Chapter Chapter Twelve

Mary helps me to my feet and pulls me through the woods so we can have some privacy. She props me against a tree. “What happened? Is the stone okay?”

I nod as I touch my chest. I feel the stone pull out of me. In a lilac colored, crystalized diamond stone, you can see pure black swirling around. It looks fuller than it once was. Once I touch it the stone widens, nearly causing me to scream as it drains more power, strengthening the stone. My chest no longer hurts though, and I gasp as air suddenly rushes in.

“What happened?” Mary demands.

“I’m not sure.” I pant. “It looks like it just reenergized itself though. It was likely trying to do that inside my body; but couldn’t since it didn’t have room to grow.” We both look at the stone, slightly afraid of it as it sparkles in the daylight.

“Why would it do that?”

“I absorbed more of Gstalt’s magic.” I look at her, completely drained. There is still a lot more power inside of me, but I’ve never been this drained before, except for the time I died. My body is not used to it.

“How?” She demands, taking a step away from the stone. “Is it supposed to do that?”

I shake my head. “Normal elemental stones do not. I’m not sure why this one did. Maybe it’s because it’s made from my magic, not a Spirits. When I physically touch his magic, it absorbed it without my command. Maybe it recognized his magic, and it was trying to join the dark magic that’s inside of me.”

“Callia, that stone doesn’t seem like it can willingly hold more. It might kill you the next time this happens. If it breaks…You might even turn evil Callia. You must avoid Gstalt at all costs until you’re ready to fight him.”

I chuckle. “I’ll try, but so far he’s finding me.” I straighten as I relax, the stone returning inside me as I go. Once it’s fully absorbed, I hear footsteps. We turn our heads and see Garth heading our way, a waterskin in his hand.

He walks over to me, ignoring Mary. “What is going on?”

Mary cuts off my reply. “Callia was just reacting to Dark Magic. It’s very draining and debilitating if it hits you directly.” She takes the waterskin from him. “I’ll take that. Why don’t you go get our horses?”

Garth’s eyes narrow. “It looked like more than that.”

I pant as I force myself to straighten. “It’s fine for now Garth. Nothing that you need to be concerned about.” I force my face, though I’m still feeling horribly drained, to give a small smile. I need to get used to using magic again. Mary stares at me in shock as I force myself to move and to go check on Liza. I can already feel my strength returning but I’m still pretty tired. I have plenty of magic and have no where even halved my resources, but the fact that it was all drained at almost the same time is what’s causing exhaustion.

“Callia!” Alaric yells as I come into view. “Something is wrong with Arin.”

There is a cold pit in my stomach. “What do you mean?” I ask as I run over there, Mary and Garth can be heard yelling at each other from behind me.

Alaric is holding Arin, who is staring at him with wide, unfocused eyes. Arin is laying on the ground with Alaric kneeling. Arin has a scorch mark on his neck down to his hip. Ambra flies to sit next to me as I kneel next to Arin. She’s screeching at him, and it doesn’t appear angry, it sounds like she’s worried. “He’s breathing but he won’t do anything else.” Alaric is in near tears at this point.

“What spell did Gstalt hit you with?” I demand as lilac thinly coats my hands. I put one hand on Arin’s heart, the other on his head.

Alaric stands up with his hands on his head. “I don’t know. We got hit and both fell. I was only unconscious, but Arin won’t wake up.”

I nearly bite my tongue at the rotting taste that hits it. “Arin inhaled some of the magic. It’s infecting him and he’s being overcome by it. Soon it’ll take him if we don’t get him to a healer. I’m talking a strong one.”

“Can’t you do something?” Alaric demands, shouting it so loud that it echoes.

Not with this stone in my heart. Alaric is panicked and has started pacing, tears that he’s holding back are starting to become visible. Arin’s breathing is slowly growing wetter. I’m not sure I can risk getting him to a healer. “I can try. Go get Mary, I need absolute silence. Do not come until I call.” Alaric nods and runs towards Garth and Mary.

This is going to hurt. I close my eyes as I center on Arin, my hands hovering over his lungs. I feel Ambra press against me, trying to lend me moral support. This could be what actually kills me oddly enough. I hover long enough to feel the pull of the dark magic. It’s bitter and it’s seeking for something dark inside the boy to hold on to.

I open my eyes and picture a lilac mist going down Arin’s throat, bait for the magic to attack. Arin’s mouth opens slightly as he inhales my magic. He gasps, his eyes focusing. I hold him down as I coax the magic to continue. Arin starts to seize as the dark magic tries to attack mine. I pull back slowly, occasionally attacking it to commit it to chasing my magic.

It works. Soon black magic is pulled out of Arin’s throat as it tries to attack mine, sensing the stronger power. I hold out my hand as my magic pools onto it. The black magic leaps out of Arin’s throat completely as Arin gasps an airless breath. Arin’s eyes close as I scream, pain emanating from my chest as my hand closes in on the black magic.

