Eban

20 - Eban

Seven people, including the rider they had followed here. Seven people, but eight horses.

"You have a Healer?" A woman stepped forwards. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword, and Eban could feel her tension echoed in three other riders. The emblem of the Royal Guard was unmistakable on her tunic.

"Yes, my lady," Kerr said. He nodded to Eban. "He's young, but I've seen something of his Healing. He can help."

The woman considered Eban. "How strong are you, lad?" she asked. "I mean no offence, but the one injured is a mage himself. You will need to be strong."

Eban bowed to her. "I'm strong enough for most things, my lady," he said. "I won't know if I'm strong enough to heal your friend until I try."

She nodded. Her hand stayed on her sword, but she relaxed slightly and gestured behind her. "Try then."

Eban walked passed her to see a shielded patch of ground where a man lay. The shield was weak and broke the moment he touched it. Eban replaced it instinctively, before remembering he was supposed to be keeping his Manipulation a secret. He relaxed when a glance at those gathered showed no one had noticed. It seemed the only mage here lay injured.

Eban turned back to his patient and knelt by his side. Gently, Eban pushed aside the blanket that covered him and carefully pressed his palm to the man's chest. Finding the cause of the problem was easy enough – a knife protruded from the man's chest.

"What's your name?" Eban asked.

"Lachlan," the man said, his voice a whisper. The one word left him breathless, and Eban felt the jump in Lachlan's heart rate as his heart responded to the stress.

"Alright, no more talking for a while," Eban said. "You're in luck, Lachlan. I can heal you, but first the knife has to come out. It'll be quick, but it will hurt."

"Get on with it."

Eban smiled. Shifting position, he rested his left hand on Lachlan's chest while his right tightened on the hilt of the knife.

"I'll pull it in three... tw-" He pulled the knife.

The breath hissed from Lachlan. Eban chose not to hear the curse the man directed at him with that breath.

He dropped the knife and pressed his hand against the wound. Eyes half-closed, he pushed his magic into the injured mage. The lung was his top priority, but first he had to convince the man's own magic to allow him to help. He won that fight within a second, easily overpowering Lachlan. He felt the man's surprise as he recognised Eban's strength. But there was no time to consider the implications.

Eban wound the healing spell into and around the lung tissue closing the damage and watching as Lachlan took his first breath. The lung inflated properly with the breath and deflated again easily. Eban smiled to himself and moved on to healing the torn intercostal muscle and damaged ribs. The skin that followed was easily fixed, although Eban was careful to not overdo it. Better to leave some work for the body. A natural healing was always stronger than a magical one and doing a complete Healing would stress the patient's body unnecessarily.

Eban leant back on his heels. He did a last examination of his patient, wanting to be sure that no further injuries had been missed, and then smiled. His eyes faded as he released the energy.

"Feel better?" Eban asked.

Lachlan sat up carefully, breathing slowly. "Much," he said, smiling.