Page 99 of Rescued By the Beast
He orders the old woman to begin the healing ritual. The witch, calm and unperturbed, begins her work. Her hands float over Mark's body, murmuring words I don't understand. The air around them stirs as an aura of light begins to emanate from Mark.
The candles flicker, and the fire in the hearth intensifies, casting dancing shadows across the cabin.
I watch as Mark begins to glow. His skin glows, his veins become visible and pulsating, and his body contorts in pain.
He screams, even though he is unconscious.
The witch, unperturbed, begins to extract the iron that is still inside him, her hands moving with precision, pulling the dark particles from his veins as if her hands were magnets. They come out through his pores and open wounds, forming a ball of iron that floats in the air, growing with every passing second.
The process takes an hour, maybe more, and I struggle to keep my eyes open, to stay awake, watching.
When it's all over, Mark lies motionless, his contortions ceasing.
The iron, the size of a marble, floats to one of the old woman's hands, then silence fills the room.
"Did it work?" Ted approaches Mark, checking his pulse.
"Of course it did." The witch's voice is laden with impatience.
"Then why isn't he waking up?" Ted growls. "Why haven't the wounds closed?"
"That was the price of the bargain. For three lives, I would heal him in the end, but with only two..." She chuckles softly."The agreement was that I would only remove the iron from his system.
What a disgusting witch!
Ted seems to struggle against his transformation. His body grows in size, brown fur begins to appear and his claws emerge, but he squeezes his eyes shut, takes a deep breath and, with visible effort, returns to his normal state before asking:
"What happens now?"
"It will take time, but his magic and essence will flow again. He will heal himself, he is just weak and will remain unconscious until he recovers enough.
Still lying on the floor, I feel such a deep emptiness that it seems I will never be able to recover.
But then, Mark takes a deep breath, as if he is finally freeing himself from an internal struggle. His body, which previously seemed trapped between forms, completely restores itself to human form. His chest rises and falls at a slow and steady pace. And in that moment, I know it was worth it.
Seeing Mark well, I somehow feel well too.
Chapter 29
Mark
I feel my back being lifted, the weight of my limbs heavy.
Someone is carrying me, but everything seems distant, shapeless, meaningless. The world is out of focus. My head spins, the emptiness around me is a black hole, an abyss that pulls me in, without mercy.
Then, a familiar sound, so clear in the darkness, so real, so... close. Her meow. The feeling of familiarity makes me try to open my eyes, but everything is blurry, the muscles in my body refusing to cooperate.
The sound holds me, anchors me for a few seconds.
I feel her presence, but the darkness swallows me again.
And then the icy water.
It hits me like a shock, making me shiver to the bone. I feel the dirt and blood running down with the water, the metallic, dense smell becoming lighter, fading away.
"Try to sit up, Mark," Ethan's voice sounds distant, even though I know he's holding me by the shoulders, feeling the pressure of his fingers on my skin.
The pain still throbs in me, my skin, my bones, everything hurts, but the feeling of being dragged back into the abyss makes me want to fight.
