The Healer

My mother was dying. My mother was dying, and there was only one person in the world that I could think of who could save her: Damian Emmerett. Everyone knew about Damian. Strong, tall, handsome, he was a stunning man. But beyond that, he was a healer. Everyone here has a power. Mine’s fire. Being able to control fire is great and all, but it is of no help to a dying woman. Damian was blessed with the power of healing. It is said that he was the strongest healer to have ever lived. I needed him. My mother did not deserve what she was going through. After a freak accident, she was bedridden due to a blast of magic. She didn’t know who it had been or what had happened to her, and I didn’t either. All I knew was that the magic was killing her, and only the strongest of healers could save her life. Obviously, I was going to go and get that healer.

I made sure my mother had someone to watch her. Emmy, my friend who lived just down the road, was free this week, so I made her stay with my mother. After making sure she was settled, off I went. Damian lived in a city miles away from my small town. My town was desolate. Only a few hundred people lived there. We had one healer for the entire town; most towns had several. He was a good healer, don’t get me wrong, but his magic wasn’t strong enough to help my mother. My town was also stranded from all other outside places. The nearest place of civilization was an hour away – by horse. I didn’t have a horse. That meant I would have to walk all the way through that town and on to one that was three towns over. If I had estimated it correctly, it would be a twelve hour walk. That is if I took no breaks, which is exactly what I planned to do. I had food and water in my backpack, so I wasn’t worried about that. I also had a few knives strapped to my leggings in hidden places, just in case.

The trek was hard, but luckily I never ran into any trouble. Late into the night, I arrived in the town where Damian lived. Since it was obviously too late to show up at the healer’s door, I made my way to the small inn located in the center of town. I opened the door and walked to the welcome desk on the side of a room filled with tables and people laughing and drinking. It was a type of tavern that not every city had, and it reminded me of the one we had back at home. “Hello,” I said to the man at the desk.

“What do you want?” he asked grumpily.

“Do you have any rooms left?”

“A few. You looking to spend the night?”

“Yes, sir. May I have a room?”

“That’ll be fifty coins.”

I nodded and handed the coins over to the grumbling man who gave me a key in return. “Thank you,” I said.

He huffed in reply. I took the key and made my way through the people and to the stairs. The key he had given me was for a room on the second floor, according to its tag. I climbed up the stairs and walked down the hall until I found my room. It was small, with only a tiny bed and a wooden table, but it would work. After all, I was only staying for one night. I threw my bag down on the table and collapsed on the bed. I was exhausted, as it had been a long journey. In moments I was asleep.

***

I woke up early the next morning. I had been an early riser for as long as I could remember. I ate some apples that I had in my bag before picking up said bag and my key and walking out of the room. I placed the key down on the welcome desk and exited the building, making my way through the streets. After a few minutes of walking, I arrived at a small cottage on the outskirts of town. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door. A tall (and rather attractive) young man opened the door. He looked at me. “I don’t know you,” he said after a minute and moved to close the door.

“Wait!” I cried.

He stopped where he was. “You’re Damian, are you not?”

“How do you know who I am?”

“You’re the most famous healer in the world. I am Amelia. My mother is dying. Please, you’re the only one who can save her.”

He opened the door fully. “Come in,” he said.

I followed him inside, slightly nervous due to the cold reaction I had received at first. He sat down at a table in his kitchen and motioned for me to follow suit. I did. His house reminded me of a cottage from a fairytale, both on the inside and the out. The outside had moss and vines covering the small building that had a roof that appeared to be straw (though I think that was just an illusion or something), and there were small flowers on each side of the cobblestone walkway leading up to the door. The inside was no less fairytale-like. Everything about it seemed magical. There were small vases and glass jars holding plants in all of the rooms I could see. Something even felt special about the table we were sitting at.

Damian was looking me up and down, his lips twisted downwards in a frown. “Why do you think I can heal her?” he asked suddenly, breaking the eerie quiet.

“I don’t know,” I told him, “but I’ve heard you are a fantastic healer – the best in the land. I come from a small village, you see, and not much word comes from the outside world. But you, we’ve heard about you. Our healer says you are better than anyone else, and I trust him. He’s not powerful enough, though. He couldn’t heal my mother. I hope you can. Please; I don’t want her to die.”

The room lapsed into silence once again. “How far from here do you live?”

“A twelve hour walk. I do not have a horse.”

Damian appeared in thought for a moment. “I will come,” he said at last.

“Really?” I asked.

He nodded. “I will help. I hope you don’t need to grab anything; we leave now.” He picked up a small satchel and a walking stick and proceeded to walk out the door, leaving me alone in his house. I quickly picked up my backpack (which I had put on the floor) and followed him.