My magic absorbs the dark magic effortlessly, but it’s still draining an unknown source. I can’t breathe. Desperately I grab at my chest, forcing the stone to come out. It begins growing at a rate I cannot understand. There is no more black magic from Arin, why is this happening? My energy is depleting at an alarming rate. The stone is draining my magic to allow it to grow, and my magic is being drained to absorb the dark magic.

I fall to the ground, still holding the stone. Eventually my magic drains to under half my known level. I have to stop this. I reached this level in seconds. I try to sit up, clenching the stone against my chest. I see Garth coming from the trees through my blurred eyes. I can’t let him see this. He can’t know this curse his grandfather left me with. I’m still learning this stone. No one can know about this until I know more.

I gasp, my body absorbing the stone, suddenly ceasing the drain on the dark magic. I fall to my side as I try to figure out how to breathe; and give time for my body to adjust to an added fourth size of the stone. It’s little but that stone has a big impact on if I can live until tomorrow. What is slightly unnerving is the fact that I wasn’t the one to stop the drain on Gstalt’s magic. The stone went back inside me when it stopped absorbing Gstalt’s magic. Why did it stop? I know he has more.

I touch my head as I groan, trying to will myself to sit up. I don’t know what happened. I shouldn’t have continued to drain Gstalt’s magic after it absorbed the magic that was inside Arin. I need to further investigate this stone spell I created. Especially since it’s actively draining Gstalt’s magic still. There might get to a point where the stone is overfilled, and it breaks inside me. I have to rid Gstalt of his magic before that stone gets too big. If it breaks inside me…it would have been better if I had remained dead at that point.

“Callia!” Garth yells once he’s finally emerged from the trees. He’s at my side in a flash and picks up my upper half, cradling me into his chest. “Are you alright?” He demands, his golden eyes wide as he takes me in.

I give a dry laugh. “Fine.” I actually just want to die. I feel so weak I might stop breathing right now. I turn my head as I sit up, leaning over to Arin. I touch his neck. “His pulse is still weak. He’s going to need help. I remove the dark magic that was infecting him, but it still managed to poison his system. He needs a healer.”

“You need a rest.” Garth huffs as he stands. “Taking on dark magic twice in under twenty minutes is draining.”

“I’ll be fine. We need to move Arin, or he will die.” I cover my hand in lilac as I touch him. His blood is poisoned, and it’s confused since the source of it is now gone. It’s increasing his body temperature, trying to find the source. His body is attacking itself essentially.

“Callia!” Mary yells, coming into view with Alaric on her heels. She kneels down next to me. “What happened?”

“Dark magic.” I huff my explanation. I move on once understanding hits her. “Arin’s body is attacking itself. The magic confused his system and since it’s no longer there it’s trying to find it. He’s burning a fever right now, trying to fight it off. We need to get to a healer. One who can set the blood straight.”

“Why can’t you do it?” Alaric demands.

“It requires two people. One to steady and calm the mind, the other to cleanse the blood. I can do part of it, but you’ll need a strong healer to accomplish the rest.” Plus I’m so weak right now, I wouldn’t trust handling his mind.

“How long does he have?” Alaric demands.

I glance at Mary, who is very wide eyed and looking at me like she’s going to hide me away. “Two days.” Tops.

“How long until we reach the Water Gods? They’ll have someone who can treat him right?” Alaric demands.

I nod. “They will, but it’s still three days away.”

“We should turn back.” Garth says, pulling himself to his feet.

I shake my head. “The Wind Gods can still his mind, but not his blood.”

“Can’t you do his blood?” He’s screaming now.

Yes. “I can, but I’m not sure we can turn back. Gstalt and his men will be back eventually. It’d be best to get moving as fast as we can.” I’m also sure Gstalt has left some soldiers behind in case we were to have run.

“How are we going to get there in enough time!” Alaric yells, starting to pace. He’s panicking now.

I look at Mary and she begins shaking her head furiously. “Oh no you don’t. No. Callia that is the dumbest thing you can do. No.”

I look back at Arin with worried eyes. I let my eyes fall. “I have no choice Mary.” At this rate, I’m going to kill myself before Gstalt even gets the chance to try again.

“No.” Mary plants her feet firm. “Callia, I don’t have enough energy to get through the barrier. You don’t have enough strength to even try.”

I chuckle. “It’s worth a shot.”

Arin starts to have a small seizure, which shuts both of us up. She crouched down and took his pulse while I touch his forehead. “Make that a day and a half. Gstalt must have put more power into that spell than I realized.” I whisper so only Mary can hear.

There is fear in her eyes as she looks at me. “We can’t lose you again Callia.”

I touch her cheek. “You won’t. Bring the horses to the Water Gods. I’ll take Garth for help, and to keep him close so Gstalt cannot have a tracker placed on me.”

Mary touches my hand and nods. “If you die, I’ll bring you back myself so I can smack you.”

“Deal.” I kiss her cheek and picture Arin, Garth, and I fading. As my power begins to fade I picture the Water God entrance. A mud cave that rises between two boulders decorated in clear water. I call out in the name of their leaders as our bodies nearly vanish, picturing their infirmary. The last thing I’m aware of is landing on something hard as people yell out in surprise.