The Land Set Aflame

Chapter 79: The Mended Flesh

Living flesh was more difficult to mend than cloth or wood, but Callyndia still did her best to restore Leofric's body to its pristine, unblemished state. He was badly burned and disfigured all over, and that kind of magic was difficult, even for her. She'd at least been able to restore his face and hair almost to their original order, though there were a few spots where his skin looked too tight or distorted slightly, and his left ear didn't seem to want to reform quite all the way.

There were scars and knots remaining across the rest of his body, but she'd done the best che could to make them unnoticeable before the entire enterprise had worn her out. His clothing was easy to reconstruct, and he could use that to cover his scars quite well. Maybe she could try again later.

Finally, after hours of meticulous healing and mending, she sat back and sighed in contented exhaustion, knowing she'd done all she could for him. "I think that's about the best I can do," she said wearily, offering a smile at the two women who stood off watching her in amazement.

"Isn't that just a wonder?" breathed the older woman, who had been introduced to Callyndia as Mercia Ferryn, "You've fixed him right up, haven't you, Miss? Almost as handsome as before, isn't he? You fairies..." She shook her head in disbelieving admiration.

Callyndia smiled affectionately at her, which made her shrink away nervously. "Fairy magic isn't all tricks and illusions," she said gently, "My mother could have done even better. But I'm just glad I could do this much. I'm sure he'll be satisfied with this. And Kithana too."

The other woman — Holly Hallis, Drogan's wife, now widow — stood wide-eyed, swallowing in amazement. She was still unable to maintain eye contact with Callyndia, after that unfortunately intense charm Callyndia had given her eariler. "Can you even bring the dead back to life?" she wondered aloud.

Callyndia pursed her lips. "No, unfortunately," she replied, "Even my mother couldn't do that." She looked at Holly with as much compassion as she could, and sent a little wave of magic towards her to sooth her mind. "I'm sorry about your husband, Holly. I only met him briefly, but he seemed like a good man. Kithana's very thankful for what you and Drogan did for her."

Holly shuddered a bit, and her face became a little uncomfortable. Callyndia quickly retracted her magic. Apparently, Holly was still overly sensitive to it, and it wouldn't do at all to confuse her with nymph charms right now.

Leofric stirred on the bed and opened his eyes.

"How do you feel?" Callyndia asked.

He took a few moments to blink and process. He raised his arms before his eyes and examined them from multiple angles. Creases of worry formed around his eyes as he examined his scars. He then moved to feeling his face with both hands.

"What do you think?" Callyndia asked him, "I did a pretty good job, didn't I?"

Leofric finally turned to look up at her and smiled in relief. "Oh, Lady Sablesong!" he said as he sat up, "You've made it! Thank you very much for this! I... I must confess, I didn't think it would be possible to restore me this completely!"

"I might be able to do more later," she said, "But I'm thoroughly exhausted now."

"That's quite alright," Leofric said.

"What happened here?" Callyndia asked.

Leofric sighed and rubbed his temples. "Master Garrafey transformed Melser into a hybrid of fairy and fire elemental," he said, "Just like that woodland spirit we encountered in Mellesh. I suppose Master Garrafey took advantage of Melser's anger, because the villagers blamed him for Kithana."

"I heard that part," Callyndia said, "But, what happened to you? And Sven?"

"Melser fooled me with an illusion," he said, "I thought he was Kithana. Wait, where is Kithana?" he asked.

"At the library," Callyndia explained, "With Lulie. They're fine. Do you know where Svenden is?"

Leofric shook his head. "I... I'm afraid I've been rather out of it," he said, "Was he... If you're here, it must be... well, it must be the next day, I suppose? Have I... I suppose I must have slept for a whole day, then?"

"About that, yes," Holly said, "You woke with a start a couple times, but you've been asleep otherwise."

"Mr. Moon went to get herbs for me," Leofric said, "Did he ever find them?"

Holly and Mercia shook their heads. "He never came back," Mercia said, "We did the best we could without the herbs. It's a good spot of luck the Fairy Lady arrived when she did, because we'd have had no way to take care of you otherwise."

Callyndia was feeling impatient, and increasingly worried about Svenden. She pulled the dead flower from behind her ear and tried to whisper into it. The last time she'd spoken to Svenden, she could barely hear anything he'd said. She even thought she'd heard a different voice at one point. Doubtless, that blossom had lost its magic completely by now.

But, she held on to a last bit of hope, just in case.

She tried speaking his name into it anyway, but the blossom simply shriveled up and crumbled away. She swallowed hard as a feeling of dread touched the back of her mind. "Oh no!" she said, standing up and making eye contact with Leofric, "Sven wouldn't have just gotten lost out there: if he didn't return, he must have encountered some trouble."

Leofric grimaced. "That does not bode well," he said, "Perhaps I'd better use my locator ritual."

A whisper sounded from behind Callyndia's other ear: the melodious voice of her mother, queen of the nymphs, issuing from a fresh whisper blossom. "Give me a moment," Alloria Rosa said softly, "I think I can find him from here."

Callyndia plucked the vibrant whisper blossom from behind her ear. "It's my mother," she explained, "She says she can find Svenden for us. Where is he, Mother?"

"Give me a moment, dear," Alloria Rosa replied gently.

They waited breathlessly for several moments. Callyndia clutched the whisper blossom anxiously, feeling a nervous energy building up in her impatient fingers.

"Mother?" Callyndia asked impatiently.

"It's not good, Callyndia," her mother said gently, "You'll need to hurry to get there in time."

"In time for what, Mother?" Callyndia asked weakly, not sure she wanted to hear the answer. She listened anyway, and she felt her heart nearly melt.

Finally, she looked up at Leofric and Lulie. "Mother says he's in the Mountains of Ylvas," she said grimly, "At El Hesk. At least it's not too heavily guarded. Apparently, Abdus's followers are rather few in number. At least the ones that aren't protected by talismans."

Leofric breathed in carefully. "We'll have to leave immediately," he said quietly, "It will take several days to reach El Hesk from here."