The Rage Eater

Chapter 38: Sim

"Sim? Sim!" Aubrey called.

His body was limp, his vacant eyes angled towards the snowy canopy. Aubrey pressed two fingers to his neck. "Pulse is weak, pupils are dilated. I think he's in shock."

Whatever Sim's feeling, Aubrey can feel too, Sadie remembered. The thought made her nauseous with guilt.

"Sadie, get Dylan," Master Padwe commanded.

She plucked him from his pocket. Upon seeing Sim, Dylan's eyes bulged with fear.

"Dylan, I need you to turn into a kiru plant," said Master Padwe. "Now."

Dylan changed from a slab of birch bark into a tall plant with long, spear-shaped leaves the colour of a lime.

Master Padwe grabbed one of the leaves. "I'm sorry, Dylan, but this is going to hurt." He tore it off, then pressed it onto Sim's bleeding neck. "Aubrey, pick him up, and keep pressure on the wound. And if he goes unconscious, give him lava root to revive him."

Sadie scooped up Dylan. "Master Padwe, what do we do now?"

"Run."

They sprinted through the Bloodwood, snow crunching and twigs snapping underneath their feet, as they ducked under branches and hopped over icy streams.

"The bleeding has almost stopped," Aubrey said, panting, as she eyed the kiru leaf on Sim's neck, now sticky with blood.

"It's not blood loss that concerns me," Master Padwe gasped. "It's disease."

Sim was barely conscious, his eyes rolling in his skull like two loose marbles.

"What was wrong with that monkey?" Aubrey said. "Her tail was smoking!"

Aubrey's words hit Sadie like a punch to the gut, but she kept running, the winter air burning her lungs with every breath, her sheathed sword bouncing against her leg.

"Forget that feral," Master Padwe said, glancing at Sadie. "Just focus on Sim."

Ten minutes later, they had arrived in a nearby village—a blur of thatched roofs, worn timbers, smoking chimneys, and snow-covered cobblestones—sweaty and exhausted. Sim was worse now, muttering to himself as if lost in a dream. Master Padwe looked around frantically until he spotted a caravan driver feeding his horse a handful of oats.

"Sir, this beastly is sick," Master Padwe said urgently, still breathing hard. "I need to take him back to Barrett's Academy."

The driver eyed them suspiciously. "Five copper pennies," he said. "Up front. And I've only got room for the two of you."

"Just take Sim and go," Aubrey said, her eyes filling with tears as she passed Sim to Master Padwe. "It will be faster without us."

Master Padwe hesitated—under normal circumstances, he would probably never leave the two of them alone this far from school, but Sim's life hung in the balance.

"Just be safe," Master Padwe said, handing Aubrey the map. "And join me in the infirmary as soon as you return."

Sadie and Aubrey watched as the caravan disappeared over the horizon. Then, without saying a word, Aubrey wiped the tears from her eyes and unfurled the map, and they began their long journey home.

#

After hiking for hours, much of it in terrifying darkness, they finally arrived back at the Academy, their bodies throbbing with pain and their torches nearly spent.

"Go see Sim," Sadie said. "I'll take our swords back to the armoury."

After returning their swords, Sadie pulled Dylan from her tunic. He was still a piece of birch bark, trembling slightly. "Let me get a look a look you."

He turned into a blob. He was pale, his eyes glossy and unfocussed.

Seeing him like this flooded Sadie with sadness—and guilt.

"Do you still want to see Sim?"

Dylan turned into a green leaf, then back into a blob.

"Okay," she said quietly. She was thirsty and exhausted, each word catching in her throat like sludge. She desperately wanted to be hopeful, but she'd never seen a beastly so sick.

With great trepidation, she slowly opened the door to the infirmary. Inside, a girl slept fitfully, her dark brown hair splayed out on the white pillow, a bright green snake coiled at the foot of her bed. But the space seemed otherwise empty.

"Aubrey?" Sadie whispered. "Master Padwe?"

Aubrey emerged from behind a thick grey curtain and waved them towards her. Sadie pushed past the curtain and saw Sim lying on a white bed, his eyes closed, chest rising and falling slowly.

"We had to put him in isolation to protect the other beastlies," Aubrey said tearfully. "Just in case he's contagious."

"Should Dylan wait outside?" Sadie said. She didn't want him sick, too, or infecting the other beastlies.

"As a plant, Dylan is immune," said Master Padwe quietly. "He can't catch beastly diseases."

In the almost tomb-like silence of the room, Sadie could sense Master Padwe's sadness and disappointment.

Does he know? she thought.

Part of her wanted to confess, to apologize for what she'd done, but she was trapped. Even if Master Padwe knew, she couldn't talk about it openly. Everything she had worked for—her scholarship, her beastly, her future as a Warrior—could be stripped away, or worse.

Aubrey held Sim's paw in her hands. Sadie wanted to say something, something to give her hope or make her feel better, but she had no words.

"If he did catch something, the symptoms won't manifest for at least another day, possibly more," Master Padwe said. "And if they do, I want to be prepared. So, I'm going to my greenhouse to do a bit of reading. Aubrey, watch over him. He should wake soon. And when he does, he's probably going to be scared and disoriented."

Aubrey nodded silently as Master Padwe left.

Sadie watched Sim as if hypnotized, the slow rhythm of his breathing lulling her into a sad and sleepy trance.

"It's okay, Sadie," Aubrey said finally. "You and Dylan can go to bed. I'm going to stay here tonight."

Sadie left the infirmary, walked through the castle, climbed the torchlit spiral staircase of the girl's dormitory, and opened the door to her dark and empty room. She dropped Dylan on the floor, then collapsed on her bed, exhausted.

Her mind hummed with a thousand guilty thoughts. Because she'd misused her powers, Sim was now lying in the infirmary, with Aubrey heartbroken beside him. What would Wizard Dvesha do when he learned what happened? What would Aubrey do if she knew the truth? Sadie exhaled deeply, trying to calm her nerves.

Maybe he'll be better in the morning, she thought. Maybe all this will all just go away. But somehow Sadie knew this was just wishful thinking. She could feel it, deep in the pit of her empty stomach.

Things were only going to get worse.