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Rain drifted in and out of consciousness. At times in the haziness of waking, she felt a bitter, warm liquid slide down her throat or a cool cloth on her forehead. Time slipped by unnoticed. It could have been a few minutes or a few days.
A warm hand on her brow awakened her. Her eyes fluttered open. She could finally see clearly, and her thinking was unclouded. It was as if the dark veil had been lifted. She opened her eyes and saw she was on the bed in her usual room. It was dark outside, and a candle was lit near the doorway. The hand, which turned out to be Whiskey’s, lifted off her forehead and he grinned at her. He sat by her bedside, and his eyes held a weariness she hadn’t noticed before.
“You’re awake!” he said, as if he wasn’t sure she would be.
“What happened?” she asked.
“You were stabbed in the side, and have a nasty bruise on the back of your head. The healers have been working on you, but you’re still weak. You should be fine, though.” He smiled and held her hand between his own.
“How long have I been sleeping?” she asked.
He looked out the window. “You were out for most of the day.” His eyes clouded over as he explained what had happened. “The healer who attacked you had been assigned to work with Shea, but she had been more affected by the Soulblight than the others thought. It was the first incident of someone becoming possessed, other than Shea. When another healer, one who was taking care of patients, finally caught up with her, you had just been attacked. She had brought a guard to help restrain the other healer, but you went limp before the guard could pry her away from you.” Through her clouded memory, she remembered the thudding sound, and the muffled ones after. The healer must have opened the door and found her just as the blackness had taken her.
Rain shifted in the bed, trying to sit up, and felt pain in her side where she had been stabbed.
“Try not to move. You should stay in bed until morning. You’re not completely healed yet. Sleep if you can. The elemental magic the healer applied should work fairly quickly, but it’s a deep wound.”
She moved the bedcovers and tried to find the wound with her hands. “Let me see if I can fix it…”
Whiskey grabbed her arm to stop her from moving. “Rain, you can’t do that. If you try magic when you’re weak, you could exhaust yourself too far.”
Rain gave him a scrutinizing look. “I thought I had just as much energy as I always do. And if I exhaust myself, well, you want me to stay in bed till morning.” He was silent, so she added, “What’s wrong with you? You seem almost… depressed.”
“I’m fine,” he said, still holding her arm. Rain wasn’t convinced. Quick as she could, she called in red energy and lifted her other hand so Whiskey could see the red tendrils of light. “If you don’t let me go, I’ll make you. And you know I’m stronger.”
There was a pained look in his eyes, but he let her go.
“I’m sorry,” she said, and decided to wait until he wasn’t in the room to use the magic, in case it upset him further.
Her gaze wandered to the darkened window again, and it finally settled in that a whole day had gone by. There was one less day to prepare for the attack. She had to do something, convince someone.
“How far has the Council gotten with the prophecy? You said they’d look at it today.” she asked, wondering if they’d come to her conclusion.
“We put the meeting off, since you were hurt. You should be there.”
“But we need to start working on it! You don’t have time to wait for me to heal,” she insisted.
“Rain, your dreams were just dreams. Besides, if you knew where the door in the Hollow was, how could you know it would be safe to open? It could very well be how Myrna sent the moon elves away, and by opening it, you could wreak the same havoc she did.”
“We have to do something—” she tried to sit up again, but he eased her back down.
“Rest, child. We are doing what we can. And please don’t try to heal yourself, let the elemental magic do its work.” He left the room, closing the door carefully behind him.
It was strange for her to directly go against Whiskey’s wishes, but she knew something felt wrong with him, and he wasn’t thinking straight.
While keeping her head on the pillow, Rain pushed the covers off and saw the wound bandage under her shirt. She lifted her shirt a little so she could put her hands directly on the bandage, and called in healing energy. Her hands glowed yellow, and she imagined muscle and skin repairing itself, much like when she healed Shea’s wolf bite. It was the strangest feeling, like warm threads of air were going inside her and weaving her back together.
It seemed to take more energy from her than it had when she healed Shea. She wondered if it was because she was working on herself, or because this was a worse wound. Probably a combination. Once she felt finished, even though she wanted to get up, she was so exhausted she fell asleep.
