Lukas peered carefully over the edge, a relieved smile ticking over his features. Or, at least, Jesse felt like that was the expression he gave them; they were too far below him to really make out anything except his blob of yellow hair. "You're okay!"

"Yeah!" Jesse waved up at him frantically, feeling a relieved smile creep over their lips. "Was the trail helpful?"

Lukas glanced over his shoulder, the little blonde blob shifting to look. "Yeah, actually. Right up until this entire thing lit up like a carnival at night."

"I mean, that was helpful too," Gill said, his voice carrying a little less effectively- Jesse got the feeling he wasn't shouting down much.

"Dragon's okay!" they shouted up to the group, pointing at it. They didn't really want to have them attack the dragon in such a claustrophobic space- the dragon, while fond of Jesse, would probably not have very good control of its limbs in such an enclosed space.

A little blob of red hair appeared as well, and Petra's familiar voice filtered down to them. "You sure?"

As if to prove Jesse's point, the dragon licked their cheek and grumbled like a car engine revving to life, which sounded weirdly like some kind of purr.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Sounds good to me," Maya replied after a pause.

Lukas got down first, his shadow form blurring and then solidifying into the blonde half-demon, apology creasing his brow. "I'm so sorry it took such a long time, you just took off running, and then Gill wanted to get Reginald but Maya didn't think it was a good idea so they just started arguing, and by the time it occurred to us we should come find you-"

Maybe if the situation hadn't been so dire, Jesse would've been glad to listen to the apology, glad to smile and nod and tell him that it was okay (because it was, he had still come for them, hadn't he, all of them had come for a little tiny human who was slowing them up and causing them trouble and they were here), but things were so dire, and Aiden was still unconscious (dead? No, he wasn't dead, he was still breathing, but he was so close to it), so they just blurted "Aiden" and pointed at him and that cut off the apology.

Lukas sucked in a breath, his brow creasing. Jesse couldn't see his eyes past the red satin blindfold, but they would've been willing to bet that they were fairly glowing with worry. "Oh man..."

Maya blurred into view next to Lukas. Instantly her own face almost crumpled into a wince, her lips pressing together gently. "Oh gosh... I'm not sure..."

She bent down and rested her hand on Aiden's face, trying to support it more. Her lips twisted as his head lolled slightly.

"What... what do you mean you're not sure? You guys know magic, right?" Jesse directed this to Lukas and Maya, both of whom looked uncomfortable. Maya almost looked like she was going to cry, which made something cold and tight twist around Jesse's heart. "You can use a healing spell! Ivor said that-"

"This kind of damage? Jess, this isn't just a normal set of cuts. It's... it's like..." Maya took in a shaky breath, pressing her hand to Aiden's shoulder.

His head lolled in reply.

"It's magic. There's magic tinging the injuries. It's not just- it's not just some cuts, or- or like a deep gash, that- that we can fix, even if we have to just use a couple of spells over and over," Maya said shakily. "I think I see why- why Isa, and Mevia, and Harper wan- wanted the dragon. It's literally magic itself- I don't know how, but that's some serious power we're packing."

Jesse looked at the dragon, as if to confirm that.

It licked Jesse again, rubbing its giant head against their chest gently.

"That kind of damage can't just be fixed with a simple healing spell. But..." Lukas and Maya shared a look, one that made Jesse's heart drop like a stone into the pit of their stomach.

It was the kind of look that was uncertain. The kind of look that was desperate, almost.

The kind of look that meant they weren't sure if they'd be able to save Aiden.

Lukas finally, wordlessly, pressed his hand to Aiden's torso, barely touching the bandage, as if scared to hurt Aiden. He murmured the words in a shaking voice, golden rings spiraling to life and flickering as each word clicked into place.

Finally, his fingers contracted, a blossom of golden light leaking through the tightly wrapped bandages as the rings spiraled down to surround his hand.

Abruptly, dark tendrils of magic writhed, the almost comically tiny amount of golden light getting crushed out by the magic before shrinking back into the bandages, staining them darker than they'd been before- or perhaps Jesse was imagining it.

He tried again, and again, and Maya joined in, keeping her hand firmly pressed to Aiden's shoulder, but each time the light was squashed, stomped out, the dark magic refusing to let any of the light stay long enough to fix Aiden.

The dragon gave an apologetic huff, rubbing its face next to Jesse.

Jesse heaved out the magic book and fumbled through the pages, so frantically that they probably almost got a paper cut.

Heck, they probably did get a paper cut, but it didn't matter- they fumbled through the pages frenetically before finding a spell that was apparently a high-level healing spell and offering it to Lukas.

Lukas winced the second he saw it. "... um... I don't know if we can perform that one."

"Why?"

He tapped the book. "Remember how I said our light affinity isn't really high? Like our affinity for light magic? We're not good at it."

"Yeah..." Jesse looked at the spell, heart sinking. "Don't tell me... does it involve light magic?"

"Yeah. It's basically a purification and a healing spell all in one, adding about a billion levels to basic healing spells, which don't necessarily require a high affinity for light magic," Lukas said, his voice somehow steady despite the fact that he looked like he might cry. "Even if Maya and I were to try... it probably wouldn't work."

Jesse blinked, feeling heat rise up behind their eyes.

It felt like tears.

"But..."

"Heck, if any of us low-light-affinity people try the spell, there's a chance the spell will backfire or do something wrong." Maya shook her head, twisting her fingers together to stop them from shaking. "I'm not risking that on someone who's dying."

Dying.

Aiden was dying.

And it was perhaps the fact that Jesse could practically feel the life leaking out of him, or perhaps the fact that he was just dying (dead), and the fact that Gill looked grimmer than they'd seen him before and Petra's fingers were at her mouth, almost as if she was going to bite her nails down to the stubs, that they said what they said next.

"Then I'll try."


A/N: Not sure that'll work, but heck, Jess, go ahead and try xD

I am coffee. Reviews are my honey. (I put honey in my coffee; fight me). Thank you for making me sweeter.

Responses to reviews!

ThinMintE: That's fair. I'm okay with it as long as the people fighting are on the same level- like two masters fighting each other, or two noobs fighting each other. Or unless one of the people fighting are teaching them. / Well, plant magic does exist in Cosmos, but it's pretty rare xD / Yep! / Thank you! :3

Toni42: Hopefully is the operative word here xD / They trust Jesse when they say it's fine; plus the dragon's just sitting and cuddling Jesse, so... clearly it's a dangerous beast xD / Thank x3

LegendEmpress: Pft, that would be impressive. Imagine Jesse had a mini Ender-Dragon and Soren has a minor heart attack when he sees it xD / He can't hear you. He's unconscious xD / Ye xP / Eh, he's there at least xD

TheAmberShadow: Of course, I don't speak dryly to people. / All of the half demons with the exception of Petra have at least one eye covered; this includes Aiden, Maya, and Gill. / They tried xD / Hehe, yeah, honestly xD / Dragon's fine as long as Jesse's there, apparently xD

Guest: That's precisely why I included it! xD Honestly, blood flowers are called blood flowers just because they're good blood replenishers. Cosmos flowers are bizarre xD / Aaah, thanks xD and Jesse's definitely a sweetheart. / Jesse's generally like that, yeah. / Yep! / I'm glad you think it's fast! It's mostly 'cause the chapters got shorter xD

That's all for now! See ya, so long, and g'bye!

x.X. A.L. X.x