Golden Crown: The Fey Lands Saga book 2

The Healing: Oak Hollow vllage

Entering the temple I looked around to each of the villagers. How did this power of healing work? Was it one person at a time. I felt around inside myself, where the magic I had lay. I quested. "One at a time." I said to Nulock, "the sickest ones are near the back."
Stepping over listening as people coughed and cried around me. I knelt before a woman, nearing her fiftieth summer. I touched mer head hot with the fever, "Goddess." She croaked, "I'm here." "Knew you would." She said and coughed violently. I touched her chest and felt a healing light fill me and go through her body. She jolted then lay still. Was she dead? No, just sleeping peacefully. I went to the next bed. the bed of a little boy near his fifth year. He was skin and bone and weak with fever. I touched him and felt magic drain from me. "What's wrong?" Asked Nulock, "He was sicker than I thought." "Darn near took most of my healing."
I limped to another bed. This one of a little girl around her tenth year, "goddess!" "My mama!" "She's dead." "I'm sorry little one." I said tears filling my eyes. "But you'll make me better?" "I will." "Gods I will."
My hands touched five more people before I had to stop and rest. "Eight is a good start." Said Nulock, "All of them were near death when you touched them." "I just wish I could sweep my hands and heal each one right now." I said disheartened. "I know." "But its not your gift." I sighed, "I can at least tend to them, feed them, give them tea." "They need fatty rich foods, but they're starving so we have to go slowly. For next few days I healed a few at a time until they were up and walking around. the healing wasn't instantaneous and they weren't completely healed by my touch. But slowly one by one villagers began to mend and heal and no more became ill.
Every night I reached to Lian to talk to him. But something was happening with him as well. His mind voice got weaker as the days went on. But he told me to stay. Then as I was healing one of the remaining sick I felt a sharp stab of agony go through me. It was sadness, pain, and crippling grief. "Lian!" I mind called. But as soon as the mind call went out it vanished, as if his mind wasn't there, as if he'd been snuffed out. I could still feel the grief the sadness the despair and heavy depression swamping me. "Lian!" I mind called. Nothing, "Lian." I said to Nulock. "I'll go find out what I can." "But Tefira." I said. His healing sleep had put the babies into a sleep and they stirred but I could tell she was getting close.
Cries of "Fire fire!" Filled my head and I ran from the temple. Raiders had entered the village poor and downtrodden and set fire to the village as we had been tending the sick. Only being in the temple had saved the people.
"I'll go." Said Nulock as I looked at the devastation all around me. Homes were in flames. I tried using the rain, pouring water into the fires but the fires kept burning. this was Turnock and his servants. I knew instinctively. More despair filled the villagers. I had to shake myself out of the despair I felt at watching what we'd had burn to ashes.
I dealt with the raiders by chasing them out with a bolt of lightning. then I slumped in defeat. First plague, then the crops failing, and now this. Finally the fires seemed to snuff themselves out once every building except the temple was burned to the ground. Animals were burned, everything the people owned. But the shrine stood. "It is because my daughter." Said the mother's voice, "Because you are here." "They could not touch something so good." "What will I do?" I asked, "Create, build, that power is not limited as the healing power is."
Villagers walked around in a daze as another rain shower fell. "We are on a hill, that's why we didn't completely flood out." Said Amar with despair, "I'll rebuild." "There are still some who are sick." Said Amar sadly, "We'll heal them, and tend to this, mess." I said.
I collapsed near a patch of burned ground and was thinking about where to start when I heard a gasp, "the land, the land is healed." I looked down to note that the grasses were clean and fresh. though when I tried to heal I couldn't.
"We can al live in the temple for now." I said, "It will be crowded but we'll do until homes are built." "But I must find the evil that does this to us." I said resolutely, "I'll go see what's wrong with Lian." Said Nulock as Tefira gasped in pain, "Goddess!"
Through the night Tefira laboured, her cries filling the cramped temple. People were too sick, sad, or tired to complain over much as she paced in a tiny corner, cried with the pain, or lay on a bed of blankets. Around dawn as the sun filtered through rain clouds I helped her to squat down. Twins were born, a boy and girl by the third hour after dawn.
Lying down Tefira grew weaker. She was bleeding. "Its my time." She said deliriously, "No Tefira, they need you." I said pouring my healing into the woman. Stronger she said, "I will name our girl Phaydra after you and our son." "What is the fey word for hope?" "Loadar." I said, "Then Loadar it is." "For there is hope in the midst of our suffering." "Each time I see them I will be reminded of our lives, and how you came to help and heal us."
Three days later I was touching the soil, trying to heal the land when Nulock appeared, "Lian is ill." "His parents cling to life only by a thread." "There is talk of Turnock spreading his magic into Fey lands." "Gods!" I said, "No wonder." "But the king and queen cannot die, they linger until they get to the bonding tree." "Their spirits lie in limbo." "No." I said, "I can't see, I can't go back yet." "You can't." "You must stay here and help the people here who need you." "Now that the village is burned to the ground and there is no food, and people still recover from their illness there is much that needs to happen." "Crops need to be planted, homes built, animals gotten, they need supplies."
I sighed as Amar came hurrying up to us, "An army!" "An army of dark clad me!" "They're headed this way, and with them!" "A Fey with dark magic, everywhere he goes, the land dies!" "You saw this?" I asked, "in a vision?" He nodded, "When?" I asked, "A sennight."
"We've not much time." I said. "Why?" "He feels you here." "He said, he'd destroy you." "No he won't." I said, "By my oath I will not die, I will stand." I turned to Nulock, "Why is Lian ill?" "His magic eats up all other magics." "He's no god, you might be able to." "Neither am I a god." "But perhaps I might be able to help our people survive."
More healing of the sick took place over the coming days. The walls and palisade and walls had been battered down and nothing remained of the village I loved except for ashes, and the temple and square where people gathered. "We have nothing." Called a woman in despair as I paced off the familiar roadways of the village, "We've five hundred people here and nothing but a temple." "I am doing the best I can." I said, "There are still some who are sickened by the plague, and i can only heal a little at a time." I said bitingly, "When I'm not doing that I'm dealing with your petty squabbles and arguments." "When I'm not doing that I'm mapping out the land so we can have our village like it was." the woman bowed her head and shook with sobs, "Forgive me goddess, I misspoke." "You are trying to heal our land." "You have limited powers, your powers are stronger in Fey lands." I nodded.
"We have no weapons for this army." Said one of the men, "We need none, I will make them." I said. I strode a few paces away and thought. then concentrating very hard i gestured to the ground. I sat in the mud, completely exhausted. I had just made enough weapons and leather studded armour and plate and chain mail and swords, daggers, staves, and bows and arrows so that every person in the village had enough for three sets of armour and six weapons a piece. I touched one of the swords in a sheath of finely tooled leather. The metal buzzed with magic. "Magical weaponry." I said, "Maybe not a lot of magic in these but perhaps enough." I stood wearily and almost fell over with the strain of all the magic I'd used. I saw stars and went dizzy, and then I swayed, then fainted dead away.