The Woods

Chapter Forty-Three

Three more attacks occurred over the next week. It seemed that everyone had gone to help with repairs in the different catacombs, so I spent most of my time with Lord Cawther, learning more about my magic. I was grateful that he continued my lessons, but I did wonder why he didn't go to help with the others. I ended up asking him once, and his response was . . . blunt.

"If everyone is drained of their magic, no one will be able to stop future attacks here." Fair enough. He was acting like the failsafe he claimed himself to be.

It was the end of an exhausting lesson, and I was ready to collapse and fall asleep. I had spent the whole day using my magic to sculpt ice statues, and the lord had given me a hard time about getting my details precise. I had snapped at him a few times, but he had merely chuckled in response. It confused me every time – it was almost as if he was fond of me. Of course, after what he had told me at the festival, I didn't expect him to hate me. But it seemed odd that someone so cold in nature could feel warmth.

"Rest and we will continue tomorrow," he said once I used my magic to make the ice disappear. I nodded, stifling my yawn, and trudged out of the study.

I was heading to my room, eager to sleep, when I heard the sound of glass shattering. I let out a yelp and ran towards the noise, gasping as I saw Drake on the floor, blood oozing from his stomach. He groaned in pain, and it took me a moment to realise it was another vine attack.

"Drake, are you okay?" I cried, dropping next to him. His teeth were clenched too firmly to reply, so I wrapped his arm around my shoulder and helped him stand. He was heavy. "Keep off the cakes," I muttered, slowly leading him to the small medical room – the same one I had helped Cain in.

When we arrived, I hissed upon seeing it was empty. Where were all of the doctors? Drake heavily dropped onto the examining table; his breathing heavy. He had lost a lot of blood. I helped him take off his shirt so I could see the full scope of the damage, and my breath caught in my throat.

How he wasn't unconscious, I didn't know. The vine had gone right through his stomach, leaving both an entry and exit wound. He should've died of loss of blood or damage to major organs.

"Drake, I'm getting Lord Cawther. I can't treat this," I said, running a hand through my hair. All I knew how to do was bandage small wounds. If I attempted anything on his injury, I would no more harm than good.

"No," he growled, but I was already running. I didn't care about his pride in those moments; his life was more important.

I sprinted up the stairs, silently begging that the lord was still in his study. I had no idea if he would know what to do, but he was thousands of years old – he likely knew much more than me on the topic.

I barged into his study, not bothering to knock, and a glance at my expression and the blood on my hands was all it took for him to follow me. I didn't know if he could tell whose blood it was, but I was grateful that he was running after me as I led him to the room where Drake waited.

When we arrived, Drake was unconscious and I heard the lord suck in a breath. Drake had lost even more blood, leaving a puddle beneath him.

"There was a vine attack. I didn't know who else to get."

He nodded, swallowing a few times before ordering me to get a few items. While I searched, he cleaned the wounds as best as he could before pressing wads of gauze against them to slow the bleeding. I set bandages, needles and thread, gauze, and some sort of clear alcohol on the bench, turning to Lord Cawther for instruction.

"I will hold him still, and I need you to put that alcohol on the wounds – use the gauze."

I nodded, soaking gauze with the alcohol and trying to ignore it as my nose burned from the fumes. I pressed one wad against his stomach and the other on his back. When Drake began to scream, I almost pulled them away, only keeping them on when the lord glared at me.

Drake thrashed against his father's grip, his screams becoming howls shrill enough to curdle milk. Tears ran down his cheeks and something softened in the lord's face. In that moment, his grip must've weakened, for I found myself being thrown across the room. Lord Cawther let out a yell, but all I heard was the thud as my head hit the ground.

I lay there, unable to move for a few moments.

"Are you alright?" the lord asked. I nodded, pushing myself up with trembling arms. "He likely didn't mean to hurt you; it is instinct to try get away from the pain."

I nodded again and got to my feet, wincing as I saw the blood oozing from Drake's wounds again. The lord instructed me to press clean gauze against the wound and wrap bandages around it. After twenty minutes, we were finished, and Drake collapsed again, semi-conscious.

The lord slumped against the bench, watching his son, while I ran over to the sink and was quickly and thoroughly sick. I hovered over the sink for a few moments, panting to clear my head. I had never seen so much blood in my life.

"Help me support him so we can take him to his room. Then we will return to clean up." I nodded, quickly rinsing my mouth with water before moving to help him.

Drake wasn't much help in trying to walk, and his stumbling was more of a hinderance than helpful. But we managed to bring him up the stairs and enter the blue and silver halls that contained his room. We were just opening the door when Celaine saw us.

"What happened?" she cried, running towards us. She followed us as we carried Drake into his room, and I only replied when he was lying on his bed.

"Vine attack." She paled before dropping next to the bed and grabbing Drake's hand.

Lord Cawther frowned, his brows furrowed, but followed me as I left the couple in peace. As he closed the door behind us, I heard the quiet murmurs of Celaine to her fiancé.

We made our way back to the medical room and began to clean up the pools of blood, becoming covered in it in the process. It took an hour, but when we finished, I leaned against the counter and closed my eyes. The adrenaline had died down, and my head throbbed painfully.

"Are you alright?" Lord Cawther asked. I silently nodded, sighing through my nose. "Drake will be fine, given a week or two. It is a similar injury to the one Casper was given."

I thought back to that night, nibbling my lip. "Where are all the doctors?" One had been there to treat Casper, and yet I had found none in the medical room.

"None reside within the castle. If we are in need of one, we use our magic to go to the catacombs and bring one here. This medical room is for minor injuries we can treat ourselves." And I supposed we wouldn't have time to fetch one, considering Drake was bleeding out.

We stood silently for a few moments, and I thought about all the attacks. Just the one at the festival had killed over a dozen people. But there were so many other attacks on the catacombs, leaving more and more people dead.

"Why would someone attack like this?" I asked quietly. He seemed to understand my thoughts and his eyes softened.

"No one should have a reason to," he replied. "People are selfish and do everything they can to get what they want. Even if it means people suffer."

I nodded, about to reply when the medical room's door burst open. Cain stood there, glancing around.

"I smelled blood," he said, his eyes glued to me. Lord Cawther quickly explained what happened, and I was grateful he did. My head felt like it was being hit by hammers. When he was finished, Cain nodded and turned to me again. "No one else is injured?"

"I hit my head but I'm fine," I replied.

He nodded. "Good. Maalik sent a message today – he wants to see you again tomorrow. Perhaps to check how your training is doing." When I didn't reply, he frowned and added, "Perhaps you should go rest, Fida."

I nodded and shuffled out of the room, truly exhausted. When I reached my room, I remembered the blood that covered me. Too tired to care, I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.