Healing the Broken

As the horses trot on, I noticed a vixa tree ahead of us. Unlike tadicka plants that could only alleviate pain, vixa fruit could heal injuries completely. I redirected the horses toward the vixa tree by pulling the reins toward the side. These horses must have been from my world since they understood common commands. The goblins probably had stolen them from villagers.
“Whoa,” I called to the horse. Both horses halted, and I jump down. I plucked the blue, cone-shape fruit from the tree, and hopped into the wagon.
Arjun’s infected eye had closed. I was sure it probably see out of it. His other eye quivered under his eyelid.
“Arjun,” I whispered in his ear. “I know you’re in pain, but if you eat this you’ll heal.”
I didn’t know if he could hear me. Even If I broke a piece of the fruit and slid it in his mouth that didn’t mean he would chew and swallow. He would probably just choke. Usually when I had patients that were unconscious I would use a needle to insert a remedy fluid made from vixa.
I was worried when he didn’t respond. I would have to wait until he was conscious before he could eat it. I gathered more fruit and ate some myself. I then set off. Although I had the queron stone, I had to still find the way to the portal to take us back to our world.
A couple of hours passed by when I heard Arjun groan in the wagon. The sky had already darken to black. I slid off the back of the horse and jump into the wagon.
“I’m still alive,” Arjun mumble, when he saw me. “At first I thought this was what death look like.”
“Eat this,” I said, he look at me skeptically at first. “It will heal you.”
He nodded, and grunt. I handed him the fruit, and he bit and swallowed it. He closed his eyes and let the fruit’s serum take affect. He slowly open his eyes, and said. “You really are a medicine alchemist.”
I shook my head. “This isn’t alchemy, it just enchantments of the fruit.”
“No matter,” He lifted himself up, and met his eyes with mine. “I don’t know how you did it, but thank-you for saving my life.”
I nodded. “I manage to get the queron stone, but I couldn’t find the portal to our world.”
“I’ll find it,” he said.

XXX
As he rode the other horse beside me on the other horse, I tried to see if the infected side of his face had healed, but the few star’s illuminance in sky—speckled in the sky like salt grains on a black surface— didn’t help much.
“It’s okay,” he said.
“Huh,” I said.
“The disease consuming half my face didn’t heal,” he said. “But I’m just thankful that I’m alive. So how did you free us?”
I explain to him about how I used the archet fruit in the fire to intoxicate the goblins.
“How long do you think they will be unconscious,” he asked.
“I’m not sure, probably not much longer than myself.”
That is when we saw the flames blaze, cutting through the darkness from behind us. The lights surround us. Sniggering crowded the air.
“It’s the goblins,” I gasped.
“This way,” Arjun called as he cut both his and my rope from the wagon with a knife that he found in the pocket in the saddle, and directed horse toward dark massive shadows that I was sure were probably mountains. “See how fast they approach. They must be on horses.”
I followed behind him as the flares raced toward us. Before we knew it three of them on horse were in front of us. The torches they held in theirs hands revealed their hideous beady eyes and sharp tiny teeth. Seven more came from behind us before we could turn around. One of them blew out his torch and pulled out a rope, fling it toward me. I dodge it before it could wrap around me. Four more of the goblins blew out their torches and tried to catch us in their ropes. One of them somehow manage to wrap one around my wrist, jerked on the rope, and pulled me off the horse. Arjun did his best to dodge their targeting, but after a couple minutes he was caught and pulled off his horse. The goblin snickered which sounded like they were gurgling water.
An unhuman cry pierce through the air, and the goblins stopped laughing. The cry reminded me of the cry of a crow but much louder. A dark shadow dived in front of us and snatched up one the goblins. Two more dark shadows plunge from the sky, and each plucked a goblin from their horses. The goblins begins howling, some fell off their horses to avoid being stolen into the night by whatever were snatching them into the air. The loose horse’s hooves seemed to stampede over me as they panic in the mayhem.
I got a better look at the beasts from the sky as they plummet down, and a couple of dropped lanterns burst into flames illuminating them. These flying creatures looked like bats. They had leather looking wings with lizards’ body. One of the creatures dove for Arjun, but he rolled over on his side before it could snatch him up. He struggled trying to cut a rope wrap around his neck, the owner of the rope must have abandon it when he fled from the bat lizard creatures.
One of creatures tried to yank me from ground, but my hand was caught in one of the ropes attached from one of the horse, and the horse pulled me away, frightened that the flying creature would attack it. A pain blazed through my wrist as my hand was jerked from its socket. I grunted out loud. The horse dragged me across the ground, rocks and sticks tore my skin. It was all I could do to grab the rope with the other hand to keep my hand from being ripped from my body.
