Description: Daine is dying from the infection and fever, so Numair does the only thing he can do to save his friend.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. Everything belongs to Tamora Pierce.
Author's Note: I had a lot of fun with some big magic Numair performs in this chapter, including the reason he created the focus. Also, when Daine asks if she can stay here, I'm sure you all picked up on the fact she meant in his arms, even though our mage misunderstood.
Chapter 3
The mage walked several paces from the group and called on his Gift. Summoning the ground beneath his feet, Numair began to mutter as the earth rumbled and shifted as a spire of rock rose from the ground behind the horses. They whickered nervously but remained completely still as the mage worked his spell. Several more spires of rock rose from the ground until the group were surrounded by a pyramidal structure. Walking towards his creation, the mage touched the rock and formed an opening so he could enter. Snapping his fingers, he formed a ball of magelight so the inhabitants could see. Spots and Cloud were trembling and sweating in fear while Kitten trilled in appreciation.
"It's over now," Numair told the horses. "The shelter will protect us from the snow and keep out the cold. I'm going to gather some wood for a fire. Can you keep Daine warm, please, until I return?"
While he collected sticks and branches for a fire, the mage ran through everything he knew about fevers. Daine would need constant fluids to counteract the sweating which meant he needed to find a water source. Dehydration would kill her. Trying to cool his patient was the worst possible thing to do, as the fever was the body's way of fighting the infection. He needed to keep her warm but not overdress her in blankets.
When Numair returned with the firewood, Kitten started a fire while he retrieved two pans and began to melt snow for water. Boiling the water would also have the secondary effect of purifying the liquid, making it safe for Daine to drink. While he waited for the first pan to cool, he retrieved her relatively full water canteen. Gathering the young woman into his arms, the mage carefully trickled water into her mouth, relieved as she accepted and swallowed the fluid.
"Hang on, magelet. If we can't get you to help, I'll bring help to you." He smoothed the sweaty curls from her face.
"Numair?" Daine's eyes fluttered open.
"Yes, sweetling?" he said gently.
"What happened?" she asked weakly.
"Your wound got infected overnight. You have a fever. I'm going to contact Corus and have a healer come here to take care of you."
"Okay." Daine closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against his chest. "Can I stay here?"
"Yes, magelet." Numair swallowed hard trying to ignore his own pounding heart. "You're going to stay right here."
He shifted and tried to lie his friend back on the ground, but she clung to his shirt making it nearly impossible. The mage settled himself more comfortably and held his love close, stroking her hair until she drifted off to sleep and released the tight grip on his clothing.
A quick speech spell to Corus informed the mage no healers were able to reach their location in time. Numair wondered if there were any villages nearby that might have a herbalist or healer he could contact when the fire flared purple.
"Numair?" a familiar voice spoke.
"Alanna!"
"Where are you?" the knight asked. "Duke Baird contacted me and said Daine was sick."
"She is. We encountered a herd of flesh-eating unicorns, and she got bitten by one. The wound is infected and she's running a high fever." The mage ran a nervous hand through his hair.
"You need to keep her fluids up. Keep her warm –"
"I know how to treat a fever, Alanna," he snapped irately. "What I can't do is heal her wound or remove the infection. Can you reach us in time? Daine needs healing now."
"Calm down and tell me where you are," the Lioness responded matter-of-factly.
Numair took a deep breath. "I'm not sure exactly. We're south of the River Bennett, but other than that I can't give you a more specific location."
"We crossed the river a few hours ago so we can't be far from your position. What about a locator spell?"
"Give me a few moments and I'll set it up," the mage answered as Alanna ended the speech spell.
He pulled out the map, unrolling it on the floor and used rocks to hold the corners down. Locator spells could only be set up between mages of their own free will, as a way to sense each other's Gifts via scrying devices. Kitten crawled over to investigate, so Numair handed her the scrying stone from his belt pouch. Drawing on his Gift, he sent out his magic until he felt it connect with Alanna's. Placing his finger on the map the mage touched the scrying crystal and allowed his Gift to guide his finger until he found where he sensed the knight. Opening his eyes, the mage marked the Lioness's location on the map then closed his eyes again and used the same technique to sense his own location and marked it down.
Activating the speech spell, he spoke to Alanna. "You look to be about a day's ride from our position. We're south-east of your current location."
"We'll get to you as fast as we can. Take care of our girl."
"I will," the mage murmured and ended the speech spell.