***
The warm early morning sunlight streamed through Rain’s window and woke her. She remembered she’d tried healing herself, and found it didn’t hurt to sit up. She removed her bandage to see what the wound looked like.
The wound wasn’t there. She felt the skin, and it was normal, it a little bloody from the bandage. It was still surprising to her, even after witnessing her healing powers before.
Shea came to mind. She nearly decided to go visit him, but decided it would be too difficult, emotionally. Even if she were allowed to see him, he wouldn’t respond to anything she’d say. Even the sunlight seemed bleak at the thought. She’d lost so much. Her parents who were in fact her adopted parents, her home and old life, and now she was losing the one man she’d ever been interested in.
She took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. Someone had to be warned of the coming attack, and the Hollow had to be opened and the moon elves found. Determination settled in her mind, and she got out of bed.
A second set of her leather traveling clothes was in the bottom of her saddlebags, which she decided to wear. It was the most comfortable and practical outfit to wear for what she was planning.
She checked to make sure she had everything. Belt and dagger, in case she came across another person trying to kill her. Aegis to help protect against…
The possessed healer had broken it. Where was it? For a frantic moment she searched the room, but found it lying on the bedside table. It was still broken.
She sat on the bed and held it in her hands, calling on the creative orange energy, picturing the chain whole and the clasp extra tough, in case Myrna tried pulling it off again. It repaired itself in front of her, the orange tendrils of light weaving around the chain.
As she put the repaired aegis back on, she felt the tender spot on the back of her neck where her skin had been burned by the chain. She let a trickle of healing energy cover the burn and the pain went away instantly. She smiled, glad she could deal with these things on her own. In this world, it seemed having magic at your disposal was almost a necessity.
She wasn’t sure yet who to go to for help, but she thought she’d start at the archery range, with Aeraldor. Perhaps Whiskey and Rowena were feeling effects from being around people with the Soulblight in the infirmary, but Aeraldor was working with soldiers, not patients.
In the front room was another plate of food for breakfast. There was no time to eat inside and she didn’t want a repeat of yesterday, so she grabbed a sweet, crisp apple and headed out the door, eating while she walked.
When she neared the practice areas, she could hear a few guards out training. The clashing of swords rang through the trees, and every so often she’d hear the thunk of an arrow hitting a target. She hoped Aeraldor would be out this early.
She spotted Kalmin in front of the targets, shooting alone. He aimed and released his arrow, and it hit dead center.
“Great job, Kalmin. Keep going.” She felt relief steal over her at the sound of Aeraldor’s voice. She wouldn’t have to go searching for him after all.
She hurried forward. The centaur stood by a large tree, watching Kalmin shoot. He spotted her and waved enthusiastically.
“Sister Rain, it’s good to see you! I heard you returned from your travels, and of your attack. I’m glad you’re alright.” He smiled, happier than she expected him to be.
Kalmin looked over and after seeing her, slowly let the bowstring down. “You’re back! Are you here to shoot?” He gave her a genuine smile. From their reactions, she wondered if everyone thought it had been a suicide mission.
“Actually, I’d like a word with Aeraldor.” They noticed the gravity in her words and Kalmin nodded, going back to his shooting.
“Come, walk with me.” Aeraldor put his hand on her shoulder and led her down the path toward the place they’d gone before, overlooking the Hollow. Once they were far enough into the trees that they wouldn’t be overheard by guards in training, Aeraldor spoke up.
“What is it that you wanted to talk about?”
“Dreams.” She thought for a moment, phrasing what she had to say so that he’d take her seriously. They continued walking slowly in the quiet of the forest. “I’ve had some that I believe are prophetic, because I saw a dreamwalker. They felt very real. I mentioned them to Whiskey and Rowena, but they didn’t believe what I saw was important, and so probably didn’t pass on the information to you. I think being around cursed people has been getting to them.”
He looked at her for a moment, searching her face for something. “I see.” He turned his gaze back to the path in front of them. “Tell me about the dreams.”
She explained first the dream about the door in the Hollow, describing the decorated hall and the torches that lit by themselves.
“Amazing. Quite remarkable, really. That is exactly how they describe the place in the Histories.”
“Histories? I thought it was just legend. At least, Rowena said so.”
“Many people think they are. Some of the history books are so old, they’ve fallen into legend. The stories about the door in the Hollow are in one of those books.”
