The Paths to Oraj
Chapter 15
Healing
The barn doors swung open, and Lasinna’s breath caught in her throat. The Innkeeper still lay unconscious beside her, his arm still burned black. She had no time to run, no time to get away. They’re going to throw me in jail!
But the man who stepped into the flickering light of the fallen lantern did not hold the accusing and threatening look she had expected, considering she was laying next to a half dead body. This man instead looked at her with a puzzled expression, intrigued it seemed as he stared at her.
Then he asked, “How did you do that?”
Lasinna opened her mouth, all ready to blurt out some excuse in denial of the crime she had obviously committed. But then she realized the actual question this man had asked her. He hadn’t asked her what had she done or why had she done it, but instead, how she had done it. This held her in silence, and the man stepped farther into the barn.
He was older than she’d originally thought now that she could see the grey hair mixed with the brown, as well as the slight wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. He had a small mustache that was almost completely grey, and he wore a long robe that dragged the ground. A Mage?
“You used Magick, didn’t you?” he questioned. “I know you did, so don’t try to deny it. But I must know how you did it. Surely, you’ve not had any teachings as a Mystic; you’re too young. Though maybe they do things differently down here in the South. I don’t come down here often, so I’m not certain of your customs. But I know you have not been to Isolan. That I’m sure of.”
The man had walked all the way to the unconscious Innkeeper by this point, while Lasinna had merely stared, wondering who in the shadows was this man. At the mention of Isolan, however, Lasinna finally found her voice.
“You’re from Isolan?”
“Oh, so you can talk,” he answered kneeling down beside the Innkeeper. “But why should I answer you when you have not answered me?” he stopped in his study of the unconscious body to look at her.
Lasinna didn’t know exactly what this man was after, but he hadn’t thrown her in prison yet, so she figured she might as well as answer him. “I’m not sure how I did it.”
“You did use Magick though, correct?” his eyes still held her gaze.
“I guess. I’m not sure. I think so.”
“Well if this is how you are going to answer all my questions you might as well remain silent,” he commented, turning his attention on the charred arm of the Innkeeper.
“I did use Magick,” Lasinna said with a bit more confidence.
“Did you now?” he said, lifting the burned arm delicately. “And how do you know you used Magick? Have you used it before?”
Lasinna looked at the black arm. “No. But I’m certain that this was Magick.”
“Well, of course, it was Magick. No simple fire would have done something like this. Now, tell me, was he holding you at the time?”
“Yes,” Lasinna said guardedly, hoping she didn’t have to go into why the Innkeeper had been holding her. Fortunately, it seemed as though this man didn’t care about anything except the Magickal aspect of this whole scenario. I guess that’s a good thing.
Lasinna, however, couldn’t just concentrate on the Magick of this whole situation. She definitely wanted to figure out how she did manage to perform whatever spell she had done, but there were more pressing matters at the moment.
Mr. Surkit was still out there searching for her, and she didn’t know how long her fake trail would keep him busy. The stable would be the first place he’d return to, and she could not be here when he came back. She had to speed things up.
“So I’ve answered your questions; will you answer mine now?”
“What do you wish to know?”
“Are you a Mystic?” she asked first.
“Did I not mention that already?” he answered, as if it wasn’t a huge deal that she was talking to a Mystic.
But now that she knew he was actually a Mystic, she couldn’t dance around the more important question, so she asked him directly, “Will you take me to Isolan?”
He looked up at her again, pausing for a moment. “That’s a long trip,” was all he said before going back to examining the arm. What kind of answer is that?
Lasinna was about to ask again, but Blawlo closed his eyes and began muttering under his breath. He spoke softly, and Lasinna couldn’t make out what he was saying. But she knew he was in the midst of performing a spell. She had seen this before with her sister.
Lasinna also knew that there were two types of Mystics. There were those that considered themselves Healers and those that were Conjurers. A Healer, like Blawlo, specialized in curing people of illness and healing their wounds. A Conjurer, on the other hand, created spells that used Magick as a weapon to attack or defend. Lasinna had always wanted to be a Healer, so she could help her sister, but this incident with the Innkeeper might have already shown her where her natural abilities already lay. No, I will find a way to Heal my sister.
Suddenly, a spasm ran through the unconscious man, and his blackened arm shot straight into the air. Lasinna watched utterly transfixed as the charred skin slowly began to mend. At first, it was very gradual, but within moments, Lasinna could already see the new skin replace the severe burns, and before she knew it, there was no indication that there had been a burn at all.
The Mystic lowered the Innkeeper’s arm back to the ground and then sat down himself. He breathed in deep as if catching his breath, and Lasinna noticed the sweat across his brow.
“Takes quite a bit out of you, especially Healing the kind of damage you did on him. Magickal wounds always seem to be more complicated than normal ones, it seems. At least, I knew the spell you attacked him with, or we might have had to been here a little longer than you would’ve wished. Of course, I’m not sure how you knew how to perform that particular spell, but we’ll figure that out all in good time.”
Lasinna tried to make sense of all that the man was saying, but finally, she just asked, “So you’re taking me to Isolan?”
“I suppose I can’t let a talent like yours go to waste.” Then he looked at her with the most serious expression she had seen on him yet. “But you have to promise me you won’t do anything like this again. You might have the talent to be a Mystic, but you’re not one yet.”
Ladinos nodded. “I promise.”
“Then let’s get going,” the Mystic said, standing. “I have a wagon out back. You know how to hitch up a horse, right? I would have the Innkeeper do it, but obviously, he won’t be able to help anyone for quite some time.” The man then started for the doors of the stable without waiting for a response from Lasinna. “I’m Blawlo of Dunafel by the way. I think it’s customary to introduce oneself, but sometimes I forget. Anyways best be hurrying on now. Long way to go.”
The man disappeared out the doors of the stable, and Lasinna hurriedly scrambled to her feet. This Blawlo might be an odd one, but he was a Mystic. And more importantly, he was taking her to Isolan. Things are finally staring to look up.