Sometimes I find it hard to sleep. The flower is supposed to give me good dreams or, at least, that was what I was told. So far it’s been true. I haven’t had a single nightmare ever since I’ve picked up the flower… But I still find it hard to go to sleep.

----------------------------------------

The healer’s voice wakes me, “Come and eat everyone. I’ve prepared breakfast.” He walks downstairs, his steps echoing throughout the entirety of the second floor. Axel stirs. He’s reluctant to throw off the blanket but does so eventually as other doors fling open and the others walk past our room.

Aisha pokes her head through our door after knocking once, “Are you coming?” she asks.

“We’ll be out in a bit,” I answer, as she slips away promising that she’ll save me a seat. I roll my sword underneath the bed and bring Axel out of the room with me. A faint, bitter, smell makes our nostrils flare. The others gather around the table.

We huddle together to fit inside the kitchen. Axel and I stand halfway in and halfway out while the Healer hands everyone in line a bowl and a spoon.

“Eat first then we’ll talk,” the Healer says. “And before you ask, I keep extra chairs.”

After the events of yesterday, we wolf down the food. Despite the entire meal consisting of vegetables, it ends up tasting quite good. After finishing, the healer’s passive demeanor drops. He cleans his mouth with a napkin. “The young man may not make it,” Short and straight to the point. The room falls silent. We wait for him to explain more but he doesn’t.

“Is that it?” Fia asks. “Is that all you have to say? You can’t do anything else for him?”

“The medicine’s had an effect but not enough to save him outright. It’s up to his body if he survives or not. I’m not sure how long it’s been happening but he’s hallucinating. I do not take this as a good sign.”

Istruan sets his spoon down and asks, “Then what can we do for him? What’s the point of you telling us this?”

“The point is that you’re now prepared for the worst outcome. As for what you can do for him… I don’t know. After you fell asleep last night, I tried a dozen other medicinal herbs and combinations of magic. Nothing worked.”

“So we can only wait around and see?”

“I can look through some of my older books again but I wouldn’t tell you this if I knew of a possible medicine…” he stands and beckons me and Istruan. “You two, come with me if you will. I have a shed of sorts where I grow my herbs. I know of one that may help.”

Why do we have to come? I shrug away the thought and help Istruan walk to the door and through the packed snow. The others stay inside, most likely helping themselves to more or too busy thinking about the current situation to eat.

The healer takes the lantern off its hook by the door and leads us through the forest again. Istruan and I exchange looks. Why do we need the lantern? We both wonder. The lantern swings side to side, following the motion of walking. The flame from yesterday still burns inside, its light weaker because of the sun.

Before either Istruan or I know it, we reach a new building. The healer brings us inside and closes the door after hanging the lantern outside. He watches us with an amused smile. “Tell me, did you notice anything before we got to this place? Did you notice anything when we reached this cabin?”

“What do you mean?” Istruan questions. “Was there something happening?”

I answer, “You teleported us here didn’t you?”

His smile widens, “Sharp one you are! I thought you were too busy watching my lantern to notice.”

“The walk felt a bit short. I turned around thinking I might see the other cabin from here. I couldn’t. I didn’t see any footprints further away than a couple yards either. Why didn’t you tell us you were teleporting us around?” I watch him more closely. Although I don’t get a bad feeling about him, I have my bracers ready to drop a knife.

“Teleportation… Not exactly young man. It’s a good guess and I commend you for your keen observation but it’s a warp,” The Healer says.

“What’s the difference?”

“Mmm... Perhaps the only difference is the requirement, and the distance.” The healer says. “The lantern acts as a ‘key’ that allows me to warp between places. Between my two little houses in these woods.”

He beckons us to follow him. The cabin is oddly warm. There’s no flicker of flame to catch the eye, no smell of smoke to stir the nose and no crackle of fire to soothe the ear. Green decorates every inch of the next room. A color uncommon during the cold months of winter.

“He really has a green thumb doesn’t he?”

“Thank you,” he says as he pulls out a couple of rather large books.

