Chapter 20
Tino
“Tair!” I yelled as his eyes rolled back, just managing to catch him before he hit the cold ground. “Fuck,” I cursed, then looked up at the others who watched in horror as my bonded succumbed to magical depletion.
“Um,” I began. “Can anyone help me get him up?”
The ground rumbled around us as someone made a walkway for me to carry Altair through, like a ledge so I wouldn’t strain myself too much.
I was grateful to whoever made it, but I didn’t stay and offer small-talk, just carried Tair straight home.
Niam and Xarius followed behind us and it helped seeing Xarius was feeling well enough to move on his own.
Niam rushed ahead of me to open our cabin; our familiars ran to greet us at the door.
We’d wisely decided they would wait until we knew more about our magic before joining us at the training grounds.
They couldn’t get truly hurt, but since they fed off our powers when they did, it was the best choice to leave them here.
I placed my unconscious bonded down on our bed, removing his dirty clothes before leaving him to grab a wet towel.
I needed to clean him up a bit before tucking him down under the covers.
Niam and Xari tended to our familiars in the front room, which I appreciated. I needed my full focus to be on Tair.
I knew Nujik and Willow would be here any minute, and Tair needed to be tucked away and clean when they arrived. I could wash up later if I felt comfortable enough to leave his side for a few minutes, although I seriously doubted it.
Kitty made a whimpering sound outside the closed bedroom door, not so silently begging to be let inside.
He wanted to protect his master and I couldn’t refuse him.
As soon as the covers were covering Tair, I opened the door to let Kitty inside.
I’d removed all of Tair’s clothes sans boxers, and now that he was taken care off, I could feel my own exhaustion.
The hit I’d taken when I’d landed on my back had been horrible.
I remember fearing I wouldn’t be able to even stand, but Niam’s cries about Xarius being hurt had been enough for me to force myself to move.
I had no way of helping them, but I needed to be there with them.
These men were my family. My brothers. My soul was hurting along with them.
The front door slammed open, startling both me and Kitty, who’d just gotten comfortable at Tair’s right side.
“What happened?!” Silver’s voice reached me through the door and I winced. They’d likely felt the earth shake.
“Protect him, okay?” I whispered to Kitty and offered him a head pat before facing the others, closing the door firmly behind me. I hated leaving Tair, but I needed to talk to the others.
Niam was sitting on the couch with Xarius beside him while Silver stood with his hands on his hips, looking both worried and mad. Wilston leaned against the wall, waiting for us to speak.
“Hey,” I said, ignoring the roughness of my voice. I was so tired, and I could tell Xarius was moments away from dozing off too.
“Hey?! Hey?! How about you tell us what happened instead of wasting it on niceties!” Silver snapped.
I sighed. I knew Silver worried, but he’d needed to grieve in peace and I felt awful for ruining that for him.
I sat down on the chair next to the couch.
“Tair made an earthquake with his earth magic, accidentally using too much power which caused us to fall into a deep pit in the ground. Xarius fell and hit his head hard on something, almost causing him to bleed to death,” I explained.
Niam began sobbing quietly, clearly still shaken up from seeing his soulmatch almost die.
Silver seemed to lose his battle with himself as he sank to the floor, sitting down and looking at the air unfocused.
I decided to continue, “Then Tair healed him.”
Silver’s eyes snapped to mine, “He can heal?”
I nodded, “Healed me too.”
“You were hurt too?” Xarius asked worriedly. He was still moments away from falling asleep, his head resting on Niam’s shoulder.
“I fell hard on my back and something snapped. He used the rest of his powers healing me.” No one spoke for a while, we each seemed to need a moment to gather our thoughts.
“He’s going to blame himself for this,” Niam spoke softly. I nodded in agreement. Tair would without a doubt feel guilty, no matter what any of us said, he would blame himself fully for hurting us. Hurting himself.
“We just need to remind him it was an accident,” Wilston said, moving away from the wall to join Silver on the floor. I nodded along with the others, a silent agreement made between us. We wouldn’t allow Tair to blame himself.
“I fear he’s hurt too,” I said, remembering how he’d only used one arm to heal me, leaving the other limp by his side.
