The Healer and the General

Part 17

"That may be, but water sure as hell tastes better," Demi said. She knew it was true. She'd loved her mother, but the family she made was the one that would stick with her. Or at least she hoped so. When Eric brought up her family, Demi was a bit embarrassed that she had none, except her father. But as she said, he's not important, not to her.

They talked while going back to camp, and Demi was surprised that she'd gotten so far. She had always been fast because of her fae blood but never had she gone for so long without a break. Demi only hoped that Eric hadn't noticed her unnatural speed. She didn't know how he'd react to her being a witch, but Demi would rather not find out.

She was a bit worried about her reaction to the whipping. It might have been a panic attack, or maybe an anxiety attack. Or maybe it was just a bunch of flashbacks and nothing to worry about. It didn't really matter what it was, as long as it never happened again. Demi already had to deal with nightmares, and the last thing she needed was to have them during the day. Daymares? Did those even exist? 

She was still angry, but most of it had receded after she yelled at Eric. Demi felt slightly guilty for it but pushed the feeling aside. She'd spoken the truth and it had felt good to finally get that off her chest.

When Demi heard horses neighing, she knew they were close to the river. The camp had about twenty horses, and they were all allowed to roam freely unless there was bad weather. The horses mostly stuck to the river but had been avoiding it lately. Demi ran her hand over one of their sides when she walked past them. She had never ridden, not since her mother and she left their home, but hoped to again someday.

As she walked into camp, Eric at her side, the twins met them. They both had apologetic looks on their faces. Demi wasn't sure if it was meant for her or Eric. She didn't pay them any heed as she went into the tent.

Five minutes later, Demi had finished checking all the kids, who hadn't improved, and cleaned her head, when Eric and some others brought the male who'd been whipped in. He was in bad shape, and it was clear that somebody had done their best to fix him up. A second later a female, who Demi presumed was his wife, walked in. She looked angry, sad, and fearful, all at the same time.

Demi did her best to look confident and smile at the female, but it probably wasn't that convincing. "Everybody, please leave," She turned to the female, "You can stay if you'd like." She only nodded in confirmation before sitting on a stool next to her husband. The others walked out and Eric threw her one more apologetic look before leaving.

"My name's Demi if you didn't already know. May I ask, what's yours?" She kept a quiet voice that was used to soothe patients.

"Sotie, Sotie Cray. This is my mate, Durere Cray." She gestured to the male lying on his stomach.

"Well, Sotie, it's nice to meet you. You're mate's going to be fine, so don't worry too much because it's bad for the baby." Sotie instantly stiffened. "I'm a healer, I know these things."

Demi couldn't imagine why she wouldn't want anybody to know, especially her, since she was a healer. But Demi didn't pry. Sotie just nodded her head and relaxed a bit. She worked in silence. First making a tea to stop infection, and then soaking bandages in it. Before she put the badges on Demi rubbed a salve to again fight infection and help with the pain. You could never be too careful when it came to fighting infections, especially in the winter. After laying the bandages on Durere's back, Demi laid a second layer of dry ones to keep the first layer in place. Once the male woke up, she'd have him drink the tea she had made with a few painkillers.

"May I ask, what did your mate do?" Demi finally asked.

"He took some rations from the winter supply," Sotie stopped and looked down at her hands, choking on a sob she said, "For me." Ahh. That explained it.

"Do you mind if I check the baby?" Demi put her hand on Sotie's stomach when the female nodded. She was in the second or third month, and the baby was quite healthy. Demi retracted her hand quickly as if she'd been burned and stared down at the woman's stomach.

"What?! What's wrong?" Sotie panicked.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong, I promise." Demi stared down at her hand, thoughts flying, "It's actually quite healthy." The pregnant female relaxed and didn't question how Demi had known that. "I ask that you come to see me once a week, to have a check-up. I know how hard fae pregnancies can be." Sotie smiled and nodded. "I'm going to get some air. If he wakes up give him the tea over there, or come and get me."

Before Demi could get an answer she practically ran out of the tent. Letting her hair down from its pin, she sat down in the golden grass. Her magic was back, or at least some of it. That's how she had known about the baby and his health. Yep, that's right. She knew the gender.

Healing abilities were extremely rare and were all but worshiped among the fae and humans. Demi knew that if the people here found out, she'd be locked away for her own 'protection'. Or maybe they'd send her to the northern capital to be a healer there. She knew that the Southern King forced all with healing magic to live in his castle on the hill, but she wasn't sure how the northern fae would react. Would they force her to go to the capital?

Her stomach got tight at the thought of leaving her home. Home. That's what Demi considered this place. She'd never really had a home, but now that she did, Demi knew she'd do anything to keep it.

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When Demi went back into the tent Durere had woken up and Sotie was taking care of him. She smiled, trying to hide her nerves, "How are you feeling?"

"A bit tired, but I think that's from the painkillers." The male answered. Demi saw that he had drunk the tea. 

"Well, you'll be feeling a little groggy from them for a while. And the tea you just drank will most likely make you sleepy." Both the Crays nodded when Durere's eyes started to droop down. "Why don't you rest for a while?" Demi turned to Sotie, "There's a cot over there you can use if you want." Sotie thanked Demi and waited until her mate fell asleep to get some rest herself.

With everyone asleep, including the children, Demi made her way over to Durere. He slept peacefully and wouldn't wake up until tomorrow afternoon probably. Stretching her hand over his back, Demi let it hover. She hadn't healed with magic in a while and wasn't sure of herself. Multiple times she retracted her hand, but eventually, her resolve hardened. Demi gently took the bandages from Durere's back and placed her hand on top. Focusing her energy on the male, she felt heat build in her core. As it heated, the energy moved up through her stomach to her arm and down into her hand. Demi pushed it out into the male.

When she opened her eyes the skin had healed to the point where there were only angry red lines. Demi quickly reapplied the bandages. She went up to the first kid that had gotten sick and laid her hand over the boy's stomach. She let her magic flow freely into the kid. At first, it didn't do anything, just looked for whatever was affecting him. And there, right there in his stomach was something that felt like it was alive.

Sickness and disease were kind of like living things. They fed off the host body and fought to stay alive when the person's immune system discovered it. But this thing was literally alive. It was no sickness, it was a parasite. Demi had never treated something like this, only heard of it. So she continued to lightly probe it. The thing just sat there, unmoving, like it was waiting for something. Something like– 

Shit.

Demi stood up, she knew what was happening, but not what she needed to cure the kids. She started going towards the exit before she got incredibly dizzy. Blood sprouted from her nose, and then everything went black.