“Maybe I should let you feel that pain for a little longer, let you suffer a little bit so you learn never to do something so stupid again,” I say seriously.
“No! Please just heal me, Angel. It hurts really bad. I won’t do it again. I promise,” she begs quickly.
I place my hands back over hers, ignoring the hissing sound coming from her mouth as I gently open her hand to see the wound. It’s not too deep and it should heal perfectly.
“What are you waiting for?”
“Oh, sorry.” I place both hands just above her skin. As if the magic instinctively knows there’s healing to be done, I feel the charged static in the tips of my fingers. A few seconds later little light orbs appear, travelling over my hands and onto Phoenix’s. They disappear into her cut and we both watch open mouthed as the little orbs heal her skin. No matter how many times I do this, I will never get over how beautiful and amazing it is.
Once the skin is healed she fists her hand again and opens it, she sticks her other thumb in her mouth then uses it to wipe away the residual blood.
She looks up to me and if it’s even possible with her already pale skin, she’s as white as a ghost.
“You healed me,” she says.
“Uh yeah…”
“I thought there was gonna be some kind of spell, you know? Calling upon our ancestors or something like that. Maybe even the lighting of a candle? I can’t believe you just sat there quietly and lifted your hand? Are you thinking the spell? Is that it? That’s why I couldn’t hear it, isn’t it?” She rambles on, trying to convince herself.
“Phoenix, calm down.” I place my hands over hers. “I don’t use any spells. The magic does everything on its own, as if it can sense the need for healing. As long as I bring my hands close enough to the wound, it’ll heal it.”
“Then what about those scars on your wrist? Why didn’t your magic heal your own injuries?” She asks, taking hold of my wrist and running her fingers over the scarred skin.
“I tried healing myself, but the magic doesn’t work on me like it works on others. The pain that came back was horrific. I think my magic is meant for others, not myself, Phee.” Before I can finish the sentence, I feel the pain in my hand from healing her wound. I use my other hand to wrap around it tight and take deep breaths.
“You took the pain from me?” Phoenix looks concerned as she rubs my arm. I nod vigorously unable to speak.
“Next time I’ll start with a pin prick. I’m sorry,” she mumbles.
It takes me a minute to contain myself before the pain goes away instantly. “There won’t be a next time. You are not hurting yourself only to have me heal you. I don’t like that, there has to be another way.”
She nods her head. “What were you feeling or thinking when you were healing me?”
I shrug, “I was just thinking about making your pain go away? I just wanted to make it better, that’s all that was going through my head.”
Phoenix continues to ask questions before trying to teach me a basic spell. It is the supposedly simple lighting of a candle, but nothing whatsoever happens. We go over other fire lighting spells and I start to believe that maybe my magic abilities are limited to healing and causing pain.
I lift my nose when a familiar scent wafts through the air, when Phoenix tries to speak I lift my hand up, hushing her.
I close my eyes and listen. I can hear the sound of quick footsteps, the sound of crunching leaves as they run, the steps are quick, light and not heavy enough to be a man. The sound of their deep panting confirms my suspicions.
I stand up quickly. “We need to get going, I think my father’s guards are patrolling the area.” Phoenix sits there frozen.
“Phee, now! We need to get going right now!” This gets her in panic mode as she starts shuffling to get everything into her bag. I take the bag from her shaky fingers and put the blanket inside.
I help her put the backpack on her shoulders and grab her hand dragging her behind me as I find my way back through the forest.
“They’re going to tear me apart when they find us together aren’t they?” Phoenix says, sounding petrified.
“I didn’t tear you apart, did I?” I say, as I continue to drag her behind me.
“Yeah well, you still tried to kill me.”
“Point taken.” When I see the stone wall, I push her ahead urgently.
“Get back over that wall. Quickly!” I say, looking around to see if anyone’s near.
“What about the cloaking spell? You need it. I have a bottle in my bag. I can just-” She starts grabbing for her bag, but I reach out and stop her.