Soul Healer

by J. A. Culican

  “Can you hear me?”

  Iri sat on the opposite side of the bed, and Beru's eyes followed him. We waited breathlessly for any sign of recognition. When he narrowed his eyes and nodded, Iri clapped

  his hands together with a great laugh of excitement.

  “I was beginning to think I would never see the day, old chap.” Iri slapped Beru's leg a little too hard in his excitement, then immediately rubbed the spot where he’d hit him and backed away. “I'm sorry.”

  “It's okay, he won’t break. Just be a little gentler.” I smiled at how a great warrior like Iri could become as excited as a little boy.

  When I looked back at Beru, his eyes were focused on me. His expression was intense, and I immediately stood, backed away from the bed, and took the water to the other side of the room to place on a low dresser. My hands shook with nervousness at what Beru and I had shared the last time he was awake. I knew he would have questions, and I would be forced tell him I had purposely put us in that position. He’d hate me for it.

  “Aria has been taking good care of you. We've all been taking shifts. Everyone will be excited to hear you’re awake.” Iri pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed.

  I kept my face turned away, but tilted my ear back to listen to their conversation as I grabbed a cloth and wiped down the top of the dresser. He had yet to say anything but began moaning.

  “It will come with time, my friend.” I heard Iri state, his voice a soothing croon.

  I knew I’d wasted enough time pretending to wipe the dresser dry. It was time for me to return to Beru’s side. Exhaling, I turned to find Beru's eyes on me. Pulling a chair next to his bed across from Iri, I sat uneasily next to him and avoided his eyes, maintaining a neutral smile. I kept my hands busy monitoring his vital signs, taking a pulse with my fingers on his wrist and counting quietly to myself. I remained in that position longer than I needed to now that his warmth was back. I wanted to soak it in while I still could, before he cast me out of his life for what I’d done to him.

  “I should get going. The others will want to know about the change in his condition.” Iri stood from his chair.

  I shot up, unable to hide how nervous I was at being left alone with Beru. “No, don't go. Please stay.”

  I looked down at Beru, and gulped. His eyes hadn’t left my face, but I couldn’t read them. . His expression was strangely neutral, and his eyes appeared different, somehow. It was as if their color had changed, like a film covered them and made them darker and more clouded.

  “Surely you can take care of him now. Or is there something else?” Iri tilted his head, drawing his eyebrows up as he searched my face.

  I stood frozen there, feeling as guilty as it was possible to feel until Iri nodded for me to follow him out of the room. I quickly obliged, and we walked to the foyer. Iri closed the door behind us and crossed his arms, looking down on me in a way that reminded me strongly of Mother Ofburg.

  “What is this about? Aren't you happy he's come out of it?”

  “Yes, of course I am. It's just that . . .” I didn't know the right words to say. I wasn't sure he’d understand my predicament. He hadn't made the choice to break Beru and show him how his family died. Iri had no family and had only recently became attached to us. Prior to that he’d basically been a sword for hire.

  “Well, spit it out.” Iri leaned against the wall, sighing as if he knew listening was going to take all of his considerable strength..

  “I'm afraid he's going to hate me for what I did.” I blurted it out quickly, in the hope the boulder sitting on my chest would disappear. The guilt was nearly suffocating me now, and there had been no relief with my confession. The only thing it had done was made me fear he’d think I was a horrible person as well, and then he’d be against me, too. I focused on the knots on the wooden deck, not wanting to see the disappointment I was sure would be on his face.

  “You did what you needed to with the knowledge you had. There was no way you could have known how his family was murdered.”

  Iri wrapped his massive arms around me, and I fell into his chest and cried. My whole body shook as I let out every emotion I’d been bottling up since Beru had fallen into his sleep.

  “I won't be able to bear him hating me for what I did to him, but I can’t blame him if he does. He didn't deserve that, no matter what good we were trying to do. He should have never seen that. No one should ever have to see that. If I’d have known, I would have never gone along with the plan.” I pulled away from him, using my sleeve to wipe away my tears.

  “And when he's good and ready, you can tell him that.” He used the bottom of his shirt to help me dry my face.

  “I'm scared to go back in there.”

  “He had two hundred and fifty years of repressed emotions come flooding back to him all at once. You're one of his closest friends. You know what his life was like in that prison, and now you know what happened to his family. You're the one person he needs most right now.”

  “I think his wife and kids were the reason he was able to cope as well as he did. But he doesn’t have that, not anymore,” I whispered into his shirt.

  “So you need to be the reason he's able to cope now. I have faith in you. There’s nothing but goodness in your heart. There will always be times when you're called to do more than you think you can. This is one of those times.”

  He was right. I couldn't abandon Beru. I needed to put my own fear of rejection aside and help him through this dark time. It wouldn’t be easy, but I had my friends to lean on. We'd all get him through it.

  “I want you to go in there and be his friend. I'm going to go tell the others, and then I'll be back. Don't let him slip away again.”

  I turned back to the door and took a deep breath. I would do it. For him, I'd make everything better. The door creaked open to reveal that Beru was more awake than when we’d left. During the time we’d been gone, he’d managed to prop himself higher on the pillows and had finished the entire glass of water by his bedside.