He was already at the street when I caught up to him. “Did you walk all the way here just to get me?”

I nodded.

“Didn’t know I was that sought out.”

“As I said earlier, my healer says you are the best, and I am sure there are many others who would say the same.”

“What happened to your mother?”

“I’m not entirely sure. It was a freak accident with magic. She had been outside with some of her friends when suddenly something exploded. But not the normal type of explosion, like a magic power explosion, you know?” He nodded. “Well, I heard the scream and came outside to find her lying on the ground, writhing. Her friends told me what happened. I took her inside and placed her on the bed. Her skin looked like lava, and it hasn’t changed since. Her eyes, when they are open, have an odd red hue to them, even though they’re normally bright blue. I was worried, so I had her friends call Candal. He’s our healer. He couldn’t do anything and told me that the magic was killing her. That’s why I came to find you.”

He was quiet for a moment as we walked through the streets. “I think I can help her, but I can make no promises.”

“I understand.”

We continued to walk for a few hours before stopping to eat a quick lunch. Afterwards, we kept going. I learned a lot about Damian in those few hours. He had been given his powers at age five, which was three years younger than I had received mine. He wasn’t actually the village healer in his town, as there were three other healers who lived there who were much more vocal about themselves than he was. He was typically very withdrawn from society, except for when he was healing. He also cared for animals and healed them. He seemed like a really good guy. He also seemed like he genuinely wanted to help my mother.

It was already dark when we arrived back in my town. I led Damian to my house. We went inside, and I led him to my bedroom. We didn’t have an extra room, but I told him that he could sleep there and I would sleep on the couch, since he was my guest. After I checked on my mother, I decided that she would be okay until morning. Damian turned in very soon after we arrived. I talked to Emmy for a little while before sending her home, though not before thanking her profusely for watching my mother while I was gone. She insisted it was no big deal. Once she was gone, I spent some time with my mother, even though I was exhausted. She was tossing and turning in her unconscious state. Her forehead was still burning up; she had been running a high fever for over a week now. “Damian will heal you,” I whispered to her. “I promise.” She didn’t respond, obviously. I looked down sadly and walked out of the room. I collapsed on the bed and allowed myself to succumb to sleep.

***

When I awoke the next morning, Damian was already up and sitting in one of the other chairs in my living room. It took me a few minutes to remember why he was there. “Good morning,” he said.

“Mornin’.”

“Where’s your mother?”

I got up and led him to my mother’s room. She was still in a fitful sleep. Damian lightly touched her, and she woke up, gasping. Her eyes still had the same red hue to them. He put his hands on her, and she thrashed under his grasp. He then turned and looked at me, taking his hands off my mother. “I cannot help her,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“I cannot help her. I am not a healer.”

“What are you talking about?” My eyes were starting to tear up. “You-you told me you could heal her.”

Damian walked toward me. He took my hands in his in a way that I would have found endearing if not for the circumstances. “Amelia. I lied.”

He looked right into my eyes as I felt my heart shatter. “She will die.”

“Why would you do this to me?!” I screamed at him, tearing my hands from his grasp.

“It’s my job; it’s what I do. Now, shhhh. You won’t remember this in a moment.”

He grabbed my hands again, and I couldn’t tear them away. He started muttering something under his breath that I couldn’t understand. His eyes glowed. My thoughts felt jumbled all of the sudden. I couldn’t think straight. Everything was swirling around me. It was blurry and becoming darker by the second. Mother. Sick. Or was she well? I couldn’t remember anything. “Sleep,” I heard a voice command me. I listened.

***

I didn’t know how long I had been asleep for when I finally drifted back into consciousness. I sat up slowly and saw a man standing in front of me. It took me a few minutes to figure out who he was. Damian. The healer I had gotten for my mother. “Is my mother okay?” I asked him. Surely he had healed her while I had been asleep, right? I could remember nothing since when I arrived home with Damian.

Damian gave me a small smile. “She’s okay. She left shortly after she was healed, though. I don’t know where she went.”

I was elated and heartbroken at the same time. “Why did she leave?”

“I don’t know.”

“She’s healed though, right?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get back home.”

He picked up his satchel and walked out of my house. “Goodbye, Damian!” I called.

“Goodbye, Amelia.”

I watched as he walked away. He disappeared from my sight in moments. I sighed and went back inside, shutting the door behind me. I was so glad that he had been able to heal my mother. But something felt off. Why would she leave without saying goodbye? I didn’t know. It would be okay. I would find her. I packed up my stuff, too. I was going to find my mother. Nothing mattered more to me.