Chapter 25 Desperate Measures
Desperate Measures
ADARA
I fell to my knees beside Ryu, my hands hovering uncertainly over his shuddering form.
Just moments ago, he had lunged in front of me, taking the full force of the corrupted tree's final attack.
A concentrated bolt of pure blight meant to strike me down.
The purple energy now coursed beneath his scales, spreading outward from the impact point on his chest in pulsating veins.
His golden eyes, normally so fierce and proud, were clouded with pain as they fixed on mine.
"Why?" I whispered, my voice breaking. "Why in the realms did you do that?" My flame-script flared beneath my skin in agitated, frantic patterns as the question burned through me. What in the seven hells was he thinking?
His lips moved, but only a wet, rattling sound emerged. Dark blood with an iridescent sheen trickled from his mouth.
"We need to save him!" I shouted to the others, my flame-script blazing beneath my skin in frantic patterns that illuminated the clearing with pulses of golden light. "Desmond!"
The bear shifter was already rushing toward us, shifting back to human form as he approached. His massive hands, still trailing earth energy, reached for Ryu's convulsing form.
"Hold him still," Desmond instructed, his voice tight with urgency.
I pressed my hands against Ryu's shoulders, trying to steady his convulsing body. His normally warm scales felt cold beneath my touch, the vibrant gold now dulled to ashen gray where the malevolence had struck. Each shudder that passed through him sent a corresponding pang through my chest.
"The blight is moving quickly," Desmond said, his massive hands hovering over Ryu's chest where the purple energy had entered. "It's attacking his draconic essence directly."
"Can you heal him?" I asked, my voice cracking. "Like you did with me at the spring?"
Desmond's expression was grave as he placed his palms on Ryu's chest, eyes closing in concentration.
"This is... different. The foulness that hit you was diluted by the water within the spring.
This is pure, concentrated—and it was meant for you, Adara.
" His voice caught on my name, heavy with the unspoken fear that I might have been lying here instead of Ryu, my phoenix essence corrupted beyond recognition.
That knowledge hit me like a physical blow. Ryu had taken the death-taint that was meant for me. The dragon shifter who'd been so frustratingly arrogant, so protective, so determined to claim me for the Flamebough Archipelago... had sacrificed himself without hesitation.
"He might die because of me," I whispered, the words feeling like jagged glass in my throat. "Stubborn, infuriating dragon." Despite my harsh words, my fingers gently brushed one of the undamaged scales on his cheek.
My body chose that moment to remind me of our battle with the corrupted tree.
Dizziness swept over me, my muscles trembling with exhaustion.
The flame-script beneath my skin flickered erratically, like a candle in a draft.
I pressed a hand to my side where corruption had slashed across my ribs, wincing.
My newly reborn body wasn't meant to channel this much power.
Yet none of this physical pain compared to the sight of Ryu dying before me.
Lucas appeared at my side, now back in human form, his naked body streaked with dirt and blight residue. His hand found my shoulder, steadying me. "You can't think like that. He made his choice."
"A choice that saved your life," Taranis added, kneeling beside us. The mage's scholarly detachment had given way to genuine concern as he examined the spreading corruption. His staff lay beside him, its crystal head pulsing faintly as if sensing the corruption.
Around us, the corrupted tree continued to collapse, great chunks of blighted wood crashing to the ground as the fire from our combined magic consumed it from within like a gigantic funerary pyre.
The villagers who had been under its control lay scattered across the clearing, some unconscious, others stirring weakly as the controlling force dissipated.
Desmond's brow furrowed in concentration, sweat beading on his forehead as he channeled healing energy into Ryu's convulsing form. "I can slow it, but I can't stop it," he admitted, his voice heavy with frustration. "This abomination is too powerful."
"There has to be something we can do!" I cried, desperation clawing at my throat.
I'd witnessed countless deaths across my many lifetimes, but this one, this sacrifice made for me, felt unbearable in ways I couldn't fully comprehend.
I placed my hands over Desmond's, trying to channel my phoenix fire into Ryu alongside the bear shifter's healing energy.
The moment our powers connected, Ryu's back arched off the ground, a scream tearing from his throat. I jerked my hands away in horror.
