AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There was a stab wound under Hùisdean’s ribcage. Ayda’s fingers were shaking as she tugged his jacket off, revealing a clean wound that had ripped through his coat and tunic. She didn’t know how it happened, but it looked like a horrific scratch from an animal as opposed to a blade.
I didn’t even know the draugr could cut someone…
The bleeding had soaked his clothing but had stopped. What concerned Ayda was the black webbing that had started to creep outward from the wound, covering Hùisdean’s pale skin. With every beat of his heart, it stretched further across his torso, turning the skin grey.
“Oh my god.” Ayda’s stomach lurched with the sickening realization. “It’s turning him into a living corpse.”
Ayda didn’t have the faintest clue how to stop a draugr’s magic from infecting someone, but her only chance would be to attempt to freeze it. She let her magic gather in the pit of her spine, trying to ease some of her nerves by relishing the pleasant hum it created throughout her body. She leaned over an unconscious Hùisdean and placed one hand over the wound and the other over the end of the black veins.
“If this puts you in some sort of cryogenic coma, I’m so sorry,” Ayda muttered before closing her eyes and whispering a prayer. She’d only used her powers successfully a few times, but she’d visualized her preferred outcome each time. She pictured the magic reversing, the blackness curling backward, then out of Hùisdean’s body, and the wound closing up…
Another harsh gust of wind swept down the path, enveloping Hùisdean and Ayda. The ends of her hair started to lift with the influx of power while wintery patterns covered Ayda’s arms and hands in frost.
A wave of magic surged through Ayda’s body, and she gasped, her back bowing under its weight, before it disappeared as quickly as it had come. She looked down as Hùisdean roared back to life, turning on his side. He vomited black bile, and Ayda started weeping in relief.
“Oh, thank fuck.” Ayda exhaled, rubbing Hùisdean’s back and running her hands over his body. “I had no idea if that would work.”
Hùisdean rolled onto his back, grimacing as he tried to catch his breath. “I think it worked.” His throat was hoarse.
“Shit,” Ayda gasped, leaning over Hùisdean’s body. She pushed some of his hair away from his face and stroked his brow. “You’re still…”
“Let me guess, I’m still old?” Hùisdean smirked, clearly trying to lighten the moment. It only made him sound more aged and tired compared to how full of life he usually was. Ayda tried to swallow her tears.
“I wouldn’t say old…” Ayda stuttered. “But maybe, you know, middle-aged.”
Hùisdean squeezed her hand tightly, clutching it against his chest. He closed his eyes and got his breathing under control.
“Well, that’s a bummer.” He gasped. “I was pretty hellbent on courting this pretty young mage, I know. What do you think my chances are?”
Ayda started laughing as some of her panic receded. “I think they’re pretty good.” Ayda kissed him. “You’d still put George Clooney or Lee Pace to shame. She’s probably into it.”
“Excellent news.” Hùisdean smiled. Ayda helped him sit up slowly. She didn’t take her hands off him until she was sure he could sit up on his own. Once he was stable, she threw her arms around him and nearly avoided tackling him back down to the ground.
“How fucking dare you!” Ayda cried into his shoulder. “I told you the draugr would listen to me! And now they… They fucking… Those fuckers left a mark on you!”
“Oh, sweet one,” Hùisdean kissed her hair, “I wasn’t sure if they’d listen to you again. You’ve got to make it to Stanydale. I couldn’t risk that not happening.”
“What did they do to you?” Ayda pulled back, tugging at his shirt. There was a thin scar where he’d been scratched, but all evidence of black magic was gone.
“If draugr get close enough, they can scratch you. It’s how they multiply. An open wound from a draugr turns you into one of them.”
Ayda’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t think this was important to tell me!?” she snapped. “I thought they aged you!”
“They do that too.” Hùisdean shrugged. “We’re not entirely sure what their capabilities are. We haven’t exactly had time to study them. They don’t scratch everyone. It must just be the incredibly powerful they’re after.” He winked.
“You bastard,” Ayda grunted. “I didn’t know if I’d be able to heal you. It was fucking awful. That’s twice I’ve seen you almost as good as dead, and it’s not a sight I want to repeat.”
Hùisdean’s expression softened. “We’ve never seen magic that could heal a draugr wound before. That’s something unique to you, Ayda. Your unique combination of magic. And speaking of… What’s this?” Hùisdean started tracing the frosty patterns on Ayda’s hands and arms. They hadn’t ebbed away.
Ayda looked down in shock, only just realizing the marks were still painted on her skin. “It looks like white mehndi,” she whispered.
“Then it’s something entirely yours,” Hùisdean said reverently. “Your mother’s connection to the Norse magic and your father’s Bengali blood. It’s beautiful.”
Ayda’s eyes welled up with tears again. She wiped at them furiously and laughed incredulously. “I keep fucking crying around you.”
“I don’t mind.” Hùisdean kept tracing the patterns with his fingers. “You don’t need to keep anything bottled up around me, Ayda. If you need to cry, cry. It’s not like these aren’t life-altering realizations.”
“You make too much sense. It’s annoying.” Ayda rolled her eyes and got to her feet. She extended her hand out to Hùisdean. “Do you think you can stand?”
