The Custodian Chronicles: The Rising (Finished)

Chapter 5: Strange Friends

Time passed, as it does, and weeks rolled by, allowing Cedrick free reign of his talents. Free from the cluttered air of his nighttime study, he got the plant back out and fought to solve the healing magic. He thought he had an idea on what went wrong before. He took the energy from the leaf to heal the cut. When he healed the plant this time, he did it without taking energy from its other leaves. Instead, he took it from himself.

According to his magic book, most enchanters could heal bones or burns, but nothing more. Cedrick hoped when he showed his father he could heal bigger wounds, Margorim would let him rightfully take his place.

Never before had Cedrick known such freedom. It felt like being allowed to sit before a fire after braving the icy tundra. This was what he treasured, what he was created for. He had never felt so at home in his own skin.

Until one murky, inclement night, Cedrick was working when Ravin began to bark. Her eyes locked on the door like a padlock on a chain. "Ravin, girl, what..." Cedrick paused. An abnormal sound was coming from outside, an odd gasping sound. Cedrick listened; his face twisting in confusion.

Cedrick stood from the table as Ravin set for the door, scratching and making her own noises. Then she paused to listen. For a moment, it was silent. There was a pregnant pause, then the sound resumed. Ravin yipped, jumping into the shelter of her basket.

Cedrick glanced out a window, but it was too dark to catch sight of what made the alarming sound. Though his ears knew what his eyes did not, it was getting closer.

Cedrick looked at the dog; his senses nervously trying to deduce the origin of the noise. Should he go outside, or should he remain inside? Cedrick kept running arguments for both sides through his head. He was supposed to stay hidden, but he had a chance to do something. Adventure was making that sound; whatever else it may be. It was what he'd trained for from birth, what he'd been told to expect then been denied.

His teeth massaged his lip. He placed a hand on his sword and opened the door. Ravin whimpered, hiding herself deeper in the folds of the basket. Cedrick left the door open so he could investigate the surrounding area. The light illuminated the forest, creating soft reflections off the heavily falling rain. Cedrick listened to each splash, each drip and drop of the wet forest; filling his senses so much he couldn't pinpoint the sound. He'd need the aid of a second sense, but if Cedrick stepped out from under the covering, he would be soaked in seconds.

Cedrick tried to penetrate the darkness with his eyes. The sound started up again, and Cedrick turned to it, hand tense to draw his sword. His heart joined the cacophony of sounds in his ears.

When his eyes finally detected the shape, it was a surprise. It was a man, appearing to be about sixty years old, which meant about forty by Cedrick's reckoning. His hair was blondish red, but it was going white.

Cedrick studied the stranger, baffled. The man was supporting himself against a tree's truck; his eyes downcast. Not only was he only the second person who wasn't family Cedrick had ever seen within five alts of the place, he was acting very strangely. Cedrick's eyebrows drew together.

The figure stepped forward, almost stumbling over himself. As he fell, his blue weakened eyes raised to meet Cedrick's. His chest was soaked in blood.

His next movement rendered the man off balance. Cedrick lunged forward and caught him before his body reached the ground. The man's breath came in sharp gasps that appeared as puffs of vanishing vapor.

Cedrick helped him inside. His body seemed to grow heavier until he was unconscious. By the time they were out of the rain, Cedrick's breath matched his, though Cedrick's were in shock as well as physical exertion. The scent of blood filled Cedrick's nose, leaving a metallic taste in his mouth. The sound of the water dripping from their clothes broke through the silence of the house, startling Ravin, causing her to curl deeper into her basket.