Bridging the Ancient ✓

Chapter 41

I wince as Renit drags two fingers along my abdomen, right where the rope dug into my skin. All that's left now is a startling burn wrapping around the entirety of my middle, in the design of that old rope. It had cut through my clothes and burned my flesh, not only on my stomach but on my thighs, as well.

Those wounds were not tended to by Renit's hand. I took care of them myself as sharing that much of my body with him would have been too uncomfortable. One quick wrap of a bandage and healing salve and my body will take care of the rest. It's already doing just that as every few minutes, my head spins and the areas needing to be healed turn cold as if a winter wind pushed past.

Immortality has perks, one of them being self-healing against minor wounds. Nothing can be done for the wounds on my hands, the split skin that is way beyond repair. That will need to be tended to by a healer, if I could find one in a place like this. For now, they'll need to be cleaned and bandaged until my power can focus on ridding infection.

The only upside to being down in that well was the lack of titanium. My injuries weren't at a result of it so there isn't any in my bloodstream—blocking the healing abilities. With every danger comes another, at least that seems to be the case over these past weeks. I can't do one thing or the other without titanium looming over my head.

But, if I had to choose between titanium and death by sinking sand, I would choose titanium every day.

I've never been more scared in my life. That was the first time I really believed I was going to die, even after everything I've already been through. When the royal family sacked Arego and the prince took me back to the castle, in the back of my mind I knew I wasn't going to die. Something told me that I wasn't. A piece of my heart died at the loss of my parents but other than that...I've alive.

Renit's training didn't kill me, our constant bickering didn't, either. The king didn't find it useful to end my life for destroying his courtyard and being Renit's Grounding didn't end terribly, either. All this time, I've been one step away from death, but the closest I've felt is in that well. I really believed that was the end.

The prince applies the healing salve to my abdomen, from my front to my back, and wraps a white bandage over the burn. "Nothing's broken," he concludes. The bandage tightens and I suck in a breath, wincing through my teeth.

"I think I would have been able to figure that out when I was being lifted out of the well," I respond, not a hint of enjoyment in my tone. A broken bone would have slowed us down further and I didn't think about it then, but there wasn't a single crack underneath the flesh.

Renit lets out a distracted, quiet laugh through his nose. "You're lucky. That well is meant to kill."

"No kidding. Who knows how many other bodies are down there, beneath the sand." Renit ties the bandage in the back, a tight knot, and I stand up straighter to stretch my limits. Tight, but I can move. The same will go for my legs and the hands that Renit has yet to focus on. Minor wounds first.

An array of medical supplies sits on the edge of the bed along with that box that I retrieved from the bottom of the well. I still don't regret going down there instead of Renit. And I never will. Looking at that box, I wonder if the dead down in the well had been searching for it, or if they were simply unlucky to fall into the depths and never return. No one heard their screams.

That could have been hundreds of years ago, long before anyone focused on these crystals and stones. With the impending doom of each box, I wonder what the king has in mind for the four of them. Witches can create potions when the crystals and stones are broken down, potions that can be dangerous to the race or help tremendously. The king has never collected them so no potions have ever been made.