"Ember?" My voice choked. I rested my hand on his and dove into his healing. Immediately a sharp pain sliced through my head and drove me back. With the sword still inside, there was nothing I could do.

I glanced at my mangled hand and took a deep breath. No Slate could heal themselves. That's never been done before.

But no healer could heal an ash arrow and I did that. I had to heal myself. I had to.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I had to do this. I had to. Ember's hand weakly landed on my thigh, and I gritted my teeth. I couldn't let him die now.

A switch flicked. I swam in a sea of copper threads. I snapped again and they straightened out. My eyes darted open, and I looked down at my hand. The black mess of mangled fingers were done. My hand was its normal shade, and I flexed my fingers. They were healed. My other hand was still broken, but I ignored that and grabbed the sword imbedded in Ember.

I slid it out, gasping at the sudden flow of blood that followed. My hand immediately landed on Ember's chest. I dove into his chaos.

It was bad. His meaning was knotted with black threads. I tried to move them, but they were stuck. Fugg. Fugg. Fugg.

I screamed in frustration, yanking hard at the immoveable threads and beating my hands on the wall of his chaotically wounded body. I was going to lose him.

Suddenly, something sparkled. I swam toward the light and froze as I basked in Oxblood light. The magestone. Shards hung in the liquid, glimmering a bright Oxblood. The magestone. The blasted stone that was eating away at his life.

The shards had moved closer to his heart and were beginning to slide their way inside. I grabbed one and hissed as it burned my hand. Oxblood. Of course.

My lungs were screaming for air, but I refused to budge. Instead, I forced my hands to grab a shard and yanked it hard, dislodging it from his heart. I yelled in pain but forced myself to hold on as I swam to the surface. I took a deep breath and dove back down, grabbing another white-hot shard. Back and forth I swam, removing the shards as quickly as I could.

As I shoved the last one to the surface, I swam down and yanked on one of the black threads, which started to move. "Ember, stay with me!"

I grabbed another black thread and wove them together. They began to harden again. I was too late.

"Ember, please! Just a few more seconds! Stay alive Stay alive!"

I tied two more threads together, my body sweating feverishly in the ice-cold chaos. A sole pink thread hid deep inside. I latched on and pulled hard, detangling it from the hardening blackness. As the pink ribbon came free, I felt myself being sucked out of his mind. No. No. No. I was so close.

I fell back and landed back in reality, hands aching and breath coming in labored breaths. I tried to push myself up but collapsed back down.

"Stay down."

I closed my eyes. No. The king's guards were here. I shivered and my muscles started to spasm from exhaustion. I gave myself one last attempt at freedom and pushed myself up.

Firmly, warm hands lowered me back down, keeping a palm under my head. My eyes flickered open to meet with dark, concerned eyes.

"Ember?" I gasped.

He nodded. "Are you okay?" he asked.

I shook my head and his concerned eyes darted over me. He slid his arms under me and lifted me up. Darkness coated the edges of my vision, and we began walking out the front door. The sound of clashing swords didn't seem to bother him as we continued walking. We soon entered the cool of the forest. His pace increased until I saw that we had entered a city of tents.

"Slate!" Ember called. "I need a Slate!"

"I'm here," Jack said, running up to us. "Let's get her to the tent," he said.

"My tent, please," Ember noted. "I have to return to the castle, but I want to ensure she is in safe hands." Jack nodded and I felt myself being carried into a tent. It was familiar, but the sunlight hit the canvas differently.

Jack's hands landed on my shoulder, and he grabbed my hand gently. It was bright red in some places and almost black in others. Jack looked up at Ember. "I'm with her. Go back." Ember's eyes darted between the door of the tent and me.

"Go," I said. My voice was more pathetic than I hoped, but my chest felt light. He was alive.

He nodded at me and sprinted out of the tent. Jack began washing healing over me, starting in my hands and pausing at my chest. "What did you get yourself into?" Jack noted in amusement. My chest began to itch as he healed whatever mess I had gotten myself into.

I didn't answer him but felt the heaviness of my eyelids combating the residue of pain, panic, and fear.

Jack continued healing and was examining my hands for any other issues when Ember bust in, panting. "Everything okay?" Jack asked.

Ember nodded. "I should be asking you. The castle has fallen. The king is dead. My father has taken over the cleanup. Is she okay?" Ember's voice was as desperate as I felt only a few minutes before.

I reached out and slid my hand into Ember's. "I need to rest. Jack, can you make sure Ember's okay?" Jack nodded and set a hand on his other hand.

Jack nodded. "He's fine." Then, he raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "Did you heal him?"

I nodded.

"The magestone's gone."

I blinked a few times as his words sank into my mind. Ember's grip on my hand tightened and he used his other hand to pull something from his pocket. He revealed several large magestone shards.

Ember's gaze met mine. "They were on the ground where I had fallen. What happened?" he asked.

I shook my head as my body began to twitch in exhaustion. Not yet. "I don't know."

Ember knelt next to me and caressed my face with his free hand. "Just rest, Nao. Just rest. We'll talk later, okay?" I nodded and let my body carry me to sleep.