🐲 Dragon and Phoenix (Path of Light and Fire Book #2) (Completed) 🐲

Chapter 38

"Welcome to the greatest performance you'll ever witness as Red Wing regales you with his amazing talents!"

Or at least that's what Yulan's guessed Disa said.

It was supposed to be a small performance, yet there had been an influx of Affilos from the surrounding towns. He scanned the crowd, looking for Fama. She should have been easy to locate, yet with the influx of Affilos from other towns, the grassy area of the market filled with the blankets of families who had come to see the Yuan healer.

He closed his eyes and exhaled. Terrick had joked about using his Serien powers for a small scale show, yet using fire would show him to be one of the Blood. It was the Wind Witch who suggested he heal people, not so much as to draw outside attention, but small, incomplete healings.

He gave her a small nod and she smiled. She sat in the most inner circle of blankets with Terrick to her left. She was truly wise beyond her years, yet compared to Fama she looked like a child.

Yulan folded his arms and waited. He expected there to be a line of people who wanted help with some ailment. His was walking a difficult line here – he did not want to perform too well, yet he didn't want them to hate his performance and kick him out of the city.

It took several moments before a man stood and walked up to Yulan. He was tall for an Affilo, coming up to Yulan's chest, with short spiky hair. He wore a scowl and his fists clenched. The newcomer looked Yulan up and down, then raised his right arm and the air and yelled. Then he shoved it into Yulan's chest.

Yulan was about to break the man's arm, when he noticed Alaina waving her hands out the corner of his eye.

Right, heal him, don't break him.

Yulan instead moved his fingers up the man's forearm. He stopped once it felt wrong.

It was as First Blood Ira taught him. An injury was a puzzle, one in which the human body held the pieces.

"He has a-"

Yulan held up his hand to Disa. He didn't need to know what the man had said. The language of the human body was universal. If he filled Yulan's head with nonsense, he might look in the wrong place. It told Yulan that something was broken in the man's forearm.

"The gray sky has many clouds," Yulan said in Yuago. It was gibberish, and the chances of the man understanding his words were slim. He said to add to the ambiance of his "spirit healing."

Once the puzzle was complete and the bones in their place, Yulan pushed fire into the wound. It would relieve a bit of his pain, Yulan guessed, but it would still need time to heal. Yulan was unsure how much, he had never performed a partial healing.

"Tell him not to use his arm for three weeks," Yulan guessed.

The man flexed his hand as Disa spoke to him, then his big brown eyes were moist around the edges.

A collective gasp cascaded through the crowd.

A few more of these and I'll feign fatigue.

Everyone burst from their blankets, yelling at him and Disa. There was an urgency and entitlement to their tone that made Yulan want to break each of them. They shoved at each other, trying to bully their friends and family out of the way to get closer to Yulan.

For a society that prides themselves on community, they aren't very communal.

Suddenly, the noises stopped.

Yulan raised an eyebrow and looked around. A loud voice echoed in the air and people dropped their heads, returning to their blankets.

Only two people remained standing. One was a small child, only six by Yulan's estimation. She was on crutches and walked forward, with her right leg dragging uselessly through the grass. She smiled at him, one born of genuine hope and belief.