The Healer and the General

Part 19

"The water!" Demi practically yelled when she sat up on the bed. Bed? Why was she not in her cot? And why did it smell of Eric? Waving the thoughts away, Demi tried to focus on her dream. Somebody had poisoned the water with parasites that they could literally command, and the herb she needed to cure the kids was far away.

Demi stood and quickly put her boots and a coat on. Wait, no it wasn't her coat, but she didn't care. Walking briskly out of the tent she ran into Doyle. "When did you wake up?"

"What? Oh, a couple of minutes ago I guess." Demi needed to leave now, but she didn't why exactly. She tried to sidestep Doyle, but he just moved with her. "I need to get past." Demi finally said.

"First of all, no. You need to go lay back down and wait for Eric to come back. And second of all, why?" All Demi heard was no. She hated that word almost as much as she hated being told what to do.

She took a breath to explain. Demi owed it to Doyle to at least try and do this peacefully, "I need to find the purple flower that will cure the kids. It's in the canyon that turned into an abyss. The river was– The river! Of course. That's why the horses had stayed away from it. They knew." She looked at Doyle like she had just explained things perfectly.

"Okay, sure. But first, we need to wait for Eric." Doyle tried herding her back into the tent.

"No! There's no time." Demi expertly avoided his hands. "I'm sorry about this, but I can heal you later."

"Wha-" Doyle fell to the ground, clutching one of his legs when Demi had hit a sensitive spot. This is the first reason why you should never mess with a healer. They knew your weak points better than you did. They can see every injury you've had in your life and know exactly how to agitate it.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to find the flowers." She said, walking away. She decided that she'd check the healer's tent since there was a possibility the dream lied and the herbs she needed were already here. Listening to herself now, Demi did sound a little crazy.

She entered the tent and quickly rifled through every herb she had stocked up on. When Demi didn't find what she was looking for, she quickly left a note for Eric or anybody else that might wonder where she was going. After that, she put her hair up and ran out of the tent to find the purple flowers.

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Eric entered camp with a large dead mountain lion carried between him and his warriors. It had somehow wandered away from its home, into the forest. He hadn't wanted to kill the beast, but when it had pounced on one of his men, he'd had no choice. Leaving it at the kitchens, Eric went to see his mate. Right before he saw his tent, Doyle walked up to him limping and greeted him. "Hey, General," he said. Something was wrong if he'd brought titles into this.

"What happened?" Eric asked as he walked into his tent. His eyes instantly went to the empty bed. Anger and fear coursed through his veins. He was very close to attacking the already injured male. Why was he limping anyway?

"Where is she?" Eric said through clenched teeth. Soon his instincts would drive him to do something he'd regret later.

"She woke up and started babbling about purple flowers, canyons, rivers, and horses. I tried to get her to go lie back down, but Demi was quite insistent. When I tried to block her way, she knew about my old knee injury, and somehow agitated it, badly." Doyle quickly explained. Eric would have questioned everything in that sentence but didn't care enough at the moment. His mate was somewhere, and she was most likely not in her right mind.

Parker! Logan! Eric called on the twins' telepathy. It wasn't something they often did since it wore on the twins' energy, but in emergencies, it was quite helpful.

No need to yell. Logan answered first. And then Parker. What do you need?

Demi woke up but isn't in a great state of mind at the moment. She wandered off. We need to find her. Doyle's down. Eric explained.

Who took out Doyle? Parker asked.

Demi. Eric didn't explain but instead started following Demi's scent. He entered the healer's tent and went to the shelves. She had rifled through the herbs quickly before going to the desk and leaving a note.

§

To whomever it may concern,

I've gone in search of the purple flower. It will heal the kids from the river parasites. Don't worry, I know where I'm going.

Sincerely,

Demi

§

The note almost made Eric laugh. It sounded absurd. This made him worry more. What was wrong with his mate?

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Demi ran through the forest as fast as she could. She stumbled once in a while, never falling completely because she knew that she needed the purple plant as fast as possible. The children were at stake, and Demi wouldn't let them die. Healing them with her magic might have been an option, but, at the moment, she didn't have enough energy. Demi also wasn't sure she would be able to heal all the kids. Not to mention the fact that she wasn't entirely sure how.

A few minutes later she felt the surrounding wood come alive. Knowing that it meant Eric was searching for her, Demi sped up. She never slowed, at least not until a giant wall of vines shot up from the ground. "Damn fae." It was just like the dream, which only proved that the purple plant was real.

The vines started twirling and melding with others to form a tunnel. Demi knew that she was being herded, but wasn't sure where to. No wolves ran after her. However, howling could be heard in the distance. Demi saw the exit and picked up her pace.

Eric moved out from where he was hidden and blocked her path. Demi tried to slow down, but she couldn't. She tried to turn, but just ended up in Eric's arms, her back towards him. His arms wrapped around her, effectively trapping her.

"Why are you running?" He whispered in her ear. His tone was almost sad. Like he thought Demi was trying to run from him. Which she wasn't.

"I need to get the purple plant." Demi's voice was slightly above a whisper, and she struggled to talk between breaths. Her whole body was tired from running. She felt exhausted. Eric just made a 'hmm' sound, like he didn't believe her. "It will help the kids," Demi explained further. She needed to get to the plant and would take down Eric only if she had to.

"Okay, but first you need to come back to camp." Eric had rested his nose on the top of her head and was taking deep breaths. "You don't have a choice here." Demi almost laughed at his wording. It was clear that he had known exactly what he was saying.

"I always have a choice, it just depends on how hard you make it." She repeated the same thing she'd once told Eric. At that time she was still considered a slave, since then Demi's resolve for freedom had hardened. "And right now you're making it seem pretty easy."

"So you'll come back to camp with me?" Eric asked, loosening his grip.

"I will," Demi started, "once I've done what I need to." Before Eric could react, she pressured his nerves at just the right places. It wouldn't knock him out, just immobilized him and his magic, at least for a little while. This is reason number two, why you never mess with a healer. They know the body better than anyone and are willing to use that information against you if need be.

"I'm sorry." As she walked away, Eric started yelling her name. It was no use. Demi started running and when his roaring continued, tears streaked her face. She knew that she was hurting him, and that was the one thing she never wanted to do.