Chapter 60
Back to Cassiane POV
The woman's raised hand sliced through the air. "Take them."
The clearing erupted into chaos.
Steel flashed as the mercenaries charged from every direction.
Lucien moved first. Instead of meeting them head-on, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind the largest boulder just as a swordsman rushed toward us.
"Down."
I dropped instantly.
A sword scraped across the top of the rock, sending sparks flying.
"They're surrounding us!"
"I noticed."
I peeked around the boulder. The mercenaries were spreading out, circling us from both sides.
No way out. Unless...
My eyes landed on a dead oak tree leaning over the clearing.
An idea hit me.
I thrust out my hand and poured every bit of magic I could into the rotten trunk.
CRAAACK!
The old tree groaned. For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then the trunk split apart.
The giant oak crashed across the clearing with a deafening roar.
Branches flew everywhere. One mercenary vanished beneath the falling tree. Another stumbled back with a curse. A third barely managed to dive out of the way.
Their formation broke.
Lucien didn't waste the chance.
"Move."
We sprinted out from behind the boulder before they could recover.
Behind us, the woman's voice rang through the clearing.
"I want them alive!"
The order stopped the others for a split second.
No arrows. No attack spells.
They couldn't risk killing us.
"They're holding back!" I gasped."That's good, right?"
"It gives us time."
"...That sounded much better in my head."
We ran downhill as fast as we could. Branches slapped against our faces, and loose rocks slid beneath our feet.
Then I heard it. The roar of rushing water. The river. Hope surged through me.
Just a little farther-
Lucien stopped so suddenly I almost ran into him.
His head snapped toward the forest behind us.
"Cassiane!!!!"
It wasn't a shout. It was a warning.
A pale violet streak of magic shot through the trees. It twisted through the air, changing direction as it chased its target.
Tracking magic.
Lucien reacted instantly.
He shoved me aside with both hands. I crashed onto the forest floor.
The spell curved. It followed me. It wasn't chasing Lucien. It was chasing me.
Lucien saw it too. If he moved, the spell would simply keep following me.
So instead... He stepped into its path.
The spell struck his side with a deafening crack. The impact lifted him completely off his feet before his body slammed into the roots of a massive oak and collapsed onto the forest floor.
Everything stopped.
I stared, my breath frozen in my lungs. "...Lucien?"
He tried to rise. One arm pushed against the earth, trembling violently before giving way. He collapsed again with a harsh, wet cough, blood spilling between the fingers clutching his side.
"No..." I scrambled across the ground, dropping beside him. "No, no, no..."
My hands pressed instinctively against the wound, warm blood immediately flooding between my fingers.
Behind us came slow, deliberate footsteps. The woman emerged from the trees, brushing a stray leaf from her sleeve as though she'd merely finished a pleasant walk.
"I had hoped he wouldn't do that," she said, sounding genuinely disappointed. "I wasn't aiming for him. I was aiming for you."
Her gaze settled on me. The woman's magic glowed softly in her hand. "He chose to intercept the spell. A predictable act of heroism."
She lifted one hand, violet magic gathering around her fingertips once more. "But now... we can continue."
Two mercenaries stepped forward, swords raised.
I couldn't hear them. I couldn't hear the wind, or the river. All I heard was Lucien's ragged breathing. Something tightened inside my chest.
Then... it broke.
Pain flooded every nerve in my body. Magic surged through my veins with terrifying violence, my breath catching as the air around me distorted. Leaves began rising from the forest floor. Pebbles trembled.
The woman's expression faltered. "What... No."
The pressure doubled, then tripled. Irritation and fear dominated me as I lost control.
The world exploded.
A wave of raw magic erupted from me in every direction. The earth split beneath my knees, trees bent violently away from the blast, and mercenaries were hurled backward as though struck by an invisible giant.
The woman reacted instantly, raising a glowing golden barrier. The wave slammed into it.
The barrier held for a heartbeat before cracks spread across its surface. A second later, it shattered. The blast hurled the woman across the clearing. She crashed into an ancient oak and fell to the ground.
Silence followed. Heavy. Absolute.
I knelt where I was, breathing in broken gasps. Faint silver light still danced across my trembling fingertips.
"What..." I stared at my own hands. "...What did I do?"
A weak cough answered me. My head whipped around.
Lucien.
Everything else disappeared. I threw myself back to his side. His eyes were barely open now, his skin already losing its color.
"Cass..."
"I'm here." I pressed both hands against the wound again, but blood continued seeping through my fingers. Too much. Far too much. "Stay awake."
His lips twitched into the faintest hint of a smile.
"...Trying."
"Don't joke."
"I'm..." Another cough interrupted him. "...not."
Panic crashed over me. Healing. Think. Think. I knew no healing spells. No restorative magic. Nothing.
Then a memory surfaced. Miss Ann was kneeling beside an injured merchant at the inn, grinding broad green leaves with dark purple veins into a thick paste. "Healing magic isn't available to ordinary people," she'd said. "But the forest usually is."
My head jerked upward. My frantic gaze swept across the forest floor. Wait-didn't I catch sight of those exact broad, purple-veined leaves clinging to a damp log just a few yards back while we were running?
I scrambled toward the spot, tearing the plants free by their roots before racing back to Lucien's side. My trembling hands crushed the leaves into a dark, fragrant paste.
"Please..." I packed the mixture firmly against his wound. "Please let this be the right one."
Lucien inhaled sharply through clenched teeth, his hand instinctively gripping the earth.
Tears blurred my vision. "If I remembered the wrong herb..."
A watery laugh escaped between broken sobs. "...I'm going to be so embarrassed after we survive this."
Lucien looked at me through half-lidded eyes. Despite everything, the corner of his mouth lifted just a little.
I rested my forehead carefully against his shoulder. "You idiot..." My voice broke. "You're the only real friend I've got in this completely insane world."
I tightened my grip over the blood-soaked wound. "So you're not allowed to die."