"Will she be okay?"
"Will the princess survive?"
"Oh Ailwin, please tell me you'll be able to heal her!"
"Please, I need some space." Ailwin motioned for the people to move back. Kneeling next to the princess, he took a deep breath, I can do this, he told himself, I've healed hundreds of people before- some with much worse wounds than hers, this time will be no different. Ailwin glanced down at the unconscious body before him. Lin had taken several blows to the head and had a large wound near her heart, the pool of blood leaking from it progressively increasing. The person who had harmed her was still unknown, the king's finest soldiers were being sent to find and capture the assassin at that very moment. No, not assassin. They would only be an assassin if they had succeeded in killing the princess, he corrected himself.
He got to work with the healing. Putting ointments on her wounds, no matter how trivial some were. Then Ailwin called on his magic. The power surged through him, making him feel stronger than anything and everything. He focused his power on the wound on her chest, willing the flesh to stitch back together. The skin started moving and joining beneath his hands. Finally, he was left with smooth skin, no sign that she had been stabbed. Ailwin slumped back with exhaustion. He closed his eyes. See, he told himself, there was nothing to worry about. Lin is healed now and she should wake up anyone moment-
"Ailwin! She's bleeding again!" called a voice. Ailwin's eyes flew open and he sat up, ignoring his fatigue. His magic always worked. But there it was- her chest wound had reappeared and was now spilling more blood than it had before. Panic set in. There had to be something he could do. It had to be some poison... or... or... he didn't know. Nothing could oppose magic.
Ailwin pressed his hands to the wound again, praying for his magic to work. But nothing happened.
"Quick, someone bring me some bandages!" Ailwin was worried now. He never had to rely on bandages, and with a wound as bad as this...
Someone frantically shoved some bandages into Ailwin's hands. He began wrapping the wounds, but they were quickly soaked in blood. Lin was beginning to look pale from blood loss. Ailwin didn't know what to do, he'd never been this worried about healing. He checked her pulse. She was barely alive.
Healing was one of the only things that Ailwin was actually good at, being the cripple he was. By the age of nine he was apprenticed to the most skilled healer and magician in all of Amaranth, and after years of hard training, by the age of thirteen, he was more accomplished at the art of healing and magic than even his mentor, making him the most skilled healer in the kingdom. Ailwin had never failed at healing. Until now. He could already feel Lin's life slowly ebbing away...
"Lin, listen to me." Her eyelids fluttered, the only response to his voice, "Lin! I won't let you die! Please..."
But it was too late. Her heart had stopped. And Ailwin lost his best friend.
Isn't this a great start to a story. Everyone loves good death.
I'm a very slow writer and a procrastinator, so don't expect regular updates lol
