The horse snorted, refusing to go any further. Martin tried, but the horse backed away, getting jittery. Martin dismounted and patted the horse, giving it a small amount of calming power before taking a few steps forward, holding his lantern. There were way too many felled trees ahead for it to have been an accident. Martin started to run. He didn’t know how long it had been since he stopped feeling the corruption, but it had gone on long enough. Captain Luiz appeared at his side, holding his sleeve to his nose.

“Oh, this is bad,” Captain Luiz said, holding a lantern of his own.

Martin saw familiar figures a few steps away from the felled trees. He ran forward, taking it in. Indenuel was on the ground, deep in the devil’s sleep. His shirt had been torn open. Martin was both terrified to see the mark and relieved to see it was only red. Tolomon was holding Inessa close, keeping a hand on her temples, closing his eyes as he filled her with whatever healing power he could.

“She is dangerously sick, sir,” Tolomon said as Martin knelt next to him.

Martin touched her forehead, feeling how hot it was before he took off his High Elder robe and draped it over her and Tolomon.

“Kiam?” Martin asked.

“Indenuel got them all,” Tolomon said.

Captain Luiz winced before holding his lantern up higher to see the trees. He unsheathed his sword. “I’ll go inspect it.”

The smell of death hit him. Martin did not want to see what was in that circle of trees but seeing Captain Luiz’ face was enough. There was enough blood and gore on the outside of the ring of trees for him to imagine what was inside it.

“She needs your help, sir,” Tolomon said.

Martin nodded, placed his fingers against Inessa’s temples, sensing the poison deep in her system. He vaguely heard horses snorting and whinnying as the rest of the party caught up. His heart that once hammered now felt hallow and empty. Inessa had a bad fever, and he sensed the poison in her system wreaked with her body. Martin released his hold.

The group of men approached, and he heard gasps of surprise and alarm at the sight. “They’ve drugged her with something to mimic corrupted pain, but we didn’t bring any female healers in our group.”

“I don’t understand, sir,” Tolomon said.

“We’ll have to send for one.” Martin examined the horses a distance away. “Inessa cannot be moved in her state.”

“Shouldn’t you just heal her?” Tolomon asked.

“The poison is too far in her system. It would be inappropriate for me to heal her.”

Tolomon’s frown deepened. “But… she’s your concubine. Don’t you have that right?”

Martin froze before glancing at Tolomon. With all the terror he felt, with all the worrying he had about Indenuel, he completely forgot that Inessa was his, and he was allowed by law to heal her in any capacity.

“Right.” Martin rubbed his chin. “Of course. It must have slipped my mind. It would be faster if I did it.”

“Yes, sir. It would. She might not last much longer,” Tolomon said.

Martin nodded, looking down at Inessa, unconscious and pale in Tolomon’s arms, far too much sweat on her forehead. “Do you need to stay with Indenuel? Or can you keep a hold of her? The ground is far too wet.”

Tolomon arranged the High Elder robe around her better. “I’ll do whatever you need me to, sir.”

Martin nodded as Tolomon held her head as tenderly as he could. Martin ventured another glance at Indenuel, unconscious on the ground, the mark still red and inflamed before he closed his eyes, placing his fingers against her temples. He threw protective shields over her vital organs, strengthening the cells fighting against the infection.

The connection was there. He never healed Inessa before, as she never had a serious illness to heal immediately. He always sent her to a female healer, but she was his concubine despite needing to be reminded of that. He sensed the drug in her, sensed the chaos, but there was something else. He began to sense something in his mind’s eye.

Inessa was standing in front of a man. A shirtless man. She held his wrist. Martin was confused until the vision cleared and to his horror, he saw the shirtless man was Indenuel. Why was he shirtless? He was still marked! What was he doing in Inessa’s room? Inessa looked at Indenuel with a deep concern. Panic rose in Martin’s chest as he saw Inessa in her nightclothes. They were frightfully close to each other, they might-

In the vision, Inessa grabbed Indenuel’s face. Right before their lips touched, Martin opened his eyes, his hands immediately releasing her temples. He let out a shaky breath.

“Sir?” Tolomon asked, quiet concern in his voice.

Martin shook his head, preparing himself to heal her. It hadn’t happened yet. He was seeing something in her future, but it didn’t seem too far into the future. Indenuel didn’t need this right now. He didn’t need that kind of distraction, what with the fact that he was deep in the devil’s sleep not that far from them. Inessa would kiss a marked individual. Had she no sense at all?

A small thought entered the back of his mind. He could simply not heal her. He could let the drug ravage her body and claim it was too late, but he dismissed it. That would be a violation of who he was. He was Martin the Healer. If there was healing to be done, he needed to do it.

