Shadow Bands

XX. Full Moon

 Aeris cleared a sturdy table, allowing Kaelen to put Lyra's body on the cold, smooth surface. Kaelen inspected her wounds, but he couldn't find anything more than tiny lacerations all over her body and a hematoma on her leg. His eyes scanned the purplish-pink pathognomic markings that went up her arm and almost up to her neck. He placed his ear on her chest and heard a slow heartbeat.

"She's still alive." He said, trying his best to remain calm.

Aeris paced back and forth, her thumb stuck between her teeth. "There has to be something she left behind as a contingency." She frisked Lyra, and felt something solid in her pocket. Aeris dug it out and held it up to her eye. Her eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. "It can't be."

In her hand was a crystal clear vial with a crimson red liquid occupying the volume. A familiar elixir she found back at the fortress that was also within Lyra's possession.

"What is it?"

"She must have somehow acquired more vampire blood. Probably from the same vampire."

"Acquired more?" Disdain riddled Kaelen's voice. "Did she use the healing property of the blood?"

Aeris nodded her head. A sigh escaped Kaelen as his shoulders lost their hopeful angles.

"It was necessary."

Kaelen knew they were running out of time. He grabbed the vial and snapped the tip. The crisp snap brought in Aeris' focus as Kaelen tilted the opening of the vial towards Lyra's lips. The red liquid poured smoothly, a constant red line dropped into her mouth until it dripped its last drop.

All the suspense stopped the motion in the room, their heartbeats loud in their heads. All the wounds closed and the bruise-like injury faded. The only thing that remained was the transient purple-pink fractal patterns on her arm.

Lyra's eyes shot open. Her lungs gasped for air as she quickly sat up. Without a second thought, Aeris hugged Lyra tightly.

"Where am I?"

"I'm glad that the past doesn't repeat itself," said Kaelen. "You're safe."

"We got worried because you hadn't come home after nightfall." Lyra's tattered clothes almost suffocated Aeris' voice. "So I assumed you were here, and we found you unconscious in your laboratory."

Lyra reciprocated Aeris' warmth, wrapping Aeris' head into her chest. "I've discovered something that will change Kogeer and all the world!"

"Of course you did," Said Aeris, pushing herself away while sniffling. "You can't do that, Lyra! You need to stop being reckless."

Lyra hopped down from the table, her balance lost at first, but with Aeris' help, she found it again.

"It was all sound calculation. . . for the most part."

"You call that sound calculation?" Kaelen chimed in.

Lyra took a quick glance at Kaelen before averting her eyes. "There is something out there. Something that can help us win this war."

She rushed to her laboratory, Aeris and Kaelen promptly following her. They watched her rummage through the debris, finding what she was looking for. It was a small, rhombus-shaped piece of metal with a purplish-pink glow outlining its three-dimensional structure.

"You are messing with magic that shouldn't be messed with," said Kaelen. His hair sticking up from the back of his neck. "This will disturb the balance."

"This isn't just magic; it's also science. I was able to fuse both of them, and once I'm able to bring this entity here, I can improve it."

"Entity?" Aeris turned Lyra to face her. "What are you on about, Lyra? We're at war, and you're playing games. This isn't something you should risk your life for."