"Don't," Desmond said quickly. "Your fire—I don't know why, but it's making it worse. Somehow the taint is reacting to your phoenix essence."
"But that's impossible," Eldrin said, joining our circle. "Phoenix fire should purify corruption, never strengthen it."
"Unless..." Taranis's voice trailed off, his scholarly mind clearly racing through possibilities.
"Unless what?" I demanded, flame-script sparking between my fingers in frustrated bursts. "Spit it out, Taranis."
"Unless..." Taranis's eyes widened with sudden realization.
He reached out, hovering his fingers just above the pulsating purple veins without touching them.
"It isn't behaving as it should. Your phoenix fire should be purifying it, but instead—" He shook his head, brow furrowed.
"It's almost as if it's somehow resistant to phoenix magic. "
The implications of his words chilled me to the bone. Someone—or something—had created this blight specifically to counter my power. To counter me.
"This can't be coincidence," I said, the realization crashing over me like ice water.
The ancient texts in the Ethereal Libraries had warned of corrupting forces that could adapt to their opponents, but never had there been record of anything that could resist phoenix fire.
"My awakening, this blight that specifically resists phoenix fire, the attack aimed directly at me.
.." I looked up, meeting each guardian's eyes in turn.
"Someone has been planning this. Someone who knew I would return, who specifically designed this malevolence to work against me. "
"But who would have that kind of foresight?" Lucas asked, his lupine instincts clearly on alert. "Or the power to create such specific corruption?"
"Someone ancient," Taranis murmured, his scholarly mind working through the possibilities. "Someone who has encountered the Phoenix before, perhaps in a previous life cycle."
I felt a cold weight settle in my stomach. "Someone who's been waiting for me. And that means—"
"That your role in this conflict may be more complex than any of us realized," Eldrin finished, his weathered face grave. "The prophecies speak of the Phoenix as the curse's destroyer, yet the curse itself seems designed specifically against you."
I closed my eyes, trying to center my thoughts. "Make it make sense." But when I looked around at my guardians, I saw they were just as perplexed as I was.
Ryu's breathing grew more labored, the corruption spreading visibly beneath his scales.
His eyes found mine, and despite the pain clouding them, I saw a fierce protectiveness there that made my heart clench.
A low, rumbling sound emanated from his chest, not quite words, but unmistakably communicating his determination that he would make the same choice again, even knowing the cost.
"We need to get him back to the temple," Lucas suggested. "Grandmother Eliza might—"
"No," Taranis interrupted, adjusting his spectacles as he examined the corruption's spread. He pressed the end of his staff against the ground for support, his knuckles white around the ancient wood. "This is beyond any human healer's abilities. These wounds... they're fatal."
"Don't say that!" I snapped, tears burning in my eyes. Fire flickered at my fingertips as my control slipped. "There has to be a way to save him."
A heavy silence fell over our group, broken only by Ryu's labored breathing and the distant sounds of the collapsing tree. The blight continued its inexorable spread through his body, purple veins now reaching his extremities.
"There might be a way," Taranis said hesitantly, breaking the silence. "But not here. Not with what we have available."
"What do you mean?" I asked, desperate for any hope.
"Dragon physiology is unique," he explained. "Their magical essence is intertwined with their physical form in ways that differ from other supernatural beings. This foulness is attacking both simultaneously."
"So what are you saying?" I demanded, my voice cracking as Ryu's breathing grew more labored beneath my hands. "Stop with the lecture and get to the point."
"There are specialized healing techniques for such injuries, but they're found only in the Flamebough Archipelago," Taranis explained. "Dragon healers who understand the unique connection between draconic magic, the volcanic elemental energies, and physical form."
A flicker of hope ignited within me. "Then we take him there. Now," I said, the irony not lost on me. "We're rushing to Flamebough first after all, just as Ryu wanted from the beginning."
Aeolus let out a short, humorless laugh. "Leave it to a dragon to find the most dramatic way possible to get his way." His silver eyes met mine for a moment, a silent understanding passing between us. Beneath his sardonic tone lay genuine concern.
Despite the gravity of the situation, I felt my lips twitch in a ghost of a smile. If Ryu had been conscious enough to hear, I'm sure he would have been smugly satisfied.