Healing

The pain hadn't stopped, and he couldn't see. Something was clouding his vision, it was dark but he could hear voices, one was very familiar of the old man. The other was an old woman who was letting Page have it. Feren started relaxing.

"He's going to need a lot of care you know," the woman shouted.

"Why did it go this far. Did you have to go this far?" Page sounded desperate.

"He's alive isn't he. The best healers from around Taranelle wouldn't be able to do that you know."

"But, at what cost. It's abominable." Page seemed queasy.

"Oh, don't be like that," Kabe purred. "I was more than happy to help. Now you and he have more in common with each other, even if you find your own arm abominable."

Feren tried to speak but could only let out a small groan.

"Page, look after the boy. He's going to need some time to adjust. I'll be back every day for as long as necessary." She paused, "I'm sorry this was the only way but understand this, I couldn't see him die."

Feren groaned again trying to move but unable. The pain wouldn't stop but his body wouldn't move, he was just helplessly lying there.

The old lady walked out, with a walking cane, the sound of it going down the path was the only thing to be heard in the cabin.

"Stacey's going to kill me," Page said.

"Probably, he has ended up crippled under you care." Kabe said.

Dinner was eaten quietly and the little bits that Feren had had to be crushed into a smoothie so he could digest it. The eating process was slow but Page never rushed him as they ate, he sat over him with a gentle and calm breath.

The peace was broken by two pairs of loud footsteps could be heard coming up the path, they weren't heavy but were going fast.

"That miscreant has come has he," Page's voice shook with rage.

"Mr, please let us in," came Andrew's voice from the door.

Feren groaned louder this time. Was Andrew okay, he didn't know. Had something else attacked him in the forest to separate them. He seemed to be healthy enough if he ran to the door but it could be something less obvious.

"And why should I do that. You led him into the dammed forest," Page's voice was trembling with rage.

"It isn't the boys fault," Kabe hissed. "It's as much your fault for leaving him here unsupervised. He's barely been walking. It was also my fault for going with you so let him in, and he can join us in the self-pity"

There was silence until he heard the latch from the door being lifted and opened.

"Thanks," a girl said, it must be Amy.

Silence filled the room once more, except Feren's moaning as he tried to say something anything but his mouth just wouldn't move properly. Every movement caused new pain and while he felt like crying, tears wouldn't appear.

"What happened to him," Amy stammered as there was a loud thud of her sitting down.

"Surgery," Page replied. "An unholy sort."

"Will he be all right," Andrew said through tears.

Page let out a loud exasperated sigh as the fight left him. The boy in front of him was distraught and clearly felt sorry for his actions. All this boy wanted was to know if his friend was okay and what adult could stay mad at such a child.

"No." This caused Andrew to sob louder. "He'll live, but we don't know what sort of life he'll be able to lead afterwards. He told me he wanted to be a healer, that's not possible anymore."

"Why," Amy asked.

"He's unable to use magic, the soul was damaged by the damn creature. The repairs on his body and soul were drastic and while he'll live…"

Andrew just kept wailing at the news.

"If I'd just kept him in my sight…" Andrew cried.

The crying continued without Feren being able to say anything. It wasn't Andrew's fault it was the other boy who had chased them, with the older boy out of the picture it would have been fine.

"Boy, would you do me a favour? Would you look after him as a friend, he'll need all the help he can get." Page asked with an uneasiness he'd never heard before.

Andrew managed to answer between tears, "I'll always be his friend, he was kind."

"We'll both be there," Amy chipped in.

The room lay in silence with a thick fog of melancholy hanging over the room. Even when Andrew and Amy left the fog didn't lift. The only sound being the crackling of the fire.

With time Feren grew stronger and he could walk. Old Kim came to look at him every day by using some sort of magic while singing to calm the pain that was felt in every vein of his body.

The pain did subside, or he grew used to it, it was hard to tell. His parents hadn't visited once and if it was to be believed a message couldn't be relayed to them with the knowledge of their son's accident.

After six months Feren was sitting upright and talking even if he didn't have much to say. Page was sitting opposite him and Old Kim was fiddling with the bandages on his head.

