The Otori Prophecy

XLV - Hey Kiddo

 A sob broke free. I flew across the room in several steps, flinging my arms around him. I couldn't believe it. His heart was beating strongly in his chest, a soothing sound to my ears. He stroked my hair, resting his chin on top of my head.

Ludens had barrelled into the caverned, puffing and panting like his life depended on it. In the midst of my overwhelming relief, I felt a guilt at leaving Ludens to face such a climb on his own. I could only imagine what he did to keep himself together.

"Taika, don-"

Whatever he was going to say fell silent on his tongue as I moved to look at him. His eyes darted to Mathias, then to me, back to Mathias, his lips parting in shock. His long legs brought him over to us in two strides. He lowered himself to the floor on the other side of Mathias, helping Mathias sit up.

He pulled one of the skeins from his belt, the ones we had filled recently, offering it to Mathias.

The arms encircling me, let me go- much to my dismay- large hands taking hold of the skein. I took a kneeling position by his side, watching him. This was... I couldn't believe it. After all these months, all the restless nights, he had awoken. He was alive. I wanted to laugh and cry and smile all at once. My hand darted out as Mathias shifted again, sitting taller. They twitched when he almost dropped the skein. I tried to refrain, pulling myself back. I needed to assess what he could do.

I watched him as he downed the drink, some of it spilling out, dampening the scruff of his beard. Some of it dripped onto Ludens and Mathias apologised. Ludens waved it off, claiming it wasn't a problem and if the water was the issue, he'd get more if he needed it. Mathias' hair was longer, I watched as he tucked a strand behind his ear, golden strands falling to his shoulders. Was Mathias' teeth sharper? Were his ears pointier? Were his eyes different? I shook my head; it was probably the shock. I hadn't looked at him probably in months, worrying more about keeping his wounds clean and his body fed.

"Mind if I check your wounds?" I asked timidly. I didn't want to make him feel rushed in anyway. Mathias' cool eyes turned to me and he nodded, letting me remove his cloak. I gently pulled up his tunic, unravelling the last set of bandages I had used.

I was in awe. The wound that had been revealed to me was... The black spindly veins that took up most of his torso, the corruption that was flooding through him, they had disappeared. There was no trace of them as I checked the rest of his skin.

The puncture wound, where I had pulled the claw from him, had almost completely healed. It was surrounded by healthy pink skin on all edges, the beginnings of a scar, the only part left to heal was a coin sized scab in the middle. Nothing that required bandages. I let out a long breath, relief spreading further through me. I took in another breath in the same moment, lifting up the leg from his trousers.

Each of the teeth wounds that had wrapped around his calf, had all healed, all that his skin bore were jagged pink scars in a crescent shape on either side of his leg. I was astounded. Amara's potion, it had worked, a lot better than I had even expected. It had saved Mathias' life. I had to hold in the tears. I wish he could've seen this. Gods, I needed to get myself together, I couldn't worry Mathias at the moment. Not after he'd not long been awake.

"How's it look, doc?" Mathias asked, amusement dancing in his eyes. It was like he had never been asleep. I grinned, moving away. "It's great. Aside from your abdomen, you're all healed," I remarked. He grinned, sharp teeth glinting.

I excused myself, moving only to the tunnel outside the chamber. I took in several deep breaths, letting them out slower each time. I was happy but I was sad. It was almost too much to remember the man that had helped make this happen.