by Jada Fisher
It only took one glance to her grandfather laying in his bed, breathing shallowly, to confirm that yeah, she absolutely would.
10
A Healer’s Touch
Eist slid the first drawer open, looking inside. To her great disappointment, nothing personal was there. It was just filled with the thin, netted fabric used to staunch bleeding.
Alright, that was a disappointment. Maybe the next one would—
No. That was just filled with needles and other sharp things.
She went through all of them, one by one, to find not a lick of personal things from anyone other than notes on patients. The desks must have been communal, so of course she wouldn’t keep anything incriminating into it. Not that Eist even knew that she had anything incriminating to hide. Just a sinking suspicion that was making her stomach throb repeatedly.
Eventually, however, she had to admit defeat and skulked outside. Fior looked up at her, obviously wondering what was going on with his human companion, before he suddenly gripped the top of her boot and yanked her to the side.
Eist stumbled along with his pull, surprised by his action, and nearly collided with a wall. It wasn’t until she was tucked behind a statue that he let up and pointed his whole body down the hall.
Eist glanced in the direction his snout was aimed, curious about his behavior, only to see the healer she was suspicious of exit a room, locking the door behind her before heading into the hall Eist had just left. Fior watched her, his eyes locked on her form until she was gone.
“How did you know?” Eist asked, looking down at her little dragon.
He just chirped, heading in the direction of the room she had left.
Eist followed along behind him, glancing over her shoulder every few breaths. At any moment, someone could walk out of their room, or the main hall, and ask her what she was doing in the healer’s quarters. She would have no answer to that. Everyone knew that the medical staff stayed close to the healers’ hall so they could respond to emergencies in as little time as possible. Playing dumb wouldn’t be bought for a moment and she didn’t want to be caught doing anything suspicious considering she had just narrowly scraped by a bad situation with Ain.
But she couldn’t turn around. Couldn’t stop herself. Something within her was telling her that she needed to check the healer’s room to make sure that she wasn’t up to anything. That it was all just somehow an accident or miscommunication.
After what felt like a literal age of man, they finally reached her door. Eist tried the handle, only to find it locked. Of course it was locked! What was she thinking? That she would just be able to waltz in and do as she pleased? Perhaps she really had been at this green dragon gas thing for too long. Her mind was clearly working itself up into a delusional frenzy.
But still…the image of her grandfather laying there, his brow furrowed as he whispered the names of her parents, spurred her onward and she jiggled the handle, wishing that she knew how to pick locks.
She leaned against the wall, trying to look somewhat normal while her head spun. What was she going to do? Even if she could repeatedly bash her body against the heavy wooden door, someone would no doubt hear it and come to investigate. Yes, it was late, but not that late. Besides, healers kept all sorts of strange hours.
Fior looked from her to the door repeatedly, as if he was wondering why she wasn’t going in. She gestured to the lock and handle with a shrug, wondering if he would understand what she meant considering he didn’t seem to understand boundaries or breaking in.
His head titled from one side to the other before he crouched down, his bottom half wiggling back and forth like a cat about to pounce. But instead of leaping forward, he lifted his head and let out a sharp, short whistle.
Almost instantly, the lock popped open and the door swung open ever-so-slightly. Eist’s eyes went wide and she stared incredulously. Had…had he really just done that? That had to be impossible, right?
She supposed standing in the hallway gawking at it wasn’t the best idea, so she slipped in, Fior happily trotting in behind her.
Closing the door gently behind her, she looked around at the small quarters. It was only slightly larger than her own dorm, but there was only one cot there, which Eist supposed made a difference.
At first look, there was nothing suspicious about the place, and Eist felt that telltale guilt again. She was definitely doing something wrong. If she was caught… She shuddered at the thought. While this wasn’t quite a crime against the crown, it certainly wasn’t good.
But she pressed on. She set the book she had brought on the heavy, wooden desk by the door and searched there first. Her hands were shaking as she riffled through, opening drawers and moving things about. She tried not to shuffle things too much, lest the healer notice that her things had been messed with.
Nothing in the desk. Onto her armoire. There were seven healer’s robes, and only two or so different dresses for when she wasn’t working. Another wave of guilt went through Eist. It was clear that this woman was a dedicated healer who had little time for anything else in her life. If Eist was wrong…
She didn’t want to think about that, so she pressed on, going through drawers on the sides of the standing cabinet. Then under the bed. Then amongst her boots. Nothing. There wasn’t a single sign of anything sinister or that indicated the healer was trying to invoke some terrible, lost art.
She stood there, breathing hard in her fervor. Had she really done all these definitely not good things just to wind up empty-handed? That was what was being presented to her, but her gut just wouldn’t let her leave. She could feel that there was something wrong. Down in her bones.
There was a chirping warble beside her and she turned to see Fior pawing under the bed.
“I already looked there. There’s nothing under the cot.”
But he persisted, whining and clawing at the floor. Eist watched him for a moment before deciding she might as well humor him. She moved the bed to the side so he could pounce on whatever he was whining at.