“I also had another dream.” She told him how she’d seen the city burning and knew there would be craetons coming. She told him of the warning that the attack would come the next week.
At that, he stopped walking and turned to her. “You said Whiskey and Rowena didn’t believe you? They should be taking everything you say seriously, most importantly if your dreams involved dreamwalkers. I don’t know much about them, but I have heard that they can make dreams reality, or something like that.” He thought for a moment, staring off into the trees. “Both of them have been spending a great deal of time in the infirmaries, tending the sick with their poultices and herbs.” He turned to look at her again. “I think you’re right. Perhaps they need healing themselves.” He began to walk again, but back towards the training grounds, and she followed. “But that’s not as important as your message. We need to gather what forces we have and protect ourselves. We don’t have much time at all.”
Despite the overwhelming sense of doom, Rain felt a spark of hope ignite in her. At least one person believed her. “Can you do anything without the others’ consent? What if they don’t believe you?”
“I will begin by explaining to King Arthain what you have told me. I will call a brief Council meeting, and send messengers out for reinforcements. We will do our best.” As they approached the training areas, he gestured at the guards sparring and shooting and added, “It’s what they’ve really been training for.”
***
Rain sat anxiously beside Aeraldor at the Council meeting. Everyone from the first meeting was there except Shea. Rain had told them about her dreams, and the centaur explained the action he proposed to take.
“Aeraldor, you’re sure of this?” King Arthain questioned. His wife sat silently by his side, but her expression said she agreed with him. “We don’t want to prepare for a battle if we won’t be fighting one.”
“It is better to be prepared than not,” Aeraldor countered, and she heard murmurs of agreement around the table, surprisingly even from Gaelin. The only ones that sat in silence were Whiskey and Rowena.
Terramina spoke up. “I do not know very much about dreamwalkers, but I expect it is usually difficult to interpret the dreams until it’s too late. I agree it is better to be safe.”
“How much of a chance do we even have?” Whiskey looked accusingly at Aeraldor. “With half the city sick, including all the guards that have been attacked at the borders of the city, how will we be able to get enough help?”
“There are many of my warriors here, and they are all well,” Gaelin said.
“Only because they spend all their time in the taverns,” Terramina accused.
The dwarf’s face reddened. “At least they can go into battle! Your people spend all their time in the woods with the cursed animals!”
The elven king had been deliberating during the Council’s bickering, but now his voice was loud and clear, silencing the others. “We must work together to gather enough forces to counterattack the craetons. I see now that we must assume they are coming, or the worst could happen.” He looked at Whiskey. “I’m surprised at you, Deaglan. You’re usually the optimistic one. This is no time to put your worry in other people’s minds. This is a time for strength.”
Whiskey was silent. Rain thought she should say something about the infirmary affecting his mood, but wondered what anyone could do if that was true. From what she understood, Whiskey and Rowena were some of the best elemental magic users, and anyone who would replace them would end up just like them, anyway. They had bigger problems to deal with.
Rowena took out her notebook and tore out the page she’d written the prophecy on, and then slid it across the table to King Arthain.
He nodded. “I was told you received this from the Goddess,” he said to Rain. “Thank you ever so much for your good work, Sister. We have a few scholars versed in Old Elvish, and I will put them to work translating it.”
“I understand the prophecy myself, though I don’t know Old Elvish,” Rain said. “And I remember it perfectly. Could I help in its translation, or at least with deciphering what it means? I think it would be worth looking into what they mean by ‘opening’ the Hollow.”
“Our experts have read the Histories and the legends and might know a bit more than you about what the prophecy could mean.” Rowena sounded apologetic, but Rain was surprised at her blunt words. “I’m sure we could use you in the infirmary, though. Even if you tried puzzling it out with them, they wouldn’t be able to keep up with you, and you could come to the wrong conclusion.”
“Let her work on it, it was she who traveled to retrieve it,” the faerie queen said. “It might be more help than another set of hands in the infirmary.”
“She won’t just be another set of hands,” Rowena said. “She’s mastered the art of healing with innate magic. She can cure physical wounds and fevers in a few brief moments.”
There were a few gasps of awe around the table.
