The Fall to Vhytera

8. Restless

Jax

"Why can't you heal him?! Wait, why didn't you heal me?!" Alixe asked Warden, making a gesture with her hands that showed her frustration. Her face was like a storm, beautiful, confused and angry, mostly with herself for what she had done to him moments earlier. His hand ached, his forehead was covered with sweat but he had too much pride to show any sign of that pain. He had said that she needed to stop saying sorry for the hundredth time, but she would not let it go. He and Warden were sitting on the ground of the cave while Alixe paced back and forth.

Warden didn't answer her questions he just stared and wandered off thinking about something again. He had gotten worse, drifted off more often, Jax knew it was because of Alixe, what it could mean for the upcoming war that she holds the power of four bloodlines. She and her brother are probably the only children ever to be born of four bloodlines, their parents must have been very powerful, to even have conceived children, Warden had probably figured that out too. She should be hidden, if anyone finds out, they'll hunt her down and try to turn her into a weapon.

"Fine, don't answer me! Keep staring into the distance!" She said her voice raising with anger. Warden snapped back to reality his attention shifting to Alixe.

"You see, there's something I don't get, you seem to be this mighty tribe leader and you are part Taeda, but somehow you can't heal?" Alixe went on asking Warden, he looked down, an apologetic look on his face. No one ever dared to speak to him like that, force the truth out of him. Jax knew why Warden would not heal him, he simply couldn't.

Warden scrapped his throat and said with a rusty voice "I don't have my healing powers anymore." He faced up to look at Alixe, she calmed down instantly, a hint of pity and understanding in her eyes. She knew how it felt to be powerless, Jax had seen it in her memories, the images still vivid in his mind. He tried not to think about it too much, but the more time he spend with her, the harder it got. She had been through hell and back, with no one to guide her through it. He'd decided not to let anything happen to her again, in that moment when he saw and felt what she had been through, he had decided that he would protect her as long as she needed. He didn't care if he had to burn his hand a hundred times over, if she felt safe it would be worth it.

He'd seen her running towards her home on that horrible day of "The reduce" finding her home to be empty. Her parents and brother nowhere to be found, the house trashed, implying they had struggled, she has never seen them since. He felt the hurt that she carried with her. Even if she had reached the house in time that day, she could have done nothing, she had felt powerless. He had seen her go into hiding, taking care of herself, he'd felt how the loneliness slowly took bits of her soul. How she would hide from men in the survivor camps, sadly to no avail, she had been captured and they ... he shook the thought from his mind, she got out, fought back and lived, he put the thoughts away and focused on the Alixe of the present instead. The girl that might save their asses without knowing she could.

"Jax, I'm so sorry I don't know how that happened, I had a nightmare and then the flames and.." a flicker of realization crossed her face. "I.. I could heal you!" Warden shared a look with Jax, they are not going to tell her everything yet.

"Alixe, it could be dangerous, you might as well summon the flames again instead of healing him" Warden said pointing at his burnt hand. Warden covered it up nicely and it wasn't even a lie, but she should learn each power separately and with training. She could lose herself to the negative sides of her powers, which is so much more easy if you have four options to choose from. Last night proving that she already seeks out her fire if she feels frightened.