Page 117 of Cursed Dreams
“I won’t. I swear.” Her voice broke slightly. “Please. I have to do this.”
They all stood silent looking at each other, Thalia could feel the anxiety slowly drowning her, she had to be there with them. Had to be there searching with them, if she stayed here and they got caught, if Vaelith returned and found them. The thoughts were too much for her to bare.
Finally with a long sigh Cellen said “She comes, BUT If anything goes wrong, you run, agreed?”
Thalia nodded grateful. She had no intention of running and leaving her friends if it all went wrong. She had managed to blastVaelith with her strange white light once before, the thought had her inwardly cringing, but maybe if she really tried, she could do it again.
Just then the eery echoing of chanting drifted up through the gardens. Thalia looked outside to fine rows after rows of Priestesses all holding candles in some form of procession.
“The night of light, damn I forgot about that.” Nyla said rubbing her temples in frustration.
“The what ?” Thalia asked still watching the processing making its way towards the temple gates and out onto the streets.
“The nigh of light, have you never heard of it?” Marand looked at Thalia in shock, “Where all the priestesses from all the temples converge in a night procession through the streets giving thanks to the Gods?” “It’s really beautiful my mother use to let me stay awake late to watch it as a child”
Thalia looked around at her, she had never heard of it, never seen it in her own village.
“The streets will be full, how are we going to do this unseen?” she asked, she couldn’t hide the panic and fear creeping into her voice.
“We can’t “ Cellen answered slumping down on Nyla’s bed.
Thalia stood staring out the window, despair slowly creeping through every part of her. She was so close, there had to be a way.
Marand pulled out a second scrap of parchment, and began scribbling “ Okay, new plan.”
“We go tomorrow night. After dinner. Thalia, you’ll have time to slip out and meet us near the alley behind the lodge. Bringnothing that glows. No white robes. Nothing that defines you as a healer”
“I’ll have this message delivered to Vaelith’s lodgings tomorrow, and another sent to Kinela, arranging for them to meet in the tavern tomorrow night”
“Kinela ?” Thalia asked,
“ That’s the name of the fae scholar he umm.. He's been having drinks with “ she replied blushing.
“Oh, “ “ How do you know that”
Her three friends looked rather sheepish at the question.
“We did some digging, back when we thought, you know “ Marand didn’t finish what she was saying, and Thalia didn’t need her to. A wave of gratitude and pride rose within her. Her friends, had done this for her back when they thought he was the reason for her distancing herself from them. Her friends, she blinked to hold back the sudden wave of emotion. These three people were willing to do so much for her. Finally she wasn’t alone, on the outside looking in, she had real friends who cared. Guilt washed over her at how she had treated them these last few months. Wordlessly she walked over and hugged them one by one.
They met just after breakfast, as the sun poured soft gold through the tall arched windows of the hospital wing. Thalia, Nyla, Marand, and Cellen clustered together near the observation corridor, still nursing mugs of tea and all sporting dark circles under their eyes. It was clear none of them had been able to get much sleep last night, the weight of what they were about to attempt tonight glaringly obvious. Master Elricappeared a few minutes later, striding with purpose, his long dark robes swaying behind him. “You’re all here. Excellent.”
Cellen lifted his cup in a half-salute. “Wouldn’t miss it. What’s exploding today?”
Elric gave him a small smile “Hopefully nothing. But with this one? No promises.”
They followed him deeper into the hospital wing, the air growing cooler and laced with a faint metallic tang of powerful magic. Thalia felt her skin prickle, something about the magic seemed familiar, like it was calling to her.
“The patient arrived at our sister temple in the fae lands four days ago,” Elric explained as he led them down a long corridor lined with magically reinforced doors. “Fae male, mid-thirties, stable physically but magically volatile. Very volatile.”
“He’s the one who accidentally collapsed a section of the wall on Level Three?” Nyla asked.
“That’s him,” Elric confirmed. “When he first arrived at the sister temple he presented with a fever. They attempted standard light healing, no infusions, and the resulting surge of uncontrolled elemental energy cracked the ground clean in half. Once here he had a similar reaction to some herbals infused by magic. Thankfully, Lord Vaelith was kind enough to ward his room prior to his arrival, yet despite this he still managed to destroy the warded stonework and set off two fire alarms. If the ward anchor hadn’t held, we might’ve lost half the entire wing”
Thalia’s heart stuttered, Vaelith had warded the room, it was his magic she could feel.
Cellen blinked. “Impressive. In a terrifying, ‘please don’t let that happen while I’m near him’ sort of way.”
“We’ve since stopped all magical treatment,” Elric said. “He’s conscious, stable, but something is building inside him. We don’t know what or why he is having this reaction. Which is why I want your eyes on this. Fresh perspective. We’re trying to find a pattern.”