Which apparently was a floorboard. Eist felt a rush of irritation, but then she noticed there was something amiss. Kneeling beside Fior, who was still pawing at the spot on the floor, she noted there was a strange sort of gap between it and the ones around it.
Grabbing a long hairpin from the healer’s desk, she wedged it into the crack and used it as a lever. Sure enough, the floorboard rose, revealing a small compartment underneath. Fior’s head immediately dove down, and he pulled up an old, yellowed scroll that he thrust into Eist’s awaiting hands.
What was a scroll doing in the floorboards and not in the bookshelf with all of the other innocuous items? It couldn’t be anything good.
Hands shaking once more, she unclasped the seal and opened it.
The first thing Eist saw was a bold, burning rune of the Blight’s name and then a quick prayer blessing its power. She quickly snapped it shut, realizing that she had found exactly what she was looking for.
Holy sh—
“What are you doing here?”
Eist looked up, her blood running cold, to see the very healer she was investigating standing in the doorway. Oh dear.
Eist clutched the scroll to chest and the woman’s eyes zeroed in on it. She took up the entire doorway, her feet splayed and shoulders hunched. There was something…inhuman about her. It made the hair on the back of Eist’s neck rise while every bit of her body was screaming at her to run.
“I think we should wake up my grandfather,” Eist said slowly, willing herself to not show her fear. Maybe there was some way this didn’t have to end how she felt it was going to end.
The woman stepped in, closing the door behind her. Her eyes almost seemed to radiate darkness instead of the natural light that appeared in all humans’ eyes, and her voice had an edge like a serrated knife.
“Do you?” she asked, leaning against the only exit. “Because I think something entirely different.”
“Such as?” Eist asked,
licking her lips. Her eyes were going every which way, trying to find some advantage she could use. The healer was only a bit taller than her and most likely hadn’t spent the past half-year in physical training. Chances that Eist would be able to overpower her seemed fairly likely. As long as she kept her hand on her evidence and got out, she would be fine.
The woman persisted, standing up straight. “I think that the stress of the academy and your deformed dragon finally got to you. And who could blame you, considering your already considerable disadvantages in life. You had a breakdown and became delusional. You attacked me outside of the healers’ hall, but thankfully I was able to put you under with some green dragon gas. You’ll have a long fight but, will eventually succumb to the demons within you. And by that, I mean an overdose of some herb or another. I’m thinking dragon’s bane? That would be fitting. How does that sound?”
Eist didn’t answer. Instead, she charged forward, angling her shoulder to collide with the slightly taller woman’s middle. But when they collided, it was like hitting a brick wall instead of a squishy human middle, and Eist bounced back.
She didn’t get far, however, as icy fingers wrapped around her throat and she was lifted up, up, up, until her feet were dangling off the floor.
Panic rose in her as she couldn’t draw in a breath, and she looked down at the healer incredulously. Eist was a stocky, muscled girl who easily outweighed the woman. There was no way she should be able to lift Eist from the floor with just one hand.
Yet that was exactly what she was doing. Eist’s vision swam and her already limited hearing just became the rushing of blood in her ears. It was about then that she realized just the kind of danger she had gotten into.
She was going to die.
11
The Forge of Desperation
Eist hung there, suspended by her throat. No matter how much she clawed or kicked, she remained in the air, surrounded by no comfort and only pain. What a terrible way to go.
But then, suddenly, she slammed into the ground and her lungs were drawing in greedy gulps of air. She looked up, her vision bleary, to see that Fior was hanging from the woman’s wrist, clamping down as hard as he could.
Eist scrambled to her feet, looking for something else to give her the advantage, but the healer was already on the move. She grabbed Fior by the back of his neck and threw him into the nearest wall with all her might. Eist winced as she heard him hit, and her baby boy slid to the ground with a whimper.
The woman advanced on him, and Eist almost felt as if she could see a great and terrible beast hulking around her, like faint projection of a dream only visible when the dim light of the room hit it just right.
“Leave him alone!” she cried, reaching for the floorboard she had ripped up.
She rushed the woman again, but this time, she jumped on the cot and used it to give herself a high leap into the air. The healer turned just in time to get a vicious downswing of the wood right across her face.
And then the plank shattered.
Eist looked down at her hands, shocked, and didn’t see the blow coming for her until it hit the side of her head. She went flying, colliding with the heavy bookshelf and tumbling to the ground.
Her vision was doing all sorts of strange, swirling things and her tongue flopped around loosely in her mouth as if her brain was trying to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out. It took all of her effort to sit up, and she realized something warm and sticky was running down the side of her head.
Blood.
That was blood.
Why was she bleeding? Had she fallen? Where was she? This didn’t look like her room…
She noticed a kick coming towards her just in time to flop on her back, the room spinning above her.
Oh right. She was being attacked by the healer.
The woman’s boot came stomping down again, aiming for her head. Eist just barely moved her neck to the side, wrapping both of her arms around the woman’s ankle and kicking right for her crotch.
