Twice Burned

Quinn

When I could no longer hear Zoe's calls, I had gotten far enough for me to rest, my wings burning with fatigue. My hand was stained with my own blood now from holding my chest, and I didn't understand why my immunity wasn't helping me. The pendant had been in my body for so long, it would take hours for my body to heal itself again.

I heard my heavy breaths, remembering what it felt like for my natural breathing cycles to occur, my throat on fire and my lungs out of air. My body felt duller, like it went to sleep when the necklace was removed, and it was hard to get used to my weaker eyesight as well. I hadn't realized how attached I had become to the effects of the necklace.

Sitting in the snow, I couldn't feel my fingers or toes anymore, shivering in the cold. It felt like I was miles away from the bottom of the mountain, and when I looked out at the skyline, I could barely make out the tallest tower of my castle. I laid back on the snow, letting the cold consume me. My hand sat on top my chest, still holding in what I could of my blood. For a second, I quickly switched which hand was on top, seeing the wound begin to finally heal. My left hand felt the warmth of my blood and my cold, blue fingers welcomed it. My right hand was covered in red, and began to feel the breeze seep into the wetness of where it lied.

I didn't care at that point, and wiped most of it in the snow, before deciding to clean the rest onto my dress.

I still had miles to go before I could get to my castle for the materials I would need. It would take days at this rate to get back, with the pendant gone and nothing to keep me in flight. 

I couldn't afford to think like that. Zoe was probably scared and confused, and it was all my fault. 

Suddenly, I felt a sting in the middle of my chest, and I realized it was my immunity kicking in. It felt like fire, which didn't make sense since it was supposed to be painless. I took my hand off of my chest and looked down to see the black bruises around where the pendant was were even darker, and the skin began to fuse together into a nasty yellow scar. I cried out, feeling the stings in my throat. 

The stings turned to bile and I leaned to the side, vomiting on the snow. I felt my eyes roll back as the pain continued, realizing that I was dying. The amount of blood I had lost was killing me, and infection was probably contributing. I returned my hand to my sternum and brought the other to my mouth, blowing hot air into my freezing fingers.

I was dying, I needed to get up and get warmth, but my body was not responding. 

"Come on, come on," I repeated over and over, trying to keep myself awake. At one point, I brought my hand back to my face to where I could see it and tried to open and close my fist, when I found I couldn't. My joints were so stiff it was like I was a rusted piece of metal.

Finally, I somehow got up again, sitting up in the snow. My chest still stung, but it was beginning to ebb, and I removed my hand to see the wound had scarred, leaving bloodstains on my arms, hands and neck. I could feel my fingers now, seeing the blue begin to weaken. I still felt sick to my stomach, and I needed to get back to the castle for a Healer to help me, for there was no way my immunity would be able to  create the blood I had lost in time.

-------------------------------

I was a quarter of a mile away from the castle when my wings failed me once again. I fell to the grass, thankful that it was no longer the cold snow beneath my feet. Instead of resting, I began to run, ignoring the temperature I obviously had and the nausea settling into my gut. Cutting through the trees and plants was easy, but remembering which way to run was difficult with the leaves obscuring my view of the castle.

The last few twigs and branches cut at my face, but my immunity was getting stronger and led me to believe the scratches were already in the process of being healed. But, there was one particular branch that sliced my arm open, and I cried out, holding my hand to it like I could stop the pain. I continued running until I saw the main gates of the castle.

To my surprise, they were shut and didn't have any guards around them for protection. I moaned and climbed the stone bridge to the gates and put my hands on the bars. I was weak, but I managed to have my eyes glow and I got through the gate's intricate lock system with my magic. 

The squeak of the gates must have set off a silent alarm, because as soon as I got through, there were guards pouring out of the castle entrances. They all had spears pointed towards me, but once they got closer, they dropped them and bowed. I didn't have time to address them, so instead I ran past and began to call.

"Nathan!" I screamed, pushing my way through the guards who didn't realize who I was yet. "Nathan, where are you?"

I couldn't go through with my plan without him. I realized I needed him as soon as I took Zoe away. He needed to know, and I needed his help.

"Nathan!" I called once more, and finally the front entrance opened to a new set of guards, where they formed a circle around a person in between them. I stared at the circle, still steadily moving towards them, when the person in the middle broke through and stood with his sword out in his right hand.

One look at me and Nathan came sprinting. He put his sword back at his hip as he came close, putting his arms out to steady me. My legs suddenly gave out right as he took hold of the fabric of my clothing, trying to hold me up. When that didn't work, he got his hands underneath my arms and head and knelt down with me. I was still able to stay up on my knees, but I could no longer move.

"Quinn! What happened, where were you?" Nathan asked, brushing my hair with his fingers, then his hand on my face, making sure I was really there. "You were gone for a day and a half, you scared me to death."

I swallowed before I spoke, struggling to get the words out fast enough. "I'm sorry Nathan. I'm so sorry!" I blurted, immediate tears welling in my eyes. I didn't know what to tell him first.

"Sorry for what?" Nathan asked, an exasperated laugh mixing with utter fear in his voice.

"I'm so sorry, Nathan, I'm just so sorry." I said, before I grabbed his collar and pulled him close, kissing him on the lips.

Once again he melted into the moment as I did, the gentle but purposeful pressure against each other as I kissed him. He put his hands on the back of my head, holding me there, and I did the same, before my eyes glowed underneath my eyelids and I felt a transfer of my magic to his, slowly seeping into him from his lips.

Then the nausea set in and I pulled back, before finally letting my body relax without consent, and I fell asleep in Nathan's arms.