Tears freely streamed from my eyes. I hugged my dad’s motionless body and buried my face in his shirt. Choking down my sorrow, I lifted my head. I did not have the energy to wipe away my tears and spoke softly.
“Dom, help me get him back to Dragon’s Nest.”
Dom nodded as he carefully picked my dad up. Moving silently, I walked over to my mom. I tried not to look at her injuries as I knelt down by her side. With shaking hands, I reached out to touch her face.
“Don’t worry, Mom. We will get you help soon,” I whispered softly.
My domain wrapped around her body like a blanket as I lifted her off the ground as tenderly as I could. I glanced up at the forest of purple ice overhead. The light from the splinter cannons was still hitting it but other than creating a vibrant rainbow there did not seem to be any effect. The ice did not melt or seem to be influenced by the high heat in any way.
“Do not worry about that,” Vissna said as she noticed my gaze, “Thanks to your father and what we just did, there is enough energy contained in the ice to maintain its form for more than a thousand years. It will not melt, no matter how much the Demons try to attack it.”
I nodded in some slight relief. At least we would not have to force our way out through a kaleidoscope of attacks. I could not tell how life-threatening my mom’s injuries were, but any delay, while she was in this condition, could be fatal.
Steeling my resolve, I gathered my domain and lifted both of us into the air. Everyone kept their eyes peeled for any more signs of the Demons as we navigated the icy jungle. I was worried about any more tricks they might have up their sleeves. Luckily, it appeared the Demons were not quite as confident facing us without the support of the splinter cannons. There was not even a shadow of theirs present as we retreated.
The forest of ice seemed to stretch on forever. We had flown for several minutes and had yet to see any sign of an end. I could not even imagine how much energy my dad had exerted to create something of this size. After five minutes of flying, the light of the splinter cannons came to a halt. Whether or not that was the maximum range they could shoot, I did not know, but it hardly mattered. It took over ten minutes of flying through the twisting branches and vines of ice before it started to thin out.
I let out a sigh of relief and picked up speed as I saw the dim shadow of a floating island through the mist. Moving as quick as my domain would allow, I landed in front of the mansion and shouted.
“Charly! I need your help now!”
Charly and Donte had been waiting for our return and protecting our base. the two of them rushed outside the moment they heard my voice. Charly’s face paled as he saw the charred figure in my arms.
“Mom! What happened?”
“She was hit by the splinter cannons,” I explained in a small voice. I could not suppress the guilt I felt as I saw his grief-stricken face. “Can… can you save her?”
“I… don't know,” Charly replied as his eyes started to water, “My glyphs only imitate a healing innate talent. They are not as powerful as the original.”
“Do whatever you can,” I said as I carried Mom into the building, “So long as she is alive, there is hope.”
Charly nodded solemnly. The others landed on the island and he spotted Dom carrying our dad. “Dad too?” he whispered in a choked voice.
“He overtaxed himself getting revenge for Mom. He will be out for a few weeks but he is not injured,” I said, gazing down at the floor. I was not able to look Charly in the eye as I lied to him about the seriousness of Dad’s condition.
Charly hesitated. He probably knew I was lying. I heard him let out a small sob but he quickly wiped his eyes and turned to Mom. He had a firm steel in his gaze I did not expect. “Help me get Mom to a bed. I will save her life, I promise.”
I nodded and carried Mom inside Dragon’s Nest. Setting her down on a bed with clean sheets, Charly immediately gathered the supplies and took a deep breath. With unmatched intensity, Charly started drawing the Glyph he had once used on me. He did not even blink as his ink brush moved. Every motion had to be perfect or it would be his own glyph that would end our mom’s life.
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Unable to help, I sunk down to the floor in the corner of the room and hugged my knees to my chest. I found myself counting Mom’s shallow breaths as I watched with worry. She had yet to make any sign of movement since she passed out.
I pushed down my tears so that Charly would not be distracted by my crying. I cursed my own weakness and my inability as I was forced to wait. I blamed myself for not expecting the Demon’s plot. If I had just been stronger or smarter, nobody would have been hurt.