“Uh… Do we have to go through all of those?” Istruan asks. “My reading skills probably aren’t at a level where I’d get through something like that in a timely matter.”

“I found it,” The healer pushes away a couple of pots and lays the book flat on the table. He points to a particular image, “This is the plant we need to find if we want a chance at saving your friend.”

I study the picture for a moment before looking to the name. “I can’t read it.”

“Yes, of course not. I came across this book in my travels out east in Elven territory. The text here reads, ‘The Flower of Dreams. The Twilight Flower.’ This is what will help in your friend’s recovery.”

I hold my breath. My hand instinctively goes to my pocket.

“I’ve heard of those,” Istruan begins.

“They’re very difficult to find. Look under caves, hillsides, and fallen trees. Anywhere where only the light of the sunset will hit it.”

“Guys,” I say.

“There is no time to waste. We must leave while we can. Seeing as how you two seem to be the leaders of your group we will return and have them assist in the search.”

“Wait.”

“Okay then. Let’s get going,” Istruan starts toward the door.

“Just listen to me-”

The forest echoes with three hard knocks. All my hesitation, frustration, and confusion turn into absolute alertness. The crunch of snow, the quiet whispers, the snort of an impatient horse, all of it just outside the house while Isturan stands less than ten feet away from the door. “I am Saelac, an officer of the empire. Open your doors.”

We stand, frozen in time. The whispers grow louder. A sudden clang of metal noise ends the voices. Three more knocks come followed by the same phrase, “I am Saelac, an officer of the empire. Open your doors or we will force them open!”

We exchange glances. “I’m coming!” The healer shouts. “Do not dare break down that door.” he stomps on the wooden flooring as he walks to the door. Istruan gives me a knowing nod. He hides under a table in a circle of overgrown plants. I climb over a pile of crates and press against the corner.

“Greetings gentlemen. A fine day it is to not have to repair a broken door. How may I help you, weary servicemen, today?”

I peek through a space in the crates. Saelac’s eyes scan the room. His men, numbering around half a dozen, stand right behind him.

Something feels wrong.

Sudden chills run through my spine. I stiffen as a figure walks by. He peers into the cabin, fogging up the window with his breath. His eyes sweep across the room and linger on the crates a little too long. I gulp down my nerves and sit absolutely still. The teachings of my master still reside in my head. If someone or something is looking for you, don’t move. Trust in your hiding place. Doubt will win them over.

“Hello, sir. My men and I were simply wondering if you ran into a couple of kids out here.” the man by the window walks away. I take my first breath in what seems like forever. “They’re in a rather large group. Around eleven or so.”

“No, officer. I haven’t seen any children running around these woods. It does not seem like a very smart thing to do when so many things are happening around these parts. I do not mean to sound rude but doesn’t an officer like you have better things to do than go hunting down a couple of runaway kids?”

“Runaway kids? Don’t be ridiculous. They are criminals. Only criminals run from the judgment of the law… Two of these criminals had odd hair colors. One’s a roluk, and the other has blood red hair. I’ll ask you again, have you seen these people?”

“From kids to criminals? My my, that’s quite the change. If I knew you were looking for criminals I would have helped you immediately,” he says with an almost gleeful tone.

My fingers twitch, ready to hurl fireballs and lightning bolts in a matter of seconds. I’ll then grab Istruan and break out through the window, knock the guard out and run away as fast as I can.

Luckily, he doesn’t betray us. “I will keep an eye out for anyone like that Mr. Saelac. I’m sure a group that large with such a mix and match of hair colors will be easy to spot. Now if you don’t need my services, I’m afraid you’ll have to excuse me. There are many things I must do if I want to keep these plants alive during such a cold winter.”

He closes the door but Saelac slams his hand against it. “Actually, we are in need of a few herbal supplies. We’ll be in and out in a couple of minutes. Of course, we’ll be sure to pay for any of the things we take.”

“I am an herbalist, a healer. I do not supply armies with the tools they need to continue slaughtering others.”

