“Florian, help me with this,” Jerah said, reaching for the pole to which the panel was affixed and pushing it more firmly into the ground. Florian nodded and leapt to grab the fabric, pulling it closer to the pole and tying it in place.
“Shit,” Kade was muttering under his breath, bunching up the torn fabric and tying it off. “Shit, shit…”
“It's alright, Kade, I think you've got it,” Jerah panted, stepping away once he and Florian had the panel secured once more. The tent was shaded again, and the shroud fell away from them as he said it. Kade nodded and fell back with a groan, his sword clattering to the ground as he sat and held his arm to his body, wincing.
“You're hurt,” Florian blurted, stepping toward Kade—the arm that he was cradling to his chest was red and blistered, like a terrible sunburn, despite the brief moment that he had been in the light. “Dad, can you help him?”
“Let me see,” Jerah said, kneeling down next to Kade. “Good job protecting your eyes, at least. That would have been a lot worse.”
Silently Kade nodded, his brows furrowed tight with pain. Florian watched, helpless, as Jerah murmured a few words and moved his fingers lightly over the wounded skin. A faint glimmer of magic passed from his fingers to Kade's arm, and the blisters seemed to recede and the redness faded. Kade let out a sharp breath, but his face relaxed with relief as Jerah leaned back with a sigh.
“Good work,” he said, his breath still coming in rapid bursts—Florian realized his heart was still pounding with adrenaline, too.
“I'll stay up in case it comes back,” Kade said, sitting up a little straighter, and Jerah scoffed.
“You'll do no such thing. Get some rest, so you'll heal faster,” he chided. “I mean it, Kade.”
He made a slight grunt of acknowledgement, though he didn't move as Jerah went back to his own sleeping bag with a sigh. Kade glanced over at Florian, still standing uselessly in the middle of the tent; and his expression seemed to tighten as they looked at each other for a moment, until he finally turned away. Florian had no idea what his face meant, but it must have been an improvement from the stony neutral face he'd had all day. Hopefully.
“It's alright, Florian,” Jerah said, and Florian gave a start. “Try to go back to sleep. We have a few more hours before we'll need to set out.”
He nodded, and after one more lingering look at Kade, he laid back down. It felt like a long time before he could finally will his eyes closed.