  “How are you?” I mentally chided myself for such an insensitive question.

  “Sore.” His hand rubbed his stomach.

  “Are you hungry? I could fetch you something.” I pointed to the doorway, eager to run back out.

  “Sit.” He patted the bed beside him, his cloudy eyes still trained on me.

  I walked over in silence and sat down, staying just out of reach. “I’m sorry about what happened. If I’d known, I'd never have taken you.” My voice broke as I forced myself to meet his gaze.

  He moaned something I couldn’t understand. I leaned in closer to hear him better.

  “You knew.” His voice was low and the words mumbled, but I could still make them out.

  As he drifted off into the abyss again, I grew weak, knowing I’d broken the only man able to keep Dag'draath in the prison.

  The man who’d stolen my heart.

  Chapter 3

  The noise of a loud horn filled the air. I jumped in my seat and looked over at Beru, who was still sleeping soundly. I dashed to the window, seeing people running around everywhere with looks of fear on their faces. Iri ran toward the temple, and I met him in the foyer.

  “What’s that noise?” I’d never heard it before, but it was deafening.

  “It’s the cloud network. Most people here haven’t ever heard it used before, either.” Iri walked into Beru’s room, stopping when he saw Beru’s eyes were closed and gave me a look “He’s back in his slumber?”

  “Yes.”

  Iri began to pace in front of me.

  I could tell he was disappointed, but focused on the panic outside. “What’s the cloud network?”

  “It’s a series of horns set up to go off if and when the Islands are under attack.” Iri stood still long enough to get the sentence out.

  “We’re being attacked?” I couldn’t believe it. . The Islands were a safe haven, with many barriers of defense before anyone could reach them.

  “Those raids mu
st have been a distraction, so they could make their way here undetected.” Iri looked out the window, then let the curtain drop and turned to me with grim air of purpose. “We need to get him out of here. Can we move him without hurting him further?”

  “Yes, his issue is more about the condition of his soul than any physical illness.”

  Conversation paused as we searched the room for anything we could use to lift him with. The temple only held the necessities, which meant it was rather barren.

  “We may have to leave him here. They won't find him right away. Maybe Astor could cook up a protection spell of some kind to keep the ur’gel from entering the temple. It may be our only choice right now.” Iri looked at me for guidance.

  “How long until they arrive?” I placed my hand on Beru’s forehead, making sure his warmth was still there, that he hadn’t returned to the cold shell, which he’d been before his eyes had fluttered open, skewering me with my betrayal.

  “It's hard to say. We still have no idea how far up they’ve made it. Or who—” his words were interrupted by a loud banging on the door.

  We both took an involuntary step back and our eyes met. I thought the worst until the sound of Sade calling our names snapped me out of my fear. I rushed to the door to let her in.

  “They're here.” She hurried past us into the temple room. “Is he ready to go?” She nodded toward Beru.

  “No, he's sleeping again.” I looked at the ground as if she could see through me and knew how guilty I was.

  “What do we do about him? They must be here either for him or you.”

  Panic built inside me. Each breath shook and my hands and feet felt suddenly numb. I didn’t have any answers, but in that moment I felt the full weight of my responsibility descend. . I had started this war. I should know what to do right now, I should be the one calling the shots, but I couldn’t. I was frozen in fear.

  “We have to leave him here. We’ll leave guards at the doors and see if Astor can help protect him magically.”

  “I'll get Astor.” Iri ran out the door, leaving us alone.

  “What happened with him? I thought he was awake, finally.” She stepped past me and walked to Beru. She prodded him in the stomach to see if she could wake him, stepping back with a frown when he didn’t even flinch. “That's weird. How can he be awake one moment and not the next?”

  “I'm not sure.” I didn't have much to offer. I was still confused at how it was possible the Islands were being attacked on top of my constant worry about Beru.

  “What did he say when he was awake?” She turned to me, eyebrows raised as she waited for answers..

  I shrugged. He’d been groggy and not fully aware of what was happening around him. “He really hadn't spoken. Mostly moaned and seemed to know we were there, but his eyes were open.”

  “We've got to fight them anyway to protect the island. I'm not sure how to handle any of this except for the fighting part. We need to talk to Captain Rose.” She gestured at Beru, “Have you dreamwalked since we arrived at the temple?”

  “No. I'll go talk to Captain Rose. Can you stay here and wait for Iri and Astor? Make sure they don't turn him into a toad?” I forced a smile to cover my fear, but the joke fell flat.

  Without waiting for a reply, I left her there. I couldn’t handle thinking about Beru right now, not while there were attacks going on around me. I needed to focus on stopping them. The one thing we had in our favor was that the ur’gel weren’t used to the island, and I was going to use it to our advantage if I could.

  I jogged down to the docks, hoping to catch Captain Rose before she left with her cargo run.

  I caught sight of Captain Rose’s ship, and exhaled in relief to see it was still in the same place we’d left it. Several of the workers were unloading cargo and I waited until the last one was down before I began my climb.

