Blood Magic

2-7: Burning Man

.^^ James ^^

— Athenos —

My alarm didn't wake me up. I woke up on my own, with a scream in my ears.

That, in itself, was terrifying.

The fact that the screaming didn't stop, even when I covered my ears and checked my throat to make sure it wasn't me, started to scare me even worse.

Rafaela blinked st me groggily. "What's wrong?"

I could barely hear her over the screaming, and it was slowly becoming more recognizable. "JAMES!" I yelled, sprinting my way through the portals, and coming out into Greece in daylight. I shielded my eyes, and saw Kari carrying my son, who was clutching his skull and screaming silently, his throat long-scratched silent.

His mother arrived soon after that, and then Warren.

I grabbed him by the throat, roaring, and slammed him into a wall, making chips of mortar fall around us. "Explain." I snarled, gripping tighter.

"I was... very clear... that this... would happen..." he grunted, speaking around my grip with great effort, and he clearly didn't understand how I was overpowering him.

"Athenos, release him. We didn't think it would be this strong, but we expected this." Alexia growled, and pressed her hand to his forehead as Kari set him on a table. Then she hissed. "Why can't I do magic on him?!? Warren! What defenses did you teach him?!?" She snapped.

I dropped him, glaring. "Well? I know he knows a good deal of battle magic, but stopping an Ünterqueen from healing him should be beyond him, yes?"

He scratched his throat, coughing gently. "It would have been, earlier this morning. During our training, he put some magical crystals in his body, to act as sub-dermal armor. The science of it went over my head, but he called it 'Non-Newtonian Ballistic Gel', whatever that means."

I nodded. "It means his mucus membranes are still open to tampering. Alexia, whatever you're doing, direct it through his tear ducts."

She nodded and pressed her fingers to the corners of his eyes gently. They glowed, and he instantly fainted. "Alright, I need to get him into a bathtub, with some water, so I can control his temperature. If it gets too high, his brain melts and he dies, too low, he gets hypothermia and dies."

I picked him up, and carried him into her house, following her directions to strip him to his underwear, and settle him in the water. She created a mask of air, around his nose and mouth, to give him oxygen, then cooled the water carefully, until his temperature evened out to 98.6.

I set a spell in the water to keep him at that temperature, without our needing to constantly monitor it.

Rafaela knocked on the doorframe. "Uhm... can I get an update? Anything you need?"

"James is going through the Chrysalis I hoped he would never have to, because of his half-human heritage. I was clearly wrong. He's screaming into our minds, telepathically. It hurts, and it's making me testy. No, I don't need any help healing my son." Alexia clipped off answers, her voice a deep growl of pain and rage.

Rafaela nodded slowly. "Okay... let me know if that changes. Athenos? I'll be in my shop." She kissed me sweetly, and then exited, after examining James quickly.

"Where did he get those scars?" Alexia asked, leaning against the wall and pressing a hand to her temple.

"Six months in the Dark Dimension. He told you about it. The Candyland Version, at least." I grunted.