Everything moved in slow motion. Kaavi’s eyes went wide and he stopped yelling at the cyclops. Porta rushed to console Yajaira who started breaking down in tears. The pregnant cyclops took a step back, dropping its cudgel. It covered its mouth in shock.

“What happened, Dytar?” The pinned cyclops, Stollis, asked “Did you snap?”

He twisted his head but from his position on the ground, he could not see as Barth laid on the floor, his neck broken from Dytar’s vice grip.

“I’m so sorry,” Dytar insisted, “I didn’t mean… I got angry and I didn’t know my own strength”

“You killed him!” Kaavi said, “We had a deal and you killed him!” He held up his sword at her but it was wobbling so hard in his hands he could barely keep it up. I walked over and pushed Kaavi’s sword down. Yajaira ran to Barth and placed the bard’s head on her lap, “Take your partner and go.” I told Dytar.

“Egen!”

“No more bloodshed!” I said, “No more! We had a chance. We had a chance to all walk away, relatively unharmed. It’s botched.”

“They botched it!” Kaavi said.

“Oh? Did they?” I asked Kaavi, staring him down. He was taken aback but did not resist.

The pregnant cyclops helped unplug Stollis off the ground. They pulled the spears out with relative ease once they were standing. I could see the holes from the blade start to seal. He wasn’t bluffing. Piercing weapons did very little.

“If I… could do anything to help,” Started Dytar.

“You can leave… us… alive. And go back to your teepee,” I said in a voice attempting a balance between stern and soft.

The cyclops nodded. They took their partner and walked back in the direction of their hut. Once they were fully out of sight, the shock wore off and panic set in. I rushed to the bard’s side. Yajaira was tapping him lightly on the face, trying to get him to wake.

“Wake up, Barth,” She commanded softly, “Please wake up.”

“Do you know any healing spells?!” I yelled at Yajaira.

“I don’t know any bardic. I’m simply learning how to play the instruments right now.”

“Can you do something with your magic?” Ghala asked.

I shook my head, “No. The few times I’ve done stuff that affects people… you have to be very specific. And the magic only lasts for as long as you cast it. If I started to mess with his body it could have worse effects. Someone get me a blade!”

Ruglio handed me his blade. There was nary a speck of blood on it. I held it to Barth’s nose. A small fog formed on it, “He’s breathing,” I said, “The bard’s breathing. If we can wake him, there’s a chance he can heal himself, right?”

Yajaira nodded frantically. She softly pushed on his body more, slowly cooing for him to wake up.

“Wake up!” I yelled as I snapped my fingers, taking the opposite approach to Yajaira.

I shook his head a little and his eyes shot open.

“Barth!” Yajaira cried out. His eyes shot open.

“I need… wine. Does anyone have any wine? Preferably a white? From the south beaches? Nothing north of Xandria.”

“Hey!” I snapped my fingers, “You need to play something. You know healing spells, right?”

“What?” Barth asked.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Healing spells? You know them, right?”

“Where-”

“HEALING SPELLS?”

“Yes! Yes. I’m a proper bard. I know healing spells.”

“Great. You need to cast one on yourself,” I said, handing him his mandolin.

“I… I can but… something’s on my arm. I can’t move it.”

His whole body was unobstructed. He was resting on Yajaira’s lap. I looked up at Yajaira. Her normally demure expression was now haggard. She and I both thought the same thing at that moment.

“Can you feel them?” I asked, “Can you feel your arms?”

“N-no,” Barth said, “Not at the moment.”

“Try to move them. Anything. Your toes. Try to move anything.”

“You can do this,” Yajaira said, “You can, Barth. Please move your arms. Please.”

“I'm trying. Is something on top of me? I can’t feel a thing.”

“FUCK!” I yelled and pulled up. I paced around the forest floor and screamed again, “FUCK!”

“I’m so sorry,” Kaavi said through tears beginning to form. I wasn't even sure if he was saying it to me, or Barth or anyone. Maybe he just wanted the whole world to know he was sorry.

“FUCK!” I punched the tree, then grabbed my fist as it now flared in pain.

