I woke up again and the pain had receded quite a bit. I wasn't sure why it was bothering me after going to sleep, then I realized that I had taken several magical wounds. Since I had no experience with them, I had to assume that they were like normal wounds... and I had left them untreated all night and I probably bled mana and Presence the whole time. I checked my Presence and mana reservoirs and saw they were only half full.

“Dammit.” I said and used the Detect Mana and Presence technique to get my sight back. It took a bit more out of me than it normally did, and that confirmed what had happened the night before. If I used mana or Presence, even for basic things, I was going to lose it much faster than I normally would until I was healed magically.

“Take it easy.” Maylia said as I tried to sit up.

“We need to get back to the capital city before my energy leaks become faster than my energy gains.” I said and hit the button under my right armpit to turn on my powered armor. The weight on me disappeared and I stopped myself from sighing in relief.

“I'm sure the mayor would let you borrow the official carriage.” Gia said from the chair beside me.

“No, we can run a lot faster than that.” I said and stood up. The room spun for a second and I closed my eyes and had to make a sacrifice in energy. I used Presence and mana to reinforce my body to gain my strength back and my reserves dropped down to a third. Thankfully, I used much more mana in the mix this time and only that seemed to drop slowly after the initial loss.

“Hey, you can't leave yet.” One of the healers said. “You need to eat.”

“Forget that.” One of the patients said. “What about our teeth?”

“I can't take the carcass out right now.” I said and ignored the needing to eat comment, because I didn't have the time to eat. “I won't have the energy to pick it up again if I stop now.”

“When will...”

“Hush!” Gia said. “He'll keep his word, just like he did when he came back last night.” She said, her voice full of confidence. “He didn't say he would give a tooth to you right away, did he?”

The man opened his mouth, probably to say that I did, then closed it. “No, I guess not.”

“I will come back.” I said and took off my glove and held a hand out to Maylia. She took it and let her own energy flow over me. I gave her a smile and she smiled back, then she led me over to the door.

“We should only jog, even if it does take us longer.” Maylia said.

I nodded, because I honestly couldn't argue for going faster, and we activated Mana Presence Run together. We were covered in a green glow and I glanced at her.

“You're the more powerful one, so we're running at your pace.” I said.

Maylia tried to hide her smug smile, and I chuckled.

“I have no problem saying that a woman is more powerful than me.” I said and she raised her eyebrows at me. “It's been true in a lot of cases, like with the queen.”

Maylia remembered our encounter with the queen of the elves and nodded. “Ready?”

“No.” I chuckled. “We need to go anyway.”

We started to walk, then started to jog. Maylia controlled the energy this time, so it was more mana than anything else. Our speed increased and we left the town fairly quickly. I was a little surprised that I wasn't losing more energy than I was, and I checked Maylia. Her mana was dropping at a very slow and steady rate and if I gauged our speed versus the distance we had to go, she should only be down to about half of her mana total by the time we arrived at the capital city.

I was grateful for that, because my energy was dropping at a slightly faster rate and I would be down to just under a quarter of my total in both mana and Presence by then.

I hope we can find a magic healer quickly. I thought. I don't know how long I'll last if I don't get treated soon.

Neither of us spoke as we jogged. It was taking longer than when we went to the town and I didn't mind. The feeling of being pulled along behind a strong woman reminded me of the times Lashina and I would run through the East Forest Glade. I looked down like I did then and instead of seeing the flash of panties on a cute ass, I saw a strong and muscled backside under thick leather pants. Both looked fantastic to me, so if I was asked to choose between them, I would be hard pressed to make a decision.

*

Maylia glanced back to see how Hunter was dealing with being led by her, and she saw where he was looking. It surprised her that he would ogle her like that, then she realized it was actually the first time he had seen her from that angle. He had always been by her side or in front of her.

I don't think he's thinking what I think he's thinking. Maylia thought as she glanced at his face again. He doesn't have that look that men get when thinking those kinds of things.

Maylia faced forward and concentrated on jogging at a good pace and let her mana flow over them, which boosted the both of them and not just herself. She knew they were much stronger together when they ran than they were when they ran separately; and yet, she had been unprepared for her energy consumption to be reduced instead of increased.

There are two of us. How can it take less energy? Maylia asked herself and then pushed that thought away and kept jogging. They needed to find a magical healer as soon as possible. I don't like him being vulnerable like this. She thought, and pushed that aside as well.

*

We ran for several hours and made it back to the capital city. If the sun was any indication, it was just after midday and we slowed down before we reached the guard house. My energy was right at where I thought it would be, below a quarter of my total, and I could feel it still leaking away.

“We need a magical healer right away!” Maylia called to the guard that stood on duty by the road. “Preferably a great one.”

“Oh! Uh...” The guard turned and opened the door to the guard house. “Hey! Does anyone know a good magic healer?”

“They all heal with magic, dummy!” A voice said and laughed.

The guard looked at us and shrugged.

