Ethenn’s jaw tightened. His eyes darted to the side where Deckard and Evylin approached, their magic fully extinguished. Then he did as Ilain instructed.
With a gentle touch, she took hold of him. Her hands trembled, but she tested the swollen wrist. “I can see that you’re scraped up,” she said with a rote tone, like she’d shut off her emotions to perform the task. “But do you have any other injuries?”
Reluctantly, Ethenn pointed to his abdomen and left leg.
After checking the areas, Ilain scowled. “You bloody idiot,” she muttered, but Thom could see the tears that pooled at the corner of her eyes. She settled her hands over Ethenn’s wrist, preparing to heal it. “Yes, Warriors heal themselves over time. But with the bruising along your ribs, the contusions across your body, a torn sartorius muscle in your thigh, and the numerous fractures in your wrist and hand...” She seared him with a glare. “It would take about a year to heal all this purely on your own magic.”
A sour grin pulled at Ethenn’s lips. “Guess Thom has his chance to get me back for setting his leg.”
Thom smirked, and Rafferty sniggered, though there was an unusual wheeze to the sound.
Ilain was far less amused.
A flare of bright orange light burst between their hands, and he convulsed. Clearly fighting to hold in a scream, he lost the battle. He cursed and glared at her even as she moved on to hisleg. He shifted uncomfortably when she touched him, and Thom didn’t have to wonder why. The muscle he’d torn was rather high on the inside of his thigh. Another flash of light, another snarl of pain from Ethenn, and Ilain pulled away.
“There,” she said sharply. “I healed the fractures and the muscle. I don’t have the energy to fix the rest in addition to Jonn and Rafferty’s wounds. And as you said, your magic will heal you just fine. Give it about two weeks, but don’t come crying to me when you can’t sleep from the pain.”
Ethenn massaged his now healed hand, still pressed against his chest. “You were right, Raff,” he said, lips tight. “She’s not much of a caring nurse, is she?”
Ilain’s lips lifted in a sly grin, and Thom pitied the young man’s folly. Her chin rose, the emerald light around them contrasting fiercely with her red hair. “I care for those who care for me,” she said stolidly.
And with that, Ilain walked away. She stepped over to Rafferty first, healing his punctured lung with a flare of light.
“Is this it then?” Brea asked, breaking the awkward silence. “We’ve retrieved the Relic, and now we wait for Blount?”
Deckard nodded. “It’s likely night at this late hour,” he said as Ilain came to heal his cracked rib. “If our calculations were correct, we should only have to wait twelve to twenty hours before he arrives.”
Her work complete, Ilain sat next to Thom. Her shoulders drooped, and her face was shadowed with exhaustion. “We need all the recovery we can get in that time,” she said. From the rasp in her voice, it was clear that weariness was settling over her. “With our injuries, the depletion of our magic, and the energy we exerted, we have to rest if we want a chance to stand against him.”
“We’ll stick to the plan,” Deckard said. “We can’t risk going back to the town and missing Blount’s arrival.”
Thom wiped the last beads of sweat from his brow. “Then we know our roles,” he said. “You and Ethenn up top. Ilain, Brea, and I will be on the beach.”
They’d made their plan the previous night. With no time to spare, they had to be ready for Blount whenever he made his appearance. That meant setting up an ambush.
Deckard and Ethenn would be their lookouts on the clifftop. Once they spotted Blount, Deckard would teleport them down into the Terrae Keep’s antechamber and alert Evylin, Rafferty, Isla, and Vayden.
And in the meantime, Thom, Brea, and Ilain would be a contingency on the beach. They would flank Blount’s men, but if they were given the signal (they had come up with three separate signals to ensure their success), the trio would run as far as they could, taking the Wind and Space Relics with them.
No one liked the plan, but it was their only shot. If Blount defeated their ambush, they couldn’t let him capture all the Relics. They couldn’t take the Terrae Relic out of the Keep’s antechamber yet; if Blount had any Terrae Mages with him, they’d feel its entrance into the world again. So while Deckard and Evylin would fight with the Night and Terrae Relics, they hoped their Bond was enough to stop Blount. If it wasn’t, they would all be secure in the knowledge that Thom would get Ilain and Brea to safety. They would regroup with the Alliance, form a new plan, and take Blount down another day.
The plan was the only hope they had.
One by one, they gathered, said their goodbyes, and parted. Thom hugged Evylin tightly, worried it’d be the last time he’d see her.
“Be safe, all right?” he whispered during their lingering embrace. She’d come to mean so much to him over the last four months. She was a sister, a friend, a comrade, and a confidante.He trusted her more than anyone, aside from possibly Deckard, and his heart ached at the thought of never seeing her again.
Evylin gave him a final squeeze, just as Meria would have. “You as well.”
Deckard’s hug was scarcely less affectionate. The brothers clung to one another, the hurt of past decades all but gone. If nothing else, this mission had repaired their troubled relationship. It had changed Thom wholly. He no longer sought what he couldn’t have. He only cared to be by his brother’s side.
“I’ll see you later,” Deckard said when they broke apart.
Thom nodded, refusing to give in to his fear. “Don’t miss me too much.”
With a pat on Rafferty’s back and a ruffle of Ethenn’s hair, Thom shook Vayden’s hand, nodded to Isla, and joined Brea at the stairs. Ilain took longer to say goodbye to Vayden and Isla, their words whispers in the antechamber. Ethenn stood as far from the woman as possible, his chin tucked into his chest.
Thom ran a hand along his jaw, studying them.
