The Howl of the Wolf | ✓

Chapter 20- non-suicidal self-harm

[Aurelia's POV]

I've locked myself in my tent for the past couple of days, trying to figure out the extend of my powers. Thanks to Cashew telling me that some guy called the Dark Healer has spawned from the volcano and is going to obliterate the kingdom in the name of revenge. So, in order to beat my rather tough competition I was going to have to improve my own skills. By doing that, I had to umm....inflict self-harm.

No, not that suicidal kind of self-harm.

I just needed to see if I could heal myself. Starting off slow, I purposely gave myself a paper-cut. Which to me is NOT starting off slow but starting off super-mega-extreme.

"Deep breath in, deep breath out." I reassured myself as I held the piece of paper to my finger. Closing my eyes, I ran the edge of the paper along my finger as fast I could. I felt stinging pain as blood oozed out.

"Alright....that was easy." I mumbled to myself. I hastily wiped away the blood that dripped onto the compacted dirt floor by stamping my foot on it.

Heal....heal....heal...

I imagined the cut closing slowly as my skin grew back. My eyesight became blurry from concentrating and I stumbled a bit, but when I looked down at my finger; the wound had closed. I touched my finger, it felt a bit warmer than the rest of my hand.

Right...now to test it on other people.....

Minutes later....

"GREYSON!" I poked my head out from the tent, wincing at the bright light that contrasted my dim tent environment as he jogged over to me.

"What?" He regarded me curiously.

"Come into the tent and put this towel down." I handed him a piece of cloth.

"Why?" Greyson set the towel down onto the floor uncertainly.

"No reason." I replied nonchalantly.

"....What's happening?" He squinted suspiciously, running one hand through his platinum hair.

"Look over there!" I yelled. Greyson turned around suddenly as I pulled out my dagger and sliced at his arm.

"OWWW! WHAT THE HELL!" He jumped back, cradling his arm.

"Right, now give me your arm."

"NO!" Greyson moved away from me rapidly, but I had him cornered. The tent was only so big.

"Why not?"

"WHY NOT? BECAUSE YOU CUT MY ARM WITH THE DAGGER THAT YOU'RE STILL CURRENTLY HOLDING? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU??" He yelled back.

"Just give me your arm! I want to test my Light Healer skills." I explained, slowly setting the knife down. Upon hearing that, Greyson slowing inched towards me reluctantly.

"You could've told me." He mumbled.

"And you would've let me?" I questioned skeptically as I grabbed his arm. Greyson thought for a while.

"Good point."

I looked down at his bloody arm and focused. I imagined the skin slowly stitching itself together, healing quickly. His arm became hot under my hand and I had to let go.

Suddenly, a great shining light appeared; blinding our eyes.

"What is this dark magic?" I heard Greyson yell. Slowly, the light faded and we analysed his arm carefully. A faint white scar now appeared on his arm, contrasting against his bloodied sleeve.

"Woah, it actually worked!" I gasped in astonishment.

"Obviously, duh." Greyson muttered, receiving an elbow in the ribs in response. I thought for a while.

"Hey....aren't you a Light Healer as well?" I asked him uncertainly. Our gazes met and I knew exactly what he was thinking, his sly smirk mirroring mine.

"DYLAN!!!" We yelled at the same time.

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[King Robert's POV (surprise surprise)]

Although I pride myself for being a strong, independent man; I had to admit something.

Without Miranda's good judgement, Arcadia was going to....

Die.

Civilians were panicking over some old wive's tale about some man called the Dark Healer and protests are often seen just outside the palace gates. The guards were starting to have some trouble holding back the masses.

And I...

Well, I was a mess.

For the first time in my life, I had to figure out what the hell were income taxes and how on earth I deal with it. Not to mention, economic inflation, taxes, insurance, agriculture, trade, foreign relations....How does Miranda do it?

Not to mention the fact the my useless excuse of a son was often seen wondering around the palace intoxicated and Daisy often crying to me about her fiancé....I can't be a king, tax-collector, therapist, relationship expert and physician at the same time!

Oh yes, to top it off; my wife and youngest daughter are out in the wilderness somewhere.

I threw the papers onto the floor as I sighed in despair. Miranda's orginally clean, pristine office was now cluttered with mountains of scrunched up with contracts, policies and various other stately things that I had no idea how to manage.

"Your majesty, the Earl of...oh!" A court minister walked in to see my lying on the marble floor, with piles of paperwork around me.

"Yes, Ernest?" I mumbled from underneath the working desk.

"The Earl of Grottinghim as requested extra financial support regarding the welfare of the citizens that he is currently managing."

"Tell him that the answer is no, but an extra acre of land can be distributed to them if they wish to grow extra crops fo export. Grottinghim is next to a major trade port, isn't it?" I muttered tiredly.

"What was that, your Majesty? I can't quite hear you as you seem to be buried under the....er....crumpled documents."

I wrote my reply on a note and chucked it in the direction of the minister's voice.

"Thank you, and should I send in a maid to clean the place?"

"No! I might need all this later." I waved my arms vaguely around the vicinity of the area. More times than once had I dug around in the crumpled pile looking for a discarded idea that suddenly looked effective.

"Very well then, goodbye Your Majesty." I sighed in relief at the sound of the door clicking shut as Ernest left the room.

Miranda and Aurelia...come back soon and help me out of this ditch.

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A/N: Hey guys! I...have...finally....updated.....I'll be the first to tell you that I have NOT been sticking to my planned upload schedule but...HERE'S A CHAPTER!!!

Anyways, it's the holidays now (I don't live in America, in case you haven't deducted), and I WILL PERSEVERE TO PRODUCE MORE CHAPTERSS!!!

And btw, I finished my maths assignment yesterday (which was also during the blang dang holidays! Yes, WE HAVE AN ASSIGMENT OVER THE HOLIDAYS!!!GIUFEHCUIEHR!!!!) So can I get a frickin AMEN?

Welp, that's enough from me!

See ya!

SassyRoyal xx

1131 words (phew!)