Osira slowly opened her eyes while the sunlight shined through a nearby window. She sat up and looked down her body and noticed she was wearing no clothes. Even though she wasn’t wearing any clothes, she was wrapped in white bandage cloths from her neck to her feet. At her feet laid Isaac’s head. Next to him was Gwen, who was also sleeping with her head at her feet. She noticed she was inside a very well kept and comfy room. In a corner sitting in a chair, was Osirus. In a bed next to him sleeping was Onyx.
Gwen’s fairy Esmeralda was sitting atop of Osira’s head and said, “I’m happy you’re up Osira! We were getting worried because Kitsune said you were talking to her after she healed you, but then after we picked you guys up, you’ve been sleeping this whole time and it’s almost been two whole days!” She flew off Osira’s head and landed in her lap. “Can you move your arms and legs yet?” she asked.
Osira tried to move her legs and her bad arm. To her surprise they worked properly with no pain. She then said, “It seems as if Kitsune’s magic did the trick and all I needed was some sleep!” She stretched her arms out above her head and let out a loud yawn. Surprisingly, nobody moved or woke up.
Esmerelda blushed and said, “Actually it wasn’t just Kitsune’s magic. When we got to you guys in the woods, Isaac picked you up while you were naked and took you to a nearby pond and gave you a bath. He dumped some kind of potion into the pond first and it started to glow! After about a minute or two in the water, he pulled you out and all the burns and charred parts of your body were gone!”
Osira turned bright red in embarrassment, “Oh my god! You guys let him see me naked?!”
Esmerelda smiled and said, “That’s not all! After he gave you a bath, he’s the one that wrapped your body in those bandages.” Osira fell backwards into her bed and wished she could melt away. Esmerelda continued to say, “He said the potion helps one absorb essence from nature and it had to be dumped in a body of water. Since you’re a type of Wood Elf, he said it probably would help you heal since you’re attuned with nature already.
Osira pulled her covers over her face and said, “But still!”
Isaac suddenly pulled his head up off the bed and said, “It’s not like you have anything I haven’t seen before. Also, Kitsune mainly healed your internal injuries. So, I took care of your external ones. You should thank me. There won’t be one scar on your body because of that potion. It’s also super rare and could easily sell for a hundred gold coins or more since the forest it was created in is now destroyed.”
Osira interrupt him from under the covers, “Well I’m not paying you back or anything for it, I don’t have that kinda of money.”
Isaac stood up from his chair and said with a smile, “You already paid me back by staying alive. I might not ever say it, but you guys mean everything to me. So, losing one of you is something I don’t know if I could recover from. You and your brother were one of the first ones to join us and everyone looks up to you two.” Isaac walked over and knelt besides Osira and gave her a hug. Her blanket was wrapped around her body and head while he hugged her. Isaac then said, “I knew you would pull through. It’s Onyx I’m truly worried about.” He stopped hugging her and looked over at Onyx sleeping in his bed while Osirus sat in his chair with his arms crossed, his head kicked back, and snoring loudly. Isaac stood back up and said, “Unfortunately, were in an extremely racist town against demi-humans so everyone else is back at the caravan camped outside the village. You needed to stay still so we brought you to this Inn. Once you feel well enough, we will get back on the road and go pick up Vlad and the others.” He walked toward the door and continued talking, “Also you’re being pulled from any jobs for the time being and will be helping Theo with his duties until we think your ready to go back out in the field.”
Osira shot up from out beneath her covers and shouted, “Who do you think you are? My father? I’m completely healed now!”
Isaac interrupted her and said, “It was your brother’s idea and he talked Vyncent into it so talk to them.”
Osira responded, “Isaac come on. Everyone knows you’re the real leader of the group. Just because you refuse to be doesn’t mean you technically aren’t, so you talk to Vyncent for me.”
Isaac said sternly, “I am not the leader, I have my own job in this group.”
Osira said mimicking Isaacs serious tone of voice, “We all voted for you to be the leader and you won the vote. We all swore to protect Lizyra, so you don’t have to do it alone. Honestly, she’s old enough now to probably take care of herself. Her magic surpasses almost everyone here besides Theo’s.”
Isaac put his hand on the door handle and said back, “That may be true, but she’s hardly seventeen. Elves and human’s have completely different maturity levels. At anytime she could do something stupid like running away with some boy. She’s been stuck with us since she was barely five years old and only knows this wretched life as hunters. I know that everyone also swore to protect her, but the dragon came to me and begged me to care for her and Nox.” Isaac opened the door and said as he walked out, “What kind of world have we created when a dragon is begging a human for anything?” He quietly closed the door and left.
