Kal’s soul felt the people coming before he did and crumbled his concentration down to barely restrained rage. His teeth were already grinding against each other before whoever was coming reached the door. The door swung open with a solid crash against the stone to reveal Lelashian and the two priest types who had visited him several times already.

The chains groaned with the flex of his arms and Kal got the overwhelming urge to tear his limbs free once more but instead, he bit down hard on his cheek and focused his gaze on Lelashian. Her presence was calming for some reason but that effect was dwarfed by the enraging presence of the priests and what Kal noticed next.

Lelashian’s normally pale green skin was darkened and bruised. Several small cuts leaked amber-colored blood down a swollen cheek and one emerald eye was completely closed over by even more severe swelling. Kal’s own anger changed the focus of his soul’s rage and his gaze shot to the two priests making them both visibly flinch.

The binder Alistair steadied first and shouted at Lelashian, “Heal him enough to be useful to the prophet, Earae filth.”

Lelashian flinched and lowered her head, “If I am to heal him you must remove my bonds,” she turned and bared her bound wrists to the binder who sneered but took hold of the cuffs by the chain. The moment his hand fully encompassed the chain a flash of blue light flashed across its shackles and they clicked open, falling away from her wrists. Lelashian rubbed each of her wrists for a moment before turning back to face Kal.

“He is still clearly unstable. Your presence will make things difficult,” Lelashian said quietly.

“And what? Leave you here to assist the Freak further? No dryad, we will remain and ensure you do not betray us further,” Hendrian the priest spat.

Lelashian frowned but she didn’t argue. Kal's face hardened as she approached and his thoughts battled his soul’s influence. Allowing her to heal him again would almost certainly reveal his true condition and he had the urge to lash out at her with a blade of will but he restrained himself. He wouldn’t ruin his only advantage by displaying his will abilities with something like that and neither would he kill her just because he had the urge to and his logical thoughts said it was the efficient path.

The dryad raised her hands and gently laid them on Kal’s chest again, and immediately her visible eye widened slightly. Her hands fell away from Kal’s chest for a moment and her mouth fell open.

Alistair must have noticed as he glared at the woman, “What is it girl?”

Lelashian’s eyes widened even more, and she looked up into Kal’s eyes while turning her head. She knew.

Lelashian held his gaze for several seconds and all Kal could see was a deep sadness that dispelled the anger burning through for an instant. Something else was going on here.

“Earae whore! What is it!?” Hendrian spat, as he started to take a step closer but stopped when Lelashian turned around.

“His wounds are far more severe than you described. He should have been seen too much sooner,” Lelashian said evenly, wincing slightly this time as she spoke.

“It lives, doesn’t it? Just heal the demon so it can be of use,” Hendrian said, glaring at Lelashian.

Kal was taken aback by Lelashian’s blatant lie and the shock of it dispelled his anger for a moment. Lelashian turned back to him with a frown and placed her hands on his chest again but this time her hand pulsed with bright green light.

Lelashian has cast Greater Touch of Healing

Greater Touch of Healing

You may convert your own mana reserves into vital energy and direct it to heal the wounds of others by a large amount. In addition, this skill can be focused on specific body parts and organs if required for concentrated regeneration.

Do you accept?

Since Kal was more or less in control, he actually received the notification this time and he was surprised to see that Lelashian also provided the description of her skill along with giving him the option to choose instead of attempting to force the heal upon him. Had she realized what he was doing?

Lelashian was looking deep into Kal’s eyes, but he found it hard to read her expression with the wounds and unique features, “What are you trying to tell me?”

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If he accepted the healing, he would no doubt get a visit from Hemdal which wouldn’t only suck, but it would likely set him back attributes wise depending on how severe his plans were. But then again if he refused it, judging by Lelashian’s condition, she would instead pay the price. Kal knew what he should do. His soul screamed for death and every moment he wasted deciding the harder it was to keep walled off.

“Damn it…” Kal half sighed, half growled as he accepted the healing, and he felt the rush of heat shoot through his body uncomfortably. Kal couldn’t see the skill activate in Lelashian’s body, but he did get a glimpse of it as it surged through his body far faster than even his Wrathful Regeneration. In only seconds his health soared back up to its cap and his cosmetic injuries and weeping wounds were completely and utterly gone.

The little pain Kal had felt before due to the wounds was not gone and now, he could only feel the discomfort of the chains and the warmth of Lelashian’s hand against his chest. A flash of relief fell across the dryad’s face, but the sadness quickly returned.

“Check it for residue threads. Make sure the traitor hasn’t deceived us again,” Hendrian said while examining Kal’s now smooth unbroken flesh.

