Calytrix's Journey

Part XIII: Witch Day

Akios walked a few steps before us and stopped when he noticed we weren't following him. He looked back at me and Leo oddly.

"What's the matter Calytrix?" Akios asked me as he uncovering his cloak hood to look at me.

"Leo can't walk anymore," I said as I took short glances at Leo who was sitting down on the road.

We didn't move far away from the remains of Onocentaurm, the monster village, it hasn't been even half an hour and we were still in the forest where I met Andrezey. Leo's legs gave up on him completely and he couldn't move them no matter how hard he tried. Akios carefully looked at Leo before he turned his gaze back to me. Leo was blankly staring at the space before him and didn't show any kind of reaction to anything.

"He's badly damaged and his inner zombie reparation technique is also gone," Akios stated.

"Inner zombie reparation?"It was the first time I heard about it.

"When zombies get damaged they can repair themselves a bit. There must have been instances where you saw it happen," Akios explained.

I remembered the time when Leo started limping for the first time in Lumi but it got better on its own after some time. There were also some other similar circumstances. The book section about zombies I read didn't contain this information. I was reminded once again of my lack of knowledge regarding black magic and its creatures.

"Don't just stand there," Akios seemed angry. "I've got no time to waste on a zombie. If you want him with us, fix him already."

Akios was the last person in this world I'd rely on, but I was put in this uncomfortable situation where I need to ask for help. "I-I can't. I don't know how."

Akios's brow's moved up when I said that. It was like I confused him but he also didn't believe me at the same time.

"Calytrix, you have more than enough power to heal a zombie. What is the problem?" Akios asked me.

"I tried healing Leo a few times, but it failed every time," I said gazing down.

"Try to heal Leo right now. I need to see what you're doing wrong because this is good training for you and I don't want to waste my magic on something pointless."

"You're probably thinking that this and other types of training would make me a more powerful which so that you'll be able to extract more of my magic, but I'm listening to you only because I want to help Leo."

"It seems that we can understand each other's motivations now," Akios said.

I stood in front of Leo and closed my eyes so that I could completely focus on my spell. Leo showed me a smile before I closed my eyes. My surroundings were still and no sounds could be heard, just like it, I tried to be calm and collected. Akios was someone who could easily break my calm but I tried hard to make him temporarily disappear from my thoughts.

"Spirituum dona mihi virtute sanitatem!"

My magic didn't have any effect. It was the repetition of my attempts in Lumi with the same nonexistent results.

"Calytrix, stop!" Akios shouted.

My focus was completely destroyed and my magic was dispelled at once. When I opened my eyes I didn't notice anything different.

"Are you trying to destroy him?" Akios asked.

"What? I don't understand." I blinked my eyes a few times because I was expecting to see something different.

"You can't use normal healing magic on a zombie! He is dead, it won't work," Akios scolded me. "In fact, healing magic is slowly disintegration him. He must have lost his regeneration ability because of your healing magic, you used it a few times, didn't you?"