“No, you don’t. That’s the job of blacksmiths. Your job is to save lives and be a good citizen of The Empire. Although, we both know the latter is impossible.”

The Healer doesn’t say a word. I can’t see his expression from here but he’s standing as still as a statue. Something came over him.

“Didn’t think someone as young as me would recognize you? I’ve heard the tales they told about you. I’ve heard a great many things about the last war with Alden especially. How does it go? Ah yes, a great healer that saved countless! A couple of plants is all it takes. He heals them in mere seconds after he starts treatment, almost good as new! I’ve also heard this ‘healer’ was a monster on the battlefield as well. Give the man a simple dagger and dozens of men would fall down, dead. I’d receive quite the recognition if I were to turn you in, Gideon.”

“Interesting stories you have there… I don’t happen to know that man either. Unless someone is in dire need of my abilities, you may leave, officer.” the healer says, his voice filled with contempt.

“So be it,” Saelac responds. He stares the healer straight in the face. “My men here were attacked by a group of monsters last night. One severely injured his arm. The bleeding has stopped, we can do that much. What we don’t know is if it’ll heal properly.”

The healer freezes again, deciding whether or not to believe Saelac. He shakes his head, “I will come to him. Bring him out and I shall take a look.”

Saelac looks less than pleased but he nods. The healer casts a glance back before returning his attention to them. He steps out the door and almost shuts it when a loud sneeze breaks the silence. My eyes widen and my lungs pull tight. Under the table, surrounded by plants, Istruan pinches his nose. He looks at me with eyes full of panic.

“What was that?” Saelac questions.

“Nothing,” the healer responds.

“I knew it. They’re inside! Apprehend them immediately. Use lethal force if necessary on anyone but the Yurfray.”

“I will not allow you inside!”

“Not your say anymore. Step aside or be arrested,” Saelac pushes the healer to the side. “Go.”

I aim a knife at the door. As soon as the first person walks through, I throw it. The healer catches the knife midair, turns the soldier around and knocks him to the ground. “Don’t kill them! I will take care of the ones out here. Stay put where you are.”

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“One’s behind the crates!” Saelac yells as the healer closes the door.

A series of grunts and metallic ringing comes from outside. I push the crates away and head toward the door. A rock crashes through the window and I shield myself from the glass. A soldier jumps in, plants a kick to my stomach and pulls out his sword. My lingering cough comes back full force. Saliva hangs from my lips and tears gather around my eyes as I hunch over clinging at my stomach.

The soldier swings with the butt of his sword. Istruan bursts out of his hiding place. He tackles the man to the ground. They wrestle for the sword. The soldier manages to shake one of Istruan’s hands off.

Holding onto the sword with one hand, Istruan unleashes a series of punches at the soldier’s head. His hands bloody from the hard iron helm. The man catches his arm and rolls him over. They scuffle for the top position and the sword. Istruan loses out.

“Move away from him!” I hurl a lightning bolt. It strikes the soldier right on his shoulder and he goes flying across the room. He clutches at his arm red-faced and veins popping. He gasps for air while his body shakes uncontrollably. As his body goes limp, an odd sensation courses through me. Joy, strength… then terror.

I race across the room and kneel down next to him. A weight lifts off me when I feel his heartbeat. For once I thanked my weaker magical abilities. I wasn’t holding back when I fired this one off. The people who I’ve had to face recently wouldn’t be even close to knocked out from something like that.

“Ah…”

Istruan groans. I go over to him, “Are you alright?”

He groans again, “Just give me more time next time. That lightning bolt really shook me up but I’m okay. Go help out the healer. Even if what that officer said was true, I don’t know if someone can go against that many people and be okay.”

Outside, the healer faces off against Saelac. Everyone else is knocked on the ground, stunned, unconscious, or mending their wounds. Saelac and the healer circle each other. Both are out of breath but the healer has a couple of cuts on his body.

I fire off a lightning bolt at Saelac. He spins around and disperses the spell with his sword. I hesitate on another spell but the healer charges in before I make a decision. Saelac swings too early and misses. The healer keeps his sword down and places his palm on Saelac’s chest. Magic bursts from his hand engulfing Saelac in white light. He tumbles through the snow and ends buried in a snow bed.