Kal felt the man’s skill wash over him and he made no attempt to resist it despite his instincts screaming at him to do so anyway. The binder seemed surprised, but his expression only darkened as he used the skill several more times to be. Kal was slightly surprised that the binder either didn’t locate his soul-forged threads or didn’t see them as something worth mentioning. Perhaps he assumed they were inert like the rest of his normal skills or perhaps it was more vague than he first thought.

The binder stepped away with a frown, “Nothing. No residue mana at all.”

Hendrian grunted, “Perhaps she won’t be joining her kin in the culling just yet. Take her back to her cell. I will report back to the prophet.”

Lelashian’s shoulders drooped as the binder clicked the Cuffs of Binding around her wrists and when the two Uton worshippers left the cell she followed quietly behind them. The pressure from maintaining his composure eased the further away they got until it finally returned to the barely manageable levels from before.

“Well, idiot. If you want to avoid that bastard’s skill you better hurry up,” Kal thought while the walls shuddered before turning his gaze back to the collection of arrays, “There’s always a fucking timer.”

“Ok this place fucking sucks! How much further?” Dalen grumbled to the group. Leo, Melisia, and Volan walked beside him. Leo and Melisia had caught up with him after catching up with Nyx and Ander.

All three of the Yarnus folk were in a miserable state. If Dalen had felt disoriented before, now he felt like his perception was straight lying to him and that half his brain had been turned to mush. Melisia was even worse off than he was and needed Volan’s help just to keep walking. Leo on the other hand just looked sickly, well he looked like he wanted to hurl chunks but at least he could walk straight.

Volan chuckled, “Not long now. You’ll feel it begin to lessen soon.”

Dalen groaned, it was almost as bad as a wall of light at the crossings into The Fractured Path. Everywhere he looked, what should have been trees or dense undergrowth twisted in circles like a kaleidoscope with each shift in like his sense of gravity and balance shifting with it. Dalen stared daggers at the man for his god's damned smirk, “You seriously don’t feel this crap?”

Volan’s head twisted with the terrain as he shook his head, “We feel its influence but not to the same degree. Navigating is still difficult, however.”

“Then how do we know where we are going?-” Dalen gagged for a moment and he swore he heard some nearby chuckle. He was about to snap at the man but instead, he shook a fist into what he thought was the sky and shouted, “Dhoerin you prick! Take back your fucking blessing.” Dalen’s curse only brought on more chuckles, and he bet if Dhoerin was able to see him he would have chuckled along too.

Volan steadied Dalen with his free hand, “Elder Jaliete’s skills allow her to navigate through the eyes of many, not just her own. Even with the disorientating path she is able to keep track easily enough. I am able to manage purely due to my attributes, but it certainly isn’t pleasant and takes far longer than when Jaliete is at the lead.”

Dalen grimaced and didn’t bother continuing the conversation. He felt so vulnerable as he staggered through the wild terrain. At any moment someone or something could take his head off and he was certain he wouldn’t even see it coming. Worse yet the state of the three of them was a blatant display of each of them having a blessing, something that Dalen had no doubt many within The Order didn’t agree with.

Dalen hadn’t received that dreaded notification for some time now and that worried him for more reasons than one. He needed to speak with everyone about it, but he wanted to be sure no one was nearby before he did. Sure, there were always silencing arrays, but Dalen wasn’t sure who to trust. He trusted Melisia and Leo unquestionably. Dalen had known both of them for a long time even if they weren’t as close as they used to be back in Vandarra. It was the others he needed to be careful of.

The error notifications were horribly inconsistent, and worryingly it even seemed to activate without anyone particularly close by making simply wandering past people ineffective. One thing Dalen did know was that it couldn’t possibly be Lissete. He had seen her corpse himself and after the continued errors he had tested her corpse before she was removed, and he was certain she no longer induced the errors.

The following hours felt like an eternity to Dalen as he stumbled along but eventually, the sensation began to slowly fade, and his stomach settled. It was only once the effects were almost completely gone that Dalen started regaining awareness of his surroundings and his paranoia faded.

Looking up and down the column of order members Dalen immediately recognized the terrain as the Sceleti jungle. The heat was unbearable as always, but the disorientation had blocked even that from being easily identified until now.

Dalen felt the oncoming command even before it arrived and looked toward the front of the column.

“Illusionists! Prepare for camp!” Jaliete’s mental voice sounded strained but steady and several figures in the column broke ranks to move up the sides and to the front.

Volan turned to Dalen, “Elder Jaliete has asked me to tell you. Sorry for the intrusion but that skill is difficult to aim precisely with so many people present.”

Dalen was a little surprised to hear that, but he nodded, “That’s fine.”

“She also wanted to tell you that one of the space mages may be ready to attempt a teleportation-” Dalen didn’t hear the rest of what Volan was saying as he had already started walking toward the front of the column with both Leo and Melisia in tow. Dalen was glad to see their readiness to move with him. If only a few could go with him, he knew who he would be taking.