Page 75 of The Lands Defying
“What now,” I mumble against his chin as the fingers on his other hand move up and down my spine.
He sighs. “We continue forward. I don’t think it’s best to stay in one place for a long period of time if the land is just splitting.”
“Why did it do that?”
“I don’t know, little wolf, I don’t know.”
I get up, groaning at the stiffness in my limbs as the others all get to their feet. Darius places a kiss to my lips, his nose rubbing mine before moving past me to speak to his men.
I look around and spot Josh still on the ground, holding his leg with his face twisted in pain. Rushing toward him, I crouch down and put my hand over his own on his leg.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, moving his hand out of the way frantically and seeing a gash in his leg.
“Just a scratch,” he says gruffly as I wince and press my hand down on the bleeding.
“Just a scratch my ass,” I mutter and close my eyes, wondering if I can heal him somehow like I did to the boy.
I concentrate as the palm of my hand warms, moving some of my power slowly toward it, and it does. I ignore Josh’s protests, and I block him out and let my strands seep into his leg.
The damage isn’t much, but it’s far from just a scratch.
The wound is deep, but thankfully nothing serious. He would heal in no time thanks to his wolf. But we haven’t got time and I don’t want to see him in any pain either.
I feel my strands hooking themselves into the skin on either side of the cut while others are inside of it, adding power to his own cells to heal it faster. I also feel my power grabbing little bits of grain like stone and pushing them to the surface, removing them from his body. My strands circle each one, finding anything foreign that shouldn’t be there and clearing it out.
I never knew I could ever do this, and I have to wonder why I can now.
Once the bleeding has stopped and I feel the last of the wound being stitched together, I open my eyes and suck in a sharp breath. The gentle glow of my power shines against his skin, showing how it weaved itself into his flesh and closed the wound.
“Wow,” Josh says and I look up at him to see his wide eyes staring at his now closed wound. “How did you do that?”
“I have no idea,” I sigh, feeling tired. After healing the little boy, and now this, exhaustion runs through me but I can’t stop and rest now. “Anna would be proud though, she loves her stitches.”
He chuckles and nods. “She would.”
I search inside of me and feel Runa, mentally stroking my hand over her head in thanks for lending me her strength. She’s tired too.
My power also feels calmer, less chaotic, but I can tell it still has that wildness that’s ready to move at any moment. I can’t imagine what it would feel like if it is fully settled, if it was always balanced, calm, like an extension of myself like Darius said his was.
I stand on shaky legs and Josh stands beside me, gripping my arm when I falter to the side. “Rhea,” he says, the worry clearly heard in his tone. He looks down at his leg. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he chastises.
I give him a small smile. “I’m fine, promise.” I wave him off and we walk over to the others. I feel his eyes on me, knowing I’m lying, but we don’t have time to fuck around.
I’m a little tired, I’m not dead.
“Where will you go,” I hear Leo ask Kruten as we reach the group.
“We will go to the west lands,” Kruten says as he looks behind him at his tribe. “The further away from the bad, the better. We will search until we find a new home to settle. I cannot risk any more of my tribe, we have lost many whom we need to honor.” His face falls when he thinks about those that got crushed under the falling mountains, and my own heart aches.
Losing someone is never easy, but always inevitable eventually. Only you want it to be from old age, not to be taken far too soon.
A tap on my arm has me looking to the side, and I see the female troll we helped. The braids of her dark hair fall loosely over her chest, and the boy that must be her son, plays with one. He looks at me warily, and I give him a smile, raising my hand slowly to touch the short hair on his head. The male trolls must shave it when he’s of age as the other older males are all bald.
“I thank you, Hali,” the female says, her voice soft. “I am in your debt.” She bows her head and holds her son tighter.
I shake my head. “You owe me nothing,” I tell her softly. Looking down at the boy, my heart clenching at the sudden memory of me doing the same with Kade when he was younger, holding him close when his nightmares got too much or he hurt himself. Gods I miss him. “Just hold him close and keep him safe.” I swallow roughly, giving her one last smile before I move to stand beside Darius.
He runs a finger down the side of my cheek as I peer up at him, noting the softness in his gaze as he follows his finger along my skin. I’m sure my heartache is clear to see on my face, and what the cause of that ache is.
