Chapter 58 Dim Light

Chapter 58 Dim Light

Sandra wiped away the dampness from Rylan's face, it had been 5 days and still he hadn't woken up, he was hardly recognizable, his eyes had sunken in and you could see his collar bone clearly, if not for his steady breaths she would have honestly thought him to be dead. Maerik entered and shut the door behind him, his steps heavy as he walked to where she sat.

“How is he?”

She opened her mouth to answer but no words came out, Maerik gritted his teeth at her readable silence. “I don't know.” Was written all over her face. She stood up and covered his body with the thick duvet bundled around his waist, as she raised it she stared at the markings that decorated his shirtless body, they still glowed, faintly active. She turned back to Maerik.

“There's nothing physically wrong with him, no injuries, no sign of trauma, I can't find anything but still He—”

“Refuses to wake up.” Maerik completed quietly, he took the seat she'd just stood from and places a palm Rylan's forehead, his temperature was normal, breathing was steady, So what the fuck was—his thoughts were interrupted as the door opened as Peter walked in with a smile on his face and freshly picked flowers in hand.

“Good morning sir.” He greeted softly then turned to Sandra. “Sandy.” He said as he handed the flowers to her, she smiled back and took the flowers, she took out the ones in the vase and put in the new ones.

“Thank you.” She said as she crouched down to his level and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. “Go help Yennifer with whatever she needs, I'll come and join you in a minute.”
He nodded turning to face Rylan, he stared for a few seconds before turning back to her, he opened his mouth to say something but before the words could leave his mouth she answered the question she knew was defined on his mind.

“He is going to be ok, he's just resting, Ok?”
He nodded then ran out and closed the door. Throughout the exchange Maerik hadn't uttered a single word, he just watched, but now that the boy had left us spoke.

“Thank you, for caring for him.”

“I do not do it for thanks.” She replied as she began to gather up everything she'd used and put them back into the first aid box. “I don't know why I do it and I do not need to know why.” She said calmly as the first aid box clicked shut.

“Still, I really appreciate it, if not for you taking care of him Rylan wouldn't be able to focus, so regardless of your opinion, I give you my thanks.”
She offered a warm smile before turning and walking out. Quiet lowered into the room as Maerik stared at Rylan's unconscious form, be stared it the dimly lit markings, he wouldn't say it aloud but he knew the reason Rylan hadn't woken up, he wasn't a hundred percent sure but still he knew it was most likely an effect of the Mothlight. Every other time he'd used it the markings had returned back to their tattoo state but the way it still remained active regardless of——Maerik eyes widened as the thought formed and he rose from his seat with swiftness that made the stool fall backwards.
He hadn't deactivated it, he'd fallen unconscious without deactivating it, which was why it was still lit, it's activation meant that his stamina couldn't recover because it was constantly being used up, It wasn't letting him recover from the original loss if using it at first and now since he didn't have any stamina to keep it active, that was most likely the reason it was drying him up. Maerik took a step back as he realized the scariest part of his theory, If he doesn't find a way to stop it, it would keep taking and taking until Rylan eventually Died.
He ran out of the room, straight to the pantry Yennifer had turned to her lab, bursting through the door he saw her taking notes as she examined one of the cores.

“I need you.” He said, no more words were needed, she closed the notebook and followed him out of the pantry into the room where Rylan was recovering.

“What's wrong?” She asked as she walked towards him and placed a palm on his chest, instinctively she began to trace the markings up his chest to his neck down one shoulder to his arm. “I can't feel any Arkana within him. How is this still active?” She asked, her voice reverberating with worry.

“I don't know, but I know it's killing him to do it.”

“His Arkana isn't recovering?”

“It isn't.”

She took a deep breath and turned to him, clearly hesitant about the next few words that were about to leave her mouth. “I think I know a way to give him enough Arkana to supplement the lack of.”

“How, transfer?”

“No transferring Arkana only works with extreme amounts of control and even then the amount that can be transferred would be miniscule, also I don't think it's possible to transfer Arkana from one living being to another.”

Maerik had questions but now wasn't the time so he swept them under a rug and focused on the issue at hand. “Then how are we going to do it?”

She rose back and without answering walked out, Maerik remained slightly confused until she walked back in with a core.

“Are you crazy?” Maerik said, his voice harsh as he stood to his full height.

“Hear me out.”

“I told you what that did to Vrey.”

“You also said Vrey had a multitude within him, and I'm sure Rylan is stronger now than Vrey was then, clearly there is a threshold where a core just supplements and the side effects aren't as intense.”

“Vrey was different.” Maerik replied, his voice softening

“So is Rylan, if he wasn't you wouldn't put so much faith in him. I believe he can survive this, so like you always ask us, do you trust me?”

The look in Maerik's eyes softened as he took a step back. “I do.” He said, then stepped to the side to allow her access to Rylan. The commotion had drawn the attention of the other players, now they stood at the door and watched as Yennifer took in a deep breath, her hands shook but she steadied her grip on the sphere, she was doing this purely based on a theory, but what other choice did they have, from his current state it was clear that at most he wouldn't last one more day or two if they were lucky, there was no time to be overly cautious.

“Dra—Sir.” she called without taking her eyes off the core.

“Yes.” Maerik replied.

“Immediately I break it, pull me back and get us out of the room.” She instructed, Maerik nodded without taking his eyes off her.
She placed the sphere at the centre of Rylan's chest and began tightening her grip, a crack sounded, then another and another just as the power within the core began to become more and more active until—It shattered and power burst, the force lifted her of her feet and into the air but without wasting a second Maerik caught her and retreated out of the room, just as Rylan's markings began to glow brightly, absorbing the power like a drainage hole in a sink till it was all completely gone and like a switch the markings lost their light.
Maerik stared for a few seconds but as he saw nothing happening he walked back into the room and slowly began to approach Rylan, when he was an arms length away from the bed, Power burst out of Rylan with an intensity that destroyed the bed beneath him, all of the markings glowed with blinding luminosity and then he vanished from the room.