Chapter 58 THE CIRCLE OF RESTORATION
"Thank you." Her voice held absolute gratitude. He could tell she really did worry a lot about the sorcerer. It was good for him to have such friends. He seemed more like a loner, but everybody needed company from time to time. Besides, he got along well with his companions, including Darren. However, that was a bit easier considering they were both hunters. They had quite a bit in common.
"Now," began Xerxes. "It's time for all of you to get some sleep."
"Alright," both girls said as they began to follow Xerxes out of the room. Xyra paused in the doorway though and glanced back at Magnus. She also noticed that the room was still lit. She decided to fix that and went around, blowing out the torches until only the moonlight from the window lit the area. Satisfied, she went back to the door. She took one last look at the sorcerer, a soft smile on her face.
"I'm glad you're alright," she whispered. "Sweet dreams." And with that said, she closed the doors gently behind her, heading off to get some much-needed sleep of her own.
Morning came around, and just as Xerxes had said, Darren returned with a ton of stuff. He had been out running errands. He wouldn't mention where or how he had gotten the items, but the important part was that he had. Now, they could do something about Magnus's arm. He had woken up rather early in the morning, not remembering too much of what had happened. Xyra and Astrid had recapped it as best they could, but he was still confused.
They were all standing in the backyard of Xerxes's house, waiting for the dragon king to do something. He seemed to be preparing the items, which consisted of a few talismans and some medical supplies. This didn't make a lot of sense though. If magic couldn't heal a broken bone, then how could these things?
"Stand over here," Xerxes demanded, and Magnus silently walked to the spot he was pointing at. He really wanted to question the dragon right now, wanted to know just what was going on.
"Sir?" he began, unable to fight back his curiosity. "Just how is this supposed to help me?"
"These are talismans," he said, pointing to the metallic and jeweled items. "This is a special salve used to heal medical conditions, and these are enhancement stones. Now all I need is your healing talisman."
Magnus was about to ask what he meant, but instead closed his mouth. He already knew what Xerxes was talking about, although he wasn't sure how the dragon knew such a thing. He didn't remember telling him that he had the healing talisman. He reached into his pocket and drew out a few of them, looking over them a bit. Eventually, he saw the healing one. He gave it to Xerxes.
The dragon placed the talisman on the ground in the middle of what appeared to be a huge circle. However, upon closer inspection, Magnus could see that it was a magic symbol. It had been drawn with black ink, most likely the type of ink that most sorcerers used. It was the only type of ink that made the magic symbols work.
"Just what is this?" he asked the dragon.
"It's a special circle used for curing untreatable medical problems. If someone is bleeding internally, this is what a healer would use."
"Oh…" Strange, he had never seen this done before. Perhaps that was because he had never had this kind of problem before. He had never broken a bone this badly. He had hurt his leg once, but it had been a small fracture, and he had been way too young. It had to heal on its own.
"Are you ready?" Xerxes asked. Magnus only nodded. "Then stand perfectly still." As soon as Magnus was stationary, the dragon king sighed and closed his eyes, concentrating a bit. Magic wasn't his forte, but he was able to use a multitude of spells if he could write it out like this first. "Immobilus dissulta."
The circle lit up, the talismans and the medical supplies reacting. Just in front of Magnus, the Lazufeer talisman began to react, the whole thing lighting up with a white light. Now he understood why he hadn't seen this done before. It required the talisman, and he had always had it with him, so no other healer could use it. He began to wonder just how Xerxes knew something like this. Who had taught him?
The whole area within the symbol began to glow, and Magnus felt the light wrap around him. It was soothing and warm, tickling his entire body. He felt a smile grace his lips. It just made him feel amazingly good, and he could feel it soaking through his injured arm. His whole right side went numb for a brief moment, and when it ended, he couldn't feel any pain. There had been a slight throbbing before, but now it was completely gone.
The light slowly began to die down until only the talisman was resonating with it. That too soon faded, and Magnus bent down and picked it up, tucking it safely back in his cloak pocket. He then looked at his injured arm, praying this had worked. If not, he was about to be in a lot of pain. Inhaling deeply, he jerked his arm.
He sighed deeply, his smile returning. Other than a bit of stiffness, there was nothing wrong. He moved it from its sling and stretched it out a bit. Everything was fine again. He was completely better.
"Yes," he sighed in satisfaction. He rotated it a little, taking in just how great this felt. He had really missed using that arm, even though it had only been a few days since he had broken it.
"Better?" Xerxes asked, already knowing the answer.
"Much. Thank you."
"No problem."
"Do you have an area where I can practice?" He looked about ready to sprint a mile right now. He needed to use up that energy, and he wanted to do it the only way he knew how. Practicing martial arts had always been a fun thing for him. He preferred that type of fighting to sword fighting, although it was a lot more dangerous. Still, it kept him in shape.
"Practice what?" Xerxes asked him curiously.
"Fighting, martial arts, whatever you'd like to call it."
"There's an open field near the center of the village. No one should be doing anything there at this time of day."
"Thanks." He quickly took off, leaving the three of them standing there. Xyra and Astrid both sighed a bit. They should have expected this from Magnus. He loved sparing. However, he wasn't going to be able to find anybody. Darren was fast asleep after traveling through the night, and they strongly doubted the dragons would practice with him. He was going to be on his own. He probably didn't care though. That's just how Magnus was.
The two of them began to leave, wanting to follow after him. They weren't going to run though. Instead, they conversed quietly amongst themselves as they went forward. There was no rush. Whether they got there in a few minutes or an hour, Magnus would still be there. It was his only pastime. If practicing magic wasn't so dangerous, he would probably do that a lot instead, but he didn't want to risk hurting the people around him.
Magnus was running towards the field in the center of the village, and when he got there he found that he wasn't tired yet. He was used to this kind of exertion. With a smile on his face, he lowered himself into a fighting stance. He began thrusting his arm out in a punch, working the stiffness out of it. He really didn't like that feeling, but he was at least happy that he could move it now. It probably wouldn't have healed properly with all the moving he had done to it anyway.