Chapter Twenty

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Chapter 20: Powers of the Blades

Marty and Donovan continued to laugh, as Mary stomped off to her room, upset with Donovan. But soon, Donovan's carefree laugh turned into a sickly, sputtering cough. Marty stopped laughing when Donovan dropped to the ground, writhing in pain and clutching his abdomen.

"A healer!" Marty yelled. "Get a healer! Now!"

A small group of students ran off in the direction of the infirmary.

Donovan squirmed on the ground, he couldn't manage to remain still. Vitality himself felt the pain he was feeling.

"Donny boy, I don't know how you're going to survive when you have to go into battle. This was a small wound. Tough it out." Vitality said.

"Ahhhhhhhhh" Was all Donovan said back, with a suck of his teeth.

A healer from the infirmary ran towards the group of people. "Back away! Outta the way!" she yelled to the students watching the spectacle. Several of the students shuffled aside as the healer continued in her path. Other students weren't as cooperative. The healer, an older woman of nearly 40 summers, used her muscular arms to shunt aside students in her way.

The woman pushed her way into the center, her salt and pepper hair waving slightly in the breeze. She told everyone to back away; her commanding voice was known to all the students at the academy. She was Hagrid, Brandi's elder sister. She was Hagrid, the head healer at the academy.

Hagrid leaned over Donovan, pressing her hands over his warm wound. "It's not that serious, he should be fine. Just have to-" she started to say as she pulled up Donovan's armor, exposing his stomach. "-look at his stomach."

She cringed. "It may be worse than I have thought. His wound never closed, and he is bleeding slowly, but nonstop. Most likely not felt by him," she said aloud, a habit of hers to speak to herself. "Give me the weapon that did this," she demanded, getting right down to business. Hagrid was not one to let anything come between her and her job. She didn't mess around, or joke, or laugh; she was focused solely on what needed to be done.

Marty searched the ground, and saw Singe lying in the dirt several feet away. Another student tossed him the blade, and he took care to catch it without hitting the blade before he passed it to Hagrid.

She searched it over, looking for abnormalities. She saw none, so she twisted the blade around, and sliced open her thumb with it. She cringed as the blade swept over her finger, cutting it deeper than she had expected. She watched as the blood dripped from her finger, for several minutes she watched it drip, slowing ever so slightly. But it didn't stop.

"This is a blade of a legend, correct?" she asked for anyone to answer.

"Yes, it is," Marty said, standing beside her as they stood over Donovan.

Donovan wanted to curl up into a ball and hide from the world, but he couldn't. "Vit, what happened? Why am I still bleeding?"

"It's Singe. Your blade has a hidden power, apparently. Similar to the other one," Vitality deduced.

"You mean Infernus?" Donovan asked.

"Yeah, that one," Vitality answered, worried, but knowing his rider would be safe. Vitality felt the fear in Donovan's heart as the healer worked her magic on him, fixing him until he felt better.

Donovan stared at Hagrid, as she tried to heal the area that had been cut, and failed.

"Hmmm... This wound is different. It won't heal," Hagrid said to herself. She pulled a small blade from her side, small enough to cut food, most definitely not used for battle, and touched it to the wound she inflicted upon herself. The sharpened blade reopened her wound, though it had never stopped bleeding, and blood began to flow from it at a faster pace.

When she began to use her powers on her hand, it healed up perfectly. "THE CURE!" she shouted; a small yip escaped from Marty's mouth.

Donovan moaned; his eyes had been closed and he had not seen what Hagrid had done.

Hagrid leaned down to Donovan's face and whispered "This may sting a little," before sliding her small blade into the wound. Donovan squirmed uncomfortably, and he felt Vitality cringe in his head. Marty fell backwards, fainting on the cold, hard ground as the small blade slid around Donovan's abdomen.

"I don't know what's happening Vit. I can't feel my tummy. What's going on?" he asked his Dragon.

"Trust me, Donny. You don't really want to know," he replied.

Donovan felt woozy, his small teenage body didn't hold as much blood as an adults body did, and he had lost quite a bit more blood than he had thought.

"Stay awake.... Stay awake," he heard Hagrid say. "Almost.... Got it!" Donovan felt a wave of relief; he was still tired, but all of his fears vanished, and Vitality let out a sigh. Hagrid had successfully re-opened and healed Donovan's wound.

"What happened?" Donovan asked.

"She cut open your wound, and healed you up. I've figured out why this happened, by the way," Vitality said.

"And...?" Donovan asked impatiently, still laying on the ground.

"The blades. Infernus burns, Singe prevents healing. Does it get simpler?" Vitality asked rhetorically.

"So I'm truly a legend; to hold blades like that, I must be," Donovan thought to himself.

Hagrid began speaking to him. "From now on, you need to take it easy. At least for a little bit. A week or so. But I know my sister well enough, she's going to go find the toughest teacher around, and work you until your fingers are ground down to your elbows. I suggest you rest here for a minute, maybe go for a calming flight on your dragon, eat some splodge, and take this day to rest and prepare." Hagrid walked back to the infirmary. "Now I must go, I have more important patients to attend to," she said as she left.

Donovan lay on the ground for a while, the crowd dispersed, stepping around to limp body of a fainted Marty. Slowly, Donovan gathered his little bit of strength left from the fight and the scare of dying, and tried to stand. His muscles ached, the adrenaline that had run through him had left, and the pain from each deflected sword strike ran trough his arms, shoulders, and chest. Vitality crawled over and grabbed Donovan with his teeth, standing him up, as Donovan had dropped back to the floor due to lack of energy.

"Maybe you should do as she says, Donny. Rest today, unwind and prepare for tomorrow," he said.

"What about that dragon ride?" Donovan said back with a cruel smile. "How 'bout it, Princess?"

With a sigh, Vitality put Donovan on his back.

*******

Donovan lay in his bed, the moon was shining and his body ached, his memories of his ride on Vitality fresh in his head. The wind, the the speed, the height, each led to a rush of energy being restored in Donovan. It was a carefree moment... And, according to Hagrid, his last one for a while.

He let his eyes close, and drifted off to sleep with happy thoughts on his mind.

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<<A/N Remember to comment and vote!

Now.. In regards to the puzzle, don't worry. The first hint was difficult, I wanted to see if we hand any master code crackers out there. Here is your second, easy hint.

Hint: Lyrics from a popular Beatles song that was featured in the movie "Across the Universe."

To reiterate, every guess will be responded to. ONE guess per person, per day. If you have a slight spelling error when I read the message, it will be understood that you broke the code.

First to get it right is the winner.

The contest is extended until the Wednesday after this chapter post. >>

*SECRET* Private message me for a THIRD SECRET hint.

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