Occultus Draconem

Waking the Past

"Generally, poking around in someone's mind or calming them doesn't do much, if any, damage at all. This is reserved to mind-control and trances on unwilling or unsuspecting victims. Even then, it usually doesn't cause such an extreme case of lasting damage. I'm sure you're already aware that Blaise is not a normal case, and your power has a vastly different effect."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Kenric asked, looking down at his shaky hands. "There must be something I can do to ease his pain. Do my powers work here?"

Zane only shrugged, but Kenric was determined to help. He took a deep breath, concentrating his power, and nearly jumped for joy when he was able to form a layer of ice across the palm of his hand. Then, he approached Blaise.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Zane warned. "If he wakes up in that state, who knows what might happen?"

Kenric had made up his mind, though. He rubbed his hands together, conjuring thick layers of ice over his skin. Once he was satisfied with the result, he reached out to grab the chains that held Blaise.

"Don't!"

Kenric growled in pain as his ice was turned into steam with a loud hiss as soon as he touched the chains, and it scorched the palms of his hands. But he wasn't going to give up that easily. Powering through the pain, he tightened his grip and focused his power.

His heart pumped as much magic through his body as it could handle, and Kenric cool feel its coolness rushing through his veins and crawling under his skin. His hands began to glow a faint blue, and more steam hissed between them and the chains.

The more power Kenric produced, the less steam there was. Soon, the chains had cooled of completely, and they just looked like regular iron bindings.

But Kenric didn't stop there—he flooded the chains with ice and healing magic until they themselves glowed blue. The healing magic danced in blue-green sparks across Blaise's body and burrowed into his skin, healing the burns and closing his wounds.

Blaise's chest shuddered, but he didn't wake. Kenric, drained of his energy, fell to his knees.

"Are you all right?" Zane helped him to his feet, supporting Kenric under his arm.

"I'll be fine," Kenric said, taking deep, heavy breaths. "Hopefully I've eased his pain."

"Blaise will survive. It's you that I have to worry about right now. The last thing we need is for your own mind to come unraveled in all of this chaos and ruin."

"How could this happen?" Kenric gaze moved around the rubble. Was there anything left of Blaise's mind to salvage? How could one person repair so much destruction, and what had caused it in the first place?

"Some of it was already like this. Some, I hate to admit, is my fault. Two souls are not meant to share one body—we tampered with the very fabric of nature, and Blaise was not a willing participant."

"We?"

"It's... complicated."

"Clearly," Kenric said. "Complicated" was a gross understatement—Blaise's mind was in total ruin. "Where do I even start?"

***

Ezekiel rested his chin on his hands, looking over his friends. He couldn't grasp how everything had gone downhill so fast. His gaze was torn from Blaise's glowing red eyes when the doors to the infirmary were thrown open.

"What happened?" King Nero asked, looking around the infirmary. Some of the nurses shared looks of concern, and it only made him more infuriated. "Answer me!"

Theron was still unconscious, Blaise and Kenric were trapped in some sort of magic-induced trance, and nurses were treating each other for various injuries Blaise had inflicted on them. Everything was a mess.