Mother of Magic

Aftermath

Bob took off and ran south, his gun out, chasing after where Silena and Tasha were in hot pursuit of the assassins. Silena and Tasha had a good start on him, so he was running full out.

Ava paid him no mind. She was not worried about the Sheriff. She knew he could take care of himself in a fight. His ground-eating pace in pursuit showed that he was in good shape. Silena may have made fun of country lawman, but she had stopped long ago from making any jokes about local law in Collins. Bob was as good with a pistol as anyone she had ever met in the Guild, and he did not sit around his office eating pastries.

With Silena, Tasha, and Bob after the shooters, the people that hurt her friend were doomed. Every bit as dead as the assassins Tasha and Silena had taken out when they first erupted from the West and dove into the arc of fire. Ava had no idea how those two knew to do that, and it was not her concern. All Ava knew was that her help was not required to deal with those who had shot Biranna and tried to shoot her.

In a fight, it was Ava's infinite preference to be in the role of the healer. It was somehow different when it was a friend who needed her skills. The cost of failure had to be mentally pushed aside. Ava bent over her friend and began to work on what she was required for.

Stephanie and Le stood watching Ava work on Brianna. Their amped-up power was of no use in delicate procedures like this. They could help with the remaining assassins on the run, but those three needed no magical help. Silena would likely find the idea they did insulting. Like Ava, they had no idea how Tasha and Silena knew where to be and what to do, but that they did know to attack the shooters from their flank came as no shock. A WereCat's senses combined with an assassin's training and situational sensibilities. If anything the couple felt a little dumb and helpless. All their power and right now they were ornamental Witches. Standing around will others did the real work.

A quick wave over the spreading red stain. Portions of Brianna's clothing disappeared. More motions. The red stopped. The wound was visible and ragged. Ava felt her way through the path, telling blood vessels to knit. To reroute. To get out of the way. Blood loss stopped being an issue. Nerves were told to quiet down. Stop their signaling back to the brain about the damage. It was a useless notification: Brianna knew she was shot. Ava knew it. They could shut up now. No need to add stress. In a few moments, Ava had a flattened lead bullet round out of her body. It backed itself out along the route it went in and hovered, then dropped to the side.

"Good. Not one of those nasty kinds of bullets that turn to shrapnel. Souvenir." Ava muttered as she continued her hands roaming and floating over her friend's body. In short order, Ava magically managed the rest of the internal bleeding so that it was completely stopped. There was a nick on the axial artery that required special care. Ava magically healed her way from the artery back out to the skin. The entry wound, ugly and visible, faded as it reknit to the other side of the hole. The blood that had coated Brianna's skin while Ava was working deeper within faded away. Soon all that was left was a pale and very lightly freckled shoulder.

Ava reversed her magical healing course and retraced her steps, calming the body. Telling it to just replace what was missing. Working at ever finer levels of care. The last step was to tell the subcutaneous fat cells to not leave behind a dimple where the wound had been but to smooth the skin back out as it had been.

Ava sighed in satisfaction and leaned back. "There. Won't even be a scar on your beautiful skin. The next kiss on that shoulder will be as the last."

Brianna looked down, craning her neck to see. Her fingertips lightly touched the now invisible entry point. "Guess I need to schedule that kiss. It always amazed me that a Witch of your power could be this delicate and fine. Amazing. World-class healer. Why you were Reverend Mother."