“Thank you for the help,” he says, “I’m a bit out of practice.     Don’t worry, none of them are dead. Their cuts are shallow and shouldn’t be hard to mend. Thanks for your knife, it helped quite a bit,” he hands it back to me.

It’s chipped and coated in blood…

“Hello?” he says, “Are you alright? Did anything happen to you inside?”

“Huh?” I turn to him. “Yeah, I’m fine. Istruan got hurt a little bit but he’s okay too. Why?”’

“Well, I assumed something went wrong. You were spacing out just now. If that knife means so much to you, I don’t mind replacing it.” He hands me a handkerchief to clean it. “I don’t carry so much money with me nowadays but it should still be no problem.”

“No… There’s no problem.”

“Good. Finding the flower, however hard it may be, is the top priority. Grab Istruan and we will return to the cabin. There we will start to search. If the flower isn’t found in a couple of hours you will need to leave your friend behind.”

“Leave him behind?” Istruan bursts out from the cabin. “We won’t leave him behind. I refuse. If he’s left behind then I’m staying behind.”

“Calm down, calm down. That’s only if we don’t find the flower.”

I twirl the flower around in my fingers, “Is it really the only way to save him?”

“The only way? I always believe in other ways but this time, it might very well be. With the assortment of herbs I went through yesterday and his condition not even easing an inch, we’ll have to depend on something beyond us. I don’t like it one bit but I must try it. I will do anything in my power to save that boy’s life.”

I have a feeling he wasn’t talking specifically about Sio. He’d probably do it for anyone who came asking for help. He’d hide them, he’d feed them, he’d give his life to protect them too. And for what reason? He’s soft.

He’s weak.

“We’ll look around here first. Never know what might be under our noses. See those fallen trees over there? Take a look. The flower glows a bright blue.”

We search under all possible spots in sight with no luck. The healer sighs and grabs his lantern, “Let’s go. The more time we waste the less he’ll have.”

“Wait!” I pull the flower out of my pocket. It takes me a second to unclench my fist. “Here. I have one. I don’t know if it’s still any good since I’ve had it for a couple of days now. Hopefully, it’ll still be of some help to him.”

“Rainen!” Istruan’s eyes grow wide. “How come you didn’t say anything earlier.”

I turn away from his gaze. “I tried but we were interrupted by them. Here’s the flower.””

The healer grabs in from my hand and smiles, “It’s a little worn but still very much alive. Thank you for giving this to us.”

“If only we’d known sooner. Sio would already be getting the treatment by now.”

The words sting. I’ve lost three things today, the flower, my knife, and a bit of Istruan’s trust. Maybe even a bit of trust in myself. It’s just a flower Rainen. You may not have had any nightmares when you had it but you may not have many nightmares after you lose it either. It’s all in the mind.

I look at my chipped knife. With a little bit of maintenance I can repair it, make it good as new. I wrap the knife with the handkerchief to wipe off the blood. The blood. Maybe I shouldn’t wipe it off just yet… I don’t want to get his handkerchief dirty.

“Rai… can… hear... me? Rainen,” Istruan shakes me, “Rainen, can you hear me? We’re leaving.”

“I was lost in thought. Right. I’m ready to go.”

“Ready to go? No no no. You’re not coming with us,” Istruan replies. “In fact, it would be better if you just stayed here.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“He’s right. You kept the flower a secret from us. You can’t be trusted. We will head back, just the two of us. You will stay here,” the healer says, staring me down.

My heart begins to race- no, it’s been racing since Istruan first opened his mouth. “I won’t stay here. My sister is back in the other cabin. I handed over the flower! I did what was right. I am going back with you.”

“I cannot let that happen. You are a danger to the patient. If you want to go back, you’ll have to force us to take you,” the healer takes a step back as if to run.

I pull out a new knife, “Don’t move!” I shout. However, my eyes fall on the soldiers around me. Can I really take him by myself? Can I take on him and Istruan?

