DAVINA ⇝ Thorin Oakenshield

Chapter 19

One of the hardest things for Davina, she found, was knowing that someone she cared about was in pain and not being able to take it away from them. Davina was a Nymali, a Healer; they were natural caretakers, especially when it came to someone close to them. Seeing Kili lying there in agony and for once not having the ability to Heal really took a toll on her. She was all out of sorts, desperately trying to think of some way to help him when truly, she knew there was nothing they could do unless they got the poison out of his system.

Another grunt escaped Kili's lips as his expression twisted due to the pain spreading through his body once again. "I'm so sorry, Kili." The others had lost track of how many times Davina apologized to the young dwarf, though they understood why she kept doing it; she felt guilty. As a Nymali, they're supposed to be able to Heal others. But due to the poison, it wasn't possible; and the fact that the infection was spreading through his body and putting him through hell made Davina feel even worse. 

"Can you not do something?" Fili asked desperately, his gaze shifting between Davina and Oin as he hoped one of them could give him a good answer. Davina looked up at him helplessly, her mind a whirlwind as she tried to think of a loophole to alleviate Kili's pain. 

"I need herbs, something to bring down his fever," Oin said, shaking his head as he looked through his things. 

Bard hurried over and pulled a bag out of the cabinet, searching through it. "I have nightshade, feverfew..."

"They're no use to me," Oin told him. "D'you have any kingsfoil?"

Bard looked at him as if he were crazy. "No, it's a weed. We feed it to the pigs."

"Pigs? Weed?" Bofur repeated thoughtfully. Davina looked at him pointedly, and he knew without any words what she wanted him to do. "Right. Don't move," he told Kili before rushing out of the door. On his way out, he nearly smacked right into Bain, who had been on his way in. 

When Bard glanced up and saw his son, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Bain, what on earth are you doing here?!" He demanded, and the two of them began to bicker back and forth. Bard wanted his son to take the boat and go back down the lake to join the others who'd evacuated; Bain wanted to stay with his father and help however he could. 

Davina, on the other hand, was too focused on Kili's pain to think about anything else. 

"If we can't get the poison out of his system..." Fili trailed off worriedly. "Is there anything we can do to help him?"

"I don't know, laddie," Oin answered sadly. "Davina would be able to heal him, if the poison weren't in his system."

"But I don't understand," Fili said. "Why does that affect the Healing?"

"Because when Nymalis heal, they're giving some of their life force away to speed up the healing process of another's life force," the older dwarf explained. "But the poison was contracted by a dark magic, and it directly counteracts with her life force. It would only make it more painful on Kili." The older Durin visibly deflated, now understanding that Davina truly couldn't heal his brother.

"Wait." Davina frowned, her eyebrows pulling together as thoughts began to piece together in her mind. "Maybe I can't heal him, but I might be able to take away some of his pain."

Everyone looked up at her then. "You can do that?" Bard asked as he and Bain moved closer to them. 

"Theoretically, maybe I can." She pushed her hair behind her shoulders to get it out of her way as she approached Kili's bedside. "Nymalis typically Heal by giving away some of our life force... but if I reverse that process a bit, take away some of his life force and exchange it for my own..." Her eyes met Fili's as he stood on the other side of the bed. "It wouldn't heal him, but it could make the pain bearable."