He reached under the robe and touched the cut in her side. Her dress was wet, but as soon as he healed her completely, it wouldn’t be as deadly. More importantly, he had no desire to take it off with all these men here. He closed his eyes, throwing his conscious inside her.

Her body was in a state of chaos, though it was still a while yet before it shut down. He kept the shields going strong around the vital organs. This drug was only in the bloodstream, and it had been less than a day. No one would have believed him if he left her for dead. He strengthened the body’s desire to stay healthy while taunting the drug out of the system. It came easily, following Martin’s prompting. He kept easing it out as fresh blood squeezed out of the wound in her side, falling onto Tolomon’s clothes and dripping onto the ground. Martin pulled more out, and her heart started to fail. Martin soothed it, strengthening the protective shield around it. He could do a heart bond, if he needed to, but this would be enough.

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

Another vision came. It was Inessa, standing in the fresh morning air. She looked horrible. Stick thin with misery in her eyes as she looked at him. He was there, in the future, seeing her in this horrible state. Inessa sobbed, her hand to her mouth. “I’m sorry.”

The drug was out. Martin opened his eyes, the vision gone, the conflicting feelings remained. He could not worry about it. The two visions were a gift. He already knew Inessa’s choice, and he already knew she would feel guilty about it. Maybe it was given to him because Martin needed this extra time to forgive her. Because right now, he felt betrayed and already willing to throw her in the dungeon for a crime she was to commit in her future.

Martin touched the cut at Inessa’s side and encouraged the skin to stitch together. It wanted to come together, so it obeyed easily. Martin touched Inessa’s temples and poured the healing power into her. Her heart eased back to its regular pace. Martin enriched her blood. Whatever there was lacking, the healing power made up for it.

Inessa gasped. Martin released his hold on her and opened his eyes. Inessa was looking around, a fear in her eyes.

“You’re alright,” Tolomon said. “Martin’s here, just as I said.”

Inessa looked over at him, still incredibly weak.

“You still have a fever. Let me heal it,” Martin said.

She nodded, closing her eyes again. He touched her temples as he worked on healing the fever.

Navir arrived, and Martin cracked an eye open to see a pained expression on his face. He approached the felled trees. He placed a hand on the trunk, closing his eyes. Martin didn’t know what Navir felt, but if it was anything like the buildup of pain, his heart ached for what he must be feeling. Martin finished strengthening the cells to fight against the fever, working hard to get it back to normal.

Dalius approached, kneeling beside Indenuel, pushing back the torn pieces of shirt.

“Can you heal it?” Fadrique asked.

“I can try,” Dalius said. “But I have a feeling even if I can heal it, this will still take years for him to return.”

Captain Luiz stood with his back to the trees, a shade paler than before. “We don’t have years. Kiam is headed for our city, and we don’t have the numbers to stop them.”

“I need all the weather controllers in the vicinity,” Fadrique told a soldier. “There is too much of a chill in the air for it to be natural.” The soldier nodded before moving to his friends, asking questions about their God-given gift.

Martin should have felt panic, but he didn’t. He moved away from Inessa as Tolomon helped her to her feet. Martin glanced back at Indenuel on the ground as Dalius touched each individual mark before he began to pull out the corruption.

“Forgive this breech in etiquette for touching your concubine, sir,” Tolomon said. “Should you wish to have me-”

“Stop it, Tolomon. You no doubt saved her life,” Martin said.

Navir took out his handkerchief to cover his nose and mouth before placing a palm flat against the trees, to heal them of corruption.

“He killed them,” she said, her voice a terrified whisper. “All of them.”

Martin looked back at the girl who looked so small next to Tolomon. “With corruptive powers?”

“What’s going to happen to him?” Inessa asked. He said nothing as he continued to watch Dalius easing corruption out of the body. “Martin?” she prompted again.

“It is a matter for the High Elders to discuss,” he answered.

“He was only trying to save me,” Inessa said.

“His temper needs to remain in check,” Martin said. “This is a dangerous time. We must be certain the devil doesn’t try and claim him. It is vital he stay on God’s path. It is vital he is not tempted to do something that would break the law.”

Tolomon watched with a frown, then studied Inessa’s face. Inessa had her own frown. “Of course. Of course, Martin. You know I’d…” her eyes flittered toward Tolomon before meeting Martin’s gaze again. “I’d never do anything like that.” She gathered the robe and handed it to him, her body trembling as she did so.

Martin shook his head. “Keep it. It’s still cold.” Inessa nodded, draping it over her shoulders.

