"Can we save the boy"s arm?" Nayla did not answer Akon, instead, she concentrated on pooling her magic around the boy"s mangled arm. She was surprised at the fact that he had survived this injury. But seeing as his breathing was slow and his lips were pale, she knew she had to act if she wanted to save him.
At the back of her mind, she wondered who was the creature that brought the human boy to them. But she quickly brought herself back to the present. The chilling aura of the creature and its wishes for the boy"s safety was not to be messed with.
Who knows what it might do if something were to happen to the boy.
-She seemed so ready to tear down the gates if she had to.- Nayla thought to herself.
"Nayla, Nayla," Akon called out to her, even waving his hand in front of her face.
The blonde-haired elf was lost in her train of thought and he could see it!
Nayla blinked a couple of times and shook her head. She needed to concentrate. After some a.s.sessment, she knew it would be difficult to save the arm. The veins, muscles and bones were present, but they would need the help of some of the best healers to fix it.
"Akon," Nayla looked up at him and continued, "I need you to call for a Mender, anyone who might be available at this hour. We need a second opinion."
Akon could see the sweat trickling down Nayla"s forehead as she said that. Both of them knew the condition of the boy. They needed to act swiftly to save his life.
"But he doesn"t…" he tried to remind her but she stopped him.
"I will place him in a state of limbo while you go and look for a Mender," she replied.
"Limbo?! Nayla you won"t be able to …"
"Would you shut up and just do as I say?!" she cursed at him.
Akon held his tongue and went off to do as he was told. Nayla wiped the sweat off her forehead and let out a sigh. She looked down at the boy and wondered what he had gone through. What caused him to lose his arm.
-I can"t imagine the shock and pain he must have felt at that moment.-
She was getting off track again! Nayla tied up her hair into a ponytail and hovered her hands over the boy. As she did so, she started to murmur the incantation of limbo. Now all she had to do was to maintain it for as long as she could.
After an unknown amount of time, Nayla felt as if she was in the zone. She had blocked out everything that went on around her, only focusing on the incantation. Akon had returned with a mender named Tanzin.
He took a look at the boy"s condition and made his own a.s.sessment.
"Remarkable. If he was not a shapes.h.i.+fter, he would have died from these injuries by now," Tanzin remarked.
Akon was anxious, "So? Can you fix his arm?"
Tanzin combed his beard as he pondered, "It"s too mangled and too much time has pa.s.sed. It would be easier to close the wound now and let him heal first. After that, we can build him a new arm."
Akon nodded and let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you Mender Tanzin. You"ve been a great help! Please let me know how I can a.s.sist."
The mender nodded and asked Akon to prepare a bunch of medicinal herb paste while he got to work. He could see that the young elf healer who was maintaining the boy"s limbo state might not be able to hold on for long.
He had to work quickly. Akon gave the boy a tonic to numb the pain before the mender began his work. He folded his sleeves and used the tools he had brought with him to carefully severe the mangled arm.
He also took samples of each component of the arm and placed them in a tray of tiny jars. After that, he closed up the wound on the boy"s shoulder socket and applied the medicinal herb paste onto the wounded areas.
Akon helped to wrap the wounded areas with strips of fabric and wiped off the sweat on Nayla"s brow. Once the wounds were dressed, he brought in a small red coloured potion and fed it to the boy.
He then went over to Nayla and tapped on her shoulder.
"Nayla, you can stop now. The boy is stable," he said to her.
Nayla could hear his words loud and clear. She simply nodded and withdrew the incantation. She closed her eyes and fell back onto the chair behind her. Finally heaving a sigh of relief.
She looked up at the bearded man before her, "Thank you,"
Tanzin nodded and replied, "It"s all in a day"s work. You did well too, healer."
She gave him a soft smile as Akon gave her an update on his condition.
"Fair enough. Honestly, I am more than happy that we managed to save his life. Now it"s a matter of when he would wake up," Nayla said as she folded her arms.
Curiosity got the better of Tanzin, so he asked them where the boy was from. It was not common for humans to be in the Alterra Sector, especially such a young boy.
Not to mention, so close to the entrance to the Fae Realm. Nayla explained to Tanzin how they were being called to one of the keystone portal gates; how they met the creature that brought the boy to their gates.
Nayla and Akon described to Tanzin the creature"s appearance. He listened attentively.
"Do you know what creature that was?" Akon asked Tanzin.
Tanzin tried hard to recall the books he had read. He was certain he had seen an image of such a creature in one of the books he had read some time ago. Then, it dawned on him.
"It"s called a Kyu I think."
"A Kyu?" Nayla asked.
"Yes. If your description is accurate. But those usually live high up in the spirit mountains where it snows throughout the year. Why would it appear here?" Tanzin wondered.