Chapter 80

Elincia's Point of View

Helmsforth Temple

Arthur was moved to the Temple at my order and under extreme care. He was still alive, but only for the moment. Things were dire, and I was afraid of what could possibly push him to this point. Horrible wounds that magic struggled to heal and resisted our attempts to help him.

I was aiding the recovery process when we opened him up, only to find a part of his heart missing. The fact that he was still alive was a mystery to us, but he still breathed. Everything about this situation was strange.

Specialists were called in to repair the wounds as best we could by hand. A group of doctors quickly made short work of sealing the wounds to the best of their abilities. Whether or not Arthur would recover was unknown. Healers and doctors alike were on standby while my sister investigated the area in the Hollow Forest.

Leaving the room that held Arthur, I ran into two familiar faces. "How's he doin?" Cassidy inquired.

"Is he going to be okay?" Typhon asked as well.

"Arthur will surely pull through." I told them without hesitation. "His wounds are grievous, but he seems to be breathing despite all odds."

Cassidy frowned at that. "So, he's not doin too good then?"

Shaking my head made them frown further. "Sir Arthur could be better, but we have our best watching over him." Gesturing to the door behind me, I continued. "Feel free to stay and wait for any word. Both of you are welcome in this section of the Temple. I just ask that you stay out of the way for the moment."

"Where are you going?" Young Typhon questioned as I readied my magic.

"My sister is currently investigating the scene where Arthur returned. It is in the same location he disappeared. Whatever magic spell Ayda cast, it was clearly above her abilities and backfired."

"Is Ayda in trouble?"

Cassidy looked at him for a moment and then to me. "Should Arthur not recover, she very well might be. From what I have gathered, it's possible all this damage to Arthur is from Ayda's spell in question if it was indeed as graphic as you two described." Shaking my head as I looked at the door concealing Arthur, I sighed. "However, the wounds from the spell seem to be healing ever so slowly, while others are not…"

My student nodded in understanding. "Ah understand. We'll keep an eye on things here. Give your sister our best."

With a quick nod directed to the two, I teleported to the forest. On the outside of the crater were my sister and several Town Guards. There even seemed to be a few specialists here with General Alwin. No doubt he wanted to get to the bottom of this for his sister's sake.

Landing garnered my sister's attention. "How is he?" Arceana inquired as I landed, which got everyone present to turn to me.

A frown came to my lips. "He is stable for the moment, but we have no idea how. Arthur's wounds are unlike anything I have ever seen on a living being. Needless to say, a Human. I am unsure if either of us would be able to survive such grievous injuries."

"It has become abundantly clear, even before his disappearance, that Arthur Pendragon is anything but a normal Human." Arceana replied. "However, if his wounds are as serious as you claim, I would like to find the source of the spell that occurred when he reappeared." My sister stated and looked about the crater.

Moving over to her to speak softly, we continued in private. "While Ayda's spell will be blamed for this incident, I fear there is more to this than meets the eye." I stated.

"Agreed. Unfortunately, unless we prove it, Ayda may face serious consequences for her actions." Arceana replied.

"Only if Arthur press charges. He might not." My sister gave me a look. "What?"

"The only thing I am sure of about that man is that I am sure of nothing. He has his own code, morals, and even rules that make little to no sense to me. Arthur is as likely to try and murdered her as he is to ignore her entirely." Arceana tapped her scepter on the ground in a worried manner.

My eyes darted to Alwin. "There are other issues at hand as well."

She sighed in response and closed her eyes. "I am more than aware."

"Have you found anything?"

Turning to look at me, my sister gave me a grim look. "For such a destructive spell, you would think magic would be overflowing from this area, and yet it is the complete opposite. There is almost no residual magic, which is making this far more difficult than I had hoped."

"And it explains why your specialists are here. Elves with over sensitivity to residual magic should be able to find any traces of magic in the area." Alwin oversaw such a group in his forces.

"But they have found nothing as well. Perhaps I was foolish to hope that they could find something I could not."

"Stranger things have happened." I replied with a simple tone.

For hours I aided my sister and the others present as we tried to figure out what had happened. Unfortunately, it was becoming increasingly obvious that we would most likely have to wait for Arthur to recover. If he recovered.

Alwin was unyielding towards his men and women as they searched. He was going over every area himself as well. Given the crater's size, we were hoping to find something, but luck was not on our side. Eventually, he made his way to my sister and me.

"Priestesses, the specialists have found nothing to indicate that magic was involved." He reported in an official tone. "I think it likely that Ayda Farro used some manner of sealing spell on Sir Arthur that likely led to this scenario, which would explain the large detonation of magic we witnessed."

Arceana and I looked at each other. "Thank you, General." I gave him a nod in return.

He gave us a strained looked, but saluted, nonetheless. "Of course, priestesses."

Once he was out of earshot, my sister whispered to me. "Alwin is grasping at straws."

"We all are." Was my response.

Before anything else could happen, a deafening below echoed through the forest from the direction of Helmsforth that shook the ground. Startled, my sister yelped while I summoned my magic, and our forces rushed over to us. A wave of killing intent washed over the area, and my eyes widened as I felt a pressure weighing down on me. Looking towards Helmsforth, where the source of the sound came from, we watched as a large crack seemed to shoot down the side of the mountain.

"By the gods…" I whispered in disbelief as I watched chunks of buildings crack while others broke.

Focusing in on the source, we realized it was coming from the Temple, and my sister quickly turned to me. "With me, Elincia!" We both knew who was likely behind this.