Osira felt something squeezing her feet tightly. She looked down and saw Gwen wrapped around her feet. Gwen said with her eyes still closed, “I’m so glad you’re okay Osira! I would have been really sad if you didn’t pull through! Even though Kitsune has really strong healing magic, you took a lot of damage and had a lot of broken bones.”
Osira chimed in and said, “Looks like everything is going to turn out okay on my end. So, there’s nothing to worry about!” She leaned forward and started to grab Gwen’s cheeks and stretch them out. She played with Gwen’s face as she begged her to stop. Osira said, “What a beautiful little Elf girl you are worrying about little old me.”
The door to their room opened and Isaac came back in holding some folded clothes. He walked over to Osira’s bed and handed her what he was holding. He said, “Here, I took what was left of your old tunic and cloak and added some more fabric and restored them to the best of my ability.” Her once all green cloak and tunic were now a mix of green and dark black fabrics. Osira was truly shocked at the quality of her new clothes. Isaac also said, “Theo enchanted most of that so you should have more of an explosion resistance if you ever use that wand again.”
Osira’s eyes started to become teary as she jumped up on her bed. Some of her bandages were starting to fall off revealing her body as she threw the clothes out of her hands and hugged Isaac. She said, “Oh Isaac why don’t you just marry me? You’ve already seen me naked! Even though I’m twice your age I want you to make my clothes forever!” She spun around Isaacs neck laughing madly.
Isaac said, “Falling in love with someone only makes it more tragic when they leave or die.”
Esmerelda flew down from the windowsill and landed on Gwen’s head and said, “Could you two continue your lover’s quarrel some other time. Vyncent is coming down the street with a stranger probably coming to treat Onyx and I’m sure no one in this town wants to hear about the love between a full-blooded Elf and a full-blooded Human. Your child would be a halfling if you were to create one, and that would bring an angry mob down on us.”
Isaac quickly pulled another tiny bundle of clothes out of his pocket and said, “I almost forgot! Here you go Esmerelda.” Isaac handed the tiny fairy a small tunic and cloak outfit and said, “There was scraps of Osira’s outfit that were unworkable, but for someone like you it was just enough to make you something. Theo also enchanted them too with the same magic.” Esmerelda quickly flew in a few fast circles above Gwen’s head so no one could see her change. Her tiny old clothes fell to the floor while she landed on Gwen’s head wearing a tiny similar version of what Isaac made for Osira. Isaac said, “Around the waist are snappable belt loops so you can clip your rings into your outfit and not worry about them sliding off.”
Esmerelda looked up at Isaac wanting to cry. She knew that her and Isaac’s relationship was mostly them arguing about things regardless of their topic’s importance. She asked, “why did you make me this if you don’t like me?”
Isaac said, “Not once did I ever say I didn’t like you. You’re just as important to me as anyone else. If some of us weren’t arguing all the time, then it wouldn’t be a real family now would it?”
The little fairy said, “You’re such a jerk all the time I don’t really know how to respond.”
Gwen stood up out of her chair and grabbed the fairy with both her hands and shouted, “You say thank you and bow like this.” Gwen bowed to Isaac and forced Esmerelda to bow while standing in the palm of her hand. “I didn’t get any cool new outfit so be thankful!”
Isaac said to them both, “Once we get to a bigger town that has magic cloth and materials, I’ll make everyone new outfits. We have enough people in our group that we probably should have some sort of matching magical outfits now that Theo learned some useful enchantment magic.”
Gwen smiled and asked, “Really?! I’d love you forever if you did!” She ran over and Hugged Isaac’s waist and said, “Osira might be taller than me but were almost the same age! We could all three get married and you could make us all clothes forever!”
Osira came leaping on Isaacs back and shouted, “I’m not sure how human marriages work but I’ll allow it! We can all three be married!” Osira and Gwen cheered with joy as they both talked at the same time until Isaac became annoyed and tossed them both on the bed.
Issac said, “Look you two can get married and live happily ever after because I have more important things to worry about.”
The door to the room opened and Vyncent and a mage wearing all white followed entered. The mage closed the door and introduced himself. “Hello everyone! My name is Raphael. I’m a white mage from the Capitol. I was stopping by this village when your friend here approached me and offered a large sum of money to help you guys. Being a man of the cloth, I can’t ignore a plea for help. Also, the money will go back to the capital and be donated to charity, so I am obligated to heal whoever is in need!”
