“It's not what you think,” Minx was fast to reply. “I didn't do this. We were ambushed.”
“Ambushed?”
Minx nodded, studying Alla's shoulder wound and considering the next course of action. “Dark Fae archers in the woods. She was hit with a poisoned arrow.”
Kaleb drew near and knelt down beside the pair, taking in the fresh wound for himself. “Is she conscious?” He reached out to feel for her pulse. “Why have they done this?”
“She told me someone was after her—that someone had come for her.” The Fae Huntress closed her eyes and focused on the wound, seeking to gather her energies. There was no telling whether her Fae healing magic would have any effect. She'd never used it to neutralize a poison before, but considering the proximity of the attackers she had no time to experiment with other approaches. “It's possible she has a past. Enemies,” she muttered, touching her warm fingertips to Alla's shoulder.
Alla stirred a bit at this touch, her legs quivering restlessly as Minx's spell was cast. The regenerative properties of this healing touch were little-understood even by the elders, but one sufficiently trained in the Fae healing arts could mend wounds and cure various ailments. The focused energies flowed through the caster and were transferred to the patient in the form of a pleasing warmth. Thus, the two were connected; joined momentarily as a single circuit. As if in answer to the spell, the wound on Alla's shoulder slowly ceased its bleeding. The frayed edges of her skin were gradually knitted together until only a narrow gash remained. The girl's throat was filled with groans and she tossed her head from side to side.
“It's working!” marveled Kaleb.
But the moment Minx pulled her hand away, Alla could be seen to wince.
The flow of tainted blood from the wound suddenly increased, and the gash lengthened once more, all the progress being undone within the space of a minute. What? Why isn't she healing? The wound was almost closed. I've never seen this before... Closing her eyes, she attempted the spell once more, her soft fingertips sparking with energy and Alla's wound again responding to its restorative warmth. Still, she was unsettled. Her attempts at healing had never failed in this way. Something, though she couldn't say what, was keeping her Fae magic from functioning as normal.
Kaleb nudged Minx's arm. “I think that'll do,” he said, noting a second closure of the wound. “For the time being, anyway. If we stick around too long, those archers are bound to fire on us again. Do you think she's out of the woods?”
Mau sniffed at the unconscious girl. Her breathing seems stable, at least.
“I don't think we have a choice. Let's get her out of here.” Minx watched as Kaleb scooped Alla up in his arms. Donning his dragon form and bathing their meager camp in dense shadow, both she and the Faelyr took refuge on his back and were promptly lifted over the tops of the trees. Gliding on a powerful wind, Kaleb carried them higher, reaching such heights that no arrow could hope to reach them from the treetops below.
The dragon coasted for miles before making a hasty landing in a field beyond the opposite edge of the woods. Setting Alla down carefully, he returned to his human form and scanned the treeline. “OK, give her another look. I think we're far enough away that they won't be able to find us. Not right away, at least.”
Minx sat beside Alla, gauging the girl's vital signs and recovery. The wound was still seeping, though the last burst of Fae magic had been seemingly effective. “She's healing... slowly. But if we keep moving her, I don't know if she'll hold up. We need to stay put awhile.” She grimaced. “I'm not so worried about the wound. It's the poison that's the trouble. I don't have a good way to draw it out. The herbs may not be effective, depending on what sort of toxin the assassins used. I can administer healing to help her body through the side-effects, but she'll have to recover from the poison herself. I've never tried to heal someone suffering from severe poisoning.”
“Do you think her body will be able to handle it?” chanced Kaleb, eyes cloudy with concern.
From where I'm standing, she's got a fifty-fifty shot, wagered Mau. Depends on what kind of poison they used and how much of it was absorbed.
Minx nodded. “I think it's possible... if she's a fighter.”
“All right, let's stay put here, then. We can even set up a fresh camp,” concluded Kaleb. “I think we built enough distance from Alla's friends back there. The odds of them coming around to this edge of the forest are slim; and it'll take them the better part of a day to cover that much ground on foot.”
The remainder of the day was spent nursing Alla in the shade of the nearby forest. Kaleb gathered wood, water and food while Minx and Mau kept a close eye on the girl, administering intermittent healing when the strain of the poison looked to be too great. Alla's torment was clear; the toxins flowing through her veins had left her dripping with sweat, and on those rare occasions when she opened her eyes, they still possessed that strange, glazed look about them. Though she had no detectable fever, her slender body was racked with chills and her pulse would at times become erratic. The afternoon passed with little improvement.
The healings continued past sundown, as they all sat around the fire. The wound had long since stopped bleeding, and with Mau's help Kaleb had sought out a fine, broad leaf to use as an antiseptic bandage. Sitting in the firelight, slumping against Mau, the Fae huntress was exhausted. It required a great deal of effort to cast Fae healing magic, and never once had she attempted this much healing in a single day. Utterly drained, she nodded off beside
