THE ASHES OF LIGHT ✔

Chapter Thirty-Six: Valencia

Valencia and Kane left the Infirmary, deciding to check Maythus's bedroom first. The palace was eerily empty, all of the guards having been stationed either at the dungeons or at the kingdom's border.

"He's not here," Valencia sighed in confusion, greeted by an empty room.

"Maybe the throne room?" Kane suggested. Valencia shrugged. It was worth a shot.

The pair headed down the hall to the throne room, mildly surprised when that room was empty too. Where was Maythus? They left the palace, stepping outside into the cool, night air.

Valencia turned her head to face the sound of uncoordinated footsteps. A group of guards were shouting at one another, carrying a body in their arms.

Her heart dropped as she realized who it was.

"What happened?" she cried, rushing over. Her strides were quick as she tried to keep up with the guards as they headed for the Infirmary.

"I don't know," he panted, gripping Maythus's shoulders so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "One moment we were all standing guard, the next moment we were asleep. When we finally woke up, Maythus was on the floor."

"You were asleep?" Kane repeated with a frown.

The guard nodded, "I don't know, man. It wasn't our doing."

They finally arrived at the Infirmary and pushed open the doors, scrambling in to set Maythus down on one of the hospital beds.

"Of course," Red shook her head, hastily snapping on a pair of gloves as she walked over to Maythus. She leaned her head in, feeling his neck for a pulse. "It's faint, but it's there."

Valencia pushed her way through the group so that she was standing next to Red, looking down at the king.

"The injection," she murmured, pointing to a dark spot on Maythus's shoulder. The mere sight of it brought back vivid memories of Dad in the dungeons—it had only taken him minutes to die, who knew how long Maythus had left. "The cure. We need to try it," Valencia looked up to Red, wide-eyed. The healer nodded.

Red stepped aside, kneeling down to rummage around in a cabinet. She pulled out the glowing vial, carefully unscrewing the cap.

She grabbed a syringe from a side tray, carefully filling it with the bright liquid. Red tapped it a couple of times, watching as bubbles of air rose to the top.

She took a deep breath, inserting it into a vein on Maythus's arm. She slowly pressed down on the end of the tool, watching as the cure entered his body.

Valencia's breath hitched in her throat. It didn't look like much was happening.

Red withdrew the needle and stepped back, looking at Maythus in concern.

His skin was slowly warming to its normal shade of brown, but Maythus's breathing remained shallow and his pulse remained faint.

"Did it not work?" Valencia asked, hating the way her voice shook. Would Maythus die because Ronan had given her a false cure?

"No, I think it worked," Red paused, frowning as she examined Maythus. "At the very least, it bought us some more time. I think we just need more of it to heal him completely."

Valencia felt heat rise to her cheeks as she resisted the urge to cry. They didn't have more. Maybe if she had spoken up sooner, they would have plenty in stock—but Valencia didn't, and now Maythus was going to die because of it.

Red looked at her, her eyes scanning over Valencia as if she were reading her like a book, "You."

"What?" Valencia asked, feeling self-conscious under her inquisitive gaze.

"You said the cure was made by channeling and healing, right?" Red asked, a faint smile appearing when Valencia nodded. "You can do that. Just heal him using those two techniques and we don't need more of the cure."

"I don't know how," Valencia protested, feeling her throat tighten. She had made it seem like she was the one who created the cure, but in reality, she had never combined both of her abilities before. She didn't even know if she could do it, at least, if she could do it in time to save Maythus's life.

"I can help," Kane stepped forward. "I'm an enhancer. I'll give you more energy so the healing should come more naturally."

Red nodded, "I can help too. I have no idea how you could combine channeling and healing, but I can at least try to walk you through the healing part of it—and if not, be here for moral support."

"Okay," Valencia finally said after a moment of silence. She held her hands over Maythus, watching as Kane shut his eyes. She felt a jolt of energy flash through her body, all of her nerves tingling as if electricity was pumping through her veins. It was like all of her senses were on fire and magnified, letting her feel the buzz even easier in the air around her. She wasn't even feeling the buzz of energy anymore, she was the buzz.

Valencia racked her brain, trying to think of Ronan's earlier instructions.

You use channeling to give the light a physical form, while at the same time using healing without he idea in mind that you're getting rid of all the shadows, his voice rand in her mind, as if he were standing next to her. She took in a deep breath, and on the exhale, Valencia got to work.

She started by summoning as much light as she could muster, giving it a physical form but not a strict shape. It swirled around her hands, a dancing liquid that was full of life. Valencia directed it towards Maythus, watching intently as it absorbed into his skin and caused his veins to glow.

Valencia thought back to her past instances of healing—in each of them, she wove the wound shut, manipulating the light into causing the fibers of the skin to intertwine and cause healing to occur. This injury wasn't a surface wound, but rather a thing that needed to be expelled from the body.

She concentrated on the energy in Maythus's body. Beneath her light, she could feel the pulsing, radiating darkness. The shadows commanded power and ran wild, soaring through his blood like a ferocious animal. It seemed to cringe away from her light.

Valencia forced the light to go deeper into his body, underneath the shadows. Soon, the shadows were on top, dancing in the upper layers of his skin. Valencia concentrated on healing the body that was now free from shadows, feeling the strings of flesh and weaving them together. She continued to work in this method—raising her light up a level and healing what was left underneath—until finally, everything had been healed.

The light was gone, having been absorbed into Maythus's body during the healing process, and dark shadows swirled above. Valencia felt their tug, the thrill of power tempting her to master it.

Instead, Valencia focused on moving the shadows away from Maythus. As soon as they were far enough, they faded into thin air, leaving not even a trace behind.

Valencia blinked, finally coming back to reality. She was filled with a similar sensation to when she manipulated light back at the cave in Gaiwei—it felt as if she were trudging through thick waters, each of her limbs impossibly heavy.

She collapsed to the floor, too tired to remain standing.

The world around her swirled, snippets of sounds making it through to her ears but most of it flying right past.

"Maythus?" she faintly heard from afar, though it seemed like the Infirmary was miles away. Valencia opened her mouth to say something, but her lips felt as if they were glued shut.

Valencia felt a pair of warm hands pull her up and faces flashed before her eyes. Hooded eyelids, fair skin, high cheekbones... that had to be Kane. She felt herself being laid down on a hospital bed, but everything around her was a swirl of motion and colors. She was unable to make out anything distinct.

The colors were soon conquered by spots of black, her vision slowly retreating as she blinked heavily.

"Valencia?" Maythus's voice was the last thing Valencia heard before she finally lost consciousness.