gobbles down reviews) - Reviews... A special thanks to the reviewer, Shaggy, whom is one of my best friends, and I'd like to thank him for taking the time (out of his grounded life) to read AND review to me! Thanks Shaggy!
… A cat.
He raised a brow quizzically at the tiny feline that had come to perch on his bed. Silver, and striped in shocking black. It looked as if his eyes were green, but through his injured eyes, his guess was useless. It was staring at him with a look of sarcasm like "What did you expect?"
The creature settled down, curling into a ball beside his lower leg, tail twitching inquisitively as it cleaned a paw. Ducard stared at the creature for a moment, debating whether to let it lye or send it tumbling.
He let is be; some companionship at this point would be appreciated. He stretched forward just enough to scratch behind the cat's ears… And received a clawed cuff on his hand in return for his generosity. He jerked the assaulted hand back - " You little shi-"
"Making new friends?" He turned, looking up to the blotch of white and black that he had come to know as The Healer. The smell of fresh tea.. Ashamedly, he was eager for a bit of the natural pain killer.
The healer rested a hand gently on the cat's head as he set the tea in Ducard's hands.
"Your body will be strong enough to ingest food, Mr. Ducard," said the healer mildly, checking over the healing wounds with prestigious care, applying extra attention to the mending ribs and the gouge wound just bellow. "You're healing nicely… Uncannily even."
"It comes with practice."
There was silence as the Healing Man finished his work, tucking a bandage carefully into place. Ducard had been fighting the question for what felt like ages, but now it slipped out; "Why does the Council of the Heavenlies want me to live?"
The healer paused, looking up to meet his eyes, though Henri could hardly tell. He had asked a similar question, when he had first awoken - "Why?" Just… Why? Why rescue a man that most would say deserved death? Why give aid to a total stranger? The Healing Man had said, infuriatingly, "Because the Heavenly Council wishes it," and that was all. Now, his savior answered, equally as simply, "Because even you, deserve a second chance."
Ducard shook his head, too tired to argue. He tried another question, this time without restraint on his curiosity. "What is your name, healer?"
"…I am called Chael."
o.o.o
Chael, as far as Henri could tell, was an oriental, and shortish - Just over five feet, he would have to guess. But, as he had learned on his nightmare nights, the little man was strong, and well coordinated. It was impossible to be sure, but it seemed that his hair was black, and cropped nearly as short as Henri's. He always smelled of spice and spearmint leaves, perhaps from a garden. He seemed the type who would command a room, just by walking into it. Henri felt doubtlessly safe when in his presence.
Chael. He had heard the name before. It meant angelic.
Suits him just fine.
o.o.o
"I believe you may be able to walk soon," Chael murmured in his peace-like-a-river tone, prodding sensitively at where the gouge wound was healing under the horse-hair stitches. His handy work, as Henri had observed, was precise, right down to the last thread. The flesh had nearly healed together, and the skin was beginning to look healthy once again. His bones, aided by the healing herb, were even beginning to heal.
"That would be something," the sarcasm in the modern-day knight was obvious, earning him an amused look from Chael.
"Your bones will be strong soon, and perhaps then, your sight." Chael touched the area directly bellow Ducard's left eye. "I cannot understand why your sight has not returned yet." The uncertainty in the man's voice was enough to earn a churn from Ducard's stomach.
"Do not fear, my friend.. We will find the answer." Chael snuffed the candles with his fingertips, letting darkness once again descend. Ducard felt his cheek touch the sheets, felt the coolness of night come to settle on his bared shoulders.
Chael lingered for a moment, touching his patient's head comfortingly - "Sleep well…"
It was a bidding that would go unfilled.
o.o.o
His entire frame shuddered as the darkness overwhelmed him, curling it's finger's about his throat and clenching, leaving him gasping. Claws dug into his mind, reaping a wave of spasms over his body. The fear set to work in his spine, and curled, cruelly, up into his chest, and then to his heart, which had begun to race, hammering against his rib cage.
The shadows twisted around him, brimming with the evil he had learned to draw his strength from. He struggled to stand against the wickedness, his soldier instincts straining against natural instincts… And then the hand.
It emerged, creeping, from the darkness, pale and ghostly, and some how perfect all the same. It stretched towards him, reaching out as if to touch his face -"
"Leave this place, wretched creature!" Chael's voice sliced through the shadow like a samurai's blade. "I cast you out, in God's name!" The shadows receded, leaving him shuddering on the cot, slumped safely against Chael's grasp.
"You mustn't let those thoughts of darkness enter your mind again, Henri." Chael lay him back into the linen. "They wait to attack you, my friend… And don't think for a moment they won't!'
Ducard could only shiver under the healing man's hands, fighting back the tears that his memories had unearthed.
