The Lost Knight (Volume IV) The Lost Prince

Chapter 32: Lava

I wake up feeling happy and well-rested. Kyrbast made an excellent bed of moss and something that smells delicious, like flowers and cookies. I rub my face against the moss and open my eyes to find Carfron lying next to me.

I groan. "I thought you were gone."

"Carfron's back," Dathid shouts from a log behind me.

"Why are you sitting there?" I ask.

"You've been talking to him all night. We've been writing down your side of the conversation. See." He holds out the paper and points to the line he just wrote.

"I got it. Did I say anything interesting?"

"Not that I can tell. When you're awake, you can read it. Maybe it'll jog something.

Kyrbast kneels behind me. "How do you feel?"

He lifts up my shirt, giving Dathid a full view of my bare back. I know he saw it yesterday, but it's embarrassing now that I'm not in pain.

I'm about to tell Dathid to go away when Kyrbast says, "That's odd." And Dathid jumps to his side. So much for privacy.

"What?" I'm more annoyed than alarmed. It doesn't hurt right now, so I'm okay with whatever it's doing, as long as there's no more pain.

"How do you feel?" Kyrbast asks again.

"I feel fine."

"Your back is healed," he says.

I whoosh escapes my lungs. "Wow, that was faster than I thought. You're the best. Seriously, you are always coming with us. I wish I didn't have to go through that, but I'm glad you got it over with quickly."

"I didn't do it. I was treating your pain."

"Maybe something you gave her healed her," Dathid says.

"I don't think so," Kyrbast responds, but he's not listening. He's deep in thought, trying to figure out the puzzle.

I look over my shoulder at both their faces. "It's the Orb."

"But why would it hurt you?" Dathid asks.

"Are you kidding? It loves to hurt me."

"No, it sends you messages that make you nauseous and the like, but this time it just set out to hurt you."

I turn to ask Carfron, but I can't find him. "Where'd he go?"

"First, she talks to Carfron all night," Solara says. When did she get behind me? "and now he and  the burn are gone."

The entire group has gathered around behind me. I pull my shirt down and spin around to face them. Dathid hands me the bag with the Orb and plaque in it.

I pull out the Orb. It's cold and glassy. "Nothing."

"Don't wear it around your back anymore," Dathid orders. I assume the conversation no longer includes me when Dathid hands Jonah the paper and walks off with Solora and Kybast in tow. 

Jonah sits beside me with the notes on my conversation with Carfron. "Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm nauseous."

"That's from Kyrbast's treatment."

"Carfron could've shown up because of the treatment," I say. "Not everything has to be about the Orb. Maybe something bit me. Kyrbast gave me some crazy leaves. I had a conversation with a bug."

"It was an argument. You lost."

The blood drains from my face as I recall my conversations, first with the cockroach, then with Carfron, and then with some of the trees.