Her foot hit home and the woman stumbled back. While it wasn’t the same as a man getting hit there, grandfather had taught her that a woman’s pelvic bone was still pretty sensitive, and it was a good way to get space.
The woman straightened and let out a roar that rattled Eist’s very teeth, before charging the young girl. Eist grabbed the bookshelf and pulled down with all her might, bringing it down on the healer’s head while pulling her leg out of the way.
Both it and the healer crashed to the floor and Eist scrambled for Fior, scooping him up so she could make a break for the door.
She only made it about halfway before the bookcase went flying past her and she was tackled again. Eist barely had the wherewithal to gently toss Fior to the soft cot before she hit the ground so hard that all the breath was driven from her lungs.
The world was spinning, and she found the situation flitting from her once more. Why was she fighting again?
Hands wrapped around her throat for the second time, but now with an added benefit of the healer shaking Eist’s head viciously back and forth. It was hard to think, and she couldn’t breathe, but Eist knew that she needed to keep fighting.
She had to win. Her grandfather’s life was at stake, as well as possibly so much more. There was nothing good about a healer who was hiding a scroll about the Blight.
Oh, and attacking a student.
Vision going black around the edges, Eist swung her legs up on either side of the healer. For once, her short stature worked for her, and she was able to curl her middle enough to get her legs over the woman’s head. Once they were clear of her hood, Eist was able to cross her legs, locking her attacker’s arm between her shins and thighs.
She stretched as hard as she could, and it gave her the tiniest bit of space to breathe. The woman reached up with her free hand to try to yank herself from Eist’s leglock, but that decreased her balance enough for Eist to use her hips and flip them over so that she was on top.
She released the healer’s arm from her leg hold and pressed her knee into the woman’s neck. Panting hard and the world still spinning around her, Eist raised both of her hands and slammed them into the woman’s head.
The healer swore, and then once more Eist found herself flying across the room.
“How are you so strong?” the healer hissed, stalking towards the girl as she scrambled to her feet. “You’re just a fat, little cripple!”
“I’m not a cripple!” Eist screamed, rushing the woman.
But by now, she knew that she couldn’t take her head on. The woman was stronger than her, faster than her, and relentless. If Eist wanted to survive, if she wanted her grandfather to ever awaken from his slumber, she had to be smart.
She hit the floor, this time on purpose, and slid across the space until she was just past where she had first found the scroll. Rolling back to her feet, she ended upright just as the woman advanced on her once more, moving far too fast to be real. It was clear that she had been pushed beyond even her original level of anger and was now intending to end the fight once and for all.
She closed in on Eist, teeth bared and fingers curled as if she would personally rip the girl’s throat out. But Eist lunged forward at the last moment, jamming the hair pin that she had used earlier into the healer’s throat.
Flesh gave way and the pin plunged in. Eist let go of it, stumbling backwards in shock. Had…had she just killed someone?
She looked at the healer with wide eyes, her heart pounding so hard she swore it might crush itself. The woman was tottering back, her own expression one of surprise. But instead of collapsing to the floor in a heap, she steadied herself and only looked even more perturbed.
That was about when Eist realized there was no blood.
How could there be no blood?
The woman yanked the pin from her throat and there was only a black hole remaining. No scarlet red dribbled out. Her skin wasn’t even red or irritated.
“T-that’s impossible,” Eist gas
ped, her mind stuck in complete and total shock. “Y-you can’t…”
“Oh, I most definitely can.”
This time when the woman advanced, Eist could only stare up at her, her mind locked somewhere between enraptured and terrified. The healer’s hands wrapped around the collar of Eist’s tunic, and she threw her across the room. This time, Eist crashed into the door, the hinges giving way as both door and girl tumbled into the hallway.
Oh. She would have been able to break down the door after all. A bit late, though.
Eist rolled onto her back, willing herself to get up, but she found her legs didn’t work. Looking down, she saw that one was twisted a bit unnaturally to the side, while a jagged piece of wood stuck through the calf of the other.
There was no pain, however, which was probably not a good thing. Either she was going into shock, as her grandfather had warned her about in case she was ever injured, or something was wrong with her back. But the fact that she couldn’t feel pain from any of her injuries led her to believe it was probably her body protecting her as best it could in the fight.
But it wasn’t enough. The woman grabbed her, throwing her over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. People were starting to run out of their rooms now, drawn by the noise, and it was clear that the healer wanted to make her escape.
“Let me go!” Eist screamed, trying to wriggle out of her grip. But her body was just so weak, screaming for just the slightest bit of a break. All of her limbs were on fire, aching as hard as they had on her first week of training. She needed to move, she needed to fight, but as much as she called on herself to do something, her body just whined that it couldn’t.
But if kicking her feet didn’t work, if punching didn’t work, and if her teeth couldn’t reach anything, then she needed to shock the woman.
It was something Eist had never done, but her grandfather had taught it to her as a last resort. Relaxing herself as much as she could, Eist let her bladder go, wetting the healer’s front.