I focused once again on pushing the stubborn blight from Leafia’s now much larger wound that had been made by the reluctant Gray. With Faun in such a weak state Gray was the only one among us that had the ability to amputate an arm without lots of collateral damage.
We had moved Leafia out of the fountain onto its low wall and replaced her sodden clothes with the coarse wool blanket that Faun had been using. I needed to work quickly. The fresh wound was losing blood quickly and needed to be closed before Leafia lost much more blood. Even the fountain was starting to turn a dark shade of red, as more of her blood flowed into it. I felt sorry for Mist who had no way to escape, but she did not protest as I worked on purging the blight.
Now that most of the blight was gone, along with her arm, the blight seemed to have lost its strength and there was less resistance as my power saturated Leafia’s blood. Once again sweeping my powers through her body, I forced the last remnants of blight out before it splashed into the fountain.
I had to be sure the blight was gone before I closed the wound. I looked to Faun who was propping her body against the fountain wall. With the faintest glow of Fauns eyes she gave me a nod. Finally it was safe to close Leafia’s wound and stop the bleeding.
I watched as the medicine flowed through Leafia's body. Some of it escaped into the water below, adding to the swirl of powers lingering in the water, but most of it quickly went to work causing skin to grow over the exposed flesh. Only when I was sure all the bleeding had stopped did I cease the flow of medicine. I continued to stare down at my friend for several minutes.
“We need to get out of here and back to the river.” At Gray’s quiet words I looked around at the courtyard and the devastation that had been wrought.
“Is Tide alright?” I asked Gray with concern. My mind had been so caught up with Leafia that I forgot that she was not the only injured person in our party. I knew Tide was strong and could take care of herself, but I felt guilty for not thinking of her sooner.
Gray gave a complicated expression. “I don’t think she is in any danger. She was paralized like Ivy had been. Or at least that's what it seems like to me. But…” He then pointed at his heart. “There is clearly a wound she needs help healing.
I looked over Leafia one more time and said, “I will check on Tide. Can you try to find us something to transport Mist in?” Gray nodded.
I was grateful that none of my companions were with me when I made the bowl for Mist when we were going to face Fume. I was too embarrassed to admit that I had spent all my energy on the fight and healing Leafia. If I tried to make a bowl they would have to carry me out of here along with Faun, Mist, Leafia and apparently Tide. I was already not sure how the three of us who were not injured were supposed to transport the four that were.
“Let me talk to Michael,” Faun said, gesturing to Istan to help her up, “He should be able to get us something.” I looked hesitantly over at Michael who was sitting over the still body of his sister. Any sign of that half life she had during the battle left when Maximus did.
“He was only trying to protect his sister. He is just as much a victim as we are,” Faun rebuked me for my hesitation.
I could only shrug and let Faun do what she thought was right. I left Mist and Leafia to Gray’s care and made my way to Tide. She still had not moved from the place where she was struck down by Maximus. The residual magic in the air was not dissipating as I would have expected after our battle. It made the spiritual sight seem foggy and it was a little hard to see Tide’s internal powers clearly. All I could really make out was a blue glow. She was definitely still alive and had power to spare. I slowly approached her while looking to see if anything was wrong. Her back was towards me but from the wet stones under her head I knew that she had been crying.
“Are you hurt?” I asked standing a few strides behind her, but there was no answer. I looked again at the flow of power in her and although there were definitely disruptions caused by Maximus’s filth I did not see anything that would not be fixed once we got her cleaned. Giving up on waiting for an answer, I said, “We will be leaving as soon as we can. You will feel better once we get you back to the river and you can wash that filth off.”
I was answered again with silence. Was she so paralized that she could not speak? “Can you speak?”
There was still just silence. I started to walk around her when she finally answered with a simple, “Yes”.
“Are you alright?” I asked, then when I realized how stupid the question was, I supplemented, “I mean is there something wrong beside that goop paralyzing you?”
“I am just fine,” Tide said in a voice that anyone would recognize as sarcasm. My insides struggled between feeling guilty for getting Tide involved in the mess, a desire to help her, and still trying to keep my space with Tide.
Just as I decided that I needed to probe a little, shouts filled the yard.
“She’s dead now. How could you make that better?! It is your fault that she is dead! I should have listened to them and never talked to you!” I looked over to see Michael standing over his sister’s body facing Faun. Faun’s face fell and her eyes began to water.
“I never wanted this,” Faun said quietly before starting to turn away from Michael. Istan seemed to understand her and led her back to the fountain. For a second Michael’s face was full of triumph before it too fell. Sadness filled his eyes as he looked at Faun’s slowly retreating back. “What did I just do,” he whispered to himself before picking up his sister's body and turning to leave the courtyard.
My eyes followed Faun as she slumped down over the fountain wall. I was able to see a few flecks of silver drip into the fountain. Now what do I do? Do I stay here trying to figure out what's wrong with Tide, watch over Leafia who just lost so much blood, or help Faun who is hurting in too many ways? And then there is Mist trapped in a pool of blood and filth. It was not supposed to be like this.
I ended up just standing there. Hovering with indecision about what I should do next. I looked over at Gray and Istan only to see similar looks of uncertainty.
