I start to panic. His beautiful, large body is limp. I rush forward, falling to my knees to check his pulse. He's still alive.
My hands skim over his slick armor as I try to figure out what to do. Liana is next to me, pulling out a crystal from one of her many pockets.
"I don't have any damned leaves. Liana, what do I do?"
She presses one of the crystals to his wound. "Hush human, your herbs work well for sicknesses, but his Fuegorra can work with a crystal to help with wounds. That's how we healed your wounds and your hand, remember?"
“Yes,” I say, watching as she places the quartz on Teo's wound. The crystal glows bright green, slowly healing the wound. I am relieved at the sight of Teo's wound healing. He'll survive this.
Lord Vann kneels next to us. "Dyrn tried to kill him."
The blood drains from my face. His death was painful. Disorienting. "Dyrn is dead. We gave him back to the water a few days ago."
Vann shakes his head. "He was still dead. But he had turned into one of those awful creatures."
Liana whispers something severe under her breath. "They have venom?"
I nod, feeling a sense of dread wash over me.
Vann nods. "I believe it's a venom that can turn someone into one of those creatures if not treated immediately."
Vann grimaces. "We didn't know. We were finished with the group Liana had seen in the Fuegorra. And Teo..." He trails off, looking at the unconscious Enduar king with concern.
I turn to Liana. "We need to get him back to the palace. He needs proper attention, and it would help him to lie down."
They nod, lifting Teo's limp body and carrying him towards his quarters. I follow beside him, my hand gripping Teo's larger hand tightly.
When he is on the bed, he starts twitching. I pour water over a wash rag and try to wipe away the blood so we can touch his skin. He feels like Dyrn did—cold.
That poor hunter had to die twice. I'll do everything I can to keep Teo alive.
Chapter31
Hematite
TEO
"Teo," my own name is whispered against the silence of the room, but it reaches my ears and anchors me to reality for a fleeting moment.
"I think he's waking up."
My eyes flicker open once more, finding Estela hovering above me. Her features are a mix of concern and urgency, her brow furrows over wide, frightened eyes that mirror the tumultuous emotions surging through me.
"Estela," I rasp, hearing the weakness in my voice and wincing at the sound.
"Shh,” she hushes me gently, her fingers tenderly brushing against my jawline as if to still the words that refused to form. "Don't speak, Teo. You need your strength."
The pain intensifies, a burning fire coursing through my veins and consuming all coherent thought. I don’t understand how such a simple act—the mere movement of air across my wound—can cause such agony. It is as if my very soul is being cleaved in two, leaving me in pieces, broken and vulnerable.
"Stay still," Estela orders softly, her voice strained and tinged with fear. Her hands tremble as she works, her heart pounding in time with my own. "You'll be all right, Teo."
"Easy...for you...to say," I manage to choke out. My chest feels like it has been cleaved open, leaving nothing behind but raw, exposed nerves and the persistent throb of blood pulsing through my veins.
Liana's form comes into view. "Damn it. If we don't get the poison out, he'll end up like Dyrn. This is bad. Place it over his wound."
The elderly woman's hands land on my chest, hovering over the wound with jewel-laden fingers and beginning to glow with a soft white light. I can feel the magic coursing through me, purging the poison and slowly easing the pain. The magic connects with the Fuegorra in my chest, burning like I am being cooked alive. My back bows under the intensity of the heat. My throat hurts when I scream.
"Estela, come help me," Liana says. Estela nods and moves to assist Liana, their hands working in unison to heal me. The pain slowly ebbs away, replaced by a sense of exhaustion and weariness. Something is being pulled out of my body. It hurts. I choke when I finally try to breathe again, and I cough.