image [https://i.imgur.com/9s19VLK.png]

In the Mud Flats - Far south of Sun Helm

Taiyo stared at the unconscious man lying in front of her. He was large, taller than anyone from her village. Old and fresh cuts covered his pale arms and neck. Dehydration had caused his lips and skin to crack, and blood had soaked his tattered blue hide armour.

“Is he still breathing?” Ignoring the mud on the ground, Taiyo knelt down. Her golden earrings chimed as she moved. She placed her head on his chest and listened.

Badump

“I can hear a heartbeat,” Taiyo said. “It’s faint, but he isn’t dead.”

Taiyo took off the man’s armour, and the sight of his body made her gasp. There were cuts and scars all over his torso. Two large holes were present in the area where his kidneys should have been.

“How is this man alive?” she said. “And who would do such a thing?”

She felt nauseous looking at the wounds. They looked recent, and the fishy smell of dried blood permeated the air.

The man coughed, and more blood leaked out of his mouth

“I need to do something quickly!” Taiyo stood up and examined her surroundings.

They were in a small clearing above the cliff face. There was little here, except a lone tree and a gurgling spring. She could hear beasts roaring in the distance. But most importantly, the sun was still bright.

“Good,” she said. “I have access to my magic.”

Taiyo gently placed her trembling hands over the wounds on his abdomen.

Could she even heal this man? He looked like he was on death’s door. It’s not like she could take him back home…

Taiyo shook her head.

“Breathe,” she said. “It’s just some blood…”

Taiyo closed her eyes and attempted to calm herself. She bit her lip and tried to steady her breathing.

She opened her eyes and looked closer at his wounds. It looked like someone had taken a knife and attempted to gouge out his kidneys.

It’s as if somebody wanted to steal or destroy his magic cores, she thought.

Taiyo pinched herself.

“This is no time to be scared!”

The light in the surrounding area dimmed, and her eyes glowed. The light permeated through her brown skin, contrasting her black hair. From afar, she resembled a lantern blazing on the cliff face. Heat emanated off her body, and steam rose from the nearby spring as the surrounding temperatures rose.

image [https://i.imgur.com/SrdciQo.png]

She began to chant.

“Oh, great and mighty Yiho,” she said. “Please lend me your strength. Give me the power to save this poor soul!”

The light in her body concentrated on her right palm, and she used her left to put pressure on the wound at his kidney. Pressing it together. Though her hands shivered, she ignored her fear and placed her glowing palm over the wound. Taiyo concentrated, and black smoke along with the smell of burnt flesh rose from his wounds.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know it hurts, but please bear with me.”

A pained expression had covered the man’s face. But he either understood, or was still unconscious, as he did not resist.

Gradually, her hands had stopped shaking.

‘When cauterising wounds, you cannot let yourself miss by an inch,’ her father had warned her. ‘If you apply too much force or burn the wrong spot, you can cause irreparable damage. Every single step must be perfect.’

The bleeding had stopped, but she had made no progress in closing the wound.

“Why–why won’t it close?” she said. If a person was resistant to magic, then healing was less effective. Her village members healed within moments. Sun energy was potent, after all.

“I just have to keep going!” She pressed the other wound and focused on stopping the bleeding.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Del…sie…” words came out of the man’s mouth. Taiyo noticed his eyes were glazing over as if he was drifting in and out of consciousness.

“Sir, are you there?” she said. “Stay with me, please.”

The man’s eyes rolled back, and his breathing had become fainter.

Taiyo could feel the connection to the sun getting weaker, and she looked up to see the sun had moved across the sky. The light in her palms dimmed, and the healing lost its efficacy.

How many hours had passed already?

“Should I stop here?” Taiyo frowned. “My Magic is getting weaker. If I don’t leave before the sun goes down, I won’t have any magic left.”

Her father’s words came to her mind.

‘Lose the connection to the Sun, and you lose your very connection to god. Without Yiho, you are nothing.’

“Del…sie…” the man on the ground said. “I’m… sorry… I was weak…”

Father wasn’t here with her. Not everything he said had to be right.

After all, how could she just leave this man here to die?

Taiyo closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

I might be nothing without Yiho, she thought. But I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn’t save him.

“I need both hands.” She placed both of her palms over his abdomen and began chanting. “God, Great Yiho. Please give me the strength to heal him!”

