I still had no idea what the minotaur core granted, but that didn’t concern me anymore. Now that Eris wasn’t nearby, I could risk losing control and unleashing my power. All I had to do was grab the tiger's attention and hope my magic did as planned.

“That's all you got? Kitty, kitty, kitty!” Somehow I felt like the tiger would understand my words and if not at the very least the tone.

The tiger growled in response finally changing targets, seeing as Eris was still tumbling endlessly further away in her protective bubble. “Eris keep your distance.” I ended the link short and placed my daggers into my ring swapping them for the two-handed longsword.

I aimed for one heavy slash, landing a blow should cause some damage even if I’m sent flying. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse the tiger dodged to the right. I lost my balance from striking air. The tiger had complete control and it was shocking to see its agility in play.

The opened jaw and curve of its mouth felt like it was toying with me. The strangest scent of stale air and humidity mixed together. My mind was being consumed and my consciousness fading to black. I willed myself to remain awake in hopes to gain control of my shadow magic again.

As if by instinct the tiger narrowly avoided chomping my head right off. Continuing past me as fast as the spreading shadow magic. I noticed the difference in speed that my magic was spreading. Nowhere near last time. Normally the entire area would be consumed in darkness in an instant. In the end, it allowed the tiger to barely escape with its life intact.

A sharp pain entered my forehead making me want to rip out my brain as I fell on all fours. I couldn’t focus as thousands of jumbled memories surged through what felt like a seizure. A never-ending downward spiral of random memories and emotions.

Nothing else mattered as I awoke from the tunneling darkness. Eris held me in her arms. Her rosy red cheeks and ears were the first things to grab my attention followed by the falling snowflakes. All I wanted to do was reach out and warm her cheeks. The sharp headache from before reappeared within seconds of waking up.

Thinking back on the intense mishmash of memories. I remembered looking up at a woman’s face similar to right now. Not a single name attached to the unknown beauty. I forced my eyes shut in pain as my hearing returned.

“Volatis!” I wasn’t sure how many times she called out my name.

I reopened my eyes pushing through the stabbing pain, ending up with squinted eyes.

“How long have I been out?”

“Not too long.” Such a vague response although enough to ease my mind.

Eris mentioned how the Siberian tiger managed to escape, but the surrounding wolves that stuck around to watch were caught within the shadow field and died instantly like the people in the coliseum.

I managed to stand up with her assistance. She suggested we head home for now and I thought likewise. The migraine intensified throughout the entire ride back and by the time I managed to fall into bed, my forehead ran extremely hot. Eris and the others stood around worried after helping me to the bed.

Before I knew it I had passed out for some unknown amount of time. The hallways bled enough light to see the outline of objects in the room. The pain in my head stuck around even after my nap. My entire body was drenched in a cold and sticky sweat. Voices followed by steps grew louder from out in the hallway. I turned my head towards the clock. The blue neon numbers displayed that it was half-past one in the morning.

Usually, Rhea and Alexa slept with me, and before I could figure out where they were the noise of the door opening caught my attention. Alexa entered first followed by two other people. Only until they approached closer did I realize it was Marcus and some stranger. Alexa forewarned and turned on the lamp in the far corner of the room once she noticed I was awake. Eris walked in once the standing lamp brightened the room.

I didn’t really care since the pounding agony in my head couldn’t get any worse. “What’s going on?” It took everything to muster forth the words.

“I asked Marcus for help. Your fever and condition kept getting worse.” Alexa kept her voice low enough as not to irritate my migraine any further.

“I bought a doctor I can trust, to take a look at you.” I still felt bad about not apologizing and reaching out to Marcus about the tragedy that occurred during the monster attack.

The doctor started by checking my pulse, temperature, and some other vitals with a device in his grasp. As if that showed nothing promising he switched to checking for any abnormalities by using his magic. A visible aura wrapped around his hands as he pressed them against my chest and forehead. I expected to feel some sort of sensation of magic flowing into my body but waited in confusion for the results.

Everyone freaked out when the doctor jerked back his arms like being on the other end of a static shock.

“I don’t understand. Your body is blocking my magic from entering.” The doctor stood up with a puzzled expression. “Any more force and I feel I’d be the one injured. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do.” I could hear Alexa and Marcus arguing with the doctor, but I could care less since the throbbing pain increased ever since the doctor tried to help.

“Everyone leave.” Eris spoke out when she saw my eyes shut tight.

Alexa never went against her and relented by escorting the others out of the room before closing the door shut behind her.

“You’ve got an idea?” I couldn’t think straight and wanted to know what was on her mind.

“Maybe my blood can help you…” Eris pulled out a knife secured on the back of her waist. I found it strange that she had that there the entire time.

Eris sat down on the bed beside me about to cut her arm. “You don’t need to.” My hand stopped her. I knew how much she was against using her blood to heal others and didn’t want her to do so for me.

“It’s okay. This is my choice.” Eris placed her hand on mine and gently laid it back on the bed before continuing her previous action. Not only did she have to make an incision with the knife. She had to keep the blade pushed into her arm so that it wouldn’t immediately heal back to normal.

The warm blood trickling down my lips and throat felt awkward yet oddly soothing. A single gulp gave instant relief for my migraine and felt like a veil of fog being released in my mind. I stopped her the moment I could start thinking clearly again.

“No way... The pain is all gone!”

I hugged Eris in appreciation, then noticed I spread my sweat all over her clothes and apologized at the same time. A shower. I wanted one badly now that the pain disappeared.

“Hopefully, that solves it.” I sighed from the ominous flag she just set off as I got up to jump into the shower.