Shadow's Mark (Currently Being Edited)

Chapter 13: Why Am I Always Blacking Out?

Drew's POV:

"Get me that jar up there," I ordered Cole, pointing towards a lone mason jar sitting on a wooden shelf on the wall.

As Cole quickly complied, I glanced down at Natalya lying unconscious on the army cot Jack had brought over from his dad's. A deep gash of a wound trailed across Natalya's right cheek in a raw, unnerving manner and her jaw on the opposite side was dislocated, angling away from her face in a horrible position.

And the blood...

There was just so much blood. The top proportion of Natalya's t-shirt, leading down both her sleeves, was soaked in the deep red color appearing as if she had tie-dyed it that way. Without a doubt, the blood had come from the deep lacerations on her shoulders. Five nasty cuts on both shoulders that appeared like claw marks raked deeply into her skin, the area around it still oozing and on the verge of infection.

Those animals. What did they do to her?

"Here, Drew." Cole approached and handed me the jar while bunching his nose distastefully at Natalya's injuries.

Instantly seizing the jar and popping it open, I pulled out a long bundle of leafy-looking herbs and placed it in a bowl filled with various ones I had gathered. With a small pestle, I quickly started crushing and grinding the contents of the bowl together until they were all mushy and green like guacamole.

"Grab me the codex, Jack," I gestured towards the thick, leather bound book atop the table near him.

Jack rose from his brooding position on the floor beside Natalya's cot and went to retrieve the heavy, ancient book that was my family's heirloom.

As he handed it to me, he asked me with deep concern, "Will this heal her?"

I simply nodded my head before closing my eyes and muttering a spell. The thick book instantly shot open as pages flipped and flew wildly before coming to an immediate stop on one certain page.

I placed my finger on the page and quickly read the words across it. "Okay, this is the spell," I glanced up hopefully towards Jack and Cole.

Jack then lifted the bowl of smashed herbs from my hands and placed it in front of him as he kneeled beside Natalya on one side and Cole went down on the opposite.

I focused on the spell written on the page and read it silently and repeatedly until I had it memorized. After I was sure I had every word tattooed in my mind, I steadied myself at the head of the cot, placing my hands directly over Natalya's head and shoulders.

"Now," I signaled Jack.

Jack scooped up some of the mushed herbs with his fingers and applied them onto Natalya's wounds, just like I had instructed him to do beforehand. As soon as the 'guacamole-like' herb reached contact with her skin, it started to sizzle as if it were burning her.

"It must be the poison," I explained to Jack, who had shot me an alarmed look. "It's reached deep."

"That creep had his poisonous claws deep in her skin," grimaced Cole as he confirmed my suspicions. "I can smell it's rotten odor from here," he added.

Jack instantly grimaced as well as he examined Natalya's shoulder where he had applied the herbs. "That must be why the infection is getting worse so fast," he said in a somber tone.

At that moment, Natalya began to stir and soon, her eyes shot open as she cried out in sudden pain. She had nearly jerked her whole body off the bed until Cole quickly grabbed her and pinned her down.

Natalya looked absolutely terrified as her eyes darted from Cole to Jack and then to me. "Wh-what--" she stammered helplessly.

Jack was quick yet chary to apply more of the herbs on the rest of Natalya's wounds as she squirmed and yelled out in agony from the burning contact. When his task was completed, he cradled Natalya's head and gently soothed her.