By the time I heard approaching footsteps, I was mostly back to normal and had a good idea what I had done, even if not how I had done so. It was the teleport-trick that Rai was able to do thanks to his class, the one I had used once before, in Sigmir’s home village. It had eluded me ever since, even if my powers had grown quite a bit in the meantime, but today, I had somehow managed to do it again. That somehow, it irked me, that I hadn’t been able to replicate it yet and even now that I had done so, I had no real idea how.

Before I managed to get up, a familiar presence loomed over me and I opened my eyes, to see Sigmir’s worried face. Despite the blood splattered all over her face and the dishevelled state of her hair, I felt my lips curl into a smile, just from seeing her. My smile vanished as fast as it had appeared when I realised that at least some of the blood on her was hers and there were still wounds oozing more. Worry instantly cleared my dizzy head and I forced myself up, ignoring the world trying to shift away beneath me, grabbing hold of Sigmir.

Once again, the contact amplified our connection and I could feel her buzzing emotions, something I would normally welcome. But not now, not while she was still injured, I had to focus. Pushing the connection to the back of my mind, I used my Blood Magic to get a better idea of her injuries and the results made me swallow hard.

“Rai, Adra, please keep an eye out for trouble, that’ll take a while.” I ordered, after glancing over to make sure they weren’t in an even worse state. Given that they were upright and there was no blood visible, I subsequently ignored their existence, hoping that they’d do as asked.

“Love, please lie down.” I told Sigmir, reaching into my magic bag to use my old cloak as bedding. Part of me wanted to use Ice Magic to create a bed, something comfortable, but doing so would be a waste of Astral Power, something I wasn’t sure I had enough. Defending myself against the tiger had taken a lot of power and I wasn’t about to risk running out, not when I had to heal her.

When Sigmir didn’t move fast enough for my liking, still holding on to me, as if I was about to go away, I got a little forceful. She was hurt and remaining upright wasn’t doing her any favours, it just delayed me in taking care of her. To an outside, my petite form forcibly pushing down Sigmir must have looked hilarious but it had to be done.

“Are you alright?” Sigmir finally asked, when I had managed to get her to the ground.

“Nothing happened to me, it’s you I’m worried about.” I replied tersely, when she reached out stroking my hair. Or so I thought, while she touched my hair, there was less than there had been in the moment, it seemed my encounter with the Tiger had been closer than expected.

Shaking my head, I placed her hands back down, my mind starting to map out the various lacerations on her body. Of those, there were many, far too many. She was losing a great deal of blood, enough to make me worry.

“Lenore, I need your help.” I mentally asked, feeling her open her mind to me. Thoughts started to merge, my worries about Sigmir’s condition flooding into her and I could feel her respond. My worries became hers and our powers combined in response.

I felt my body shift, as if moving into my Hallow, only not quite. There was no more I, there was only us, Lenore and I joining together, not to destroy but to heal.

A pair of black wings spread out, while a pair of clawed hands gently stroked over her body. She was precious to us and would always be. Power flared within us, carefully controlled and measured, separated into something that would heal and something that would kill. Both were needed, each in their own measure.

Part of us took the Power of Death and Ice, carefully controlling it like a wing, gently brushing over Sigmir’s wounds, cleaning and disinfecting them. It was a coarse tool we were using, forcing that part of us to be extraordinarily careful, to not cause further harm.

The rest of the power, now without the traits innate to both of us, was used by the other part of us, carefully and gently funnelled into Sigmir. The first thing we needed to do was to stop her losing more blood, to close the wounds we had cleansed. The wounds on her body were numerous, some long and jagged rips, others punctures from teeth, some even blunt trauma, letting blood seep into the flesh, even a few broken bones. All draining her strength, her very life, even as we were desperately pouring our power in, to stem the tide.

As we worked, we could feel our powers wane, even as we drank in more power from the Astral River all around us. We needed more. Without hesitation, we used our claws to rip open a gash in our other palm, using the freshly opened wound to forcibly channel some of our vitality, our very life, into magic, so we could do more. It was painful, but the pain we felt paled before the idea of losing Sigmir.

Still, we needed more power and an idea bubbled up within our mind. If we needed vitality, wasn’t there vitality all around us? Not just in our other two companions, but everywhere, in every organism, every insect, every pant and every animal. We just had to get it.

Our wings spread, beating the air and with that wind, Death came into the world, as a keening cry tore from our throat. We could feel tiny lives being snuffed out, hundreds of thousands of existences ended in moments, yet, we didn’t care. No amount of lives could measure up to the one we were trying to save.

With their Death, Vitality came to us, tiny streams of power that we could harvest and use. Each a mere mote, a tiny sparkle of life, but with each mote, we could do a little more. Yet, we needed more. Just as we were about to forcibly rip the power we needed from our companions, we could feel another power entering the area. A strong life, but as we were trying to take the power to heal, we slid off, as if something was blocking us.

For the first time in what felt like hours, we opened our eyes and darkness was around us, a night only lit by a few stars and the moon above. Not that the darkness could stop our eyes, if anything, we could see better in the night. And now, we could see a female, surrounded by a strange, golden glow moving towards us. Our companions were nearby, standing in the direction the woman was coming from, but further back.

Focusing on my sight, I tried to take the life that offered itself to us again, only to slide off again, the golden glow flaring for a moment. If we wanted that power, we would have to invest power to deal with the golden glow.

Just as we came to that decision, the female raised her hand, golden light flaring, a staff in the crook of her other arm mirroring the light, shining like a golden torch and we could feel power flow into Sigmir. A gentle stream of power, curiously woven together in a way we couldn’t even begin to unravel. The power wasn’t directed as we would have done it, but what it lacked in direction, it made up in purity and sheer depth, touching Sigmir on a level I could barely grasp. But however the power did it, I could feel Sigmir get better, her body slowly knitting together.

As Sigmir healed, we could feel the desperation that had driven us fading, exhaustion setting in. The parts within us, both had questions, so many questions and our thoughts started to unravel, the individuals that made up our being separating into their own forms.

Blinking, I felt like I had been hit by a truck, my body aching all over, my mind hurting even worse. A groan came over my lips and I felt myself sway, my body close to giving out but there was something I needed to know. With the last dregs of power within me, I reached out, making sure that Sigmir was healed, that she wouldn’t die. There was pain within me, as I forcibly channelled that magic, enough pain to make my eyes tear up, but I had to know.

Moments later, I felt relief flood into me, if only for a moment. Then, I felt nothing more.