Chapter 15: Normal? What?
The infirmary doors clicked shut behind Dax as he hurried outside to check the commotion, leaving Mango alone in the blood scented silence.
But the moment the faint sound of retreating footsteps vanished down the corridor, Mango’s expression changed. Her playful smirk dropped, replaced by a cold,brooding frown.
Her fingers twitched at her sides, still humming with residual magic. The Blue Flame’s chill clung to her skin.
With a sharp exhale, she raised her hand and traced a jagged symbol in the air. The rune glowed crimson before splitting open. A tiny, rippling portal no larger than her palm,suspended between dimensions,appeared. On the other side, darkness pulsed, then solidified into a masked face. The features were obscured by shifting shadows, but the voice that emerged was crisp...commanding to some extent.
" Long time no see, Mango! You got news? "
Mango bowed low, her voice barely above a whisper. " Kieran was injured badly. But he lives. He was stabbed in the heart by a Demon blade! "
A beat of silence.
Then the voice almost gasped, "Impossible."
"I saw it myself," Mango insisted, fingers tightening around her staff. "The corruption was unmistakable. Blackened veins, flesh rotting from the inside. No ordinary blade does that.I had to summon the Blue Flames to cleanse myself.It was not a dormant demon knife...it was pretty much active. The corruption would have gotten me as well, had I not cleansed myself in time. I feel very exhausted." Mango sighed.
The masked figure leaned closer, the shadows around their face writhing. "An active Demon Blade? And yet he survived?"
Mango hesitated. Her gaze flicked to Autumn’s unconscious form, the girl’s chest rising and falling steadily. Too rhythmic."I suspect... she healed him."