tucked away on her neck, just peaking out from her hairline. Always skittish and hiding.”

I rub my neck as I think about it. “So what you’re saying, is that the animal mimics it’s favorite spots. If your theory is right, then we’re looking for something that is a predator and likes to hide.”

“That doesn’t narrow it down,” Gedric inserts. “They all like to. You might want to see why this mark was never mentioned in the past.”

“Maybe that’s another answer we can get.” I agree.

“When do you want to leave?” Stanya asks me, turning her attention towards me.

I look at Halthin. “Do you want to remain here for your rehabilitation, or do you want to come with us?”

Halthin looks at Malay, “Am I able to travel?”

“Not for two more days at minimum.” Malay looks at me. “You may rehabilitate his magic. Just don’t touch it.”

I glower, but turn my attention back to Halthin. “Are you wanting to join us? With my luck, we are guaranteed more Ari encounters.”

Halthin nods. “I would like to see this out.”

I nod. “We can wait that long.” I look to Stanya. “We’re definitely going to need to pack warm. We’re going to need to go down the mountain, and I can’t carry us like I did last time.”

She agrees. “I’ll slap you if you even try.”

“Same,” Malay says, helping me to my feet. “Now go elevate your leg. We’ll pack some snow to help take some of your swelling down. Pants off missy.”

“Yes ma’am.” I mutter. I hate this part. My pants are too thick for the snow to properly work, so Gedric uses a slightly thinner cloth, packed with sealent snow, and wraps it around my knee. It’s freezing and I hate it more than anything. At least it gives me time to catch up on my reading. Malay has graciously lent me her books about the Fates, so I’ve been restudying them.

Gedric folds his arms. “I’ll go get the pack ready. I’ll knock before entering so I know you’re decent.”

“You say this every single time.” I tell him while Malay allows me to lean into her, helping me leave.

“I’ll stay with Halthin,” Stanya calls from behind me. It makes sense. She does like him, and he did just wake up from a coma. What’s interesting is she’s actually letting me leave her sight.

“Nat, thank you,” Halthin yells after me.

“It’s what friends do,” I say; flashing him a smile before I fully leave the room.

“You do know, that even if he were to come with you, he cannot use his magic to even light a fire.” Malay warns me. “If he does, he is almost guaranteed to lose his magic.”

I raise my eyebrow at her. “I remember. It’s not my first time dealing with it.”

“You’ve been infected twice with blood magic Nat. Do not go for three.”

“I don’t think that second time counts. It was less than five minutes, and it hadn’t taken root yet.”

“And you’re lucky Ari is a coward, or you’d both be dead.”

“I think that still technically solves the problem.” I remind her.

“But we’d lose you, and a lot of other people.”

That lands hard with me. “I can handle my loss, but you’re right about the others.”

“Don’t misread me Natasha. For many, the greatest loss would be you. Ari would be gone, but there would soon be another to take his place. One likely worse. There will never be another you.”

“Unless the Fates have something to say about it,” I mutter, mostly to myself. When we get to my room she helps me onto the bed and helps me off with my pants.

She whistles, gently turning my leg to get a better view of my swollen and bruised knee. When her hand hovers above my knee her palm glows.

“Exit that body right now,” I growl; yanking my leg back.

Malay chuckles as she straightens. Her eyes are black as she reaches for me, her entire hand glowing. “Do you see how easy it is for me to hurt you?” Her voice is disoriented, and she starts laughing while I scoot back onto the bed.

“What do you want?” I demand, scooting further away to safety.

“You know what we want Natasha. One final touch should be enough to send you into your final overload. It’ll end you.”

“You’re pathetic,” I tell it. I decide to call it’s bluff and hold still. “If you want to kill me, kill me. I have yet to make any agreement with you pathetic bullies. My murder will be in vein.”

The Servant holds still, anger physically seen. “When we last spoke, you did.”

“Did I? You might want to replay that back, because I know I didn’t.” I lean towards it, making it yank it’s hand back.

“Care to bet?” It growls.

“And give you a chance to cheat? No thank you.” I lean forward. “Afraid you’ll lose? Go on, touch me.”

The Servant growls, visibly frustrated. I get to my feet, making it take a step back. “Let me guess. I’m right, and those Fates just confirmed what I told you.”

“Do you want to make a deal?” It hisses.

“A deal? Really?” I ask, flipping my hair. “A deal with what? An outcome where you cheat?”

The Servant snarls and bares its teeth at me. It’s loud enough to make me nearly cover my ears. In that moment the door swings open. Before any of us can react, the Servant is tackled onto the ground, Gedric locking hard onto Malay’s body.

I waggle my fingers, “Articus, it’s time for you to leave.”

Articus screams, his scream soon morphing into Malay’s real scream.

“What was that?” Gedric demands, still holding Malay, who is now sobbing.

“A very angry Servant.” I tell him while I still my heart. Now that I don’t have to bluff a Servant, I’m very aware of just how close to death I came. “This is going to get annoying.”