Dawn of Arcane Destiny

Chapter Fourty-One

Caelum woke at the crack of dawn and got dressed. He had been on night watch the past few nights and was grateful for a whole night’s sleep.

He ran a hand over his face as he walked into the kitchen to grab something simple to break his fast before he went about his duties. He stopped up short when he saw Lillia sitting in a kitchen chair, still in her night gown.

“Lillia?” Caelum asked walking over. The girl looked terrified. “What happened?”

Lillia’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh Caelum. Drayce would kill me if he knew I was talking to you.”

“Why? What did he do?” Caelum asked, feeling a sense of foreboding. He slipped into the chair across from her.

“He came back last night nearly dead. I knew it was a bad idea, I just—I shouldn’t have let him…” Lillia seemed close to hysterics.

Panic gripped Caelum. He cursed his brother. Why couldn’t he manage to stay out of trouble? “Lillia I need you to tell me exactly what Drayce did.”

“Zathrian approached him around a week ago and asked to train him. He told him the only way to defeat Keir was to use the power the gods blessed humanity with.”

“His Mystic abilities.” Caelum surmised.

Lillia nodded. “We did research and came up with some important information, but we’re missing a big chunk. We thought Zathrian would know. So Drayce accepted his invitation.”

Caelum swore under his breath. “Of course, he did.” He blew out a tense breath. “Is he okay?”

Lillia shook her head. “He stumbled into our room about a half hour ago. He all but passed out immediately. I don’t know what happened or what he was doing all night.”

Caelum rose. “Let’s go check on him. If we can get him up, then he’ll have a lot of explaining to do.”

Lillia nodded, wiping at her tears. Caelum offered her a handkerchief and she took it with a grateful smile. “I honestly don’t know what we’d do without you Caelum.”

“Me either.” Caelum muttered, making his way from the room.

***

Drayce looked awful. His nose looked broken, blood all over. Caelum lifted his shirt up to check for broken bones and found his gut covered with purple bruises. Thank Non his ribs didn’t feel broken, neither was his arms or legs. He had a deathlike pallor to his face.

Drayce hadn’t so much as stirred when Caelum had messed and prodded him, which worried Caelum the most. He shook Drayce hard. He should’ve probably been gentle, but he was obviously not going to awake easily.

He didn’t move.

Lillia seemed to choke on a sob. “He’s not dead, is he?”

Caelum shook his head. “He’s breathing. This is so strange. He doesn’t have any head injuries, that I can see.”

“So, do we just wait till he wakes then?” Lillia asked.

“I guess we’ll have to. Get some servants to clean him up and dress him in nightclothes. If he isn’t awake by tomorrow, then we’ll send for a doctor.” Caelum responded.

“What if this had something to do with his powers?” Lillia suggested.

“How would that be?” Caelum asked looking at her.

“I’m not completely sure. But I assume he was using his abilities last night. He’s only ever used his powers in small bursts. What if he’s just drained?” Lillia looked at Drayce’s unresponsive face.