Throughout the rest of the day Daine drifted in and out of consciousness as Numair continued to get her to drink and keep her warm. By the evening, her fever was steadily climbing, and the mage had to remove his friend from the bedroll and cover her in a blanket instead. That night delirium set in with Daine crying out and moaning in distress while Numair tried to soothe her. The mage insisted Cloud and Kitten stay in close contact, but when the young woman began screaming, he gave up on propriety and wrapped his arms around Daine and began stroking her back. He thanked the Goddess when the young woman seemed to settle in his arms and only moaned in pain. Numair stayed up with her throughout the night becoming increasingly worried when she started to refuse water.
By morning, the infection on Daine's shoulder was bright red, swollen and oozing puss. There had been several occasions over the years when the mage had hated his inability to heal, but this was fast becoming the worst. He'd trained at Carthak university in surgery and during plague outbreaks, but with all his knowledge and skill once his power had spiked a second time, he could never use it for healing again. The woman he loved, his best friend, was dying in his arms, and he could do nothing to save her because he was too powerful!
The mage spoke despairingly into his speaking spell "Alanna, please tell me you're close."
"I'm sorry, we're trapped," the Lioness apologised. "We've been trying to reach you all night, but the pass is blocked and there's no way around. How's Daine?"
"The infection is getting worse and she's burning up." Numair held his hand to the young woman's forehead. "For the last three hours I haven't been able to get her to accept any water. She's dying, Alanna."
The Lioness roared in frustration. "I'm so sorry. This gods cursed snow! I hate that we can't get to you!"
An eerie calm settled over the mage as he sat silently cradling his friend while a plan began to form in his mind.
"Numair?" Alanna asked after a few moments of silence.
Kitten chirped and rose onto her hind quarters to peer into the mage's face placing her claws gently on his arm.
"I can bring you to Daine," he murmured.
"If you know of some way to get me to her in time then I'm all for it. What's your plan?"
"I'm going to fly to meet you. I'll see you soon." Numair ended the spell and gently lay Daine on the floor, covering her with a blanket.
The mage stood very still as he formulated his plan while the horses and dragon watched him closely. A cry of pain from his friend brought him out of his introspection, and he lowered himself to one knee.
"Daine, I have to leave you now. I'm going to bring Alanna to you," he stroked her cheek tenderly.
If the young woman heard she didn't respond any more than the continued whimpers and moans of pain.
"Kitten, she must keep drinking," Numair turned his attention to the dragonet. "Please try and get her to accept some water."
Walking to the fire, the mage added more wood and poured the remaining melted water into a canteen before handing it to the dragonet. She took it and trilled a question her scales starting to turn pink.
Numair crouched and stroked the young dragon. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Look after your mother while I'm gone. Cloud, Spots I need you to keep Daine safe and warm."
The horses snorted in answer and Cloud lay down beside her mistress. Removing a knife from his belt, the mage knelt beside his young friend and brushed a hand lovingly through her curls. "I'm sorry, I meant to ask your permission. Please forgive me."
He carefully cut a lock of brown hair from his magelet's head and replaced the knife in his belt. Placing the curl of hair into a clean handkerchief, he folded it until it was safely contained within the fabric. Leaning down, Numair kissed her forehead squeezing his eyes shut and hoping this wasn't goodbye.
"Don't you dare die on me while I'm gone. Do you hear me?" he whispered fiercely. "I will be extremely angry if I have to fetch you from the Black God's realm."
Standing, the mage placed the folded handkerchief in his mouth and began to shapeshift into a hawk. The change happened quickly and smoothly until he stood in front of a much larger dragonet, holding the folded cloth in his beak. Kitten chirped forlornly as he ruffled his feathers and waddled out of the shelter, launching himself into the sky.
It took several hours of arduous flying through the snow before he found Alanna and the King's Own on the other side of a blocked pass. Numair circled the group assessing their situation before he glided slowly down to meet the group. The Lioness spotted him first and signalled to the rest of the Own to give him space as the mage landed in the snow and began to change back into a man.
"Am I glad to see you! I've been scanning the sky for hours," Alanna smiled. "Do you think we can still make it to Daine in time?"
"We will," Numair said calmly. "The rest of the Own will have to meet us there, as soon as I clear the pass for you."
No one stopped him as the mage stood before the snow filled pass and called on his Gift to blast a path through it. The King's Own quickly began to pack up their camp and readied their horses as Hakim Fahrar joined the mage and the Lioness.
