Page 79 of Restored

I cradle my screaming shoulder. He looks ready to throw me on his horse and send me straight back to the castle.

“I’m fine,” I assure him before he can say anything. He eyes the wound with wrathful intensity.

Someone is being carried into the alleyway and I know I need to help.

“Layla,” he growls as I back away.

“Go kill the rest of these fucking things,” I say to Ledger before sprinting over to the alley. It’s clear this is where the injured are being taken.

“Over here, please, she’s not doing well.” A man waves me over. I see a woman on her stomach, claw marks slashed gruesomely down her back. She is writhing in pain, making garbled noises.

I already know venom is working its way into her system. I kneel next to her, my skin sparking with energy, ready to undo the damage done to her.

I raise my hands over her back, bracing myself for the pain that accompanies the poison. White light descends on her wounds. I grit my teeth as the black venom absorbs through my palms. I distract myself from the pain, picturing Ledger’s face. The night where we spent together, his mouth on mine, that damn dimple.

My hands tremble as sweat drips down my back. The extracting of poison becomes an almost unbearable torture.

I let out a breath of relief as I sense the last bit leaving the woman’s body. The wounds on her back mend rather hastily after that.

The man who called me over grabs my hands bringing them to his bowed head. “Oh, gods, thank you.”

There is no time to answer him as I’m pulled roughly away and thrown in front of another. The man is propped up against the stone wall, his pant leg ripped, revealing a jagged bite.

The flesh from his ankle to his mid-calf is missing, stark white bone on display. His skin is pale, and his eyes are wild as they find mine.

“Am I going to be able to keep my leg?” he repeats the question again and again.

“Calm down, please. It’s going to be okay; I’m going to help you.” I reach for his face, stroking my hand over his forehead and down his cheek.

Once he has calmed, I focus on his leg, my hands already aglow. The man flinches back, his other leg kicking out at me, his fear apparent.

“Please hold him still.” I aim this request at a woman standing close by. She comes and holds his leg down, murmuring comfort to him. I waste no time saturating his leg in glowing mist.

My eyes drift shut, imagining the muscle that is supposed to be there. I see the tendons and flesh molding back together. I picture the man able to walk again.

A few moments later, I inspect my work: the skin is red, raised in areas. He won’t be without a scar, and it’s not perfect, but the chunk of leg that was missing is now filled in and he will be able to use it.

If I had more time and if I didn’t have to conserve what power I did have, I could have done better, but it would have to do.

I heal person after person. I’m coated in so much gore and blood I wonder if I will ever be truly clean again. The poison I remove leaves me feeling ill, the nausea in my gut so strong it’s a miracle I haven’t vomited.

I grit my teeth against the throbbing in my shoulder, fighting to ignore the acute pain. The man I’m currently working on has his eyes shut and eyebrows drawn in discomfort. My glowing hands move gently around the wolf bites until the frown on his brows ceases.

My head’s spinning from exertion and blood loss, but I can’t bring myself to stop.

“LAYLA!” Ledger’s voice cuts through the mayhem making my stomach drop. I drag my body up and run, my feet reacting before my brain can command them.

Dead Kerolu and Dire wolves litter the streets. I limp around their lifeless bodies, trudging through puddles of blue and red blood. I don’t see or hear any more fighting, an indication the battle is over.

“LAYLA!” His cry comes again. I frantically search the streets as I stumble down the cobblestones. My heart pounds in my ears as I round the corner, trying to push myself faster.

Ledger in the middle of the town square crouched in front of the very fountain I was laughing and eating at daysearlier. He is huddled over a body, his scarlet hands splayed out on their chest.

My boots stick to the cobblestones as I stagger to them. Mia is crouched next to Ledger, her face looking grim.

My stomach drops when I see distinct red hair. It was the boy I’d healed in the training grounds. Ledger looks scared as he holds a cloth over Holt’s wounds. I’d never seen that emotion on his face.

I drop to my knees next to him. They are enveloped in wet warmth as blood pools around his body, too much blood.

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