Martin leapt out of his carriage and rushed to the training grounds. It looked like the entire army was there, circled around the three training rings. He was spotted immediately.

“Part for Martin the Healer!” someone shouted.

They did, and Martin went straight to the middle of the circle.

“Martin!” Captain Luiz said with a breath of relief and pain. “Thank God you’re here.”

Captain Luiz was doing everything in his power not to show how much pain he was in. Since Captain Luiz wasn’t unconscious, Martin didn’t have to touch his temples to get the corruption out. He threw a shield over him, wrapping it around his body and pulling the corruption from it. Captain Luiz gasped as the shield pulled the corruption out of his chest. Martin moved the edges of the shield until it encompassed the black ooze before he smothered it.

“Thank you,” Captain Luiz said, touching his chest.

There was a recruit unconscious on the ground, and three unconscious military healers. Martin winced, dropping to his knees quickly and placing his fingers against the temples of the recruit.

It was a powerful bout of corruption. Martin pushed himself, strengthening his shield as he gathered the corruption together before easing it out of the recruit’s chest. Martin opened his eyes, smothering this one too.

“The pain is gone from this boy. He should be ready to heal,” Martin said, moving on to the military healer.

Martin kept his mind clear and focused, even though he couldn’t deny the disappointment he felt. Tolomon sat on the ground, guarding Indenuel’s unconscious form. The agitation in the bodies were clear. The military healers were hit with a powerful evil that would have overwhelmed their shields. None of them were prepared for it.

“Will they be alright?” Captain Luiz asked.

“Give them the rest of the day to recover, but yes. They will be fine,” Martin said as he took the corruption from the last healer. Captain Luiz helped Martin to his feet as the other military healers worked on their unconscious members.

Martin approached Tolomon, who got to his feet and bowed. “Hello, sir.” He barely managed to get that out before he swayed dangerously. Captain Luiz and Martin steadied him. “Forgive me. The corruption hit me too.”

Martin didn’t hesitate as he threw a shield around Tolomon. If he wasn’t a Graduate, he would have been passed out on the floor like the others.

“This is a double case of bad corruption,” Martin mumbled as he pulled a lot of black ooze from the man’s body. “How are you still standing?”

Tolomon said nothing as the shield finished pulling the corruption out. He closed his eyes before straightening himself.

“Indenuel pushed himself too hard?” Martin asked.

“It looks like it, sir,” Tolomon said. “He hit himself accidentally with the pain, but he’s in the devil’s sleep now.”

Indenuel was on his side, and Martin eased him to his back. He touched the boy’s temples, sensing the deep corruption inside, as well as the corrupted pain. He did what he could to separate the pain from the rest. The black ooze he could heal right now. The deeply seeded corruption took a different kind of healing. Indenuel’s shirt was soaked in blood, but he didn’t see any wounds. Someone had already healed those.

Martin smothered the black ooze and stood up. “I need him somewhere private.”

“My captain’s hut is right over there,” Captain Luiz said.

Tolomon picked Indenuel up. They broke through the circle and headed for the cabin. Captain Luiz fell in step with Martin.

“What should we tell the men?” Captain Luiz asked.

“What happened here was a mistake, but it will be rectified. Indenuel pushed himself too hard, and we need to adjust his schedule, make it so this doesn’t happen again,” Martin said.

“We cannot push him like this again. Ending the war is a tremendous responsibility to place on someone not even twenty years old. This is partially my fault. He asked to go another round, and I let him because he’s in a higher social class than I am.”

“Well, if he’s ever in this position again, you remind him exactly what happened. I pray he doesn’t need the reminder.”

They entered the cabin, and Captain Luiz quickly brushed off some things from his desk before Tolomon placed Indenuel there.

“Remove his shirt, please,” Martin said.

Captain Luiz took out a dagger and cut away at Indenuel’s shirt. The red mark of the devil was clear, even among the dried blood. Martin gave a grim nod. He expected as much, but it still pained him to see it.

“What do we do?” Tolomon asked.

“Nothing, while he is asleep. The level at which I sensed, he’ll be out until tomorrow morning at least,” Martin said. “Until then, make sure he gets cleaned up and take him home.”

There was a knock at the door. Captain Luiz went to open it as Tolomon got out some cleaning supplies from within a closet. Martin remembered again how much ooze he had pulled from Tolomon, and it was strange to see him up and active.

“Tolomon, rest. Indenuel can wait,” Martin said.

“I’ll be fine, sir,” he said as he eased the rest of Indenuel’s shirt off.

Captain Luiz handed Martin a note.

Emergency meeting in the meditation room once you are finished.

Martin folded the paper and stuffed it in the pockets of his robes. “If my services are no longer required, I shall bid you gentlemen farewell.”

“Thank you, Martin,” Captain Luiz said. “You truly are a powerful healer.”

He said nothing as he left the cabin.

***

“This is the second time we’ve gotten a report of the Warrior using corruptive powers. Considering we haven’t known him until a month and a half ago, this is quite concerning,” Fadrique said.

“It’s a matter of us pushing him way too hard,” Martin said. “We lighten his schedule up, and we shouldn’t have this concern again.”

Navir, who had been rubbing his temples, dropped his hands and stared at Martin. “The average person does not use corruptive powers like this. There is something deeper we need to root out of the boy.”

“I’m quite sure he’s murdered someone,” Dalius said, looking up from the book. He was the one in charge of writing down the minutes of the meeting. “The way he described the demons reacting around him, that level of hate is alarming.”

“We cannot have a corrupted individual as the Warrior,” Navir said.

Martin had little power over the High Elders. If this was any other crowd, he would have raised his hands and the talking would have ceased, but with them, they would ignore him and keep talking.

“Gentlemen, please! You’re acting as though he’s marked!”

“He is marked!” Fadrique said. “You just told us he is!”

Martin rubbed the bridge of his nose. “A red mark, Fadrique. Not a black one.”

“The public will catch wind of this, if they haven’t already. I’m assuming you didn’t have the forethought to swear them all to secrecy,” Navir said.

Martin leaned back in his chair. “He is being pushed past his limits. It’s been almost two weeks, and he’s been thrown into his Warrior responsibilities. We must show compassion on the poor boy. In many ways, he is still coming to terms with this himself.”

“With reports of the war being so discouraging, there’s little else we can do,” Navir mumbled.

“What do you suggest, Navir?” Fadrique asked. Dalius’ quill scratched against the page as he finished writing.

Navir went back to rubbing his temples. “He has proven himself more than capable in the four gifts. From what I gathered, he only used pain today, so once he wakes up, Martin will check to make sure his powers haven’t begun to corrode. Whether they have or not, I suggest he work with Captain Luiz three days a week, and with one of us the other two days. For this first week it will be Martin both times to counteract whatever the corruption did to his powers. Martin, I want a full report once he’s done confessing, sent to every High Elder. Don’t leave any details out. Understand?”

“Yes, I can do that,” Martin said.

“Do you need my help to cleanse the mark?” Dalius asked.

“No, it isn’t dark. I can manage it myself,” Martin said.

“Very well,” Navir said as he stood, indicating the end of the meeting.