Light emanated even brighter from both of her palms, and her golden eyes shone while the surrounding area darkened. Unlike before, the light concentrated in her palms, resembling glowing magma.

She placed both palms over his wounds and allowed the Sun Magic to flow through her veins. The light's heat quickly vaporised the smoke, resulting in less of it.

Taiyo could feel sweat trickling down her forehead, but she refused to move. The heat was immense, and she had difficulty breathing as magic energy rushed through her.

“Ngh, Yiho, please…” As if it had heard her prayers, the cloudy sky parted, and the sun beamed down brighter. The light in her palms intensified, and she could see the wounds were finally closing. She greedily absorbed all the sunlight in the surroundings, pouring it all into her attempts to heal the man.

Taiyo lifted her arms off his body. The wounds were now closed.

“Hah… done,” she said through quick breaths. “I’ve closed the wounds.”

Taiyo took off the Red Sari wrapped around her body, leaving her with only her black blouse. She ripped the gold embroidered cloth and used it to wrap the man’s body as a bandage.

This was an expensive garment for traditional dances.

“Oh well,” she said. “It was muddy anyway.” She felt exposed, but no one was there except her and the unconscious man.

She shivered and rubbed her arms. Clouds had risen above them, painting the sky grey. Taiyo walked over to the spring and realised it had nearly dried up from the heat.

“Ugh, I was feeling thirsty after all that magic casting too…” she said.

Taiyo looked down the cliffside. The adventurers' guild looked like a tiny toy from this distance, and the trees and forests marred into a swath of green. She tried to strain her eyes, searching for her village in the distance, but she could not see it.

“Why are you looking for it when you left the place behind?” She smiled at herself sarcastically.

By this point, the clouds had mostly covered the sky, blotting out the wide

Taiyo looked at the man. His breathing had stabilised, and he looked unconscious. His features were strong, and muscular. She had never met somebody with his complexion before, but she knew paler skinned people lived up in the Northern Hemisphere of the world–

“Grrrrr….” A growl came from behind her, breaking her from her thoughts.

“What was that?” she said. She turned around, and a brown, towering wolf-like beast stared at her with saliva dripping from its mouth. Its body was covered in scars and bite marks, and dried blood matted the fur around its face.

“A Mud Jackal.” Her heart froze. “Was it attracted here by the smell of blood?”

The Mud Jackal’s vicious eyes darted between her and the unconscious man. Taiyo’s heart leapt, and she ran to stand between the two of them.

“Great Yiho!” she cried out. “Smite this beast!”

The area dimmed, and light gathered at her fingertips. Her eyes began to glow, but suddenly the light retreated, and all the warmth left her body.

“Wh–what?!” A cold hue filled her previously radiant skin, and she felt hypothermic.

“Is this… Magic drawback?” She coughed. “I used up… all the magic in the area…”

She’d failed to heed her father’s warnings, after all. Why did she think she could go against Yiho’s teachings and get away with it?

Maybe this was her punishment.

Taiyo could feel the tips of her fingers and toes go numb. She crumpled to the floor. Her vision darkened around the corners. The Beast eyed her. It had already stood three times her height, but now it looked like a behemoth. It advanced on her, opening its maw full of sinew and fur from a previous meal.

“No…” tears poured down her face. “I don’t want to die! Anything. Father, please…”

Was it… smiling?

Nobody else was here.

She was going to die.

In her last few moments, Taiyo looked behind her, checking if the man’s body was safe.

He had disappeared.

Where he had laid on the ground, only bloody patches of earth remained. His body, though, was absent.

I hope he got away; she thought. That thought was the only thing that gave her some comfort as the mud jackal advanced towards her.

She shut her eyes tightly.

It pounced.

“...”

“...?”

The expected pain did not come.

Hesitantly, Taiyo opened one of her eyes. “What… is happening…”

The silhouette of a man stood between her and the beast. The beast was enormous, but his back felt even taller. She couldn’t see clearly, but was he… the man she had just saved?

“Del… I will… protect… you…” he said to her.

Taiyo heard a roar, then a whelp.

Taiyo didn’t know when she fainted, but the last thing she remembered were his words.

“I’ll… keep… you… safe.”

image [https://i.imgur.com/F9k55V5.jpeg]