Page 81 of The Storm of the Empire

Jaxus pried Nyx off Kol, both of them collapsing in a coughing fit. Luka ran forward to help as Nyx fought to be near his brother. Finally, between Luka, Jaxus, and three other healers, they were able to drag Nyx away to be decontaminated.

I left the room shaking and found Faolan lingering outside awkwardly. “You brought them back?”

He nodded.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“I had to.”

“Wait, do you need to be further decontaminated? How are you not more ill?”

He shook his head. “Luka stole a sail for us to wrap him in. I carried it. I’m fine. I’ve bathed, and I won’t be touching him.”

We stood in the hall waiting for any news. After a while, Luka, Jaxus, Nyx, and Zaria came out in different clothes with freshly washed hair.

Nyx wheezed with every inhale, barely keeping himself upright. “I need to be in there with him.”

“Let the healers do their work.” Zaria clung to him, probably fearing he’d break back into the room.

“I don’t care about my health. I’ll wear a mask. I need to be with him.”

“Listen to yourself. You can barely breathe, and you were only in there a few moments.” Zaria was stern with him.

“I don’t care. I would trade my health for his. He needs me.”

I’d never seen Nyx so distraught.

“Just give it some time.” Jaxus put his hand on Nyx’s shoulder.

“What if he dies? I need to be with him!” Nyx’s voice broke me. “I can’t let him die alone. Not again.”

I turned away, wiping my tears. They’d been like brothers to me, all of us growing up here with our parents at war. All we had was each other, and Kol had been the life of our family. I knew we couldn’t handle him dying again. Once nearly killed Nyx. It nearly broke us all.

“He’s not going to die. Kiera won’t let him,” Jaxus said, firm in his conviction.

The waiting was hell. Healers brought chairs, but Nyx wouldn’t sit. He paced the length of the hallway.

Finally, Kiera came out of the room and stripped off her protective gear, handing it off to a healer to discard. “We have him cleared as best we can, and he’s stable. We don’t know the extent of the damage it has done because we don’t know how long he’s been like that. Months, maybe longer.”

“He’s been gone over a year.” Nyx’s voice cracked.

“I know.” Kiera pulled him into a hug.

“They’ve been doing that to him for a damn year?”

Kiera nodded. “Yes. Probably.”

“How can he possibly still be alive?”

Kiera couldn’t answer him.

“I will destroy all of them. I will burn them to the ground.” Nyx looked like a shell of himself, but his voice was strong.

“There will be time for that later,” Jaxus muttered, sounding just as murderous.

“And what will this have done to him?” Nyx asked Kiera, clearly needing answers.

“We can’t know until we get a mind healer here. We’ve already sent for the best from the Forest Kingdom.”

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