Chapter 249: Dwarf Healer ( Part 1 )

The beach was quiet.

The waves flowed over the black sand of Ashen Coast, washing away the blood that was spilled during the battle which changed the fate of the whole world. The water was freezing and dark – and in it floated pieces of stones, destroyed weapons… The sky above stayed red… A wound that refused to heal, reminding people of all the things that have been lost already.

Azrael watched how Snow started to disintegrate.

The huge body of the wolf turned into blue particles. Nine tails were gone; their luminous forms scattered on the beach like dying stars. His magnificent ice wings were gone too; there were only a few spots of frost on them that dissolved before they touched the ground. Only his divine energy kept lingering above the beach, rising up into the sky.

Azrael watched until the last particle disappeared.

During his life he saw many things: the fall of kingdoms, death of heroes, the disappearance of whole civilizations under the crushing burden of time… And death had never scared him; it was not his duty to prevent it either.

However, now something lingered in his mind.

Snow knew he was going to die. He chose to save her anyway.

He lowered his gaze and looked at the woman lying next to him.

Jennie Queens.

The reincarnation of Leonis KingHeart.

The girl who fought the Demon Emperor and lost everything…

Her silver-white hair was tangled with sand; moonlight in the darkness. There was blood in her clothes, in the mixture of her and others’ blood… The right hand was twisted unnaturally; the fingers swollen… The breath was shallow, so faint that it almost did not exist at all.

He crouched next to her.

“Jennie Queens…”

There was no answer.

He touched her neck and felt the weak pulse beating under her skin.

Alive.

Not for long…

Azrael was standing motionlessly for a few seconds and watched her. Exhaustion covered her face – it was not just physical exhaustion, it was deeper… The kind of exhaustion which comes after watching everybody you love dying while you are alive.

He unwrapped his cloak and put it around her.

“You foolish woman…” He said quietly.

“You don’t understand how inconvenient it is to die before finishing your story…”

Carefully he picked her up in his arms.

Jennie was so light.

It frightened him more than he thought.

She fought seven Demon Generals; she fought Zuko when he was transformed, hit him with nothing but her wounded body and her desperation… She was fighting even now after losing everything…

However, now when he was holding her in his arms, she was looking small and frail. Child-like.

Azrael looked toward the horizon.

Demon Continent was burning under the crimson sky; the branches of the World Tree were reaching the sky. The sky itself seemed to shake; something ancient and terrible was awakened.

Soon the gods would appear; the fragile equilibrium between the divine world, people and demons would be broken.

However, until this time he needed to do something.

He needed to keep Jennie alive.

Even if she hates him for that; even if she never understands why…

Azrael spread his wings.

Several seconds later he disappeared in the sky.

Walden was a city at the border of two worlds.

Located near the Demon Continent, it became a shelter for merchants, wanderers, refugees, people who lost everything in the endless war between humans and demons. Tall stone walls, built with dwarven craftmanship, protected Walden. In the streets of this city, merchants sold weapons, herbs, enchanted things and food imported from distant countries.

In contrast to the Black Capital, Walden had no towering palace and monstrous fortress; it was an ordinary city where people were trying to rebuild their lives after tragedies.

And having witnessed the destruction of the palace of the Demon Emperor, Azrael found that ordinary things have become harder to look at.

He landed outside the city close to sunset.

The wings disappeared in the dark magic veil. Adjusting the cloak, he approached the gate.

The guards instantly raised their weapons.

“Stop!”

One of them stepped forward.

“Identify yourself!”

Azrael looked at him.

For an instant, it seemed to him that he was standing in front of the abyss – the darkness which seems to absorb everything which was around… His hands trembled and his spear seemed to be a toy…

Then he spoke.

“I need a healer.”

The guard swallowed.

“There are healers in the city; the temple is on the eastern street.”

“Not a priest.”

Azrael looked at Jennie.

“I need Ferd.”

The guards looked uncertainly at each other.

One of them slowly lowered his weapon.

“The dwarf?”

“Yes.”

“Master Ferd doesn’t like strangers easily.”

The expression of Azrael didn’t change.

“Then tell him that Azrael is asking.”

The guard paled.

He heard some rumors about Demon Generals; every child from borderlands heard stories about the seven nightmares who served the Demon Emperor – the monsters that brought destruction, killed whole armies, burnt entire kingdoms…

And the man before him just named one of their names…

However, he didn’t threaten anybody; he didn’t break his way to the city gates. He just stood, holding unconscious woman in his arms and waiting.

After a few seconds of tension, the guard entered the city.

Less than ten minutes later he came back.

“Master Ferd will see you.”

Azrael followed him into the city.

Ferd’s workshop was located behind the stone house on the northern side of Walden’s street.

This was neither a temple, nor any kind of luxurious medical center. The workshop was rather simple, resembling a blacksmith shop with a wide chimney, solid wooden doors, and all kinds of tools attached to the walls. It smelled of metal and medicine mixed with coal odor.