  Once on board, I searched for her a mid the flurry of activity on deck. . Giants were everywhere, unloading anything they could and packing it away tightly, but I didn’t see her in the melee, so I walked to the wheelhouse, the other location I thought she’d be.

  I swung open the door just in time to watch the fury unfold. She flung papers about, creating a paper storm as she looked through drawers with frantic urgency.

  “It's here somewhere,” she muttered, as she continued to rifle through papers and maps.

  “Can I help you find something?”

  She pointed her finger at me. “You're the reason they're here. This is your fault.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m here—they want Beru. . I need you to take us to the mainland, and I’ll go back to my village from there. I must wake him up and restore him back to what he used to be. There’s only one person I know who can help me do that.” I tried to sound as convincing as possible. I knew she’d said she didn’t fly to the mainland, but I was hoping my words would convince her to make an exception.

  “That's impossible. No one can fly over the mainland. It's just not possible.”

  “Why is that? What's stopping you from flying over the mainland?” I didn't want to sound harsh, but she’d never given us a reason why. If nobody could fly there, so there must be a reason why.

  “It’s just not possible. No one does it. Rose continued to dig through the wheelhouse, making frustrated noises when she didn’t find whatever it was she was searching for.

  I ducked when she threw a book backward from the drawer she was digging in. It slammed against the wall next to my head.

  She muttered about “it” being in here.

  “What are you looking for? Maybe I can help,” I offered, gingerly stepping closer. With the way she was randomly throwing out objects, I was probably safer standing beside her.

  “An old map of the Islands. There are some secret tunnels . . .” She stopped abruptly, as if she’d just disclosed something she hadn’t meant to. She glared at me, wagging her compact finger. “You better not say anything. That isn’t for common knowledge.”

  “Your secret is safe with me.” I held my hands up in a sign of submission.

  Her worried look eased, and she resumed her digging through the drawers. “There are tunnels we can guide people to. That should keep them safe until we get rid of the invaders.”

  “What does it look like?” I began sifting through the mess of papers already on the floor.

  “It’s fragile,” she piped up, not looking at me.

  I glanced around the room, wrinkling my nose at the careless way everything had been thrown about. “Really? Okay…”

  “Green paper if I recall.”

  I started in the farthest corner and slowly made my way toward her. “So, you're not interested in going over the mainland? To see if it’s possible?” I baited her ego. She was a forward thinker, and I was certain being the first to do something would appeal to her.

  “Nope. I’ll stop you right there. I like you, kid, but there are some things we can’t test. Shouldn’t test. And this is one of them.” She stood up and stretched, placing her hands on her lower back, stopping after an audible crack echoed in the small room. “Ah, that’s better. How about this? I’ll drop you off at the mainland. That’s the best I can do.”

  I nodded and accepted defeat. As I looked down, I noticed a small piece of green sticking out from between the covers of two books. I eased it out and held it up. . “Is this it?”

  “Holy Dickins! It is.” Captain Rose snatched the paper from my hand and spread it out on the table to get a good look at it. “I don’t know if the tunnels have been covered over or not, but it’s somewhere to start.

  “Can you take us to the mainland before you go to the caves?” I was ready to get down on my knees and plead with her if I had to. We needed to stop the ur’gel from attacking and get Beru back to being himself as soon as possible.

  “This journey will stop their attacks?” She raised an eyebrow in question as she unfolded the paper.

  “I believe so. If I’m right, they know Beru is the Key, and they wan
t him back. If we can heal him enough to travel, we can make a go for it.” I started to pick up some of the items on the floor.

  “Leave that. I’ll take you now. Round up whoever’s coming. I’ll get rid of this mess later. Bring Beru with you—don’t worry, I’ll send someone to help to carry him onboard.”

  I nodded. I had preferred to leave him for now, but I’d take any help she offered.

  We loaded the ship and recruited a few of her crew members who would continue on with us to my village. Beru had come around somewhat in the fresh salt air and was in and out of his slumber now. Captain Rose had been pleased; sure it was a good sign he was on the mend.

  We left port quickly, and as we passed over the cliffs we could hear the ur’gel attacking below. They were fighting their way into the city and the screams from below were soul-chilling, while the Cloud Network Horns continued their deafening screeching. My nerves itched with the need to stay and fight but I knew leaving was the best way to protect everyone.

  “It’s different running away from a fight when you’re used to running toward it.” Sade’s voice came from over my shoulder, as if she’d read my mind.

  We both watched helplessly as the ur’gel seemed to get the better of the giants fighting beneath us. There were too many of them. It was only a matter of time before they reached the cities. Captain Rose had left the map with the tunnel locations with a local, and they had started evacuating the civilians, but fear gripped my chest as the battle raged below.

  “I hope it’s the same as we left it when we return.” I leaned over the edge to get a better view as we flew by. A few ur’gel had to stopped to watch us pass with amazed looks on their faces. They’d obviously never seen a flying ship, much like we hadn’t when we’d arrived.

  “I wonder if Widow is down there.” Sade propped herself up and searched the crowd as we flew by. “She’d probably shoot a web up to the ship if she was.”