Chapter 16

A sudden cold touch startled Cain awake; he hadn't realized that he'd fallen asleep. As he moved, a blanket fell from his shoulders, and he grabbed it before it hit the floor; someone must have come in while he had been dozing. Looking up, he saw Krystal's familiar face staring down at him.

"Sorry to wake you," she said quietly. "I need to check on Abel."

Cain raised a hand to cover to the large yawn that slipped from his mouth. "Message received," he mumbled, standing up and allowing her to use to chair while she worked. He watched her for a moment, observing the pale blue sparks that burst from her fingertips and danced across the surface of Abel's skin before seeping into it with a quiet crackle.

So involved in watching Krystal heal, Cain didn't notice the presence of Lena in the room until she lightly tapped him. Jumping, he turned to greet her, and noticed that she was carrying a tray that contained a few small loaves of bread and a glass of water. She set it down on the bedside table and held a loaf out to Cain.

He looked at it dumbly for a moment, not moving even as she waved it at him. "Abel can't eat that," he said finally in a deadpan tone.

"It's for you," Lena said, exasperated. "When was the last time you ate something?"

Cain finally took the loaf as she shoved it at his chest, and thought about her question for a moment. "I don't remember," he grumbled, lowering his tired eyes from her scolding stare. He raised the bread to his mouth and took a small bite, but it felt dry and tasteless on his tongue. Placing it back on the tray and ignoring the motherly 'tsk' that came from Lena, he hovered over Krystal's shoulder. "How's he doing?"

"He's definitely showing signs of improvement," Krystal said calmly, trying to keep the surprise out of her voice. "His breathing is stronger, and the color is returning to his face."

Cain hadn't noticed the subtle changes, but as he looked closer, he realized that the sickly pale patches on Abel's dark skin had faded. For the first time in over a week, his eyes lit up and he let out a long breath. "Will he wake up soon?"

Krystal didn't answer, but exchanged a quick and nervous glance with Lena. Lena nodded subtly, accepting the responsibility, and Krystal turned back around to tend to Abel.

The pink-haired healer sighed before speaking. "Cain, there's something we need to talk about," she began. "Sit down."

Cain felt his stomach drop. Any conversation that started like that was never followed by good news. He slowly sat on the edge of the bed on the opposite side of the room, and she joined him. He didn't speak, but waited for her to continue.

"Abel might be waking up soon," Lena spoke slowly, picking each word carefully. "But… Well, we don't know exactly how the magic affected him," she admitted. "We don't know how much he'll remember of the incident, or even if he'll remember anything at all."

Nodding slowly, Cain stared at Lena with anxiety in his eyes, not sure where she was going but knowing that he probably didn't want to hear it.

"Cain…" She hesitated. "The Abel that wakes up after this might not be the one you knew. I just don't want you to be surprised if he's different."

He gripped the sheets on the bed so hard that his knuckles went white. "I don't care," he whispered, staring at the ground. Raising his hard gaze to meet Lena's, he repeated himself louder. "I don't care if he's different." He stood from the bed, his shoulders and hands shaking as if he was restraining himself from throwing a punch at the wall. Channeling his frustration into his voice instead, he began to yell. "It's so cruel to keep him like this!"

The pain in his voice made Lena wince. She stood as well, her arms extended to calm him, but he dodged her touch and took a couple long strides over towards where Abel lay.

"Abel, the great Panther, stronger than twenty soldiers, trapped here like this!" He yelled bitterly. "Sometimes I wonder if death would have been less painful." Angrily, he pounded his fist once on the bed, shaking its frame. "You're so close, you're right here, but you've never been farther away!"

"Cain!" Lena called his name, but he didn't seem to hear her.

"How long must this last?" The red-haired soldier practically screamed at the unconscious Abel. "How much more must you rest? When will this torture end?" He dropped to his knees, burying his face in his hands, his shoulders trembling violently.

Krystal, who had been stunned for a moment by the cavalier's sudden outburst, knelt next to Cain and placed her hand on his forehead. Before he could swat her away, she sent a small burst of energy from her fingers into his head. His wet eyes rolled back, and he slumped forward; she grunted as he caught him before he hit the floor, laying him down gently.

"What did you do?" Lena demanded, fear and confusion in her eyes. She had stayed back while Cain rampaged, but now she stood over the two of them, one hand covering her mouth in shock.

"He's fine, just sedated," Krystal explained. She wrapped one of Cain's arms over her shoulder and motioned for Lena to do the same. Together, they dragged him towards the empty bed, setting him in it gently. "He hasn't been taking care of himself. He's hungry and exhausted, and that's a bad combination with this amount of emotional trauma." She couldn't keep the sympathy out of her voice.

Lena nodded, understanding, her expression stained with worry. She took this opportunity to change the bandages that Cain had shoddily wrapped himself; they were stained through with blood from his half-healed scars that he had disturbed. Since he was sedated and unable to argue, she used just a bit of magic to stop the bleeding before wrapping the wounds on his forearms and back in clean bandages. She sighed and looked back towards Krystal. "What now?"

Krystal shrugged her slender shoulders. Standing, she motioned for Lena to join her. "There's not much more we can do now," she said quietly. "We'd better leave them to rest."