The Demon and the Elf (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty pt 6

After that moment, Eial stayed by Gru's side, telling him stories of his adventures inside the elven territory. The trees that were different there— and his favorite one. The library he had frequented and the stories the books shared. When the demon wasn't around, he'd even quietly mentioned his fantasy of finding his bond because of the books. And how he was surprised it was a demon. His hands grabbed the front of the stool he sat on and he bent forward as he talked, rocking his legs back and forth.

Drokn stayed often, as well. Listening to the elf and watching his eager lips speak. Eial had already covered himself again, covering his hornless head and white hair with his hood and hiding his eyes with the cloth. Despite Gru's assurance that no one in this health facility would mind, Eial felt more safe behind his veil.

Finding moments, Drokn had talked about himself, as well. Surprising himself, his mouth would slip and open up. He talked about the king and how the king looked down on his power. To which, the elder reassured him that the power the king sought was blinded and narrow. That there are other kinds of powers equally as important.

"You have a particular kindness deep in you," Gru said, his voice rough. "I think K'ra sees that, too. That kindness is powerful."

Being called kind felt alarmingly false for the demon and he frowned at the lie as much as his cheeks flushed. By his side, Eial nodded and agreed with the elder, grinning happily that other people could see that in him, too.

However, kindness was not a useful power to the demon, or so his upbringing kept convincing him so. But Gru and Eial seemed to make him consider otherwise, and all his learnings rattled again. He secretly wished what they said was true.

The peace of the time was interrupted by a coughing fit from Gru that evening, the room echoing the grating sound, the sheets wet with crimson. Immediately, the room was crowded with Vrona, K'ra, and the doctor's entrance. Checking Gru's symptoms, the doctor, Bluhn dawned his rare seriousness. Testing his pulse, his breathing intensity, feeling the rhythm of his lungs.

The doctor asked everyone to leave the room, requesting K'ra to take care of the other patients for a while and requesting Vrona to make stronger medicine to ease his symptoms. Eial and Drokn were kicked out with no tasks and the door slammed on their faces.

K'ra and Vrona looked oddly calm. In one passing, Eial tugged on K'ra's sleeve, asking if they were alright. K'ra just smiled, ruffled Eial's hair, and went back to their assigned work.

Sitting side by side on the floor outside of Gru's room, Eial and Drokn were silent, listening to the painful noises and occasional silences emitted from the closed room. They were faced with a situation neither of them had experienced or learned to address. Trembling, Eial clasped his arms around his knees, burrowing his head within. "I don't want him to die," he said.

Gripping his hands tightly together, Drokn silently thought in slow, shallow breaths, Me neither.

Suddenly, with determination, Eial's face flipped up and he quickly stood. Taking a steadying breath, he turned the knob and rushed into Gru's room.

In his concentration, Bluhn hadn't noticed someone entering the room until the elf was across from him, on the other side of Gru. "What in the—," the doctor had started to say, but was interrupted by the elf who had removed his hood and the cloth around his eyes, his hands over Gru's open chest, a light blue hue around his palms.

Eial's whole body shook and he bit his bottom lip, a mark deepening under it. Desperately, desperately, he passed healing magic through. No matter how long, he'd stay and heal and everything would be alright.

It did not need to take an explanation for Bluhn to figure out Eial was an elf, and an elf who could heal. He watched the magic flow from the elf's hands to Gru's chest, a moment of wishful thinking. Once the moment had passed, however, he gripped Eial's wrist to stop his magic and his voice deepened. "You could heal as much as you'd like, but magic can never bring back a dying body."

Outside the room again, the elf fell completely silent, his body still. Drokn, who had witnessed the interaction was no different.

A few hours passed, each minute drawing longer. Each hour an eternity. Until finally, the doctor came out of the room, his face sunken, his eyes shadowed and red. Although the demon and the elf stared at him, anxiously awaiting his words, the doctor walked past them in heavy steps and found K'ra.

"He's..."

The demon doctor started and swallowed.

"...fine for now. Success again."

K'ra breathed out deep and slow, a smile on their face with upturned brows. They hugged the doctor and wrote a note stating, [Thank you].

Leaving the doctor to wash up, K'ra went over to Vrona, ecstatically explaining the outcome with their notepad. A relieved sigh, Vrona reassured them that she'd make better medicine to ease his symptoms. Smiling and writing a thanks again, K'ra tended to the other patients enthusiastically until Bluhn came back.

"He said, 'again.' Does this happen often? Is that why K'ra was so calm?"

That inquiry was from Drokn, and the unexpected interest in others caused Vrona to lift her brows slightly before explaining the circumstance of Gru's health. "The residual disease sort of continues to eat at his lungs.. Every now and then, simply put, there's a tear that needs to be closed back up."

"And if it's closed back up, he's fine?" This time, the question was from Eial.

Hesitating at first, Vrona answered solemnly. "Temporarily. Unfortunately, there's no cure. And the older he gets, the worse it'll be."

Soon, the building seemed to go back to normal. The sleep deprived doctor checking with his patients, Vrona mixing medicine and herbal teas for each. The only difference, Gru's room was soundless, and K'ra's presence was unfound.

Drokn had left to visit the washroom, steering down an empty hallway, his slow steps barely making taps against the tile. Not expecting anyone else on his way, Drokn paused as he encountered the back of K'ra in the distance,

Their unusually confident posture, now trembling,

Their unusually cheerful expression, now inaudibly sobbing in a corner by their lonesome.