“A healer that can heal magical wounds.” I said and didn't try to hide that I was leaning heavily on Maylia. The guard turned and relayed my words, and a man came out.

“What happened?” The man asked.

“What part of right away didn't you understand?” I asked and frowned. “I need healing. Right. Now.”

“There's no need to be rude.” The man said. “All I asked...”

I shook my head and started to walk by him. He reached out to me with an angry face and Maylia's sword was at his throat an instant later.

“Touch him and die.” Maylia said and the other guard drew his sword. I used some of my remaining Presence to make two Mana Presence Hands and pulled the weapons away from the guards. One from the guard's hand and one from the other guard's scabbard. I turned the weapons on them and pointed them at their hearts.

“You delay me for no reason.” I said and stumbled slightly as my energy dropped down to an eighth. “Either help or get out of our way.”

“You can't command...”

“I'm under the captain of the guards orders you goddamned idiot!” I yelled and tossed their swords away before I decided to jam them through their hearts like I wanted to. My breath started to come out heavier and my body reinforcement failed and faded away. I dropped to one knee and Maylia put my arm over her shoulder and stood up.

“I'll be back to kill you both if he suffers permanent damage because of this.” Maylia said and carried me past the guard house.

*

“What's going on out here?” The knight in full plate armor asked as he came out of the guard house and saw the two people stumbling away. He had heard the initial question and laughed with the others, went back to work, then he heard the yell. Both guards started talking at once and the Knight understood after a few moments. He punched both men in the face in a one-two combo and they fell to the ground, stunned.

“I'll be the one to kill you.” The knight said and was tempted to kick them for their stupidity. “Next time, you better read the important posts on the job board.” He said with derision, then he ran after the two people.

*

“The castle!” A voice said from behind me and I turned slightly to see a man in full plate armor as he ran towards us. “They have the best healers in the castle!”

“He has magical wounds.” Maylia said as he came to a stop beside us.

The man nodded and suddenly there was a horse beside him. “Let me give you a ride.”

I was quickly shoved up and onto the horse and the man climbed up behind me and offered a hand to Maylia, then she was up and sat behind him. A second later, we were tromping along the rooftops of the houses and completely ignored the roads. I didn't even have time to look at the horse closely and we were back on the ground and at the castle gate. It opened automatically and the horse came to a stop beside a green robed man.

“Magical wounds and near collapse.” The armored man said to the robed man, who nodded and waved a hand over me.

“Yes, I see.” The green robed man said and looked at Maylia. “Just to confirm, what faith is he?”

“Both he and I pray to god.”

Both the knight and the green robed man were startled to hear this.

“But... isn't this...”

“We pray to god.” Maylia said adamantly and that cut off all discussion.

“Very well.” The green man said and lifted both hands. “Assistance!”

He was immediately surrounded by six green robed people and they carefully lifted me down off the horse and I was carried, as if I weighed nothing, into the castle. I looked to make sure Maylia was still with me, and she was beside the armored man right behind the people that carried me. I relaxed and was taken into a large room with a bed.

“Whatever you are doing, can you stop it?” The green man asked. “It is interfering with our healers.”

“No one has started yet.” I said.

“They've been trying since you entered the castle.” The green robed man said and pointed. Several people dressed in beige robes stepped out from the beige colored wall.

“Oh. Sorry.” I said and hit the button under my right armpit to turn off the powered armor. The weight of the improvised backpack and my armor pulled me down and crushed the bed instantly.

“He has a garglemacer in his bag of holding.” Maylia said.

The green robed people cleared away the wooden frame of the bed, which left me on just the mattress. Surprisingly, they disappeared a moment later and the beige robed people came close.

I felt a dozen strong mental probes and grunted from the assault. “STOP THAT!” I yelled and pushed back with the last bit of mana that I had and only a touch of Presence. Twelve beams of mana hit each of the beige robed people and dropped them to the floor.

“What did you do?” The green robed man asked and looked at the unconscious people around him.

“They... attacked me... mentally.” I said and then lost consciousness.

*

Maylia's sword was out of its scabbard in an instant and against the green robed man's throat. “You will have magical healers here immediately and they will not mentally probe either of us.” She said with her voice full of venom. “Do you understand?”

“But, they need to assess...”

“No, they do not.” Maylia said angrily and eased the blade a fraction of an inch forward and dimpled his skin. “Healing does not require it. If I detect any more mental probes, your head will be on the floor right alongside theirs.”

“Calm down.” The knight said. “There's no need to...”

Maylia reached out and formed a green glowing Mana Hand around his throat. “I've already had this conversation with two stupid guards.” She said and squeezed. “Do not try my patience!”

The knight held his hands up in surrender and she stopped squeezing.

“Heal his magical wounds right now.” Maylia ordered the green robed man, who nodded and carefully stepped back from her blade and went to the door of the room. He spoke for a moment and eight more beige robed people came into the room. They saw the green hand around the knight's neck and the other beige robed people unconscious on the floor. They formed a circle around the bed and they started to chant. Mana started to form around them and flowed in a circle, then it started to pour into Hunter.