“He is,” Niam said, wiping away a tear. “His arm is broken.”
I cursed and began pacing, no longer able to sit still. Before I could ask if Wilston could get the healer, a knock came from the front door.
“That would be Willow and Nujik,” Xarius said. His eyes were closed now, but he was at least still with us enough to sense the others outside.
I hurried over to open the door and found the healer, Grethe, was with them. I exhaled a sigh of relief as Grethe entered first. I ignored Willow and Nujik for now and focused fully on her. “Altair’s arm is broken. Can you help him?”
She scoffed, already moving towards the closed bedroom door. “Of course I can help him!”
I followed behind her like a lost lamb, eager to see what would happen, hoping with all I had that Tair would be okay.
I closed the door behind us and let Grethe look over Tair’s body.
Kitty stayed in place, not bothering to move even an inch away from his master.
I smiled lovingly at the familiar, grateful we had him.
I longed for Gilbert’s comforting presence, but he’d likely sensed I needed room to breathe right now.
Our familiars truly were intelligent creatures.
“Hmm,” Grethe hummed. “I need to deal with his magic depletion, too. Otherwise I can’t even heal him.
His magic is so depleted that his body is focusing fully on restoring that, not able to heal itself.
I can offer some of my own magic and then heal him, but it will take days before the arm is back to normal.
It might be best if I just offer him a bit of magic, and then he can heal himself when he wakes.
” It seemed she was speaking to herself more than to me, so I let her be and remained quiet.
Whatever she felt would be best. I somehow trusted her completely.
I wasn’t a healer, didn’t even know what my ability was, to be honest, so it was nice just letting others run the show for a while.
“Get Wilston and Silver,” she ordered, her eyes still fully on Tair as she spoke.
Not bothering questioning her orders, I left the bedroom. Silver still sat on the floor, but this time it was on Wilston’s lap. “Grethe needs you two in the bedroom,” I said with a tentative smile. Silver had been through a lot, but I knew they would do everything to help.
“Now those are words I never thought I’d hear,” Silver laughed to himself as he stood, then offered a hand to help Wilston up too.
I shook my head, smiling as I led them to the bedroom.
Grethe was in full healer mode, no time to waste as she ushered us closer. “He needs some of your magic, think a tennis ball sized amount,” she informed us, like that made any kind of sense.
“A tennis ball?” Silver questioned.
“Yes. Makes it easier to visualize how much you’re giving him.” Grethe kneeled next to Tair’s side and placed her hand on his chest, then a light green colored light flew from her hand to his chest.
“Wow,” Wilston whispered, his eyes wide and awe-filled.
“Now you.” Grethe stepped aside and pushed me towards my soulmatch.
He was still completely out of it, so I hoped my magic would be enough to wake him.
I kneeled and placed my hand on his chest, mirroring what Grethe had done, then allowed the imagination of my magic at the size of a tennis ball to transfer to him.
It felt odd and I knew it made no sense, but it was almost like peeing.
I felt magic leave my body, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. I just felt something leave me.
Tair’s fingers twitched on the hand of his good arm, but otherwise nothing else happened. “Can I offer more? Would that help?”
Grethe shook her head. “You all need some magic just in case the worst happens. If you’re all down we’re doomed. This amount is what you gain in a day. It will have to be enough.”
I reluctantly agreed and left his side to allow Silver to help him next. When both Wilston and Silver had given him some of their magic, his lashes fluttered, though his eyes remained closed.
Grethe sighed. “He needs rest and when he wakes, food. Lots and lots of it.” She left without another word, leaving the rest of us in the bedroom.
“Do you need anything?” Silver asked, rubbing a comforting hand on my arm.
I shook my head and gave them both a soft smile. “I’m good. Sorry for disturbing you today.” I didn’t want to mention his grandma, but still needed to show that I appreciated he’d helped out, even when he was breaking inside from grief.
His eyes filled with tears which he quickly wiped away, before answering, “You’re all worth it.”
Wilston tugged Silver against him and gave me a quick smile. “We’ll bring you breakfast in the morning. I believe it’s our duty to help you and Niam out as you tend to your men.” I embraced them both in a group hug, showing just how grateful I was.