Ireale's Crown

Chapter 14: Glacium

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Glacium (GLAY-shium)

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Chapter 14: Glacium

I held back a gasp, shocked by what I'd just seen, but I immediately stood up and walked over. I didn't know why I didn't scream or cry out for help; all I knew was that there was no use hesitating, especially when his situation reminded me of when I first met Haile. Well, when I went back to search for him, that is. I reached the stranger, bent my knees, and held onto both sides of his shoulders. I tried to yank him over so that he would face up, but he was too heavy for me. That was when I realised... that he had rather long hair. I tilted my head, then asked myself whether it was even possible for a male to actually have shoulder-length hair.

Then, as though appearing out of thin air, I saw Haile running towards me, his face filled with massive concern.

"Where did you come from?" I asked, bewildered.

"I was having a stroll."

I looked up at the sky. It was already mid-afternoon. "At this time of the day?"

He gave me a pointed look. "Yes. Come. Let me handle this." With no effort at all, he managed to flip him. I saw the cut, almost like the one Haile had, down the middle of his chest and grimaced; it had looked worse with the infection. I guessed he had already had it for a few days, and I marveled at his perseverence to get here.

Instead of patting his face, asking the man how he got here and all, he got to work. First, he tore the clothes off the stranger. The wound looked extremely horrible, with skin at the side lifted off their original position. Very quickly, Haile put his hand over the wound and closed his eyes. The familiar coldness engulfed me, and I fought off a shiver. After a few minutes of silence, he finally stopped the magic, and gave a tired sigh. I expected to see the gash completely healed, but it turned out that it wasn't.

I gave a knowing look, and called out for Icydash. She was grazing on the other end of the field. That sweet girl seemed like she never wanted to leave my side and had stood by me. I gave her a light pat on the head before digging for the herbs. Frantically, I removed the package, then remembered that I had to clean up the wound before putting anything on it. I grabbed a certain piece of the tattered clothing, and started work. After that, I laid the herbs out onto the opened skin before telling Haile to put ice over it like it was a bandage.

With our work done, Haile and I slumped back, exhausted.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"For now, yes." There was a pause. "His name is Firvin. He's my cousin."

I nodded, mildly surprised by his voluntary motion. "That, I can tell." I turned my head to look at him, my surprise increasing further by the second. "Why aren't you running to the Elder and demanding him to tell you the location of the River? I thought you didn't want to waste time."

He shook his head, grass giving off brushing sounds as he did it. "I don't. But rushing things right now wouldn't help. We might endanger his life if we continued with it. Who knows how painful it might be."

When I continued to hear him breathe heavily even after a few minutes, I commented, "Now you know how hard it was for me to take care of you by myself."

"That's one reason why I'm still keeping that promise to bring you along. So, don't complain."

I pouted and sat back up again, feeling a little bit more energised. I hadn't done as much as him after all. I took that time to look thoroughly at the man's face. He looked mature with an angular face. He had high cheekbones that made his cheeks looked more sunken than ever. Dark circles were visible under his eyes, and they were made obvious by his pale features. The very same tattoo that Haile had encircled his neck. My eyes travelled to his arms and was again amazed by the circular objects bulging from his upper arms. It made me realise that I hadn't asked Haile what they were.