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Eternal Grandmaster SiobhantheWriter
Brianna Siobhan Healey

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In the world of Corrigenda

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Chapter 17

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Eldrick awoke suddenly, hearing an anguished scream of pain. Slowly dwindling back to unconsciousness himself, his body arguing with his mind over the need to get up. He drifted back into fevered dreams of running naked looking very different than he did now, true he was like ten years younger, but the body parts were not the same. He now had something dangling where there hadn’t been before. He considered that it may have been a past life memory and not from this one at all. In the dream, he was being called Amalin by the lady who had taken her in as a foundling walking around in the woods with no memory of how she had gotten there nor where her parents were. The dreams almost felt like memories long buried and forgotten. With his mind reeling, he started regaining consciousness. Considering his dream, he thought it must be a past life memory and not from his current incarnation for how can memories be forgotten. Then he started to consider his reaction to the lady’s gowns in the attic and how he would have loved to try one on and feel the satiny fabric against his skin with such a desire. To wear one, even if only for Sebastian to see him in it. Now that seemed like a ridiculous thought. If only he could have the proper frame, he thought to himself dejectedly.

As he lay there, a middle-aged woman entered the room carrying a bag, protruding from the top was an assortment of bottles. None of which seemed to contain the same colour liquid or powder. Reflecting back, he realized it was a healer’s bag, a bag he was supposed to be crafting as they go whenever he spotted the medicinal herbs which grew wild and could be harvested. Sergei wanted him to have a healer’s bag for the journeyman trials, after all, he would have to prove himself to the master, not the other way around. The woman approached the bed and placing the bag on the foot as she sat on the edge looking Eldrick over. Eldrick never having been under such scrutiny felt like a piece of offal about to get tossed out the door. Her eyes seemed to peer deep into his being as if she were searching for something, or trying to find fault with his very being.

“Young Eldrick, I believe. I am Amarna. Do you know why I am here?” she asked calmly, her very mannerisms putting him at ease.

“No Ma’am,” he replied timidly.

“Well, let's just say your master is worried about you. Magical backlash can be very dangerous," reaching out she placed a wrist on his forehead. "When it causes unconsciousness there may be some damage related to it. Of course, sometimes it is just that the body hasn’t learned how to deal with the energies efficiently," she nodded. "Sergei had better do something about that. He told me you cast a spell he has never tried to cast. The magical force it requires is too great for him. So when you released the spell, without proper grounding, all that energy rushed back into your body in a way it couldn’t handle. From what I can tell there was no harm done. You need the training to handle the energy so you do not have another backlash. It will mean a lot of hard work on your part, with little time to learn. I would have thought he had at least taught you shielding by now,” she droned on while checking his reflexes and pulse. “Nope, everything seems to be working just fine so far. Now if you could help me, I really need to see to this cat on the floor," she motioned toward Sebastian. "Sergei informed me that he has been out since early morning after a confrontation with some brigands. Took a nasty blade to the shoulder which did more damage than he could repair. I fear what he has done may have been the only thing he could do. In order to help, I may need to open him up again and risk infection and more damage. But first, let me get a good look at him,” She seemed to be exceedingly loquacious, which kept Eldrick from asking questions or citing his concern for Sebastian.

“His name is Sebastian, and he is not normally a cat,” Eldrick interjected the moment he had a chance. “I am sorry for interrupting Ma’am, but if you keep speaking so fast, I can’t answer questions or point out any information you may need to know. Is there anything you can do? Sergei said he may not recover and that I shouldn’t coddle him because if it is going to heal, he is going to have to use that arm in order to build his strength back up.”

“He did say you were bright. Thank you,” She replied at a more leisurely pace which seemed very much like her normal speaking tone when not worried about a patient. “I do appreciate intelligent people to the people I see almost every day, or would if I was not attached to the palace staff as a healer. You see, women here can only achieve rank and privilege if they marry it or become healers. It was an easy choice for me as healing came naturally, though, it too has its drawbacks." Pausing to give him a searching look, "You look like you could become a healer with the proper training, though I dare say it is a lot of hard work. What, with all the spells to learn and the trances to perfect. Now Sebastian here, is going to require I go into a trance. I may ask for things from my bag in order to help him. I won’t be able to see where the items are, but you have a fine set of eyes and can hand me things as I call for them. Everything is labelled, so it shouldn't be too hard to find the right one.”

As he watched, she sank deep into trance, her eyes glossing over as if she were looking deep into the unknown. Her hands began to pass over Sebastian’s body, like they were feeling the energies, searching for the injuries and detecting their severity. As her hands were passing over the right shoulder, she let out a gasp, her hands hovering above the injured limb.

Eldrick could feel his forehead starting to bead in sweat, as the temperature of the room suddenly increased. The sun-like warmth permeating the air, though it seemed to be focused on Sebastian. He even thought he saw a golden beam of energy flowing from her hands, into the shoulder. Then she started calling for herbs, aconite, cowslip, vervain, and dragon’s blood. As they were passed to her she dropped a little of each into her lap, or so it seemed, settled between her legs was a small mortar and pestle into which she dropped the herbs, then she would take up the pestle and methodically crush them, the cowslip and aconite she chewed before dropping them into the mortar to be ground with the rest. The resultant paste looked somewhat similar to the one he made earlier that morning though he only had the cat's paw. Proud that he had done something right to help his friend made him eager to learn more about healing. From somewhere she pulled a very small knife and began to snip away the magical sutures Sergei had placed in the shoulder. As he watched her, blood started flowing from the wound. With deft hands, she reached inside, manipulating muscles so they realigned. After withdrawing her hands. she started packing the poultice into the wound. The bleeding stopped but Sebastian started thrashing about.

“His injury is very bad. The poultice hurts because it has been applied to the open wound, allowing the medicinal properties to interact directly. His body is trying to fight the medical treatment. The major problem is his tendons had been sliced and the muscle sheared from the bone. Everything is now back in proper alignment, the poultice will hold it there until it heals." She looked at Eldrick, her lips pinched tightly. "It could be five to six weeks. You saw how I made the poultice, so you will be responsible for changing it every two days. After the first ten days, you will no longer need to pack it into the wound, it should begin closing, just place it over the wound. Be sure to wrap it in clean linen only. I will check up on his recovery once more before you leave the castle,” she said as he wrapped the wound slowly. Eldrick listening to her voice noticed it fading from strong to weak.