"The light is going to be uncomfortable when I remove the bandage so brace yourself," she said.

Feren nodded.

As the bandages were removed it was blinding so his eyes closed quickly. This didn't dissuade him so he opened them slowly, and gradually he managed to see the cosy room he had only seen for one day of his months there.

His eyes started tearing up from the light, he could really see. For months he had worried this day would never come but he could see. The rest of his body had healed a month or so ago so the progress on his eyes had been worrying even with Old Kim reassuring him.

"As we've been over he shouldn't have any long lasting affects except the lack of magic. He'll have to manage with a bit more menial labour."

For the first time Feren got a good luck at the old woman who had been caring for him. She was the very definition of old crone but while she looked a bit scruffy she was clean and there was kindness in her face and actions as she moved around the room. She was moving like a gentle breeze.

"Thank you," nodded his head and smiled.

He could see, he could finally join in with his friends instead of just sitting and listening to their stories. The happiness was bubbling all through his body and he was bobbing about with giddy excitement.

Old Kim smiled gently back, "You shouldn't exert yourself too much but I feel like you should go and see those friends of yours."

"Yes, go to your friends we need to talk a bit further anyway."

That was all the encouragement necessary for Feren to leave the house. His body felt a bit weaker from the bed rest but he was still making a good pace to the village. It wasn't long until he made it back to the Andrews place by the river.

Taking a deep breath he walked up to the door and knocked loudly. There wasn't any movement from the other side. He knocked again and he heard heavy footsteps approaching the door.

It swung open violently taking Feren by surprise. A middle aged man stood looking at him confused.

"And who might you be?" He said.

Thankfully it wasn't the mother, she still scared him.

"Feren," he answered.

"Aah, the boy with Page. Sorry to hear about the accident, but you seem fine. Remarkable really what the old witch can do." The old man then took a deep breath, "Andrew, Feren has come to see you." He roared.

The roar seemed to make the ground shake and the house rattle. It was deafening and made him clutch his ears afraid of ruptured ear drums. For some reason he started sweating profusely, he was a different type of scary.

Some light feet came scampering down the stairs to greet them.

"You're better. I thought it was a few days yet?" Andrew said with a happy surprised plastered over his face.

"Yeah, the treatment finished quicker than expected," he muttered. His ears were still ringing from before.

"Are you alright," the man said concerned.

Feren hit the side of his head and smiled unconvincingly. "Yeah, my ears are ringing from the shouting before."

"You must have sensitive ears then," he muttered. "It was nowhere near that loud."

"It doesn't matter," Andrew said dismissively. "We need to go get Amy, she'll be over the moon."

Feren nodded in agreement but had no idea where she lived except it was nearby.

"Don't stay out too long and I doubt I need to say it but don't go in the woods. We'd rather not have a repeat. Have I made myself clear." The old man said sternly.

"Yeah, yeah," Andrew said grabbing Feren's hand as he rushed out the door.

The old man was fast though and leaped forward to catch Andrew and lift him by the shirt to eye level.

"Are we clear," he asked again.

"Yes," Andrew said terrified.

"Good," he put Andrew down and shooed them away as he retreated back to the house.

"Your parents are something else," Feren said.

"Yeah, they are."

They wondered further down the river to a smaller house with a nice smell wafting from it. It was only five minutes from Andrew's but the garden looked so well kept that you could mistake it for a little slice of paradise. That was until you looked in one corner where there were weeds sprouting all over, in that corner was Amy.

She was caring for the weed as carefully as you would a rose, it was disconcerting. As he looked more closely he saw small whisps of light seemingly circling around her as she did this. In seconds they were gone like they weren't there.

He was sure he had seen something but decided to ignore it for the mean time. He just wanted to have a bit of fun with his friends now he could move around free from restraints. He may have missed all of spring but he would make the most of the summer while he could.

"Oy, Amy. Look who's back from the grave." Andrew shouted while pointing to Feren from behind the fence

Amy turned to see him and a smile bloomed on her face, "It's good to see you're alright." The smile wilted just as quickly as it had appeared, "Where did you learn a phrase like that?"

Andrew scratched his head uncomfortably. "Something my uncle said about my father, don't really understand it myself."

