When I woke, this time, the light was coming from the stone fireplace and a dimmed light globe off by the workbench. Unlike the previous time, I didn't hurt nearly as bad, not that I wasn't in pain, but I only felt like I was punched in the stomach. My head still wasn't feeling all together, but my eyes opened more easily. My vision wasn't as distorted as it was previously even though it wasn't completely clear, I could see more of the room. The stone fireplace with hanging pots was on the side to my left. I could make out herbs drying in front of it and a workbench straight down from my feet. To my left, the rest of the room was also stone with a shuttered window on my far left. It didn't seem to be full dark outside, so it was probably evening. A small brazier was lit near the window keeping the chilly evening air at bay.
There seemed to be no one about as I again tried to move to sit. My upper body moved with more certainty, but I still wasn't going to make it. I did notice a writing desk filled with books and papers above my head to the right of the fireplace. A wooden mug sat on the right side near the edge while an ink pot and quill were near the back on the same side. Looking at the mug reminded me of the draught they gave me to drink earlier and thinking of the viscous foul-tasting liquid, my bladder felt the urge to empty itself. Despite trying my best for the second time, I couldn't seem to pull myself up to sit, let alone stand. I remembered the bell the healer girl Tyia left on the stand near the bed and grabbed for it. It took two tries before I had it firmly grasped because on the first one, I knocked it over causing it to make a tinkling sound before I could pick it up. Before I was able to give it a good ringing, a large barrel-chested man with black hair and enormous arms who I thought to be in his early twenties came in from the other room. Like everyone else I had seen here, he was wearing whites, but instead of robes, he wore a short-sleeved shirt which looked two sizes too small for him. Even with the buttons at the top not pulled through the knots, it was still stretched to its limit. This allowed his muscles to bulge in places which I bet would make a lot of women smile.
Looking in my direction, I could see he had brown eyes which focused on me trying to move, he shook his head. "Don't try to sit yet. I will help you. After sleeping for four and a half days with little more than broth, you should feel too weak to get up." Saying this, he pulled a chamber pot near the bed. "Let me pick you up."
Not given a choice, he lifted me from the bed like I was a toddler and set me upon the chamber pot. It had wooden handles for my arms which I tried to grasp, but just being moved here made my abdomen squeal in pain causing my vision blur again. On top of that, I felt like the hut was spinning and I couldn't keep my balance. Luckily, he seemed to understand and didn't let go of me.
Once my body completed its task, I told him I was done. He nodded and called out to someone in the other room. A younger dark-skinned guy a couple of years older than me walked in. He was wearing white clothing several sizes too big for him making his skin look even darker. He arrived carrying a warn wooden bucket and several pieces of cloth. I knew him from around town, but it had been some time since I had seen him. Thinking about it, I recalled his name to be Maurin. Long ago, we had played together, but he disappeared after fall festival, and I hadn't seen him since.
"Maurin, right?" I inquired.
Maurin grinned. "I didn't think you'd remember me. I went east two years ago for training, and when I returned, no one else remembered me." He began washing my body from head to toe with lukewarm water while the first man held me almost standing. "After all those injuries, and the size of the knots on your head, I'm glad you remember anything. I was worried about you." With this, he continued to carefully scrub me going gentle around freshly healed wounds and my stomach. "Other than you being my first real patient, I am glad to be home again, but it saddens me to see you in such condition."
The big man, not to be left out said, "I see you two know each other. I am Dustin. I am here for the festival and hope to complete my journeyman tasks over the next two weeks. With the knight's test due to start in a couple of days, there should be a lot of showing off, which means injuries, and I'll get to prove my skill making poultices and show off my techniques on the injured."
I panicked. "Two days? TWO DAYS? It can't be in two days! I have to heal! I have to compete! Dustin, can you make a poultice to fix me? I have to take the test. I don't want to wait until the next one. Please, Dustin. Please heal me."
"I am still a journeyman rank ten, but not an official master healer yet. My poultices aren't capable of such feats. In the future maybe, but I have just unlocked my aura three years ago, so I can't infuse the higher-level potions yet, and nothing I could create would heal you better than what they have given you. I have already done my best on your head, but your injuries are too severe for everyone in town."
Tears started pouring from my eyes. I'd never make it into a noble house if I have to wait. What was I going to do? I have every fiber of my being set on becoming a knight of nobility. If I had to wait a year, I would be passed by for a younger person next year.
Maurin looked me up and down, ignoring my tears. "You are clean now. Can you feel anything in your legs yet?"
"Huh? I felt you wash me. I think." My tears slowed as I thought about the bath I received. The water was warm on my face and neck, but below that, I really couldn't tell. Shouldn't the water have been cold by the time he got to my legs? Maybe there's an enchantment on the bucket keeping the temperature consistent. No, if I hadn't looked, I wouldn't have realized he was washing my legs and other parts. The tears began to form in my eyes again. I shook my head. "No, no, no. I don't think so." Concentrating, I discovered, I couldn't feel my feet or legs. other than having to relieve myself, I couldn't even feel my other parts. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and sweat started coming out of every pore as terror filled my mind. I can't feel my body. I won't be able to walk. I won't be able to fight. I'll be an invalid being pushed around in a wooden chair with wheels for the rest of my life.
Dustin gently pulled me up and placed me on the bed before covering me with a clean blanket. "Don't give up Von. There are healers who can fix you. It will take time. There are potions which can restore everything except death. Your mother is well known in the Iztok duchy. If anyone can find such a healer, she will be the one. If not, you can petition the healer's council or King Garret to use the grotto of the gods. It is said to be able to heal the worst injuries in a few days. Tales say it has been able to bring back the dead, but only under the right conditions. Unfortunately, those special conditions have been forgotten over time, and despite many trying, it has failed to heal the dead for the last few centuries."
Maurin looked at Dustin in amazement and invited him to continue. "Does the grotto really exist? I hear rumors about it when I was in training, but no one claimed to have ever seen it. If it really exists, wouldn't people who were sick or injured be lining up to use it? The line would stretch for hundreds of miles if it could heal anything. Everyone would want to use it. No one would have to worry about being injured ever again. They would just line up and wait their turn or maybe fights would break out trying to get to use it before others. I guess, it would be smart to keep it hidden."
Dustin nodded. "I haven't seen it, but I overheard the ancient masters talking about visiting it when I was scrubbing their chambers. They either didn't know I was there are didn't think it was important enough to keep me from hearing it. The ancient masters can use it to extend their life if a suitable replacement on the council doesn't exist, or can't be found, but they can only use it only once this way. Even then, only they try to wait as long as possible before using it in case someone more important to the kingdom needs it and to make sure it will give them the most benefit. It must be close to their enclave if they can wait so long. I think this because by the time most of them would want to use it, they are too old to move quickly, nor to travel long distances. They also talked about once they are replaced, they go there to be absorbed so the world won't lose their knowledge. Thus, the trip can't be far from the enclave of healers."
I tried to stifle my tears. I knew I wasn't anywhere near as important as a high healer, let alone an ancient healer. I couldn't think of any reason why they'd let me in there. "But I'm just a boy. Why would they let me use something like that. I'm not even famous."
"You're not, but I am." A husky voice from across the room stated firmly.