“There will be a carriage coming,” Tolomon said. “Once it’s here, go inside and rest. You’ve gone through a lot, and the healing has done a number on you.”

Inessa nodded, tucking some of her hair behind her ears. “Thank you, Tolomon.”

“Before it comes, I need to talk to you,” Martin said, taking her elbow and moving her farther away from the stench of death. They were still far too close to the other High Elders when Inessa started talking.

“Was this a rescue mission for me? Or for Indenuel?” Martin bowed his head, pretending he didn’t hear the question. “Because you would have been better prepared with healing supplies if it was a mission to rescue me.”

Martin stopped walking, feeling the trickle of regret. He glanced again, knowing his High Elders should be far too focused on healing the corruption to pay attention to them. Even Tolomon was standing guard over Indenuel.

His eyes fell on Inessa, and the regret turned into more than a trickle. There was something in her face. She was steeling herself for a lecture, for another argument, despite everything she had gone through in the past day, she believed Martin was here to give her a verbal lashing.

“Look, Inessa, I…” Martin let go of her elbow and folded his arms. “I’m sorry.”

Inessa frowned, clearly not what she expected. “What?”

Martin glanced around again, but everyone was far too busy. “I’m sorry how I treated you. I’m sorry you felt obligated to leave the city. This… this never should have happened. I didn’t realize the flowers were outside the city. This put you in far too much danger.” Inessa looked away, giving a tiny nod. “The other High Elders still don’t know what you did, and I have no intention of telling them. I realize now you are not a spy for anyone. I am…” Martin cleared his throat. “I am glad you are alright. I was worried about you when I heard the news.”

Inessa nodded again, still keeping his white robe around her. “And Indenuel? Is he alright?”

Martin felt the smallest twitch of his eye. “No, Inessa. He’s not. He used far too much corruption, killing way too much. Do not ask me about him again.”

“Nothing is going to happen between us. I’m simply a concerned friend,” Inessa said.

Martin dug his palm into his forehead, seeing it again in his mind’s eye. It was Inessa who kissed him first. Him, who was clearly marked. “Stay away from him. He needs this time to heal, and you are nothing but a distraction for him.” Inessa didn’t look at him, but she did give a small nod. He saw the carriage approaching. “Tolomon’s right. You need rest. Get on in the carriage and try and sleep.”

She said nothing, simply nodded again as Martin helped her toward the carriage. The girl was exhausted, and Martin made sure the white robe was over her like a blanket as she drifted off to sleep again.

Martin got out of the carriage, heading toward where Navir was healing the trees. Fadrique was standing in a small group, his eyes closed, reaching up toward the sky. The chill in the air began to disappear. Dalius was still working on the mark.

“How is Indenuel?” Martin asked Tolomon.

Dalius sighed, leaning back on his legs. “I’m not getting much more out.”

Martin nodded, seeing the mark had become a much lighter red color. “It’s already looking better. He’ll need to confess in order to get the rest out anyway.”

Dalius nodded as Martin helped him to his feet. Navir released his hold on the trees before walking over to the felled trees. He held his lantern up a little higher, looking at the carnage Martin did not dare see himself. Navir kept a handkerchief to his nose, but his eyes bounced over the carnage with an almost calculated look.

“Indenuel has a few cuts and bruises. Would you like to heal them, or should I?” Tolomon asked.

Martin again looked at Indenuel. It was difficult to tell behind all that blood and other matter, but he realized Tolomon was right. Indenuel was hurt. An exhausted anger filled Martin’s soul. Indenuel deliberately disobeyed them. Martin took a steadying breath. He couldn’t heal the boy if he was angry at him.

“I’ll see what I can do.” He knelt next to Indenuel and reached forward, brushing his fingers against Indenuel’s blood covered temples. He closed his eyes and at first, he felt nothing.

Then he heard shrill laughter. Heard screams. Heard begging.

Martin’s fingers slipped and his palms landed flat against Indenuel’s head. He tried to release his hold, but a thousand invisible hands kept him pinned to Indenuel’s temples.

“No, Indenuel! Stop!” It was his own screams. He couldn’t tell if he was saying this out loud, or if he was hearing it in a vision. A vision that was only sounds. Something kept him from seeing anything. The screams and jeers were loud as he tried to see, then it felt like he was thrown directly into a fire.

His hands were torn away as Dalius and Tolomon grabbed his shoulders and pulled him away from the boy. Martin gasped, feeling himself orient back to the real world, looking down at his hands to make sure they weren’t bleeding.

“Martin?” Navir asked, worry creasing his forehead.

Martin breathed the cool evening air, patting his clothes to make sure they weren’t on fire. What just happened?