VenatIO (Book I Of The IO Series)

XLI

THE WINNER OF THE VENATIO

1203 HOURS

LOCATION – PLUTO, BORDERS

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My eyes fluttered open and then closed almost immediately, the pain hitting me from all angles of my body. The air around me felt sweet, of a memory I had held dear. It smelt like home. Just by the smell of the air, I knew I was home. My muscles relaxed a tenth fold and I allowed my eyes to close but the memories of what had happened a few seconds ago jolted me awake.

I scrambled up, sitting upright my eyes absorbed the surroundings. I could see people walking towards us a distance away but that barely registered as I caught sight of Eli a few metres away from me. My legs sprang up by itself and I ran to him. His arm and stomach was bleeding mercilessly. Blood stained the snow under him, and I avoided sitting on it as I crouched down.

"Black, Black," I hissed, "Open your eyes."

His eyes are closing on themselves. I felt the snow around me, it was pure, full of its magic. Grabbing it, I tried to control it to heal Eli's wounds, but nothing happened. Eli groaned and one of his hands went up to his chest.

"Black," I said hopefully. His head moved in my direction and I saw the faint outline of his iris as he tried to open his eye.

"I'm fine, Phye," he mumbled, "just a little blood, they'll fix me up."

As he spoke, the blood began dripping out of his shirt as it was no longer able to absorb any more of it. I felt the strong urge to laugh in a manner to dissipate my hysteria.

"Don't you fucking close your eyes," I said. He looked at me, I could see the effort he was putting into keeping his eyes open.

"I won't," he mumbled and then closed his eyes. I stared at him, hoping he would open them again, but he didn't.

"Black," I said and shook his shoulders. No response. I raised my head wildly to still see the faint outline of people walking toward us. They were still in the distance. As my gaze returned to Eli, they crossed paths with Michael's body.

My jaw fell open, his organs were lying outside his body. With a quick look at Eli, I stood and limped my way across to Michael. I felt helpless as I felt for Michael's heartbeat. The steady rhythm was only slightly comforting.

'Ty,' I whispered in my head. He was too hurt to be able to respond but I felt our bond still alive. I allowed myself to go into his head just for a moment. He was carrying Jaz in his hands. Jaz who was also badly hurt and out like a feather.

"Alex, I want Alex," a voice muffled. I immediately removed myself from Ty's head looking at Michael who was softly whispering something to himself. The words, though heart-breaking, were a comfort. He was healthy enough to talk. I tried to raise my body, tried to raise my body to yell for help, yell at the people in the distance to walk faster but I had no energy.

I moved a slight distance away from Michael and surrounded myself with the snow. I took a moment to breath in my element before I held some in my hand.

'Ty, I need to ask for help, I need to heal myself,' I said. I felt his nod and so slowly I drew enough energy from his body to allow myself to control my element. The snow around me melted seeping into my clothes. The water twisted around my body slowly weaving into my skin and absorbing all my wounds. It was a slow process, but I didn't have time.

Through the mist, I could see Ty's outline walking towards me, Jaz's body in his arms. My wounds healed and though energy did not come, the pain from the wounds disappeared. They were there, I didn't have the energy to cure them, but they were numb.