The Rosewood Prophecy

Chapter 63

Katherine

Aaron and I stumbled up the stone stairs, leaning on each other for support. At the top of the stairwell, Aaron's knees buckled and gave out. "I'm fine, don't worry," he waved my concerns away. "Just let me...catch my breath..."

"No, you're not fine," I said firmly. My knees felt weak too, so I sat down on the ground next to him. "Your entire shoulder is soaked with blood. Your back, too. Doesn't it hurt?"

"It didn't hurt back there," Aaron jutted a thumb in the direction of the booby-trap room. "but it sure hurts like hell now. The adrenaline must have worn off."

"Here, don't move." I stretched out a hand and blue tendrils of magic flickered to life around my hand. I laid the hand on the open wound on Aaron's shoulder. The magic danced along his shoulder and down his back.

"Kath, stop." Aaron grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand away from his shoulder. "Healing me will use up a lot of your energy. Heal yourself first, and then save your energy for our battle with Lord Victor."

"If you don't let me heal you, you're going to collapse from blood loss before we even reach Lord Victor. You don't intend to make me fight him by myself, do you?" I argued. Eventually, Aaron agreed to let me heal him enough so that the wound would stop tearing when he uses his sword. I had to promise to stop as soon as I started feeling weak.

As I healed Aaron, I felt my magic coursing along my body as well, closing cuts and mending torn flesh. In all honesty, I was in no better condition than Aaron, and the healing magic was depleting my energy quickly. As the blue sparks started to fade in and out, I pulled my hand away. Aaron and I sat next to each other quietly with our backs against the cold stone wall. I broke the silence.

"It's all my fault. It should've been me to stay behind, not Lionel." A lump formed in my throat. "I told Lionel to step on the tile that released the Evils. Because of my wrong choice, we all nearly died in there, and now Lionel—" I couldn't continue. The guilt was overwhelming.

"Kath, it's not your fault." Aaron comforted me, placing a soothing hand on my shoulder. "We had to try all the tiles anyway, and there was no way to know that that tile would release the Evils. Lionel is a great swordsman; he'll be fine. He said he would meet up with us later, didn't he?"

I met Aaron's gaze under the torch light, and I knew both of us were clinging onto those words and refusing to consider the alternative. "Aaron, what if we're wrong? What if we can't defeat Lord Victor?" The tears came swiftly, like a dam breaking. I tried to blink them back. "We already lost so many people, and now it's just you and me. He still has Indigo in his grasp. Do you honestly believe we can win?"

I hated crying in front of people. I hated feeling weak and helpless. But all the tension and constant fear for my life had reached a breaking point. We don't know whether Lucian is alive or dead. We barely escaped numerous near-death situations. Lionel is wounded and surrounded by an entire pack of Evils. Aaron and I are in no shape to face a formidable foe like Lord Victor. All of this happened in merely a few short hours, and I really wasn't sure if we could keep going.

Aaron surprised me by enveloping me in a hug. "I don't know, Kath. I don't know if we can win or even if...if we'll make it out of here alive." He took in a wavering breath. "But we've got to try, right? We're the chosen ones. We have to face Lord Victor. Like you said earlier, everything depends on us. We can't let the people who died die for nothing. It's a huge burden, but it's something that we have to take on. The prophecy did say we would defeat Lord Victor, so that's something."