Chapter 16: Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

When I wake, I’m beyond tired and sore. I truly over did it yesterday. I also have a slight fever, and I don’t know if it’s the beginning of magic overload, or if I caught a cold. To be honest, it’s quite possibly both. Stiffly, I touch the ground and find that I scaled more than anticipated yesterday, and it’s only a half of day journey. Does that mean I get to sleep a little longer?

“Just tell her, you idiot,” Stanya hisses, interrupting my attempt to go back to dreamland.

“Tell me what?” I groan, sitting up. I’m surprised to find that my head is resting on Gedric’s lap. There is a blanket thrown over me, and we’re still very close to the fire. With my eyes half opened, I look at Gedric. He’s wearing the same clothes as yesterday with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Stanya is wearing a fresh change of clothes, already masked and ready to go. How long have I been asleep? I look outside and it’s just barely past sunrise.

“How’s Halthin doing?” I yawn, rubbing my eyes.

Stanya grimaces. “Worse. It seems he’s about good as our first night.”

I stand up, “That’s not good.” My entire body is whimpering, begging for me to rest. I’m definitely in the early stages of magic overload. It’ll be alright if I beat it…I think.

“Are you okay?” Stanya asks, watching me carefully.

I stiffen a little, aware Gedric is watching me as well. If I tell them about my overload, they’ll make me rest. If I rest, Halthin won’t make it. It would be suicide to try to drain him again like this. I knew I pushed myself too hard. “Just tired,” I yawn, trying to cover the lie in my voice. I’m never good at lying when it comes to being closely watched. Luckily, my cheeks are already flushed from being close to the fire.

Stanya nods, accepting my lie. “Gedric and I will get Halthin outside. Get dressed and we can leave after that.” I nod and watch them go. The second they’re gone, I drop to my knees, trying to catch my breath. I can do this. I must do this.

“Hey Nat, do you want me to…” Gedric asks, walking back into the cave. “Are you alright?” He demands, seeing I’m on my knees.

I shake him off. “Fine, just grabbing my things.” I tell him, reaching for my bag.

“You’re going into magic overload again, aren’t you?” He accuses, immediately going straight to me.

“What, no,” I scoff, wiping at my running nose. “It’s just a cold. I’ll rest when we’re at Ridgewilf.”

“Don’t lie to me,” he growls, catching me off guard. “I’ve seen you like this before, remember?”

I give up the lie, too tired to hide it. “Yes, okay?” I glance at the cave opening and lower my voice. “Don’t tell Stanya. She’ll make me transport myself to the city to get treated. If I do that, Halthin has no shot of surviving this. I’m literally the only one with enough strength to get him up this mountain in time.”

“What do you mean?”

“To do what I’ve been doing, for an extremely long length of time, is impossible for a normal strength Sheik. For a normal Sheik, to climb up the mountain the way I have, would take five times as long. I’m Halthin’s only shot. Don’t make me kill him.” I beg from Gedric, knowing it’s a low blow. “With my condition, and his, he’ll be lucky to make it to nightfall. Ari’s dark magic is stronger than I thought. It’s making pudding out of his system. If he survives, he’ll be lucky to even be able to use his magic.”

“What do you mean?”

“If the healers cannot remove the blood magic, they’ll have to take his powers.” I take a deep breath. “If that happens, Halthin will never make it to Elder; which is always something he’s dreamed about since we were young.”

Gedric remains silent. “Don’t push yourself. If I even feel a hint of your magic going into full overload, I’m telling Stanya.”

I nod, “Fair. Now what did you want?”

“I wanted to know if you wanted me to load up your stuff, which seems trivial now.” He stands. “I’ll take your bag when you come out. Let me know if you need anything.”

Not wanting to waste this opportunity, I quickly get dressed. I don’t even look at Gedric when I walk out. Thank Fate my face is covered. Stanya would spot my sickness in a second at this rate. “Stanya, we’re a half day from Ridgewilf. I’m going to use your power to get us there quicker. Halthin doesn’t have much time.” I say this casually as I ready my spell.