“The art of the innate is back in practice,” Queen Maevara said with a smile. “I thought I’d never see the day.”
“I can’t cure mental wounds,” Rain added. “We still need to find the cure to the Soulblight.”
“Nevertheless, it does sound like you belong in the infirmary,” Queen Maevara said. Her face was kind. “We know that you care for Shea, and it might feel good to you if you worked close to him.”
Rain’s face grew warm. “How…” she began, but then felt it would be too juvenile a question. Had it been that obvious?
“You called him through the aegis.” The elf queen touched the chain around her neck. The stone on the end of it was hidden under her collar, but Rain remembered what Rowena had said and knew it was the same as hers. “A few days ago, we all felt it.”
“That’s right,” Queen Terramina said. “You called his name, and in that call we could feel both your love for him and your urgency to find him. We haven’t used that aspect of the aegises for a long time, since there have been none on the Council with the required innate magic to call on it.” She smiled. “Myself, I’ve never felt the aegis’ communication powers before. I was only told about it when I joined the council a few years ago. It was a reminder to me, at least, that a new time is coming.”
King Arthain nodded. “Well said, Terramina.”
Rain wasn’t sure what to say, so she just nodded and smiled weakly. She had only called Shea through the aegis out of desperation, and didn’t think it would work, but she was glad it gave at least a few of them hope. She also supposed that practicing healing in the infirmary would increase the amount of yellow energy at her disposal.
After a few more minor matters, the Council finished and they filed out of the bubble of air that kept their words within and the world without. Rain considered her options. The infirmary sounded like a good idea, but if it would do to her what it seemed to have done to Whiskey and Rowena, it could ruin everything. Besides, there would be the greater possibility of running into Myrna in someone else’s body. She would have to be careful.
She couldn’t spend very long there, though. They couldn’t spend days and days decoding the prophecy like some tricky puzzle. Someone had to act right away, and the only one who could do that was her. The city seemed to have its battle plans under control, especially under the command of Aeraldor. If she left for the Hollow as soon as possible, there was a small chance she could find a cure and help them, whether she came back before or after the battle. A small chance, but it was more than they’d have if no one did anything.
***
Rain began forming plans to leave as she was taken to the infirmary by Rowena and Whiskey. She planned to only see what the environment was like, and to tell if that was why Whiskey and Rowena didn’t seem themselves. Once she found a clue of to how to find the door in the Hollow, she’d be on her way.
The infirmary was on the ground level, split between many trees inset with rooms, much like their small living space on the third level.
“We don’t have much space,” Rowena warned her as they approached the trees as thick as houses, “because we’ve had to put beds closer together to fit everyone. We’ve even had to use the room designated for storing herbs used in elemental magic. It’s a tight working space, but we’re managing.” She nodded at Whiskey as he left to attend to the patients in one of the rooms.
After a minute, Rain realized the trees had concealed doors, and counted them. “But… there are only five trees with rooms,” she remarked. “How do you fit all of the patients? There must be at least a hundred.”
“We are beginning to have to refuse patients, and we have to let some go that can be taken care of at home. Those without high fevers, despite their varying states of catatonia—keeping still for hours at a time and not reacting to the outside world—are told to be taken home and looked after there. We can now only house the ones with the direst need, but we are still running out of room.” Rowena approached one of the doors. “I’d like to see what you can do to help the ones with the worst fevers, at the beginning stage of the Soulblight. I’m sorry for bringing you to the sickest patients first, but I believe you would do the best work here. Besides, it’s not really safe for you to be around the ones that could become possessed.” She opened the door quietly and motioned for Rain to go inside.
The first thing Rain noticed was the quiet, and it made her uneasy. It was as if she and Rowena were the only ones in the room. The round space, larger than it looked from the outside, was split into ten equal sections, separated with sheets hanging from the ceiling. She guessed there was usually one person per section. Now, there were two. Twenty people lay feverish, not quite in the stupor stage of the Soulblight. Windows were spaced evenly around the room, but still the light was dim.
Rain couldn’t find anything to say. It was her first glimpse into the depth of the destruction the Soulblight was causing, and it stunned her.
