A Kelpie of Rowan

Chapter 70

Aoife looks at Rowan. "Is your rune prepared?"

In answer, Rowan slips a hand into her pocket for one of the runestones. The healing rune appears on its surface, emitting a soft blue light. Aoife's hands begin to glow with the yellow light of her own healing gift and she nods.

"When I place my hands on him, I need you to touch the rune to his skin."

"Anywhere?"

Aoife nods. "It just needs to touch his skin."

With that, she lowers her hands to Andrian's chest and Rowan scrambles to lower the runestone as well. She touches it to his arm, that's the closest spot in reach. His eyes snap open and he screams in pain, sending Rowan's insides squirming at the sound. He writhes and Rowan has to grab his arm with her free hand to keep the runestone on his skin. She strokes the skin of his arm with her pointer finger, trying to calm him. The blood-curling noises stop coming out of his mouth but his features are still contorted in agony and he is still trying to escape their touch. Rowan glances over at Aoife.

"What's wrong? Why is he like this?"

Aoife's face is drawn, her lips are pulled tight in concentration. "This is why I said Camden should wait outside. We are pulling all of the toxins out of Andrian at once and it is incredibly painful." She frowns. "I might have to do the same to you later, when this is all done."

"Why?"

"You were exposed as well. Not as much, but it is still having an impact on you."

"Won't the effects fade on their own?"

Aoife shakes her head. "That's one of the horrible things about this toxin. It will never leave your system unless a healer draws it out."

"Bioaccumulation."

"What?"

"It's a term in the human world. When a substance accumulates in the body of an organism faster than it can leave them."

Aoife frowns. "I suppose that's accurate."

Rowan frowns down at Andrian. It feels absolutely horrible to see him in pain like this. "How long will this take?"

"I don't know. It could take a few minutes or it could take hours. It all depends on how much of the toxin is in his system."

"Then how will we know when it's done?"

Aoife frowns down at Andrian, squinting. "Look at his neck, where his collarbone lies."

Rowan squints, trying to see. There is a shadow forming there, tinted silver. "Is that . . ."

"The toxin? Yes. When none is left inside him, the toxin will coalesce into a ball. We'll have to burn it so that it doesn't enter the system of anyone else."

Rowan winces. "Yes, I have an idea of how bad that would be." She looks down to see the light of her runestone flicker. "Aoife?"

The tone of her voice must alert Aoife to something, her head snaps up immediately. "What's wrong?"

"The runestone is flickering."

Aoife scowls. "How much magic have you used today and how much of the toxin were you exposed to?"

"Umm. I used a guide rune, light rune, reverse rune, bind rune, another reverse rune, a destroy rune, some protection runes, a path rune, and now this healing rune."

Aoife blinks. "And how much of the toxin were you exposed to?"

"I touched some iron bars with it on them, then the cuff around his wrist to remove it. There were the bars sealing us in this tiny room and when I destroyed them it made a cloud of dust with the toxin in it."

Aoife's eyes widen. "You breathed in the toxin?"

Rowan grimaces. "Yes? I covered Andrian's mouth and I tried to cover mine to the best of my ability, but I did breathe in some of it."

Aoife scowls. "I'll definitely need to remove the toxin from you. But we need to get it out of him first. Your rune might last long enough, it might not. But let's keep it going as long as we can."

Rowan nods and glances down at the ball of toxin forming at the base of Andrian's throat. Even with his movements, it stays fixed to the hollow there. It doesn't look like a shadow anymore, it's clearly a ball. Rowan looks down at the rune. It's flickering, but she can still feel the energy pouring out of it and into Andrian. She frowns. It's quieter now. When she looks at Andrian, she realizes that he is moving around less. Is the toxin almost gone then?

Beside her, Aoife pushes against his chest, the light flaring around her hands. There is a soft sound, a whisper, and Andrian stills. The ball of toxin glitters in the hollow of his throat, shining in the light. Rowan pulls the runestone away and the healing rune disappears. She stumbles when she steps back, suddenly dizzy. Aoife darts over to steady her.

"You alright?"

Rowan nods. "I just needed a moment, but I'm fine."

"Let's get the toxins out of you now, alright? That should help."

"Okay?"

Aoife motions for her to move to the couch. Once Rowan is seated beside Andrian, Aoife places her still-glowing hand against Rowan's forehead.
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Aoife wasn't messing around when she said that healing wouldn't be pleasant. What do you think of the healing? What do you think is going to happen when Aoife heals Rowan? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.