An old dwarf was sitting at a workbench and polishing a silver hammer.

He had braided beard consisting of three thick braids, each of which had tiny rings on them. The sleeves of his clothes were pushed above his elbows, showing his muscular, scarred arms. Callused and tough, his hands looked like those of a man accustomed to working with metal and flames.

He did not look like a healer.

He looked like a man able to mend a ruined fortress using a hammer and a terrible temper.

When Azrael appeared in the shop, the dwarf did not look up at him.

“If you came here to purchase a weapon, you should return tomorrow.”

“I need you to heal a person.”

“Then go to the temple.”

“They cannot help her.”

“Then either she is hopeless or you are too stingy to pay for a healer’s service.”

Azrael walked up to the workbench.

“Her name is Jennie Queens.”

Ferd’s work stopped.

Slowly, he raised his head.

For the first time in his life, his attention was directed towards the woman in Azrael’s arms. He looked at her face—silver-white hair, pale skin, and closed eyes. His gaze moved to her injured hand.

The hammer dropped to the floor with loud ringing.

“By Mora’s grace…”

Ferd quickly circled the workbench.

“Put her down! Carefully, you overgrown crow!”

Azrael did what he was told immediately.

The dwarf cleared the table, got rid of some tools and gestured at Azrael to lay Jennie on the table. The dwarf’s hands started glowing with soft green light, not golden light characteristic for the Goddess of Creation, not cold blue color of the Divine Wolf’s magic. This was rather like rays of sunshine coming after a long winter.

Warm. Gentle. Living.

The light spread over the girl’s body.

Ferd’s expression became somber.

“Who did this to her?”

“The Demon Emperor.”

The dwarf’s hands stopped their movement.

Several seconds passed.

Then the dwarf’s gaze turned towards Azrael.

“Zuko?”

“Yes.”

Ferd muttered some oath under his breath.

“Of course. Of course it should be him.”

The dwarf returned to the task.

“Her ribs are damaged. Several internal injuries. Severe blood loss. The magical pathways of her body are burned almost beyond recognition.”

His gaze turned to her hand.

“And this…”

He fell silent.

Azrael watched him intently.

“Can you save her?”

Ferd did not answer immediately. He put his hands on Jennie’s chest, and the green light became brighter. For several seconds, the whole workshop was filled with gentle radiance of divine healing.

Then the dwarf exhaled.

“I can try.”

“Do it.”

The dwarf looked at him sharply.

“Do you think I need your permission?”

“No.”

“Then stop standing there like a dead man and let me work!”

Azrael did not say anything.

Ferd turned to Jennie again.

For several minutes, the only sounds in the workshop were the crackling of magical energy and the dwarf’s mutters.

Then, unexpectedly, Azrael spoke.

“Please.”

Ferd’s hands stopped.

The word was soft. Almost inaudible.

But the dwarf turned to him as though Azrael shouted.

The Demon General stood next to the table, his expression was hard to understand, and his hands hung freely at his sides.

“Save her life.”

Ferd was staring at him.

“You are one of Zuko’s generals.”

“Yes.”

“You were serving the creature who has done this to her.”

“Yes.”

“And now you are begging me to save the woman he threw into Hell?”

Azrael lowered his head.

“Yes.”

Ferd was studying him for a while.

He expected threats. Perhaps, demands. Maybe some kind of offer of money or power.

But not this.

“Why?”

Azrael looked at Jennie.

“Because she must live.”

“That is not an answer.”

“It is the only answer I can give you.”

Ferd’s expression hardened.

“Then listen carefully, demon. I’ve received the blessing of Mora, the Goddess of Healing. Her power enables me to heal the wounds not reachable by regular magic. But it does not give me the ability to control the life itself.”

He put his glowing hands on Jennie’s chest.

“I can heal her body. I can stabilize her soul. I can fight death until there is something left to save.”

His eyes narrowed.

“But if the girl’s life will slip away from me, even Mora cannot guarantee me her revival.”

Azrael’s fingers clenched.

“Then do not let it slip away.”

Ferd looked at him.

For a moment, nobody said anything.

Then the dwarf turned to Jennie.

“Get out.”

Azrael did not move.

“Now!”

The order sounded in the whole workshop.

“I cannot heal her while you are standing there filling the place with demonic pressure scaring the soul out of the corpse! Go! Go to any corner of this miserable world and do something useful!”

Azrael glanced at Jennie for the last time.

Then he bowed his head.

“She is in your hands.”

He turned and walked towards the door.

Before leaving, he paused.

“Ferd.”

The dwarf grunted.

“If she wakes…”

Azrael’s voice faltered for a short moment.

“…tell her that she is not alone.”

Ferd did not turn around.

“Tell her yourself when she wakes up.”

The door closed.

And the Demon General left Walden.

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