The Beast and The Brain.

“You need to rest first; you just helped two other children today, if you start working on him you could drain yourself to a point that you could damage yourself.” I woke up to the sound of loud voices arguing, but it was the strangest thing, because I thought I recognized them.

I slowly opened my eyes, everything around me was bright, and I felt as if had been run over by a team of horses…multiple times. I groaned and closed my eyes tightly, it was so hard to breath, I could only take short slow breathes. The pain I felt was immense, I didn’t think it was possible but I felt worse than before. Still I remembered the pain I had felt when my memories came back, nothing was worse than that pain, but this came close.

“Look at him.” A girl’s voice said harshly, “If I don’t at least start to help him now, he could die. If his ribs punctured his lungs then he could suffocate to death. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me where you were going tonight!” The girl said angrily.

There wasn’t a reply at first, “Fine.” The man said at last, “But I know how you can get, you have to promise me you will stop. Just heal him enough so he can get some sleep…so we can all get some sleep.”

“I promise.” The girl agreed quickly and I felt the bed shift in weight. I opened my eyes slightly, it was still very bright, there was a girl sitting on the side of the bed looking at me. She moved her hands; one touched my ribs over my right lung, and the other rested on my forehead. It hurt where she touched me and I wanted to pull away but before I could say or do anything a warm feeling washed over me. I closed my eyes and simply enjoyed it. It felt like sitting in the sunshine on a warm afternoon with a breeze on my face. I feel better, the pain was leaking from my muscles and I felt like I could breathe again.

She took her hands off me a minute later and got off the bed. I opened my eyes, and found that I could open them fully, and I could breathe too. I blinked a few times and took a few deep breaths; I looked over, “Grace!” I said surprised and sat up. “Ouch.” I groaned and collapsed back down.

“Don’t you dare move!” Grace scolded me, “You are nowhere near healed, and you will lay down and sleep for the next week if I have any say in the matter.” She put her hands on her hips and tried to look angry, but I could tell she was happy to see me.

I grinned, “Sorry Grace, it’s just...really good to see you, what are you doing here?” I looked at Charles and Grace, I couldn’t believe that they were actually here, it was just the sort of luck I needed.

Charles smiled, “We will tell you everything Asher, for now get some sleep.” Grace nodded then smiled and left the room and Charles followed her after he got me settled with blankets and made sure the fire was going. It took me only a minute to settle down and fall asleep, and when I did. I didn’t dream, I simply slept, and felt rested.

~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning I was surprised when I woke up in a warm bed with the sun shining through the open window. I was confused at first, and then I remembered that Charles had helped me escape from the barracks, and Grace had begun to heal me. I yawned and looked around the room. I was free. A sense of peace washed over me, the knowledge that I wasn’t going back to prison put my mind and body at ease. I was free once more; free to do as I please, free to go after J.

The door opened and Grace stuck her head in, when she saw I was awake, she grinned and closed the door behind her. “Good morning, how do you feel?” She asked sitting down on the bed beside me. Her hand reached out and touched my forehead.

“Better, still horrible, but not so horrible.” I grinned.

“Well you still have a fever, so I’m going to heal you as much as I can. I probably won’t be able to heal you entirely this time; I am still resting from yesterday.” She told me and I nodded. She touched one hand to my ribs again and the other on my head, and once more I was engulfed in the amazing feeling of her power. When she finished I felt even better than before. When I looked at Grace, I saw that she looked tired.

“So your power takes your energy as well?” I asked her.

She nodded her head, “Yes.”

I looked out the window at the blue sky and sun, “I wonder why that is.”

“Wonder what?” She asked.

“Well, a while back, J asked me why I ate so much and why my power didn’t affect me like others powers. When I use my power, I just have to eat, and I can maintain the form for as long as I wish. With powers like yours and J’s its different, you people cannot use it for as long as you wish, even if you were to eat. This makes me wonder why it is that way.”

Grace shrugged, “Who knows Asher, but who really cares? It’s the way it is, no reason to dwell on what we can’t change.” Grace stood up, “I’m cooking a big meal for you and father is helping as well, and I think you can get up and join us at the table. I will come get you when it’s ready, but until then I want you resting.” She gave me a strict warning look then left the room. I chuckled to myself and let out a sigh.

I stared at the ceiling for thirty minutes, but I could not convince myself to stay in bed. I pulled the covers off and allowed my feet to hang off the edge I now noticed that I was in different clothes, and I was embarrassed if Grace had changed me. I stood up and wavered a moment, allowing the blood to flow throughout my body. I felt sore, like after a hard day of running through the woods or a night of flying, but I felt better.

I stretched and yawned a few times and went over to the fireplace and sat down in front of it as I used to do when I was a kid. I stared into the flames completely captivated. After I felt a little warm for comfort, I got up and left the room, despite what Grace said. I just felt too good to stay in bed. I stepped down the stairs, slowly to make sure I didn’t lose my footing, I didn’t trust my body completely. I stepped off the last step and found myself in the kitchen and dining room. It was a small house, the downstairs was one room, but it felt cozy.

As soon as the smell of the food hit my nose, I let out a groan and my stomach growled. Charles was over the fire turning a lamb. He turned around when he heard me, “Good afternoon Asher, I got a lamb from the butcher, I remembered how much you ate.” He turned back to the fire and sprinkled herbs on the meat, “If Grace see’s you out of bed she will be very angry.” He warned me.

“Yes, very angry.” I turned to see Grace at the door; I hadn’t even heard her come in. I saw the outside before she closed the door. There was a thin layer of snow on the ground and the sun was out. I felt the chill from the door as she shut it and it made me shiver. “Why are you out of bed? I thought I told you to stay put.” She scolded.

“I feel too good to be in bed, besides can I just sit down at the table? So I won’t be alone and can talk with you and your father?” I asked her.

She flicked her curls out of her face and took off her boots, “Fine.” She said simply. She held a basket full of food and my stomach growled again.

“I’m starving.” I told her when she gave me a funny look.

“I think I can tell.” She reminded me and handed me a piece of bread and cheese, I stuffed the food into my mouth and ate it in two bites.

“Thanks.” She nodded and sat down across from me at the table and peeled the potatoes.

“So what are you guys doing here?” I asked them both interested.

“Well.” Charles spoke, “After you and J left, I realized that it wasn’t safe to stay. After all, what would prevent men from coming back to take Grace? So we packed our things, and we moved. We went to one of the main cities sold my land, and then we continued until we came here. The community had a sickness going around in the children, and there isn’t a healer around for miles. So naturally, we fit right it. We bought this small house, Grace heals people in the community, and people from neighboring villages come here to get healed as well.”

“Wasn’t your old town sad for you to leave?”I asked.

Charles shrugged, “After the incident with you and J the people became, suspicious of us and things weren’t the same, so we left. But we like this town, its small, but the people are nice, and Grace brings in good money, and if the people can’t pay with gold, then they pay with whatever they have.” Charles motioned at the lamb. I nodded, getting his point.

“So how did you find out that I was a prisoner, and how did you ever manage to get me out?” I asked curiously, then I remembered another big detail, “And how do you know my real name?”

Charles smiled, “Well as to your name, Grace told me what it was after you left. She overheard J say it when you all rescued her. As to how I got you and how I found out you were a prisoner…well I guess I got lucky.”