“Come,” Rowena said quietly. She led her to a pair of patients on the far side of the room. Their green skin and leafy hair marked them as dryads. Both were female. They were gaunt-looking and dry. The tips of their hair-leaves were turning yellow, and even slightly brown. “The Soulblight has hit the dryads and faeries the hardest. They spend more of their time roaming the forest than the elves, dwarves, or gnomes, and come in contact with the cursed animals more often. You can see they are dehydrated.” She remembered from childhood stories that dryads were so close to the earth that they were more plant than elf or human. To survive, dryads only needed water and sunlight. These two dryads were positioned directly under a window, but they must not have been correctly absorbing the light or any water given to them, and were starving.
“Is there any other way to feed them, if they can’t absorb the water?” she asked.
Rowena looked at her curiously. “You do know a lot about dryads, don’t you? Good question. No, there really isn’t a good way to feed them. That’s why you’re here, to hopefully rid them of their fevers.”
Rain nodded and looked again at their faces. Both seemed to be asleep, if troubled. “Which should I work on first?”
“Ferdraea,” Rowena said, gesturing to the one on the left. “We’ve tried calming the fever’s affects on her with herbs, but they don’t seem to be working. All we can do is help her sleep.” Rowena found a three-legged wooden stool and pulled it up to the bed behind the dryad’s head. “I’ll watch for a minute and help you get started, but I should keep administering healing spells and herbs to the other patients.”
Rain stepped over to the stool and sat down. She couldn’t duck out of the infirmary now that she’d started, and certainly a part of her wanted to use her powers to help these poor creatures. One day here couldn’t hurt, she figured, though looking around the cramped place made her nervous.
She gingerly took Ferdraea’s head in her hands, feeling the crispy ends of the browning leaves in her palms. She closed her eyes to the sickly bodies around her and focused, willing the healing, life-giving energy to flow through her. Almost immediately, her hands began to warm up and tingle, and she focused the energy to enter the dryad’s body.
In mere minutes, Ferdraea’s head seemed to relax in her hands, even soften. She wondered what it was she was feeling, and opened her eyes.
The leaves under her hands had all turned green again, all the way to the tips, with no remaining sign of dryness. Her features had calmed, and she seemed to be in a deeper, calmer sleep than before.
She looked up at Rowena and was slightly taken aback at her expression. Her eyes were wide in disbelief and her hand was at her mouth.
“Are you alright?” Rain asked.
“I… I thought I was surprised at your healing powers before, but this is amazing. We had thought she’d die. The few truly sick dryads we’ve treated have rarely lived past the first stage of fever, given their fragile bodies…” she trailed off, transfixed by the sudden transformation Ferdraea’s body had taken. “I’m sorry, it’s just amazing to see her healed so quickly!” her face lit up, looking happier than she’d been since Rain had come back. She stood in silent appreciation while Rain continued.
After a few more minutes, Rain gingerly let Ferdraea’s head rest on the pillow, feeling the dryad had absorbed enough energy for now. Rowena hurried forward and Rain stood up just before she gave her a tight embrace. She spoke quietly into her ear. “Maybe you can’t heal their minds, but healing their bodies sure helps the hope for a cure come back to me.” She pulled away. “I’m sorry I’ve been so down lately. Something’s wrong with me. Every so often I come to my senses.” She put her hand to her forehead as if testing herself for a fever. “I’ve been thinking. Seeing how quickly you can administer even short-lived healing, if you help me with the patients today, I will help you get to the Hollow.”
Rain looked at her in surprise. “Really? You’ll help?” She grinned. Something drastic had changed in Rowena, as if the healing Rain had done for Ferdraea had helped Rowena as well. She knew that wasn’t quite it, but something about the healing process had made Rowena wake up, at least for a little while. Perhaps it just gave Rowena hope to see such instantaneous healing.
“Yes,” Rowena said. Her voice now held a hint of hope. “Let’s get as much work done as we can today. Now I don’t want to work you too hard, either. So let me know if you’re getting tired. You can start with this room. Just go to each patient, one by one, and see what you can do. I’ll be wandering between the infirmary rooms if you need me.”
“Okay, I’ll do my best,” she replied while moving the stool to the dryad beside Ferdraea. She never expected to use her powers so deliberately or for such a long time, but she was glad that she could help. Rowena gave a quick nod as she left, and Rain took her second patient’s head in her hands.