"Can you mark the location of your camp on our map?" the Bazhir sergeant asked.
Numair nodded "You're looking for a pyramidal structure made of rock."
"Hakim, will you look after Darkmoon for me?" Alanna checked with the Bazhir before addressing the mage. "So, how do you intend to get me to Daine? You know I can't fly or shapeshift."
His lips twitched in a slight smile. "You won't have to. I'm going to open a gateway."
"An arcane gate?" The Lioness looked at him shocked. "I thought they only allowed travel between two fixed points that you can see?"
"They do. However, in this instance, I don't need to see where Daine is in order to reach her." At Alanna's questioning look the mage explained. "I have a focus."
"A focus? Isn't that dangerous?" the knight scowled.
"I will be happy to have an ethical discussion with you later in regard to my possessing something of Daine's, but for now, I require quiet while I perform this spell."
The Lioness looked like she wanted to argue but kept silent and settled for glaring at the mage instead. Numair removed his boots and socks, sticking his feet into the freezing snow while he unfolded the lock of hair from the handkerchief, gripping it tightly in his left hand. He would never confess it to Alanna, but his Gift was severely depleted after his fight with the flesh-eating unicorns, creating the shelter for Daine, shapeshifting and clearing the pass. Over the last few days, Numair hadn't meditated or had much of a chance to replenish his magic.
The snow acted as an amplifier for his Gift, but it wasn't enough to open the gateway, so he tapped into his black opal to boost his power further. The mage was horrified to discover that he still didn't have enough power to complete the spell. For a moment he contemplated asking to borrow some of Alanna's Gift, but she would need it to heal Daine. It was expressly forbidden, but seeing no other option, Numair reached for his life-force and drew what he needed until the air shimmered, and a gateway formed before him. Sweating profusely, the mage beckoned to the Lioness and took her hand as the two stepped though the arcane door and exited before the shelter. The gateway vanished and he collapsed to his knees gasping with exhaustion.
"Numair!" Alanna rushed to his side, but he used the last of his strength to shove her towards the shelter.
"Daine. She needs you," he rasped, praying they weren't too late.
The Lioness swore at him and dashed into the shelter and out of his sight. The mage crouched on all fours in the snow trembling as the ramifications of what he'd done took their toll on his body. Numair fought against the darkness in his vision, willing himself to stay conscious, and got to his feet, staggering into the shelter as he gripped the walls for support. Kitten shrieked when she saw him enter, running over to claw at his breeches until he sagged to the floor. The dragonet's scales were orange as she scolded and fussed over him in equal measure.
"Kit, hush," he whispered, his voice hoarse while he watched Alanna send her Gift into Daine.
The mage watched helplessly, fighting unconsciousness and praying silently that his efforts hadn't been in vain. If the Lioness couldn't heal his magelet, then he had nothing left to give.
After what felt like an eternity, Alanna straightened and sighed. "I've healed what I can, but this infection resists my Gift. I can hold it at bay, but she needs a cure. My magic can only do so much"
She faced him and gasped, turning an impressive shade of purple which was a stark contrast to the pale complexion she'd had after the healing moments ago.
"What have you done to yourself?" she yelled at him.
Swearing profusely, the knight strode over to the mage and grabbed his face in her hands. He managed to swat her away weakly before she wasted any of her Gift on him.
"Save your magic – for Daine," he gasped.
The Lioness let out a string of curses. "You gods dammed fool! What is Daine going to say if you kill yourself saving her?"
"She can yell at me – as long as she likes – so long as she lives." It was becoming more difficult to keep his eyes open.
"Get some sleep if you won't let me heal you!" Alanna snarled.
Numair smiled and passed out.
The mage woke to the sound of horse hooves outside the shelter but couldn't make his body stand to investigate. Kitten chirped once on his lap then let out a series of chirps and whistles as she thrust the water canteen into his hand. Numair smiled weakly and took a sip of water feeling it soothe his raw throat. Looking around, he could only see the horses and Daine in the shelter. Alanna must have gone out to greet the King's Own. Dragging himself across the floor, the mage sat beside his friend's sleeping form and checked her temperature. It was still high but not dangerously so before he'd left to find the Lioness. A quick examination of her wound told the mage that the infection was still present but not as red or swollen. Daine was no longer moaning in pain either which was a good sign.
