Everything manages to happen, all at once. And there is nothing but fear.
Trigger warnings for: lightning strikes, possession, major injury, language.
Then the man grabbed at his head. Gil was standing, unaware of anything around him, eyes closed. Something was happening in the man’s mind, something painful, and Gil was causing it. Amber whipped around, finished with the man who could control fire, started to come after the lightning man…and then a bolt of lightning arced toward Gil. He wasn’t looking, he was trusting someone else to be a distraction. Niko couldn’t do anything in time, there wasn’t anyone close enough…and then Codell leapt toward Gil, shoving him out of the way. The lightning was a desperate attack, one that was a last-ditch, concentrated effort, and it threw Codell all the way into the river. He was too stunned to swim, and within a minute, he sank like a rock.
“Shit!” Hikari yelled, and immediately jumped back in the river. Amber took the opportunity to lift the man into the air and slam him into the ground. Niko didn’t bother to see what happened after that—he just ran to the river and plunged a hand in once he managed to get ahead of Codell and Hikari. Hikari shoved Codell at him, and Niko started to pull Codell out. In a moment, Hikari had managed to get out of the water and was helping pull Codell to shore, and Niko was checking vitals.
“He’s not breathing,” Niko reported, and put an ear to his chest. “Heartbeat’s there, but it’s not strong.” He pulled Codell’s shirt up and saw what almost looked like burn marks that would definitely scar, spiderwebbing across his chest.
“Can you do something? Anything?” Hikari demanded.
“Rose, grab my kit. I’ll see what I can do.” Niko heard Rose reaching into his pack, and he started to do chest compressions to attempt to regulate the heartbeat and get it going how it was supposed to. But he was stopped by a tap on his shoulder from Seri.
“Let me,” they murmured.
“But doesn’t your magic…” Niko began.
“I don’t think we have time to worry,” Seri insisted. And sure enough, as Niko looked at Codell, he knew she was right. He couldn’t survive without breathing much longer, and his heartbeat was slowly stopping. Once that happened, he was beyond anything Niko could do.
But he had no clue how powerful Seri’s magic was. It was Codell’s best chance.
Niko nodded and moved aside, and Seri knelt next to Codell. She closed her eyes, and in a moment, silver magic snaked from her fingertips around Codell’s torso, wrapping around him. He practically glowed, it went beneath his skin, and illuminated the lighting scars, turning them into a haunting art piece on his chest. It took a long, long moment, with the magic weaving in and out and through Codell’s whole body, but eventually, the passage of the magic from Seri to Codell ceased, and Codell’s chest slowly began to rise and fall again. Niko knelt next to him and put an ear back to his chest.
“His heartbeat’s back to normal,” he reported, voice shaking. This was…beyond what he could have even imagined. Codell had been, quite literally, on the verge of death, and this magic had ended up bringing him back. But as he was finishing up examining Codell, he heard a scuffle behind him.
“Amber!” Vandita gasped. When Niko turned, he found Seri, a knife in her hand, being pinned to the ground by Vandita and struggling. Her eyes were not their normal brown—they were almost milky white, haunting as she looked around, seeming to see everything. And her struggles…Vandi was having trouble pinning her down, which didn’t make sense. Vandi was taller than their sister, more well-muscled, better trained, and had the advantage of their whole weight on their sister. And yet, it looked like Seri might manage to get Vandi off.
Amber jumped in and knelt down next to Vandi. “I’m gonna put her in a choke hold and hope that’ll get her to pass out.”
“What?! No!” Vandi gasped. But Seri managed to throw them off, and if Amber hadn’t jumped in at that second…the unearthly speed with which Seri had moved might have meant she could do serious damage. Immediately, Amber knelt on Seri’s hands, and pressed her throat. Seri gasped for breath, not finding it, and in a few moments, as her struggles weakened, her eyes faded back to brown for just a moment before she passed out entirely.
“Damn it,” Vandi murmured, their hands shaking. That single word seemed to sum up everyone’s sentiments, and Vandi aggressively rubbed at their eyes. They knelt next to their sister, feeling for a pulse. When they presumably found one, they held her hand tightly and worriedly bit their lip.
“Hey. It’s fine. She saved Codell. And if this happens again, I’ll just do the same thing. It’s fine,” Amber repeated. Vandi nodded, but it didn’t seem as if they really believed it. “Here. Town isn’t that far. I can carry her.”
“What about Codell?” Hikari began. But just as they said it, Codell gasped in another breath and coughed, eyes opening very slowly. Immediately, Niko turned back to Codell.
“How do you feel?” he asked, with Hikari translating. It took Codell a moment to sit up, but with weak, shaking hands, he seemed to sign back.
“I think he’s saying he feels dizzy, but okay. His signs are really shaky,” Hikari reported after a second.
“Okay. Codell, can I have your hand?” After Hikari translated, Codell nodded, and Niko felt for his pulse. It was definitely too fast, which would account for the shakiness, but that likely could be attributed to whatever his body had just gone through between the lightning strike and the healing. “Alright. This is doable. He’ll be fine,” Niko told Hikari, who was still looking Codell over with a look of concern. Then, Niko rummaged through his pack and found a small vial. It was intended for patients whose heartbeat was irregular, but it would work in this situation—it relaxed the heartbeat and steadied it a little. “Here, drink this. It should help with the sensation fairly quickly.” Codell nodded, and after Niko uncapped the vial, Codell drank.
It took a moment, but Codell’s shaking ceased just the smallest amount. “Thank you,” Codell signed to Niko—it was a sign that Niko had managed to remember.
“You’re welcome,” he replied, watching Hikari for the sign and mimicking it back.
“Okay, I’ll carry Seri. Let’s get the fuck into town,” Amber proposed.
“That’s a good idea,” Niko replied. He reached out an arm to Codell as he stood, and Codell took it to steady himself. With Hikari on his other side, he seemed as if he was stable enough to walk the rest of the way without too much worry. Amber had lifted Seri over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and Vandi hovered right next to her, watching their sister like a hawk. Worry was written all over their face. Rose just stayed next to Niko, taking his herbalism pack and carrying it gently. And Gil…Gil was watching Codell, with worry and guilt.
It was only a mile or so until the next town. But that mile was going to feel like a long time, Niko reflected, as everyone looked around, on edge for when the next attack would come.