"If you don't understand it, don't say it." Amy strode out of the gate and strode towards them. "Enough of that though, I need to go see the carpenter about some repairs and I think that Feren should come with us."

"Why do you need me?"

Andrew fidgeted with his hair, "don't worry about it."

The two of them had an evil smile like they were hatching a scheme as they dragged him closer to the centre of town.

The walk was a lot more pleasant when they weren't rushing so fast but it became obvious on the wealth difference between those in the outskirts and the centre. The centre got all the trade from the road and with it most of the money was spent there, saying that it was nowhere near as obvious as the city. All the kids were clean and well fed.

They stopped outside a rather luxurious looking store and when they walked in it was chock full of furniture bar a wall. This wall was dedicated to bows, from the small to the large, each one elegantly crafted, this is what the craftsman spent most of his time working on.

"What do you want?" A balding burly old man asked from the other side of the counter.

"We need some repair work done on the mill, and something to pick up." Amy answered.

"The mill, are you Florence's daughter? You've grown since I last saw you being carried by your ma. I don't know anything that she wanted picked up though."

"It's for Feren here, Page got something for him." Andrew piped in.

The old man's gazed to Feren and guilt seemed to cloud them. "I'm sorry for the trouble my grandson caused in the forest. When Page told me about the money those two friends of yours had chipped together to get a gift I couldn't help but say yes. It's not the best wood but it's a serviceable bow."

He brought out a small bit of wood wrapped in linen cloth and unravelled it show the elegant craftsmanship underneath. The wood was a tad darker than the other bows on display and it looked a bit rougher than the others on display.

"I wasn't going to tell him about our part in this," Andrew said embarrassed. "We both helped with the work when we could find time."

"He is more useless in woodwork than a sea goat. I had to fix most of his mistakes." Amy reprimanded.

Feren could hardly keep the tears from his face, they had been with him almost everyday while he had been healing and when they weren't there, they'd been doing this. He hadn't known them for long but they were better friends than any he had back in the city.

He gave them both a large hug, "Thank you."

"While it's nice to see the youngsters in their prime I can't have you lot crowding up my store any longer. If my son catches you lot in here I will have hell to pay," the old man said.

"Thanks Thomas," Amy said.

"Don't mention it. Tell Florence I'll be round on the weekend to have a look, we can't have the mill collapsing."

They left out the store with Feren's new bow and went straight to the shooting range in the square to try it out. It was common practice to leave arrows there for practice by the townspeople but they were surprised to see Tarron waiting by the arrows just by the small hut which housed much of the equipment for the archery.

Tarron looked apprehensive while waiting there. It seemed he was waiting for someone

"I knew you were doing something when you hadn't come round to the stables but to see you had made a bow with Thomas, I couldn't be happier."

"We were about to test our handiwork out if you want to see," Andrew said pridefully and picking up a small arrows from a container.

"It's why I'm here." Tarron muttered, then looked at Amy quizzically. "Why haven't I seen you practising archery with the others, you're of age if I remember correctly."

Amy looked unhappily to the ground, "My mum wouldn't allow it. She doesn't think any sort of violence is very ladylike."

Tarron gave a booming laugh, "That lady doesn't like violence, she could have fooled me. Pick up a spare bow from the equipment store with Andrew and we'll see how you shoot."

The two of them clambered in and picked out two bows and lined up on the shooting line with Feren. Tarron stood behind them and demonstrated the proper shooting stance with the bow angled just so for proper leverage and accuracy.

"Let's see you try a few shots."

Their shots were far from the targets but Tarron didn't bat an eyelid.

"Seems I'm not as good as my grandfather," Feren said turning to Tarron embarrassed.

Tarron looked at him intensely and then a bright green streak seemed to rush past him making Feren stumble backwards.

"Are you alright?" Andrew asked steadying his friend from falling.

"I thought I saw a green flash come by." Feren admitted

"I didn't see anything." Amy said concerned. "Maybe we should go back to your grandfather's"

"That may be a good idea," Feren confirmed. I feel a bit nauseous after that.

Tarron's eyes gave a flash of joy but his face was stoic, "I'll come with you, I have business with his grandfather too."