“I need to inform the queen about this.” The knight said and motioned to the hand around his neck.

“Be sure that you tell her everything and make sure that you tell her the truth.” Maylia said and dismissed the green hand. “Even half-truths and omissions are lies.” She held the sword in her hand at the ready and didn't sheath it, which was a clear indication that she wasn't going to. “I will be here if she needs the full story.”

“She will probably send for...”

“I vowed to never leave Hunter's side.” Maylia said. “Give your queen that information as well.”

The knight nodded and left the room at a fast walk. When he entered the hallway he started to jog and kept jogging right up until he came to the throne room. Surprisingly, he wasn't sweating at all. He knocked and waited, then the door opened.

“Yes, what is it?” The court attendant asked.

“Information about our kingdom's guest.” The knight said.

“Shall I relay, or...”

“I need to speak to her in person, if she's available.”

“She is.” The court attendant said and stepped out and opened the door. “We close the doors in the afternoons to help keep the cool draft on the floor to a minimum.”

The knight nodded and stepped by the court attendant and strode across the plush carpet and right up to the throne. He stopped at the end of the carpet, about fifteen feet away from the throne, and the queen lifted her head from the book she was reading and looked at him. Her talent called Sight took all of him in and saw what he was, his abilities, and where he was supposed to be stationed.

“You are supposed to be on guard duty, sir knight.” She said with a smile. “What can I do for you?”

“Your majesty, I was on guard duty, until...” The knight explained what had happened at the edge of town with Hunter and Maylia, and she frowned. He told her how he had given them a ride to the castle to get him immediate healing, and she nodded. When he told her what had happened in the guest room, she shot to her feet and dropped her book.

“Guards!” The queen said loudly. Four guards came into the throne room from a side room and formed around her. “To the guest room.”

“Yes, your majesty.” The four of them said as one and she started to walk quickly. They paced her exactly in the same positions around her, and the knight had to jog to keep up with them. They made it to the guest room and one of the two front guards opened the door. They all went inside and the queen saw Maylia as she stood guard next to Hunter, who was being bombarded with an absurd amount of mana.

The green robed man was about to ask if the queen was going to have the green cloaked woman arrested for her behaviour when the queen spoke before he could.

“Bring two dozen more healers.” The queen said to him as she saw the healers around Hunter start to lose their mana charge. “Hurry up.”

The green robed man was startled for only a moment, then he left the room in a rush.

The queen nodded and walked over to Maylia. “Brave adventurer, please accept my apologies for the treatment.” She said. The words didn't sound apologetic; but, Maylia had heard people in authority speak a lot over the years, and that was just how they spoke. It didn't matter if they were sad, angry, or happy. They always spoke the same way, unless they were encouraged not to.

“We were in desperate need of help and were ridiculed, then threatened when we tried to leave.” Maylia said. “I've never been to a capital city before arriving here three days ago. Despite the wonders I have seen, the ones in charge of protecting the people don't listen and seem to falter when it counts.”

“The knight has already corrected the guards that tried to delay you.” The queen said. “He also informed me that my healers have taken to using mental probes on guests inside my castle without the guest's permission. Or mine.”

Three of the healers turned startled eyes to the queen as their mana ran out. The green robed man came back into the room with the two dozen healers the queen had requested. As they took up positions around the bed to replace the exhausted ones, the queen looked at them with an appraising eye.

“Yes, I believe I need to... discuss... some things with the healers so that they won't make the same mistake again.” The queen said in the same authoritative tone. The promise that it would not be a pleasant experience for the healers was heavily implied, and they all understood it.

“I'm glad they have someone like you to keep them in hand.” Maylia said.

“Yes, in hand.” The queen said and looked at Maylia's face to see that the hood of the cloak barely covered anything. “The knight told me what you did.” She said. “How did you do that?”

“Hunter has been teaching me so many new things.” Maylia said. “That was the first time I managed to use that particular technique successfully.” She smiled. I hadn't realized that anger could be a catalyst to help me invoke it into being. She thought. I must remember that.

The queen blinked her eyes for a moment and then looked back at Hunter. “I would like to talk to him when he wakes.”

Maylia nodded. “I'm sure he would like to meet you, too.”

The queen nodded back and walked over to the door, with her guards around her, and she pointed at the knight. “Back to your post.” She ordered him and left the room.

With no desire to refuse his queen's order, the knight quickly followed her and disappeared from sight. The green robed man stood off to the side and absently scratched the place on his neck where Maylia's sword had dimpled his skin, and he waited patiently for the healers to finish their work. The healers kept rotating to make sure that they always had at least five people healing him at a time, because they were concerned that he was deeply wounded magically and he needed a lot of healing.

They were not going to disappoint their queen, so they worked diligently and efficiently. No matter the cost to them, they would finish this task, even without knowing what had happened or how their patient had received the magical wounds.