Every town has a heroes’ graveyard where the monster hunters who died defending the town are laid to rest. Godeke has a particularly fine one that’s popular with tourists.

—Visit Godeke tourist pamphlet

Sariel

There was too much blood.

The floor of the artifact chamber was red with her blood. People can’t lose that much blood and live.

I blinked. Suddenly, without warning, I was on the floor. How did that happen?

“Steady,” said Uriel. He was kneeling on the floor, holding my shoulders.

The doctor, a small, mousy man with thick glasses and a ridiculous mustache, shined a light on my face and asked, “When was the last time you ate something?”

What the hell was that idiot blabbering about? I pushed him aside and got up.

Seraph was as still as a statue, staring down at Asteria without blinking. His mouth was slightly open and he was breathing in quick, fast breaths. We were all tired, but, since we had been told Asteria was just resting, Seraph had taken the time to wash up and change into a clean uniform. Uriel and I hadn’t bothered with more than a quick face and hand washing.

I thought we’d be partying all day and all night because Asteria had saved the city, only to be told that she was in a coma.

“Why is there so much blood?” I asked the doctor.

“Witnesses said her body was disintegrating, extremities first. Blood poured out of her body from the places where her hands and feet had been.”

“No, that’s impossible.” I looked down at Asteria. Her body was curled up inside the diamond-hard golden crystal encasing it. She was wearing a bloodied dress, but I could see that her hands and feet were intact. In fact, except for the blood, she looked like she was sleeping. I could even see her chest move with her breathing.

“She’s made a remarkable recovery,” said the doctor. “This crystallization healing skill is a legendary one that we’ve only read about in ancient tales. You can see that she’s already rebuilt her hands and feet.”

“You said she’s going to be okay?” said Uriel.

“She should be fine. Did you know that she’s used this special skill before? It’s what she used when she was seven years old when her family was in that accident,” said the doctor.

Seraph turned his head towards us. So he was listening. I could tell from the expression on his face that he couldn’t speak yet.

“How long will it take?” I asked.

“Everything we know says that she’ll wake in a few weeks. She’ll most likely be fully healed. This is a powerful special skill,” said the doctor.

Seraph knelt down in front of Asteria’s crystallized form. His hand hovered over her, but he didn’t touch her.

“Don’t!” said the doctor. He actually moved as though to stop Seraph, but Uriel stepped between them. “Don’t touch her, she needs to be left alone.”

Seraph withdrew his hand.

“She needs to heal. She might die if she wakes up before she’s healed enough,” said the doctor.

Uriel leaned down and said to Seraph, “She promised us she’d be fine.”

Seraph spoke for the first time. In a voice as brittle as the first ice of winter, he said, “Asteria, I’m here.”

To my shock, Asteria moved with a sound as though crystals were scraping against each other. The crystalized anima dissolved into golden light when she opened her eyes.

The doctor’s eyes almost bulged out of his head. He said to Seraph, “What have you done?”

Asteria put a hand over her mouth as she yawned. She sat up and looked around her. “I said I wanted to rest. Is there a bed? I want a bed.”

The doctor ran out and ordered a nurse to bring one of the hospital beds.

“Ely, I need to rest. Go and do your work. I’ll be fine,” said Asteria.

She looked and sounded perfectly normal.

An orderly came running in with the bed. A nurse helped Asteria lie down on it.

“Shoo,” said Asteria. She waved her hand in Seraph’s direction.

“Are you okay?” said Seraph. Eyes wide, he stared disbelievingly at Asteria.

“I want to rest.” Asteria curled up on the bed. Anima crystalized around her again. In moments, she was asleep.

“By the goddess,” said the doctor. “You must leave!”

Uriel grabbed Seraph by the shoulders. Seraph, his face pale but no longer looking as though he was unsure if his life was over or not, allowed Uriel to guide him out of the chamber.

The fierce little doctor followed us out. When we were some distance from the chamber, he started on his rant. “You people mustn’t disturb the patient. She’s a genius magician who saved millions of people! It’s important to keep her place of rest completely quiet and peaceful.”

What did he mean by “you people?” Was he one of those anti-EL campaigners?

“She needs quiet so if you want to visit her, you must wear only soft-soled slippers. From now on, no more talking in the artifact chamber! I can’t believe you shamelessly forced her to wake up even though she needs to rest to heal.”

The doctor’s face turned so red that I thought he was going to have an apoplexy.

“You’re right, doctor,” said Seraph. “I won’t talk in front of her again until she wakes up by herself.”

Mollified, the doctor said, “It is of paramount importance that the patient is given enough time to heal completely. My nurse will instruct you. Next time, don’t push your way past her and the guards.”

“Yes, doctor,” said Seraph.

When the doctor turned and went back to the chamber, Seraph tried to follow him but Uriel and I hauled him out of the maze and into the night air. There were men stationed all around the perimeter of the temple which meant that we couldn’t talk freely there either.

“Get ahold of yourself,” I said to Seraph. “She said she’s fine.”

“I’ll stay very quiet,” said Seraph.

He was definitely planning on camping out in the artifact chamber. Uriel and I managed to strike a compromise with him. The three of us would rotate eight-hour shifts, with one of us either asleep, at work, or watching Asteria.

The priestess, Oren, and Katja were nowhere to be found, so the doctor was in charge. We got his permission to stay at the temple and watch over Asteria so long as we behaved ourselves.

***

The next twenty days were hellish. Since Asteria had taken the trouble to wake up just to tell Seraph to go to work, he obediently completed his daily missions, mostly by going to the frontlines to kill monsters.

It wasn’t really necessary at this point since the monsters avoided the shield. They ran into the sea on either side of Kraej City, swimming as far as they could until they ran out of stamina and drowned. What a nasty way to go.

I did my part by using my fire and vortex spells to kill monsters. I figured it was a cleaner, faster death than what they would have in the sea.

Uriel, on the other hand, spent his time organizing the cleanup with the men. The price of monster cores dropped precipitously because of the monster wave. This meant that the civilian monster hunters weren’t too keen on cleaning up the area around the city. A few enterprising souls, mostly the poor and unemployed of the city, were willing to do some of the work in exchange for monster cores, meat, and usable materials. The military had to step up and do the bulk of the necessary work. Otherwise, the rotting monster bodies were likely to spread disease among the populace.

There were next to no military or civilian fatalities. The only people who died were those who got caught up in the riots and looting when people were evacuated. Hundreds of the rioters had been caught and killed or were rotting in jail right now.

The rest of the time, we either slept or watched over Asteria. The doctor set up a chair and small table in one corner where we could do whatever we wanted as long as we kept quiet. Seraph and Uriel read while I preferred to meditate. Asteria had taught us a meditation technique that could help us better sense and manipulate anima. It also worked to recharge anima faster than sleeping did.

Except for the golden crystal enveloping her body, Asteria acted like she was just asleep. She moved around a lot, and her breathing was deep and even.

On the twenty-first day, Oren came back with the priestess and Katja in tow. They had left in search of the Crimson Pearl Flower. The priestess claimed that the flower was a mythical panacea that could heal Asteria. The doctor allowed them to place the flower on Asteria’s chest. After a few seconds, the flower started glowing then dissolved into red light. The crystalized anima around Asteria melted away into nothing.

“It worked,” said Oren.

We all crowded the bedside, breathless with anticipation. For once, the doctor didn’t scold us for making a disturbance. He was right there with us bending over Asteria’s bed when she opened her eyes and said, “Hmm? What’s wrong with you all? Did someone die?”