Vyncent spoke to Raphael and said, “This man here needs healing from a possible curse and any other internal injuries. He was stabbed through the chest with a cursed scythe. Our white mage did all she could for him. I know it’s probably asking a lot but if you could do anything more for him I have more money I can give you.”
Raphael laughed and said, “Boy you have already given enough money to heal everyone in this town, I couldn’t accept any more.” He held out his hand above Onyx and a white light surrounded Onyx’s body. The mage said, “Surprising! There are remnants of a curse still lingering about but your white mage did an excellent job destroying most of its harmful effects. There isn’t even any scaring on this man’s heart!” The white mage drawn his hand back and the magical white aura dissipated. He asked Vyncent, “which one of these fine lads is your white mage? One of those Elven girls? Or perhaps this young man right here,” He pointed to Isaac standing by the bed with Osira and Gwen.”
Vyncent said, “Actually she’s not here right now.”
Raphael replied, “Oh, well for an Elf or a human, I’d like to meet her someday. The work she’s already done is far superior to what any of my mages or priests could have done. She is the only reason this man can be saved right now!”
Vyncent responded nervously knowing Kitsune was a demi-human and said, “She’s very complicated, but talented indeed.”
Raphael turned to everyone and said, “Alright everyone I’m going to begin the procedure to save your friend.” He pulled golden and jeweled inlayed dagger from his belt and raised it above his head while he began chanting a spell.
Right as he started to bring his dagger down towards Onyx’s chest Isaac leapt over and grabbed the mages hands and shouted, “What the fuck are you doing exactly?! We he asked you to save this man, not finish him off!”
Raphael exclaimed, “That’s exactly what I’m doing good sir! Maybe I should have explained the process first.” Raphael put his dagger down at his side and said, “First I need to stab this dagger into his heart. This dagger with draw any remaining curse remnants into it. As his heart stops, I will remove the dagger while casting a healing spell on the wound it creates and quickly cast a raising spell on him since he won’t be dead for more than mere seconds. The only other way to save his soul would be to kill him before the curse rejuvenates with time to relinquish his soul to the afterlife. I’d personally would rather like to save his life then release it.”
Isaac nodded to him and said, “Alright then. Just know if you pull anything and he dies, your life ends too. I don’t know what god you hail but I’ll make sure to send you back to him.”
Raphael began to sweat a little at Isaac’s threat and said, “I assure you sir, that I have performed a vast amount of healing spells and techniques in more dire circumstances than this. I won’t pull anything. As much as I love the creator, I also value my own life.” He raised the dagger about his head and began to chant his spell. Like lightning, he drove the dagger into Onyx’s chest as Onyx screamed out in pain and jolted slightly up off the bed. The mage kept chanting spells as the black miasma surged up the blade of the dagger and into a crystal in its hilt. With one hand he pulled the knife out of his chest and with the other hand a blue light shot out of it and into the wound healing it. The mage wiped his blade of blood and sheathed it back on his belt. With two fingers on each hand he held them in two positions near Onyx’s heart. A quick zap of electricity shot from one hand to the other across Onyx’s chest as he suddenly jolted up awake and screaming.
“There he is!” Raphael shouted in excitement. Onyx was gasping for air and looking at his surroundings with a confused look. The mage before him said, “My name is Raphael young sir, can you remember what your name is?”
Onyx looked up at him and said, “Yeah, my name is Onyx and I was pretty sure I was dead.”
Raphael smiled larger than before and said, “You weren’t dead. Well you kinda were for a second, but thanks to your white mage friend, I was able to remove your curse and restore you to normal. You were dead for a second, but it was part of a spell to save you and since it was successful, I’m sure you wouldn’t have minded the risk.”
Osirus, who managed to sleep through everything, finally snapped awake and saw Onyx sitting up in his bed. He said, “Looks like you were able to find the mage I talked about. Good to see he wasn’t some washed up bum like I’ve heard he might have been.”
Vyncent snapped at Osirus and said, “Watch your tongue Osirus, this man just saved our friend. You were acting party leader, so you are the one responsible for this!”
Raphael interrupted and said, “No Vincent your friend isn’t wrong. I have gained quite a bad reputation recently for leaving the capitol. I could hardly stand the racism and slavery of Demi-humans there. I chose to leave at in inappropriate time to travel to the surrounding cities and villages to help heal people to escape my duty at the capitol. All life is precious no matter what anyone believes. Even the lives of the monsters that terrorize us are important. Demi-humans, beastman, and intelligent creatures that can embrace peace have no right to be enslaved.”
