Chapter 8

Udonna had to give Koragg a second Blood Replenishing Potion, because the now reopened wound was bleeding profusely. The hardest part wasn't rotating the thigh bone to the right angle – the problem lay in reconnecting blood vessels. It was a very complicated process and Udonna wondered how would the non-magical people fix this. Even with magic it was impossible to completely heal this kind of injury. Koragg would probably never fight again, at least not in conventional way. She should be happy about this, but it was a very sad fate to someone whose life was focused on fighting.

She was thankful that Koragg was silent, almost abnormally so. He didn't move either. 'Maybe he's fallen asleep? Well, I'm not complaining.'

After two hours Udonna was finally done with operation. She examined her work closely. The edges of wound were held together by magic, creating a red jagged line on pale skin. Now it needed to be bandaged, so she asked Clare for help. When that was done she allowed herself to relax a bit and slumped into the chair. She observed Koragg through half-closed eyes. He still seemed to be asleep, so she almost jumped when he spoke up.

"How did it go?"

Why did he always have to do this? Udonna sighed and answered. "It was difficult, but I think you'll be alright. Remember that it's just the start of your recovery. Don't expect any wonders. You won't be able to walk for at least a week." She decided not to tell him about not being able to fight.

Koragg frowned, clearly not satisfied. "Why does it have to be so long?"

"The most of this curse's victims weren't able to walk after a month, so you should consider yourself lucky. Your healing is still extraordinarily fast, even without The Master's spell."

"That reminds me. I want you to take my armor off." Koragg had the most infuriating ability to jump from one subject to another without even realizing it. It made his request (or rather a command) even more surprising.

Clare spoke up from somewhere behind her. "But yesterday you said you didn't want to take it off! What made you change your decision all of sudden?"

He was silent for a moment. Then he simply said: "It's uncomfortable."

Her apprentice looked as stumped as she felt. That was his reason?

"Oh well. I must fix your broken forearm and it's partially covered by your armor, so I might remove it all as well."

She stood up and took her wand once again. 'Which spell should I use? Hmm... there is one designed to quickly take off all clothing, but...' She nearly blushed at one specific memory connected to this spell, but she shook it off. 'Well, it won't hurt to try.'

His armor rattled a bit, but remained intact. Every other spell had the same results. Was she doing something wrong?

"What is it, Udonna? Why aren't your spells working?" Clare asked, apparently as confused as she was.

Then Udonna realized what caused this to happen. How could she have been so stupid? Now that she noticed this, it was like a big bright flashing sign.

Tendrils of dark magic were wrapped around pieces of Koragg's armor, deflecting any spell she cast at him. It was subtle enough not to trigger any alarms in Rootcore, even the crystal ball. Udonna hated to admit this, but it was an amazingly complicated spell. It would take her quite a bit of time to figure out how to counter it. She looked at Clare.

"Come and see for yourself. Notice how complex this spell is."

Her apprentice's eyes widened. "Wow... no wonder your spells didn't work. Someone must have spent a lot of time creating this."

"Not if that 'someone' is The Master. He's a very powerful magician."

Koragg must have finally gotten irritated with their talking, because he cut in:

"So can you remove my armor?"

Udonna decided that she was probably the most patient person on the whole planet. It was beyond her how she hadn't snapped at him yet. The man was unbelievably infuriating.

"I think I would be able to do this. I just have to study this spell further and find out how exactly it works. It is possible that certain types of magic can pass through it."

She sat next to him and put her hands on a piece of armor covering Koragg's chest.

"What are you doing?" came his surprisingly weak voice.

"Physical contact with the source of spell gives the best results. Now don't interrupt me."

Even though he couldn't feel her touch, it seemed to Koragg that it burned. Breathing suddenly became unexpectedly hard. What was happening to him? Could it be that the witch's presence affected him in such a way? He's been having those weird flashbacks anytime she was around now. The first was with him holding a little human. The second was even more confusing.

He was in a forest. Next to him was the last person he wanted to see at the moment – Solaris Knight. Their wrists were linked together with a rope and they both had swords in their hands. But it didn't feel like a real fight – it was closer to a training. Of course, Koragg had the upper hand and soon his opponent was lying on the ground without his sword. Oddly enough, this victory didn't satisfy him.

"What did I tell you about holding the sword right? Your grip on it is too weak. Just look at how easily I've disarmed you." His voice was weird. It sounded younger, lighter than usual.

His body seemed to move on its own accord. He offered his hand to Solaris, who was still on the ground and looking annoyed. When he was finally on his legs, they took off the rope connecting their wrists.

"Admit it, you just like seeing me defeated," Solaris grumbled.

Koragg really wanted to agree with him, but Memory-Koragg seemed to have other ideas.

"Daggeron, I'm not trying to embarrass you. Your skills simply must be as good as mine if you want to become a Knight. And enough of your moping. I bet Udonna is going to rip our heads off if we don't come home before it's dark."

With that, the memory ended. Koragg couldn't believe that it ever happened. Did it mean he knew Solaris before? And why was he training him and being overall nice? Then there was something else. Not only he knew Solaris, but also the witch. When he fought with her for the first time, she also seemed to think he was familiar. She could tell him who he really was.

Right now her hands were still on his chest. The burning feeling he got earlier has lessened to comforting warmth, which was quite ironic considering that she was the White Sorceress. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be deeply concentrated. He'll ask her later. For now he only wanted the armor to be gone.

Udonna concluded that the spell on Koragg's armor was very vulnerable to especially destructive types of fire magic. She knew that only Nick would be able to do this. Getting him to cooperate was going to be difficult. Udonna was in constant fear that he would suddenly decide to leave them. He was the most unstable person among the Rangers. She could only hope he was aware of how important he is to them.

She stood up and adressed Koragg.

"I have a solution to your problem. Nick can get past the spell with his fire magic."

He scoffed. "The Red Ranger? What makes you think he would help me?"

"Don't worry, I have a plan. Just be nice to him when he comes here, alright?" Udonna knew he probably wouldn't even try to be polite, but it didn't hurt to ask. Maybe he would listen to her.

"As long as he is too. Oh, and there's something I want to ask you." Yet again Koragg showed his ability to change the topic out of nowhere. She mentally braced herself, knowing that his questions were almost always shocking.

"Did we meet before?"

Well, this wasn't actually so surprising. She expected worse.

"It depends on when was this 'before' you speak of. I certainly don't seem to remember meeting you before our first fight, but..." she stopped for a moment, not sure what she wanted to say.

"But?" he cut in.

"You remind me of someone I knew, but I can't tell who might that be. And why do you ask? Am I familiar to you too?"

Koragg was silent for a moment. "I've been having these odd... flashbacks recently. In one of them, I was training with Solaris. After the training ended, I said something about going back home (whatever this is) before it got dark, because you would get angry at us. It must mean that I knew not only you, but Solaris too. Do you know who might I be?"

Udonna froze, not sure if she'd heard correctly. Koragg was training with Daggeron? She tried to remember who was he training with before he became a Knight. Leanbow, of course, but who else? With growing trepidation she realized that Daggeron trained only with her husband. She had to make sure Koragg wasn't mistaken.

"Are you sure this memory is real? Maybe The Master is trying to delude you?"

He scowled. "Are you trying to imply I've lost my sanity? Of course it's real!"

No. This had to be some sort of joke. It was impossible that Koragg was her long-lost husband.