She nods while eying me critically, “You used too much magic, and haven’t fully recovered yet, right?”

I wince, “Maybe.” She rolls her eyes and touches my fingers. I feel violently ill as her magic pulls into me. Carefully, I retract her hand, trying to keep my voice normal. “Thanks. That should do it.” I really just want to use my stone, but I can’t. I can’t draw power from my stone unless I’m touching it. Since I’m scaling a mountain, that’s not feasibly possible.

The second Gedric appears with my bag, and the fire is out, I pull them into the bubble and connect the bubble to me. He falls when I start climbing, covering myself with magic, moving at twice the speed I had yesterday.

Four hours in, I feel myself burning, and my strength waning quickly. I take a deep breath, “Stanya, I need you to make me mad.”

“Why?” She demands, us both aware my arms are trembling.

“I’m entering magic overload, and I’m weakening.” I pant, still forcing my very stiff body to climb. Yeah, I’m dumb.

“What!” She screeches at me, nearly falling out of the bubble. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Because you wouldn’t let me do this for Halthin. We both know he’ll die without help.”

“And so will you!”

“Right now, that’s the least of our concerns.”

“You’re such a fucking moron Nat,” She yells, after hesitating for a moment. “You always have to do things the hard way. Is it so hard just to ask for help? Is it so hard just to try to think things through? We could have gotten help for Halthin another way.”

“There is no other way,” I growl, my anger starting to grow. This gives my body much needed fuel as I start climbing quicker, trying not to lose my grasp.

“I know!” She shrieks. “You could have asked for help earlier. You could have told me. Why did you keep it quiet? I could have helped. You never let me help. I’m more than just an Illusionist. Let me help you.”

“I know Stanya, and I’m more than willing to let you help. Like you’re really going to have to take control up there, because I’m going to be as useful as a bag of dead fish.”

“I swear, if you see Brin before I do, you’ll wish you’re a dead fish.” Stanya seethes, reaching out the bubble to touch my neck. “We’re already fucked, so take my magic and get us there faster. Shut up so I can concentrate around your overload.”

I work in silence, feeling their eyes on every missed grip, and misstep. I’m in agony, and every breath is becoming more and more shallow. I’m not going to be able to move for a week. I still have to do this. If I fail, Halthin dies.

When I reach the top of the pass, I’m spent. Once I’ve gotten the others next to me, I drop them; unable to set them down gently. Stanya is immediately at my side. “Nat, come on girl. We have to go. I can hear Magicnite. I don’t know how they found us, but they did.”

“They’re drawn towards the dark energy Halthin is giving off. They think it’s a Sheik that escaped Ari. They’re not wrong,” I answer; deep panting breaths tearing through me.

“Either way, we need to get going.” Gedric responds, picking me up. “They’ve likely contacted Ari already.”

“Oh believe me, there is no likely about it. They did.” I assure them, allowing Gedric to pick me up. He gently lays me on Halthin and helps Stanya pull the makeshift sled.

“Where to?” Gedric demands, gritting his teeth, trying to push through the knee deep snow.

“A mile and we’ll be at Ridgewilf.” Stanya assures him. “Pull faster. The Magicnite are getting closer.”

“How do you know?”

“It’s a gift,” she snaps.

Carefully, trying to prolong my inevitable magic overload, I touch Gedric’s calf, giving him some strength from my magic.

He gasps and jumps. “Don’t do that without warning me,” he hisses, giving a slight shudder.

“What did she do?” Stanya demands, giving me an automatic glare.

“She gave me some magic.” He brushes it off and starts pulling the sled. Stanya shoots me another dirty look before following him.

“I swear, if we had the time, you’d be getting such a lecture,” Stanya warns, shooting me another dirty glance.

“It was just to hold it off a little longer.” I assure her.

She ignores me and starts grumbling to herself. Aside from Stanya’s hostile mumbling they pull us in silence. I can feel my body slipping from my control as we near the city. This is not good. I can also feel Halthin’s breathing becoming more and more shallow. He’s got another hour in him at best. That is not a very good sign.

