Page 21 of The Sacrificial Heart
“Hurry!” he cried, reaching another tentacle up toward where he’d pushed Rune away. He could tell that she was yelling at him in fury and concern; but the moment he felt her tentacle grasp his own, he threw every once of will that he could muster into getting them the hell out of there. The world around them lurched violently, and suddenly the water surrounding them was cold once again.
Water splashed and surged against him as he lost his hold on his form, starting to shrink down rapidly. Panicking, he thrashed in the water—trying to swim upwards, but completely disoriented.
“Florian!” Rune’s voice finally cut through his panic. “Stop!” He froze, fear still pounding through his veins and his arm screaming with pain. He felt something thick and heavy wrapping around him, then he was suddenly being pulled up through the water.
Everything was rapidly growing brighter, then he was bursting up through the surface of the water and into the cold air. The sky above was a smoky lavender hue from the sun peeking over the horizon. Florian spluttered and coughed, his vision becoming blurry; but he kept clinging to the Arrow in his burning, blistered hand.
“We made it,” he panted, his voice coming out as a faint wheeze. “We made it.”
Everything after that was hazy and indistinct. He remembered the sensation of being dragged through the sand only because of how much it hurt his blistered arm. Then someone was lifting him up, and there were voices all around him. Then he was dry and warm, but his arm hurt so badly that the second he was aware of it, he snapped awake with a cry.
“Oh,fuck,” he groaned, then whimpered as he tried to move, only to send a fresh shot of pain ripping up the length of his forearm. “Fuck, heal,heal...”
The Arrow wasn’t in his grasp anymore, but he must have been resting long enough for some of his magic to come back. He could manage a little trickle of it through his arm—not enough to fully heal, but enough to take the edge off, making him groan in relief. When he managed enough grit to look down at his arm, the sight of it made him queasy, but at least the skin looked likeit was starting to heal now—raw and pink, rather than red and blistered.
Florian looked around for a moment, realizing he was in the bedroom of their guest cottage. He was alone in bed, though, and Kade wasn’t in the room with him. He thought he heard voices distantly from behind the closed door; but when he tried to sit up, his head spun sickeningly, so he stopped trying.
“Kade,” he called out, his voice a faint croak. “Kade.”
He wasn’t sure exactly how long passed as he lay there calling out, but eventually, the door opened. Kade hurried inside, a gaggle of others following him. Florian managed a faint smile as Kade grasped his uninjured hand, looking him over with obvious concern and relief on his face.
“You look a lot better already,” Kade offered, and for some reason, it made Florian laugh. Of all the things the other man could have said, that was the first thing out of his mouth? Kade’s stern facade cracked as Florian chuckled. “You must be feeling better, too.”
“I think all this constant passing out is bad for my brain,” Florian replied, still trying to stifle a laugh. “I healed my arm a bit. It was hurting like a bitch.”
“It looks much better,” a stranger’s voice came from his other side. Florian gave a start, noticing for the first time that in addition to Koji and Rune, another kraken shifter had come filing into the room. She was a tall, broad woman with long brown hair pulled back in a simple braid; she gave Florian a soft, maternal sort of smile when he looked up at her questioningly. “Oh, I suppose we haven’t met. I’m Disa, one of the town healers. I cleaned up your burn when you and Rune got back; but, well, it looks like your magic did a better job of it than me.”
“It’s still pretty bad,” Florian replied, gingerly lifting his arm for her to inspect. It still felt like fire when he moved it,especially his hand. “I didn’t have enough magic to... heal it all the way, I guess.”
“I see,” Disa said, carefully looking over the wound. “I can give you something for the pain, and once you’ve rested, you can try healing it the rest of the way. Does it work like that?”
“Usually, yeah,” he said. His eyes flickered to Rune who was standing near the door, looking haggard. “Are you okay?”
She gave him a smirk in reply, but it fell from her face quickly. “I got a little nap in. Everyone going to your room woke me up. I had to make sure you were okay. I’ll go lay back down in a bit.”
“But you’re not hurt?”
She rolled her eyes. “No, I’m not hurt. You were the one who didn’t listen to me and stuck your stupid tentacle in a stupid volcano.”
“A volcano? Underwater?” Koji interrupted, speaking for the first time, and Rune groaned.
“It wasn’t a volcano,” Florian protested.
“Whatever it was, you were an idiot to reach into it,” she replied, shaking her head. Florian grinned, shrugging.
“Maybe. Better me than you.”
“Idiot,” Rune muttered again, turning toward the door. “I’m going to lie back down.”
She stalked out of the room. Disa made a soft clucking sound with her mouth.
“Stubborn girl. Don’t listen to her,” she told Florian, her tone more amused than concerned.
“I know,” Florian replied with a chuckle. He looked back at Kade, who had been hovering on his other side nervously through the whole conversation. “Told you I’d make it back.”
Kade managed a small smile. “Yeah. You scared us, though.”
His cheerful mood faltered. It had been miserable, and it seemed like he was always hurt and needing to recover after they retrieved every Arrow.