“Zey,”Arjun called out to me. I look back to see a quick glance of him cutting the rope around his neck. When I turn to see the horse in front of me, my head was bashed into a boulder. The agonizing cause my vision to blur. I barely saw a glint shoot through the air and slice the rope that binded me to the horse, and then everything went black.
XXX
I woke with the sun gazing at me between the between the ring of surrounding trees. My head ached so badly. It felt heavy like my head did when I hung upside down as a child but three times painful. I lifted myself up but fell right back down when more pain shot through my body.
“Ahhhh,” I grunted.
Arjun emerged from somewhere in the forest. He’s armed grazed my back as help me sit up. “Here,” he said. Giving me a vixa fruit, and bit into it.
“Where are we,” I asked after I swallowed the piece of fruit.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “But I followed our tracks this far.”
I waited a while to let the vixa take effect. Once my head stop spinning, I begin to realize where we were.
“We’re here,” I gasped. “We’re in the enchanted forest.”
“So you think you can get us out of here,” he said, concern in voice.
“Yes,” I said. “But don’t worry it’s not as dangerous as where we were. I still need to fulfill my promise to you.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said. “You fulfilled enough by saving my life.”
“Let me show you where she lived,” he looked at me skeptical, but he was more than just skeptical but also afraid. Afraid maybe to find out the truth. “Do you want to know?”
He reluctantly nodded his head, and we came upon the transparent colored lake in front of the cave bahara lived in.
“There’s a pathway under the water,” I told Arjun. “Follow me.”
I carefully walk along the pathway. Only the heels and wilts of my boots sunk beneath the water. He looked at me as if I just ask him to jump from a mountain.
“Trust me,” I said.
I continued to walk across, and he followed behind.
Everything was still elegant but dust and cobwebs had form over the curtains, furniture, and decoration since I had last come here nearly ten years ago. Arjun eyes scanned everything as if he was looking for something specific.
He suddenly froze, and stared at something on the top of a dresser.
“Did she make those vases,” Arjun said walking toward the dresser with the jars, jewelry, and comb on it.”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I was only with her for two days.”
He turned the jar in his hands, studying every detail of it. When that didn’t satisfy him he looked inside the dresser draw. He pulled out a book with a golden embroidery tree weaved on the cover. He scan through the pages, and his hands began to shake then he crumbled to the ground. Leaniing his back against the wall, he held his head in his hands.
“Arjun,” I said, letting concern ripple through my voice.
“You were right,” he said, the sound of his voice was mournful. “She was my mother.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, genuinely apologetic since she died trying to save Danj and I. “How do you know?”
“This is a book of her memoirs.” He begin to tremble, and I realized he was weeping. I begin to walk out the cage, but he looked up at me. His eyes were red, but there was no shame in them. Instead there was anger. Maybe because he came to realize that it was my fault for his mother’s death.
“I can’t trade you,” he spoke. “My mother’s death won’t be in vain. If she wanted to protect you then I must too.”
“But our deal?” I shouted out. “You promised to save the children that were taken.”
“In which I will keep,” he said.
I just stood there, baffled. “But you just said—”
“That I would not trade you, and I will not. I will not hold you to your part of the deal, but I will still fulfill my side of the deal.”
“But how?”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“But—”
“Do you want to be sold to Leer,” he snapped.
“No, but maybe you could trade my life for theirs and maybe get a profit from it as well. Like you said I would be worth much more than any of the Leer’s offspring.” I couldn’t see any other solution in how he would be able to save them unless he traded my life for their lives.
He shook his head. “Then my mother’s death would mean nothing.”
“Your mother saved me so I could cure you from your illness,” I said, trying not to let anger slip out. I was tired of feeling like my life and destiny was out of my hands because others thought I needed to be saved or I was trophy to be won. “But she was mistaken. You survived from the disease on your own. And vixa, the most powerful medicine I know, I gave it to you and it didn’t heal your face.”
“You did save me,” he said. “You use the vixa to save my life.”
I shook my head. “And you saved mine. If your mother had never save me, then you would have never had to chase me into the other world in which I saved you. You’re mother saw a medicine alchemist, but what she didn’t realize is there are somethings I can’t heal. I can’t heal lost limbs or some diseases. Sorry Arjun.”
“Fine,” he said, frustration seeping through his voice. “If that is what you want. I might as well trade you for something since your life is worthless, nevertheless. Then maybe my mother’s death will have some meaning.”
I didn’t expect they would, but his words stung like that of a hornet. Although, I knew why he struck out at me. I had just ruin a justification for his mother’s death. If there really was no reason to save my life then his mother did really die in vain. Two people’s lives had been lost to save mine. But maybe I could save some lives if I was willing to give up my own.