58. Kiera
FIFTY-EIGHT
KIERA
T he pressure was on to figure out this treatment to help Nyx. I could not watch my two friends suffer through this any longer. I had admitted to Nyx the night we returned that I had performed a test on his bonds before I left without his consent, and knew he’d had a soul-bond with Kol. He forgave me. I think it had been a relief for him to openly discuss it.
We told them of the journey that took us from Calanthe to Kerani and how we escaped. And I promised them both we would find the treatment for his severed bond.
When I arrived in my suite fresh from morning rounds, I found Emrys already pouring over the texts.
“How is Nyx this morning?” he asked.
“It was a bad night. I’m glad we were there.” We’d decided to stay with them rather than move into Jaxus’ barracks room for the time being. Not because there was nowhere else to stay but because it was clear from the day we got home that Zaria was hanging on by a thread. They had a grand suite of rooms as the general and his mate, so there was room. And it meant we were both on hand when Nyx woke in the night, still believing Kol was reaching for him. Last night, Nyx was especially agitated and got slightly violent when Jaxus tried to restrain him. In the end, I took Zaria back to our bed so she could rest, and Jaxus stayed with Nyx in case he woke again.
“I’m reluctant to give him a stronger sleeping draft because it will affect his days.”
“Agreed,” said Emrys. “I think we are close though, come and look at this.”
I stood over his notes and read what he’d added since I left him last night.
We had recreated the potion multiple times using the Lepid supplies Emrys had procured before we left Kerani and the herbs we had found inside the Amber Vessel. The spell itself relied on a healer’s magic and nothing more. It wasn’t a complicated incantation by any means. But nothing had had any success, and I was beginning to lose hope. Had all this been for nothing?
Then I got to grips with what Emrys’ notes were pointing to. “You think the vessels are the key?” I asked.
“How can they not be? Our legend says that the vessel itself is the Key to the Kingdom. There was never any mention of the contents. It stands to reason that the other ingredient was stored inside it, but I think the vessels are needed to make the potion work.”
I scratched my head. “But how?”
“Look here,” he pointed to the wording of the recipe, “we missed this. He pointed to the word contra. We assumed it meant against, like in the recent translations. But I went further back and it used to be more commonly used to mean reverse or opposite.”
“Okay?” I frowned .
“Well, look at the vessels from a different angle,” he encouraged.
I picked up the Amber Vessel, the more translucent of the two. Where this was carved from a bright semi-translucent amber, the other was the deeper orangish-red of carnelian. I turned it all around, inspecting the tiny holes punched into the lid. I assumed these were just to allow in air, so the contents stayed dry. Some seeds and such had too much moisture left inside even after drying and would mold in a closed container.
“Now compare it to the other,” Emrys said.
I set it down and picked up the other, which I had dubbed the Carnelian Vessel to compliment the name of the other. It had the same holes in the lid, but the lid was different. It had a lip around it’s edge which I had originally assumed was where some kind of ornate topper once sat. Healers didn’t go much in for aesthetics, so it could have been lost and never replaced because it was just ornamental.
However, the more I looked at them together, the more I thought the lid of the Amber Vessel would slot in if turned upside down. I put the Carnelian Vessel on the table and picked up the amber one, turning it upside down, and it slotted right into the recess. I stood back and looked at them. With one vessel reversed and stood on top of the other, it gave the appearance of an hourglass. Emrys twisted the top vessel, and it clicked into place like he had already tested this out.
I looked at him, excited about this breakthrough. “So what now?” I asked.
“I think the potion needs to be mixed in this vessel. We make the two halves as we have been doing. But the half with the Lepid seeds go in the Carnelian Vessel and the half with the dried yarrow leaf in the amber one, then we follow this contra instruction and let one half filter into the other as we recite the spell.”
“And you think that will work?” I asked incredulously .
“It can’t hurt to try,” Emrys said.
We set to work brewing the two halves of the potion and we filled the vessels halfway each. Then carefully tipped the Amber Vessel over and slotted it onto the top of the carnelian one.
And nothing happened.
Then, once again, Emery reached forward and twisted the Amber Vessel until we heard the click. Suddenly, the liquid from the top chamber could be heard trickling into the bottom chamber.
I gasped.
Emrys grabbed my hand in his excitement, and then we both leapt back when the vessel started to glow a deep golden red.
“Blessed be the Goddess,” Emrys whispered. “I think we did it!”
“We must get the others!” I said, leaping into action
“Yes, summon them while I prepare.” Emrys directed, then set about cleaning the messy area we had spent days working in and collecting a clean fire and the crystals we would need, ready for treating Nyx with this potion.
“Jaxus?” I reached out to his mind.
“Yes, Firefly?”
“Bring Nyx and Zaria—quickly!”
“Have you had a breakthrough?”
“I think we have!”
“We are on our way.”
Surrounded by candles we gathered in the sitting area in my rooms. Emrys had drawn the blinds to create a calm atmosphere and was using a sound bowl to relax Nyx and bring on a meditative state. Zaria sat by Nyx’s side, his hand grasped in hers .
I swirled the glowing potion in the joined vessels and then unlocked the two with a click.
I set the empty Amber Vessel aside and removed the lid of the newly full Carnelian Vessel.
I handed it to Nyx, who sniffed it and grimaced.
“I want you to drink the potion, then breathing deeply, envision reaching out to Kol. I want you to imagine him reaching back and your threads connecting once more. Then when you feel as though your bond has been repaired, you can let go.”
“That’s it?”
I nodded. “Right now those severed threads are causing you pain because they are still seeking something which is no longer there. This potion will allow you to reconnect them as you did when Kol was here and heal the wounds caused by the severing. Once they are healed over, disconnecting won’t cause you the suffering anymore. There will be a scar rather than an open wound, does that make sense?”
Nyx nodded.
“Whenever you are ready,” I said.
Nyx drank the whole potion down and pulled a face, then he settled back in the chair and closed his eyes.
It was painful to watch the range of emotions on my friend’s face as he imagined his dead brother reconnecting to their severed bond. A tear slipped from his closed eyes and rolled down his cheeks, and when I saw Zaria wipe her eye, my own tears were impossible to hold back.
Jaxus stood watching from over by the stove and Emrys continued the soothing sound bath that filled the room with its calming frequencies. We all watched in silence.
For long moments emotion lingered on his face and then he let out a long held breath and blinked his eyes open. He looked around at us all and then pressed his lips together in a sad smile.
“I don’t feel him now,” he said softly holding back a sob.
Zaria broke and pulled him to her. I stood and moved over to Jaxus, who took me in his arms as I wept for this final passing of our friend. Emrys quietly busied himself by putting the items from the potion away.
“You did it, Firefly,” Jaxus said lovingly through our bond.
“We did it,” I replied.
The room was thick with emotion, but a peace had finally settled, and I knew everything we had done to get that cure had been absolutely worth it.