“We can pick him up,” Tuf said, “The cyclops said the city was only a half a day’s journey.”

“To the farmlands of Memphis,” I said, “twelve hours until the farmlands. Not likely that there will be any magic users. Probably another hour or so until the city. Half a day’s journey with someone with a broken neck?? The only one who could maybe heal him is him and he can’t use his arms. If only I could… If… Why won’t I just…”

I was holding onto the branch of a tree so fiercely that it snapped off in my hand.

“Let’s try we move him,” Ynec said, “Better than waiting here.”

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THE POINT OF BEING A PALADIN IF YOU CAN”T HEAL!?” I screamed. I took my sword and I tossed it into the dumb forest.

“Why can’t I feel my legs?” Barth asked ominously, “What’s happening to me?”

Yajaira’s face contorted into a smile as best she could. In a voice that squeezed calmness out of her mouth, she said, “You’re fine, Barth. Just rest, please.”

“Yajaira,” Barth said looking up at her, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m happy to see you’re awake, Barth.” She reassured him, “That’s all.”

“You don’t ever look at me like that. What’s wrong? Why can’t I feel my legs?” Panic crept into the bard’s voice.

That panic quickly spread to the children. One by one, they all began to cry. Porta kept her normal stoic demeanor, watching over Yajaira and Barth. I kept staring at the tree. Wondering what the hell it was going to take to help Barth.

Kaavi approached me and placed his hands on me. Tears streaked down his face as he said, “I didn’t know. I didn’t know.”

I grabbed him, looked him in the eyes and said, “Punch me.”

The confusion caused him to snap out of crying for just a second. Then he asked, “What?”

“Punch. Me. Hard as you can. Right in the cheek.”

“N-no. I’m not…”

I pushed him out of the way and approached Ynec. Ynec gave me a scared look. Violence always did make him squeamish, “Punch me.” I said again. Ynec shriveled up. He didn’t say anything in Tethran. Instead resorting to small nervous yips in his native language.

I pushed him out of the way. You can’t send an empath to do a psychopath’s job. I approached Ghala. Before I could repeat myself a third time, he decked me so hard I fell to the ground.

I grabbed my lips as I spit blood. All this work. This whole trip. It had to be close. “Again!”

Ghala jumped on top of me and laid another down right on my face.

“Again!”

Ghala punched me. Over. And over. And over.

“More!” I said, “More of you, join in!”

All the kids looked confused through their tears. Ghala turned to them and with a sinister smile said, “You heard the Head Cadet! Let’s show him!”

He punched me again. None of the other cadets joined in. But Porta did. She picked up a stick and told Ghala, “Move.” He spread back and before I could say, “No, Porta not with a weapon!” She brought it down on me.

“What the fuck, Porta?!”

“You said to hit you.” She raised it again and i stuck my hands up. When I looked at them, they were glowing. A soft aura surrounded me and… I felt some of my strength return.

Porta stopped. Ghala almost didn’t. The other boys leapt over to him and grabbed him, forcing his hands still before he could connect another punch.

I felt somewhat refreshed. And deep in the cavity of my mind, four new words cropped up.

“Get the fuck off of me.” I said, pushing Ghala off with relative ease. I got up and approached Barth. He was there. Still staring into Yajaira’s eyes. Her mouth made a smile and her tears dripped onto Barth. She was still soothing him. Reassuring him that it was all going to be okay. Up until then, she had been lying. I placed my hands on him. I spoke the words clearly, as if I always knew them. Beamed into my mind by the Goddess of education herself, Seshat.

“Mend Friend.”

An energy that started in the back of my spine ran its way through my body, traveling down my arms and exiting through my fingertips, entering Barth’s body. A sort of soft green electricity trickled all around him and entered his system.

The electricity disappeared. It was all over. All of us looked around, wondering if it really worked. Yajaira continued to stare at him lovingly, never turning away as she stroked his face. Barth’s eyes opened again and he looked at Yajaira.

“I told you,” Barth said, “Stop looking at me like that.”

And with that, he reached up and rested his hands on Yajaira’s face.

“Barth,” Yajaira uttered, “You can move again.”