"You're awake I see." Alanna said entering the shelter. "Daine isn't knocking on the Black God's door, but she needs a cure for whatever is in that cut. The Own have arrived, but it isn't safe to move the youngster yet, so I've told them to set up camp."
"Tomorrow I can go and collect samples from the flesh-eating unicorns. Hopefully we can fabricate a cure when we return to Corus," Numair croaked.
The knight grunted. "How much did you take from your life-force?"
The mage winced at his friend's cold glare. "Not much. Just enough to open the gateway."
"Then why in Mithros' name didn't you ask for some of my magic? I had plenty to spare!" she yelled.
"You need all your Gift to fight the infection. You said yourself, you can only keep it at bay. If you're going to keep Daine stable on our journey back to Corus, then you need every drop of your magic."
"You couldn't have known that when you opened that infernal gateway!" the Lioness snarled at him.
"No. But I had already decided that this was all I could do to help Daine. I have no healing magic. Only you can do that. I'm useless to her now."
"Useless –" the knight let out another string of curses. "You're lucky I don't kill you myself!"
Numair smiled weakly knowing how bad he must look to have his friend this worried about him.
"Did you get Daine to drink any water?" he asked.
"Not yet."
The mage nodded and slid an arm under the young woman's shoulders, lifting her slightly and pressed the canteen to her lips. He could have cried when she accepted a few sips of water.
"Numair?" Daine whispered.
"I'm here, magelet," he whispered. "Alanna is here too. She's going to look after you."
"No! Not dead… can't be dead…" the young woman began to moan.
Numair stroked her hair and murmured words of comfort ignoring the fact Alanna was standing behind him. When Daine finally calmed down the mage realised the Lioness had left the shelter again. Spots nudged his face and lipped at his shoulder until his master rubbed his nose.
"Did Alanna give either of you anything to eat?" he asked the horses.
Cloud shook her head while Spots continued to lip at his shoulder. Dragging the pack over the mage brought out two carrots and offered them to each of the mounts, more than a little surprised when Cloud took hers gently.
"Don't go soft on me now," he teased the mare. "I'll start thinking you like me."
She snorted and bared her teeth at the mage which made him chuckle. A wave of exhaustion hit him, and he swayed, glad that he was sat down otherwise he'd have collapsed. Numair carefully lay Daine on the floor and shifted away from her before he accidentally passed out with the young woman still in his arms. Alanna was already furious with him; he didn't need to make things worse. The mage lay down facing Daine and stroked a hand over her cheek before sleep claimed him.
When the mage roused the next day, he rode out to the location where he and Daine had killed the flesh-eating unicorns with several members of the Own. He took samples of salvia from the remaining bodies along with hair, teeth and blood. That night, Alanna looked grey from the amount of magic she was using to stabilise her patient. When Numair handed her a bowl of stew, he passed her some of his Gift as he touched her shoulder.
"Hey! What are you doing?" the Lioness growled at him.
"You need it. Your Gift is low," he countered tiredly.
"So is yours!" she snapped. "Anyway, I didn't think a mage could give anyone their Gift. Thom said he could only do it because we were twins and then he advised me not to use my Gift again until he'd taken his magic back!"
"I have studied the same texts as your brother, Alanna. When Thom transferred some of his Gift to you it was corrupted already, and he was bound to another mage at the time. My magic is neither corrupt nor bound to another – except you now, and I have enclosed it so my Gift will not combine with yours. All I have done is strengthened your life force and increased the potency and speed your magic will recharge." In truth, it was a more complex spell than that. Rather than strictly giving Alanna his Gift, he'd made himself a conduit so that he could strengthen her spells and let her draw on the surrounding energy to fuel her magic without tapping herself out.
"You'll burn yourself out," the Lioness scowled at him weakly although some of her colour was starting to return. "How am I supposed to heal Daine if I can't use my Gift?"
"You can still use your Gift," the mage sighed not liking the fact his friend didn't have the strength to shout at him. "I'd rather drain myself entirely than lose Daine. She needs you."
"You can't have restored enough of your Gift to have any to give me," the knight argued.
"I've got enough." He held up a hand before Alanna could berate him. "I will meditate as we go, and then siphon off whatever power I don't need to help you."
"You'll take it back when we get back to Corus," the Lioness glared at him.
"Once Daine is settled in the healers wing and being cared for, I will take back my Gift," Numair promised her.
"When this is all over, remind me to yell at you," Alanna grunted and ate her stew in angry silence.