After nearly fifteen minutes of drowning in my own thoughts, Charly finally finished his glyph. Radiant orange light filled the room. It was almost blinding, far brighter than when Charly had used the glyph on me before. It also lasted longer. Even after several minutes, the light had yet to fade. I could see sweat droplets forming on Charly's brow as he poured energy into the glyph. He bit his own lip so hard it started bleeding but the boy did not seem to notice.
I knew how painful the process was but Mom never made a single movment the entire time Charly was treating her. I shuddered to even imagine how bad her body must be for that to happen. After nearly five minutes, the light began to dim. Charly gasped for breath as he slunk down to the floor. I shot up and ran to the bedside to look at my mom. What I saw there made my heart sink. Charly’s glyph might have helped relieve the blackened color slightly but Mom still looked like she was on death’s door. The burns had not healed.
Charly shook his head as he curled up on the floor. “My glyphs can’t do any more without threatening her life further. They are based on the talent that uses the patient’s own energy to speed the healing process. If I overdo it, my healing will kill her before the burns do.”
“Is there really nothing else we can do?” I asked desperately.
“I still have plenty of medicine and other treatments we can try,” Charly said slowly, “But I am not sure how effective they will be on injuries like this. With daily treatment using glyphs whenever she is strong enough, I think I can keep her alive but… Her left arm and leg took the brunt of the damage. They are damaged beyond what I can repair. Unless we can find someone with a healing talent beyond any in the army, she might never recover.”
Seeing the pain in his eyes, I reached out and hugged Charly. He buried his head in my chest and cried. I did not mind the front of my shirt getting wet as I held him tightly.
“It will be ok,” I whispered softly, “We will find a way to heal her and Dad.”
Charly nodded numbly as he wrapped his arms around me. We sat together in silence and found strength in each other’s arms.
Charly wiped his tears and stood up first. His fists clenched tightly as he spoke. “I need to gather the medicine for Mom. The glyph will help her through the worst of it but the sooner I treat her the better.”
I nodded numbly as I watched Charly move. Inspired by his strength, I picked myself up off the ground. “I will find a way to heal her completely… Until then, I am counting on you Charly.”
Charly nodded solemnly as he hurried out the door to gather everything he needed. I paused as I looked back at Mom laying on the bed. Taking a deep breath, I turned away and walked out of the room.
I did not make it far down the hall before I saw Sebastion leaning against a nearby wall, seemingly waiting on me. He looked up as I approached, his expression was unreadable.
“I have never seen you cry before,” he said softly, his arms crossed, “Not even when you killed Lucia.”
I gave a self-deprecating smile and shook my head. “I have cried an ocean of tears throughout my life. I just never let you see them.”
“Maybe you should have… If I had seen you like this back then, maybe we would not have become enemies,” he replied as he reached up to scratch his head uncomfortably, “Look, I am not really good at these things so I will just get it out of the way. I am sorry your parents got injured. If I had just protected the capital better, none of this would have happened.”
“No,” I denied resolutely, “You may have created the splinter cannons but none of this is your fault. The Demons made fools of us all. If there is anyone to be angry with it is them.”
“I am not sure I would be able to see it that way if I were in your place. Even after all these years, I guess I still have a lot to learn from you,” Sebastion said in resignation, “What do you want to do now? I will follow your decision. Do we fall back and get help from the healers of the coalition?”
“None of them are strong enough to help,” I replied firmly, “There has only ever been one person in this realm with a healing talent powerful enough to create miracles.”
“Lucia,” Sebastion said breathlessly.
“That is right. The plan remains unchanged only now, the stakes are higher. We will break into Ater-Albus and save Lucia at all costs. Once I revive her, she will be able to save my parents.
“Does that mean you have a plan?”
“Not even slightly,” I replied with a sigh, “Everything I think of would take far too much time. However, I will break into that city even if we have to do a suicidal rush to get there.”
“That will not be necessary,” echoed the disembodied singsong voice of Mare as she interjected herself into our conversation, “Now that things have progressed to this point, I may have a way for you to enter the city. It will take a bit of effort on your part, though.”