Healer

Chapter 20

     Drowning is quiet. As you push against the gravity of the depths below you, you don't have time to scream, only to fight for one substantial breath, and then another. Talia felt the piercing pain in her right side but took a second too long to realize what it was, and then darkness swallowed her. Darkness that was so deep, it could only exist in a fortress of stone like the one she had entered just hours earlier. And then the air became heavy, and her limbs became heavy. Drowning. In the press of bodies and muffled screams around her, she wasn't going to be able to stay on the surface. She touched her side and her hand came away wet, as a flash of light burst through the hall and disappeared, just long enough for her to see the redness of her own blood. Then a loud bang hit her ears over the voices and she knew what it was.
The image of Azriel being thrown away from her in those ruins in Hybern filled her blind eyes as a cloud of faebane crept through the space, disabling them all. She tried to move, pushing through the invisible crowd toward the edge of the room where maybe she could get a breath. The short arrow that pierced her kept getting bumped and she held her breath, refusing to let the pain slow her. She had to keep it in because her ability to heal was about to be completely drained from her. She had been standing with Rhysand and Feyre....where were they? She couldn't get enough of a breath to call out for them, or for anyone. She kept her hand pressed against her side but it was doing no good. She could feel blood dripping at her feet as she pushed forward. She neared what she thought was the back wall as the room erupted fully into chaos, the sound of running feet and swishing dresses nearly drowning out the fearful voices. Suddenly a hand gripped her arm forcefully and she jerked away from it in panic, unable to see who it was. She kept moving as they were swallowed into the throng behind her, her feet tripping over other feet until she was nearly removed from the flowing crowd and fear began to grip her. She could hear the unmistakable sound of metal on leather. Swords being drawn. Was there a way out? She stayed still for a moment, trying to regulate her breathing, knowing her pounding heart would just bleed her out quicker. She though she had been nearing the wall but when she reached out she felt nothing but other bodies brushing against her. 

So she stopped. She stood as solid as she could, and she let the water close over her head. She counted a long steady breath, and a second one, and just as she sucked in a third, a brick wall of muscle and leather hit her from behind, a strong arm wrapped her waist and a gloved hand covered her mouth. It didn't matter, she wouldn't have been able to make a sound anyway. She squirmed, trying in vain to shake them off as she had earlier until her captor whispered in her ear.

"Shhhh, I got you." Azriel. She went slack in his arms in pure relief as he launched off the ground and flew over the crowd below. She didn't know how he could see where he was going and she didn't care. She didn't know how he found her in the press of the crowd. He took his hand from her mouth and hooked his arm under hers, keeping her still against his body. He trusted that the doors would open as he barreled toward them and they did under to force of his shoulder turned toward them. Those blinded by the darkness finally found their way out behind him and he shot into the sky over their heads. His magic disabled, he couldn't winnow them anywhere but he had seen her get hit. He felt her body shaking against his and blood ran over his hand where he held her waist. 

He flew until he felt he had put a safe distance between them and the Hewn City and landed on a rocky ledge in the mountains between them and home. Talia braced herself to feel the earth under feet, but when she did, she could swear it was spinning. The shock of what had just happened hit her in the back as hard as he had and she lurched forward, emptying her stomach, her hand still pressed beneath the arrow inside her. He had his arm again around her waist from behind, catching her as her knees buckled and setting her gently on the rocky ground.

"Let me –" He said reaching for her side.

She pushed against him. "You have to go back. They need your help."