51

When Alexius stirred, he turned his head slightly and spotted a blurry figure sitting beside him.

As soon as he made the tiniest motion, his head erupted in excruciating pain. It felt like someone had hit him at the base of his skull.

"Ronnie says you should move as little as possible." the blurry figure grumbled.

Alexius squinted his eyes until his vision cleared and he took in the elf before him. He had creamy asking and blonde hair that fell down to his shoulders in soft curls. Strapped to his back was a sword, his arms were folded showing off his rippling muscles.

"Who are you?" Alexius turned his head in the opposite direction looking for his mom. "Where is she?"

The other elf blinked. "She?"

"My mom. Is she alright?"

"Your mom..." the elf trailed off and gave a slight headshake. "She's...you don't remember?"

Alexius tried to sit up but everything was hurting, he collapsed back onto the pillows with a grunt. "I swear if you've done anything to my mother. Where are we? Who are you?"

"I didn't hurt your mom, she's my aunt. We're in the Wastelands where the elves and humans live in harmony along with dragons."

"Humans and elves living in harmony? Do you live under a rock? Our races can't stand each other." Alexius groaned.

"I'm your nephew. Zander."

Alexius blinked. "Nephew?!"

Alexius's mind reeled, struggling to reconcile the image of the powerful, muscular elf before him with the revelation of their familial connection. It was as if two worlds collided, leaving him lost in the chaos of conflicting emotions.

Zander nods.

Before Alexius could pester him some more about his mom, a door opened and a human wearing all blue entered.

Their hair was strikingly electric blue, swept back in a bold and confident style.

Zander loomed like a solid wall of muscle as he stood, extending his hand. "And who might you be?"

They took his hand and shook it. "I'm River. Ronnie asked me to check on..." They glance down at a paper. "Alexius."

"You're in the right place then." Zander took his seat. "What's the news.."

"Who is he?"

River blinked. "My pronouns are they/them. But to answer your question I'm a healer."

They moved toward the other side of Alexius placing the paper on a table and picking up a glass of water. River then pushed back the covers and revealed Alexius's legs that were bruised and bleeding.

Alexius flinched. "What...what happened?"

"That's what we figured out," River said, hand hovering over the glass. 

As they gazed intently at Alexius's leg, they extended their hand toward it, causing the water from the glass to hover and then gently envelop the injured skin. Alexius was captivated as he observed the water gliding along his leg, gradually mending the wounds beneath.

They did the same to his other leg and motioned the liquid back where it came from.

Zander gave a 'hmph' sound, clearly impressed. "So...will Alexius get better?"

River ran their fingers through their hair releasing a sigh. "No."

"No?" Zander whispered.

Alexius blinked. "What?"

"Things could get worse from here. We fear he had the Flare." River said, gravely. "This sickness is rare and can only be passed down by genetics."

"Genetics?"

River nods. "Meaning that either your mother or father passed the disease to you."

"Is that why-" Zander started, but River cut him off with a look.

"There are ways to slow it down, and relieve you of some pain, but there is no cure."

Alexius sat here digesting this information. He was sick with the Flare -whatever that was- and there was no cure?!

He didn't want to die.

He wanted to create a life.

Have a wife.

Kids.

A home to call their own.

Why him?

A droplet unexpectedly descended from Alexius' nose, prompting him to quickly swipe it away with his finger. He pulled back and saw sticky red stuff all over his finger.

Blood.

He screamed.