I wring my hands. I ball up some more linens and press it against Eryx's chest. The bleeding has slowed somewhat, but his chest is still actively oozing blood.
I've done all that I can think to do, and despite my efforts, despite all the spells I've whispered over him and all the potions I've tried to make him ingest while he's unconscious, nothing has worked. I'm just sitting in my workshop alone with a man who's dying.
A peal of hysteric laughter threatens to bubble up when I think about the first night that I met Eryx, when he was a mysterious Gra'marian general, just someone in need of help. I look at him. That night I remember thinking he looked so boyish and innocent while asleep, but now when I look at him I see the marks of pain etched deep into his face.
I sit down, looking at my workbench once more. I run through my lists of ingredients, the potions I've always relied on, but... Nothing seems like it works. Nothing seems like it would work.
There's nothing I can do. I'm out of my depth. I clench my fists in the linens I'm holding. Looking down at this man whose lifeblood is seeping out of an open wound from his chest, I feel unfairly confronted by my inadequacy. If only I had access to magic stronger than whatever that man had, I could probably have saved Eryx.
Stronger magic.
Something falls into place. In a hurry, I undo the buttons of my shirt and take up the necklace from my neck, the little red gem swinging back and forth in rhythm. When Re'aila told me that I could use this to communicate with her should the need to talk to her arise, I hadn't really taken her seriously.
The necklace sparkles in my hands. I can't hope too much. It probably won't work anyways, and there's no use getting worked up about something when it's likely it'll just disappoint me. But still that little voice at the back of my head whispers that it just might work, and that anything is worth a try. Right?
And so I clutch the gem tightly, whisper a prayer to the gods, and will Re'aila's presence around me. I brace myself, sure that nothing is going to happen after all. Through it all, though, I keep my eyes closed, scared of what I might find when I open them.
I almost scream when there's a voice right in front of me.
"Selene. How lovely of you to return to me."
"I didn't think-" I open my eyes, but stop talking when I realize I'm in Re'aila's little cove with the pond. "Am I back in Gra'marah? I can't be here-"
But Re'aila shushes me, gesturing downwards.
"Little one, it's just your soul that has been called into this place." And I understand what I'm supposed to be looking at. Though I feel the sensation of the water, see the glow of the mushrooms, and hear Re'aila's serene voice, I'm not here. There are no ripples in the water when I move, just as I observed for Re'aila when I was here last. As before, she indicates a place on the rock for me to sit. "It's good to see you again."
I sit down. And then take a deep breath. "I don't think I have much time, Queen Re'aila."
The queen sagely nods. "Yes. I can feel it. Your beloved, he is in danger."
I don't have the mental capacity to correct her calling Eryx my beloved but look at her quizzically regardless. "How do you know that?"
"I can feel his life energy, next to where your body is still. It is fading away."
"Right," I say. "Do you... Do you know of everything that happened?"
"I have a strong connection to you, as you are a child of mine. I did see some of it. And knowing what you encountered, I know what it is you must be facing."
"What I encountered? Does that mean you know what that man was?"
"Death augur," says Re'aila, nodding. "I heard of them back when I was alive, though I've never had the misfortune of meeting one. They're harbingers of death. It is said that if they are ever killed, they trade their life for death. The killer will be gripped by their own mortality. It is a fate that none can escape. That is how the legend goes, anyway."
"I tried everything I could think of to save him and I've had no luck. Queen Re'aila, according to legend, is there really nothing that can be done?"
"Like I said, it is supposedly a fate that is inevitable. There is only one thing I can think of."
I look into her face, with her deep brown eyes. "And what is that?"
"Life magic." Re'aila looks away. "You don't have much in you, but I have more than enough of my essence left in this world to pass onto you. I... I know the feeling of losing my beloved. So I regret having to put it this way. I was only planning on passing my life magic onto you if you agreed to correct my last regret in life."
"You don't mean..." I feel fragile, like I'm ready to crumble away at any moment.
"Yes, Selene. Take back the throne. I don't wish to force you to do anything while you're in such a vulnerable state, but there's no way around it. It's your destiny, and the only way that I can find eternal rest."
"Eternal rest?" I feel lost. I came to Re'aila as a last hope, and despite her giving me hope after all, her blackmail tastes bitter in the face of all of my loss.
Re'aila smiles. But it's a sad smile. "One of the things I've come to accept after death is that life is bigger than myself. I've been a lonely woman for a long time. It's time for me to let go of my attachment to this world and entrust my final will to someone else. Someone capable. Vengeance has kept me around thus far, but I need to let go of it so I can find peace with Maito."
"I don't know if I can do what you're asking me to, Queen Re'aila." I don't like anything that she's saying. My mind turns to the feelings of hope that I've had. Thinking that Era would be waiting for me at home. Or even just a couple hours ago, when Eryx told me that he would be by my side to search for Era. When I speak again, I can feel the emotions clouding my voice. "I have to find my sister. I have to take care of. And maybe, for the first time ever, I have... I feel like there's someone who wants to take care of me."
"Without my life magic, that someone won't be around to care for you." I can hear her own grief in her voice, but still I can tell that she's no closer to helping me without my vow.
"Can't you just give me enough for me to save him?" I feel tears well up, frustration and mild panic hitting me when I consider what I'll be left if I'm not able to save Eryx. It tears me up to think that I'll truly have no one left if he dies right in front of me, but it's just as upsetting to ask Re'aila to accommodate my most selfish desires considering what her life and then death was like.
"I waited for you for a long time. But time doesn't flow for me the same way it does in the world, Selene. I'm just a memory tethered to this little space. Once I release my life magic, I'll be gone. Don't think that I can run out of patience. It's not possible." Re'aila looks into my eyes unflinchingly. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
