Soul Fire

2.4

Bloom landed on her knees as she fell forward in a patch of grass. A faerielight of Stella's creation bobbed around the girls as they all ran towards Bloom, trying to catch her before she hit the ground.

Bloom was shaking so severely, she couldn't lie completely on the ground. "Is she having a seizure?" Musa asked, trying to stabilize Bloom's head as she severely shook. Xenia flung out her magic to analyze the synapses firing within the red-haired girl's body.

"No... her neurons and nerves aren't showing seizure activity. She's just hypothermic. We need to warm her."

Stella shoved all of the girls beside as she rushed to Bloom.

"Shield your eyes. I can warm her." Stella said as a golden glow encompassed her body. The faeries stood up and turned away. Stella placed her hands on Bloom's shoulders, trying to warm her core with the sunlight.

Xenia's magic was still assessing the Callistian princess, monitoring her heart rate and processes. "Slow down, Stella. If you warm Veranda up too fast, she'll go into shock."

Stella immediately pulled back on her power, yanking hard on the rope of magic that she had been pulling up and releasing. Bloom wasn't shaking as much, and her teeth started chattering, which Stella took as a good sign.

"Bloom? Are you okay?" Stella said, rubbing Bloom's upper arms with her shining hands. Behind Stella, the three faeries exchanged a glance.

"I'm fucking freezing." Bloom said, struggling to sit herself up. Bloom cried out in pain as she moved her broken arm and fell back down, her shoulder slamming into the hard earth.

"What's wrong?" Stella said frantically, searching over Bloom with her eyes.

"Her bone is broken." Xenia realized as her magic traced the firing nerves to her arm. "We need to set it before her magic starts healing her."

Bloom scoffed as she took deep breaths to control the pain. "Fat chance of that." She said, not bothering to hide the disdain in her voice.

Stella grimaced. "B-Veranda has... an interesting relationship with magic." She trailed off.

Xenia just stared at her, her mind calculating the information the two girls had revealed. "We still need to set it. Does anyone have a brace or something?"

"Too bad we don't have a specialist here to make one." Stella said, "That is well outside my realm of magical ability. Can anyone else make one with their magic?"

Flora cringed. "I may be able to make something with plant fibers..." She said it like it was a question.

Xenia nodded. "That actually might work, Flora. I'll take schematics of her arm and I'll direct you how to mold the brace around her."

The two girls knelt besides Bloom, who was panting heavily. She clamped her eyes together as Flora started growing various leaves and vines until Xenia decided they'd found the optimal one. "It has to be rigid to support the fracture but soft enough to mold correctly." She'd explained. Xenia started directing Flora on how to shape it, telling her where it was too thick or thin or incorrectly shaped. When Xenia was seemingly satisfied with it, she took the brace and gingerly placed it over Bloom's broken forearm. Bloom hissed in pain and shook her head.

"Stop, it hurts." She said, clenching her eyes shut as tears started escaping from the corners. Musa, who had been watching patiently, came forward and sat down next to them. She started humming a tune, and Bloom's deep breaths slowed. The pain dissipated a bit, her world becoming fuzzy and a warm feeling blossoming over her chest.

Musa wove her magic within the tune she hummed, trying to pull Bloom out of reality so the pain wouldn't be so unbearable for her. It was a subtle gift that she could wield to alter the mood of a room or, in this case, keep a friend calm. Musa kept humming as Xenia directed Flora how to mend the brace shut so that Bloom's bones would snap into the correct position. Flora slowly twisted the materials together, and with a sharp tug, the brace clamped shut and Bloom's bone set. Her eyes flew open as she cried out in pain, her back arching slightly. She took deep breaths as the pain decreased, the brace helping support her broken bone. Musa stopped humming, and Bloom' clarity returned. She realized she could feel the tips of her fingers again and turned to look towards Musa, who gave her a small smile.