The Elemental Order: Epic Fantasy Adventures and Short Stories by M.R. KELLY

Author:M.R. KELLY [KELLY, M.R.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Scribbled Pages
Published: 2021-11-21T00:00:00+00:00

As Cortain returned to his body, he surveyed the destruction wrought by their battle. The burial grounds were littered with scorched fragments of broken crypt markers and dead Vipers. He stumbled forward, heart lodged in his throat as he forced himself to look at each body, searching for a face, hoping not to find it.

As he neared the remains of a crypt, he found her, and his heart sank. Running to her side, he dropped to his knees, reaching for her.

Marwa, no!

Her battle garb was burnt away in places, and one side of her body was blackened and blistered. His fingers pressed against her neck as he sought a pulse. Panicking when he couldn’t find one, he used his arts to delve into her body.

She lives!

Relief flooded him at the subtle heartbeat and the lingering aspects of her mind, but without his help, neither would endure for long. Using his limited healing abilities, he siphoned off energy from his own aura, which would assist her own body's natural healing. He could only hope it was enough to stave off death.

As he weakened himself, he felt her own aura strengthen, if only a little. It was only then that the presence of other Vipers searching the wreckage registered.

“Quick, I need help!” he shouted.

Three Vipers ran to his aid, pausing only to look at her before their hands were reaching for her. In the near distance, three others were hauling a corpse away, and panic rose inside Cortain. He put one arm over Marwa protectively.

"You can't take her," he said. "She's not dead yet!"

“Please.” One of them pleaded. “She needs a healer.”

A hand rested on his shoulder as another spoke. “We know she still leaves. We will get her to someone who can help quickly. She is one of us.”

Cortain stared for a second as the words penetrated his own raw emotions, and then he nodded and moved aside. They gathered her limp form. One of them mounted a desert beast and the other two carefully lifted her upward to secure her in front of the rider. The other two mounted their animals, and the three of them headed toward the city.

Cortain stood, his legs rooted to the spot as he watched them go.

“I saw what you did there,” another voice said.

Cortain spun to face the Viper. “Sorry, what?”

“I have some skill in magic. Enough to see and understand what you did for her. You gave freely of yourself to save her. Your sacrifice has not gone unnoticed, but please,” the viper said, pointing further into the burial site, “help Machieve. He has his own grief to contend with.”

Cortain nodded, gathering himself as he walked with steady steps toward where the leader of the Desert Vipers was supposed to be.

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