Of course you can. Istruan and the man are both weak. Weak in spirit, weak in body, weak in mind. You are strong. We are strong.

What am I going to do after I win? Why should I fight them in the first place? I can do this with words.

They betrayed you… The only option is to fight. Win and you get what you want. Lose… and you may never see your sister again.

I grit my teeth. They turned their backs on me even though I did what was right.

I retract my new knife and both of them drop their guards.

Perfect.

----------------------------------------

“What? What do you mean?”

Gideon tightened his grip on the flower. Something was off about the boy. Something didn’t feel right. It was the same feeling he had moments before. Gideon’s eyes narrowed. “Young man, what’s wrong?”

“I won’t stay here. My sister is back in the other cabin. I handed over the flower! I did what was right. I am going back with you.”

“Of course you are. We all are. I would not leave you two here to fend for yourselves simply because I now have what it takes to save the patient.” Gideon took a step back to put distance between himself and the young man.

“Don’t move!” he shouted, waving a new knife around.

Gideon listened and stopped. He would be able to defend himself but would the other young man, Istruan, be able to? He determined that he would not. Although he sensed some anger in Istruan for what his friend did, hiding the flower, he wouldn’t hurt him.

Rainen withdrew his knife and both of them took a breath. A mistake Gideon would almost regret.

The young man charged at his friend, a bloody knife still in his other hand. The healer reached into his breast pocket and plucked a leaf off from his plant he kept there. He spoke one word and the leaf exploded.

He withstood the blast as did the other two but it stopped the charge. Before Rainen could recover, the healer invoked a silent spell. In a second, he was face to face with him. As he swung his knife, the healer blew a powder into his face. A moment later, he fell to the ground.

Gideon watched him as he lay unconscious. Still, dread crept up through his body like an illness. Something else was wrong.

Gideon’s feet were swept right out from under him. Something grabbed his leg and flung him through the greenhouse door. He dropped the lantern and rushed to his feet. Rainen was standing again but with his back hunched and his arms hung limp. He still held onto the bloody knife.

Two steps and the distance between them closed. Rainen pinned Gideon against the wall. With his hand wrapped around his throat, he squeezed. He flexed his throat in a feeble attempt but the young man’s grip was inhuman. With one arm he was choking the healer to death.

Gideon looked into Rainen’s eyes for a split second and realized he wasn’t there. The powder hadn’t failed. Rainen was unconscious but something else took over.

Gideon dug his fingernails into Rainen’s skin drawing blood but he didn’t react. He pulled out another leaf from the plant and placed it on Rainen’s arm. It started glowing, then burning. Rainen reached for the leaf. Gideon immediately clamped down with both hands. He sent more and more waves of mana into it. The pain became too unbearable and he was released.

It was over. Gideon rolled back his sleeve, something he thought he’d need against Saelac if he wanted things to end in both still alive. As the mindless Rainen recovered, the healer touched his lips to his blood and then to the plant.

 He whispered a spell. “We who have different names but are of the same soil, let us reconnect through a bloodletting. I have offered mine and you have offered yours but I have toiled our bond and now you shall repay in kind.”

The leaf, now on the floor, changed in shape and size. Vines burst out entangling Rainen. He was soon on his knees. He thrashed his body around and broke free of most of the vines. Gideon took a step back. If the young man broke out of this spell then he would need time for another.

But before he could tear off the rest of the vines, his arms shook and blue light emanated from him. He stopped resisting and fell to the ground as lifeless as before.

The spell Gideon cast drained mana. All he had to do was fulfill the conditions of blood and the incantation along with the plant. For once he was thankful that he rigged his cabins with spell circles.

“What just happened?” Istruan asked, never taking his eyes off Rainen. He shook his head, most likely recovering from the earlier spell.

Gideon kicked away the bloody knife. “I don’t know. Pick him up and we will treat him along with your other friend,” he said despite knowing the incident was out of his control. Anyone could treat a few cuts and bruises, stop major bleeding if they had to. But, things with the mind were much trickier.