Vyncent felt a little bit more at ease hearing the mages view on life and asked, “If you feel that way what brings you to a racist village like this one?”
Raphael responded, “Even though these people are misguided they don’t deserve to die from sickness or injury. Part of living and breathing allows you to always change whether it’s for the better or worse. Hopefully someday they can wake up and realize that everyone can live together in harmony. Like how Enos was.” The mage clenched his fist so hard as if he were trying to draw his own blood as he finished his sentence.
Isaac said suddenly, “It’s nice to know there’s people in the capitol who feel this way. Honestly, our white mage is a young Fox girl who’s being instructed by our Red Mage. We were to afraid to bring our entire group in the city because some of them are a mix of demi-human and beastman. I was skeptical earlier, of your methods and I apologize for my hostility.”
Raphael replied, “There’s no need to apologize, I am a humble servant of the gods. I did lie about one thing. I won’t be bringing that money you gave me to the capitol. I’m going to be using it to make medicine and medical supplies for the villages I visit. Knowing how you stand now I can’t lie to you. If the money goes back to the capital, it will most likely go right to the Emperors treasury and never seen again.”
Vyncent said, “I really don’t care how you use it, I’m just grateful you saved Onyx.”
While nobody noticed, Osira had gotten naked and changed into the outfit Isaac made her. She stepped over by Onyx and looked at him while he laid there already snoring again. Osirus had already fell back asleep with his arms still crossed. Osira said, “I can’t believe you really saved him. It was so horrifying to watch what had happened to him.”
Vyncent interrupted her and asked Raphael, “She suffered a lot of damage too, is there any way you could give her like a quick zap of a healing spell just to be sure she’s alright?”
Raphael said, “Sure!” He lifted his hand and chanted a spell while Osira’s body began to glow with a blue light.
Osira began to heavily blush as it felt like hundreds of hands were massaging her body all over. She said, “Um that’s enough. Like seriously I don’t know why but I can’t take much more of this.” Raphael kept chanting his healing spell while Osira fell to her knees sweating and blushing. She cried out, “No body look at me!” she curled into a ball on the floor as she tried hold back a moan of pleasure.
Raphael finished his spell and the blue aura around her body dissipated as he laughed, “Sorry about that! That is a really potent healing spell that is usually casted on an unconscious person to avoid its unusual sensations.” He paused for a moment before saying, “Funny though, usually people who aren’t unconscious when I cast that on them cry out in pain and scream in agony rather than act the way you just did.” He chuckled while Osira quivered on the floor still curled in a ball. Raphael said, “Well I’d love to stay and converse, but I have other people to see and heal. It was very lovely to meet all of you and hopefully someday we can meet again, and I can meet the rest of your friends.” Everyone who was awake, besides Osira, thanked him as he left the room.
Osira tried to stand up but couldn’t. To her, it felt like the hundreds of invisible hands were still massaging her entire body and when she moved it felt to intense to function. She weakly cried out to Isaac, “Isaac help me. I can barely move.”
Isaac said with concern, “What do you mean? Like that white mage actually did something bad to you?”
Osira responded quietly, “I don’t know…It feels like the spell is still being casted on me. Like hundreds of invisible hands are massaging my entire body.” She blushed as hard as a living thing could without dying and said even quieter, “Even in inappropriate places. Please, send help!”
Vyncent busted out laughing and said, “Damn, maybe I should have asked him to cast that spell on me. Sounds like a great time!”
Gwen was kneeling down by Osirus poking her back with her finger as Esmerelda was floating in front of Osira’s face poking it. “Are you gonna be alright?” Gwen asked. Each poke from the two was causing an eruption of overwhelming sensations echoing through Osira’s body.
Osira slowly said, “Please.” She managed to then say, “Stop.” She finally said, “Before I—” at that moment she passed out from the overwhelming sensations flooding through her body.
Gwen said with a frown, “Oh no! I think I broke her!”
Vyncent said jealously, “Who knew the residual effects from that healing spell would be that strong.” You should probably carry her back to camp Isaac while she’s passed out. Gwen and Esmerelda go back with Isaac and tell everyone what’s going on. When Onyx and Osirus wake up, we’ll head back.”
Isaac scooped Osira off the floor into his arms and said, “You don’t have to tell me twice.” He then headed for the door while Gwen and Esmerelda followed him out of the room, shutting the door behind them.
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