To make things worse, snow starts to pick up, making it colder. Stanya yells something, but I can’t hear her over the roar of the approaching storm. I feel them moving faster, so I lift my head. There is a black ball heading towards us. Ari.

I wave my hand, slashing the ball in half. Black fog starts swirling towards us, but I push it back with my own wind attack. I see the black haze wrap around the men flanking Ari, making them fall. To my horror, I see their magic funneling itself from their corpses into him. He linked their bodies to him. He has another source. Shit.

I wave off another attack, but it was much harder this time. I’m growing weaker than him, and it won’t be long until he reaches us. A small smirk touches my mouth. What happens if I kill the symbols at the same time? I touch Halthin and touch him with my magic, letting it infect me.

With one deep breath, I picture my symbols belonging to Stanya. Quickly, I roll off the sled while I hear her scream, the sled crashing into her. I roll into Ari and grab hold of him, knocking us both down. Immediately, I push my hand onto his chest and push my infected magic into him.

He locks onto me as he roars some curse words at me. “Are you aiming to kill us both?” He demands, the blood magic quickly infecting him.

“Fairs fair,” I cackle, my eyes locking with his as we roll down the steep mountainside.

“You’re insane!” He screams. “You’ll wipe out this mountain.”

“At least you’ll be dead.” I retort, swirling the magic towards his heart. I can feel his life draining, as well as mine. I’m getting so many painful images from him. Of his youth. He shelters those memories in his heart, hidden by his darkness.

Ari yells out in pain, fear visible for the first time in his life. This is truly the first time he’s feeling the cold touch of death. “Why are you doing this?”

“You’re trying to kill me, and you want justification for it?” I demand from him.

“You don’t understand. You won’t die. None of us will. Just kill that raven, girl. Just let me kill it.”

I bark a laugh. “Let me kill that imposter you wear, and I’ll think about it.”

“He’s the only real one,” Ari snaps. “They’re weak. The weak don’t survive in this world.”

“They’re the only ones that do,” I bark, my air nearly leaving me. “I’ll see you in Hell,” I spit at him, feeling his life fading.

“You bitch!” He yells, pulling a black bubble around us. Air is being pulled into me, the blood magic draining from both of us and pulled into his bubble. “I’ll make you pay for this. I’ll take your magic, and then your life.” He screams, his eyes turning black. The moment I feel his blood magic leave me, I grin. I let go of him and form a pooled vase, carefully placing it into the blood magic surrounding us. I fill it while Ari starts funneling my magic, green beginning to coat his eyes. Quickly, I seal the vase and transport it to safety.

“Get off me,” I grunt, throwing a punch at him, trying to break his concentration.

“Is that a name I sense in your magic?” Ari asks me.

“Not in this lifetime,” I breathe, headbutting him. Pain ripples in my forehead, but it’s enough to make him lose his concentration. We land hard against something, breaking us apart. I hit the sharp end of a rock to stop me, my breathing struggling and becoming wet. I’m nearly into overload at this point. I have to make this count.

I reach for the star around my neck as Ari sits up. There is a grin on his face as he rests against a tree; cradling his ribs and trying to catch his breath. He’s about fifty feet from me. “Nat huh?”

“Not even close,” I pant, my body becoming coated in green, desiring safety. Ari’s eyes widen, realizing what is going on. He races for me, but I vanish before he can reach me.

I hear yelling wherever I pop up, but I landed on something hard. “Natasha?” Gedric cries, realizing it’s me that landed on top of him.

“What did you do Natasha?” Stanya yells, coming into my field of vision.

“I picked the next protector,” I gasp, pain in every inch of my sticky body.

“What do you mean?” She demands, pained confusion in her eyes.

“Stanya, there’s blood,” Gedirc says quickly, holding his red palm out to her.

“You know what I mean,” I tell her; closing my eyes to seek relief.