Never Yours ✔️

Ch. 14

 The next three days passed in a blur. Arysa rarely left the Vella encampment, and even within it, she hid herself underneath one of Lara's cloaks. She never saw any of Rivet's other pupils, though she heard there were four, two men and two women. She spent her days with Lara, learning the most basic form of the Mystic Arts, runes, herb mixtures, and rituals. The nights she spent with Rivet and Vare where she was taught a more offensive form of the art. She slept only four hours each night, and ate a strict diet that Rivet laid out for her, foods she wasn't familiar with cooked in ways that were foreign to her, but apparently helped her get in touch with her talent. She struggled more than she thought she would. What seemed to come naturally to Lara made Arysa's head buzz with confusion. There were so many patterns and recipes to memorize, so many things that could hurt a patient if it went wrong. She made notes and often fell asleep with them scattered across her blanket. She slept in a tent just like the other Vella citizens, on a bed made of moss and two scratchy blankets. Yet, those three days were the most exhilarating days she had experienced for years. She felt free and strengthened, no longer shadowed by the threat of pain and humiliation, no longer vulnerable, no longer putting up an exhausting show night after night. She didn't have to wear dresses or heels or slippers. She didn't have to do up her hair or her face. She didn't have to conceal her weapons underneath her clothing or inside her shoes.

She was free.

Lara passed the mortar and pestle to Arysa and drew the first rune on their patient's right shoulder. Arysa dipped her finger in water and sketched out the next rune on a sheet of paper. Lara glanced over it, nodded, and Arysa dipped her finger into the concoction of herbs they'd prepared earlier and drew the second symbol on the girl's left shoulder. When she pulled away the symbols glowed a faint gold before sinking beneath the skin. Lara checked the girl's temperature before moving to the next matt.

The Vella's makeshift hospital was a tent filled with fifty or so mats. Most of the pillows and blankets gifted by the Raida citizens went here, and Lara watched over the healing alongside the apprentice of the Vella's physician, who had been killed in the massacre. The apprentice hadn't entered training in the Mystic Arts. He was only seven years old, but had been training since he could walk, and was highly proficient in regular healing. Three other children, around 12-15 worked in the hospital as well. The most extreme injuries and illnesses were transferred to Raida's hospital, and Lara made thrice weekly visits to check on them and add to Elkys's work. She planned to take Arysa with her tomorrow. After their morning rounds, Lara was going to begin teaching her the second level of healing art. Rivet would be moving on from protective, defense mystic to battle mystic.

The next patient was an elderly woman with horrific burns all across her face and shoulders. Lara gently peeled the bandages off of her upper body, but when Arysa came forth with the balm, she pulled back. Her gnarled lips opened, but only harsh gasps came out. Lara placed her hand on Arysa's wrist.

"It's alright, Verna." She murmured. "She's a friend." She made a sign with her hand. "Friend."

The woman's eyes burned over Arysa, hidden by her cowl. Arysa made the same sign Lara had.

"Friend. I'm here to help you."

Verna let out a soft sigh and laid back down. Arysa applied the balm and redressed her wounds. Lara knelt at the next mat, checking a young boy's shattered shin.

"There used to be a village, just at the border of Viella and Rahaida." Lara explained, when she noticed Arysa's eyes straying back to the woman's burns. "It was the last checkpoint for the refugees, the last village to be evacuated." She placed a cloth in the boy's mouth and sharply set the bone back in place. There was a sharp crack and the boy screamed in pain. "The enemy got to the village first." Lara waved Arysa towards her. "They set it aflame." Arysa went to draw a rune on the boy's forhead, but Lara's hand on her wrist stopped her. "No runes," she said, "use the exercises I taught you last night. Take the energy from the nature around you and project it through his leg." She guided Arysa's hand to the boy's bloody and swollen shin. Arysa closed her eyes. She inhaled, feeling her connection to the ground, following it to the plants and the earth all around her. She breathed in its energy and felt it tingling up and down her arms. She focused on it, focused on the way it felt and the way it moved, never letting go of her connection to the earth, and then she followed her instinct, reigning it into her chest, and then releasing it into the boy's body with her exhale. The boy groaned in pain. Arysa could feel his bones shifting under her. She remained rooted and breathing evenly. She let the energy flow into her, harnessed it within her chest, and guided it away.