From the Ashes

Chapter 21 ~ Memories and Nicknames

    Morana woke to the scent of roasting meat and opened her eyes with a yawn, stretching her arms over her head. She sat up and found Tarion seated beside a fire. Two small birds were speared on sticks and already had a nice golden sheen. Morana peered out the cave entrance and managed to spot the sun in between the forest canopy. Already it was almost midday.

    "Shit, did I oversleep?" Morana grunted, pushing herself to her feet and easing the last soreness from her body.

    "No. I decided we'd start later than usual today. We're about three days from the library now." Tarion pried one of the sticks out of the ground and held it out to her.

    "We could shave it down to two, or even one and a half, if we kept up our usual pace," she pointed out before digging into the food.

    "Tomorrow we will, but yesterday was rough on both of us. We won't get anywhere if we're dropping from exhaustion." Tarion bit into his own bird and Morana's gaze swept over him.

    If either of them were dropping from exhaustion, it was him. There were dark circles under his eyes and a few of the scratches on his face, as well as the burn on his arm, still weren't fully healed.

    The battle had taken a heavier toll on him than she thought, and if he hadn't had Fae blood since she freed him from the palace, he wouldn't be at his full strength. That meant he could be weakened faster than normal and take longer to recover.

    "Will you let me work on that today?" Morana asked after swallowing her mouthful. She gestured to his arm when Tarion arched a brow. "It hasn't healed as much as it should've. You know that just as well as I do."

    Tarion sighed, raking his fingers through his hair and letting them curve around the back of his neck. Morana finished the rest of her meal and tossed the stick and bones into the fire. Tarion followed suit, his eyes flitting to hers. "All right," he answered finally.

    Morana wiped her fingers off on her pants and scooted over to him. Tarion rested his arm on top of his thigh, twisting it so she'd have easy access to the burn. Her magic woke with an energized crackle and she let it spread to her fingertips, which she then touched to the wound. Tarion flinched and sucked in a breath, but didn't react beyond that.

    Morana worked carefully, doing her best not to jar the injury. No doubt it was still tender, and though her magic wouldn't hurt him, her touch and movements still could. In an effort to distract him, Morana spoke. "Do you have any healing abilities?"

    Tarion shook his head. "My mother did, but I didn't inherit them. Honestly, I didn't think there were any healers left. Astaroth targeted them during the Ash War and had them all killed or Corrupted."

    "I'm not really a healer. I can only ease symptoms and help speed up the healing of a wound. I can't fix it completely."

    "If you can manage that, you could become a full healer. You wouldn't have the gift otherwise. You just haven't been taught to use it properly."

    Morana glanced up at him and found his eyes following her crimson stained fingers. "Is that something I should research when we get to the library?"

    "Yes," Tarion replied. "You should learn as much about healing as you can. It will serve you well."

    She made a mental note to do just that. "All right. May I ask..." Morana trailed off, waiting for his prompting. Tarion dipped his chin. "What caused this?" Her palm covered the burn and her magic encompassed it entirely.

    Tarion jerked in her grasp. "Sorry," he mumbled. "That stung." She continued to wait. Tarion sighed once more and turned his face from hers, hiding his features. "I was...panicking. I knew I couldn't afford to lose myself to it because I had to get back to you. Pain was the only way to shove the panic into the back of my mind."