Chapter 131 CHAPTER 131
“STOP!”
The healer said, his voice sharp with fear as the cave groaned around them.
The sound did not reach Liam. Or maybe it did, and he simply refused to hear it.
The ground beneath his knees vibrated as if the mountain itself had a heartbeat, fast and panicked. The air thickened, heavy with pressure, with something ancient and angry responding to his call. Liam’s hand was still pressed to Kane’s side, his palm burning, his veins humming with power that refused to go where he begged it to go.
“Liam!” the healer shouted again. “What are you doing? You’re going to kill us!”
Still, Liam did not stop.
His eyes were closed now, his jaw clenched so tightly it hurt. Every thought he had was narrowed down to one thing: Come back. Please. Come back. He pushed harder, dragged deeper into whatever place that power lived inside him, ignoring the sharp ache building behind his eyes.
“Just…just a little more,” he said through his teeth. “I can feel it. I can do it.”
The cave answered him instead.
A violent tremor ripped through the stone, strong enough to throw the healer back a step. Dust rained from the ceiling, stinging Liam’s skin, coating his hair and shoulders. Small pebbles broke loose and clattered to the ground around them, bouncing near Kane’s still form.
Nothing changed in Kane.
His chest did not rise faster. His body did not respond. He remained terrifyingly still.
“Stop!” the healer screamed, real panic breaking through his voice now. “Can’t you see it’s not working?”
Another shudder ran through the cave. This one was worse.
A thin crack split across the rock wall near them, spidering outward with a sound like bones snapping. The healer’s breath hitched. He didn’t hesitate this time. He lunged forward and grabbed Liam by the shoulders, yanking him backward with more strength than Liam expected.
The moment their contact broke, the pressure snapped.
The humming in Liam’s veins vanished. The air loosened. The cave settled into a tense, fragile silence, broken only by falling dust and Liam’s harsh breathing.
“What did you do?” Liam shouted, spinning toward him. “Why did you stop me? I almost had it!”
The healer pointed upward with a shaking hand.
Liam followed his gaze.
A chunk of rock the size of his head loosened from the ceiling and crashed to the ground where he had been kneeling seconds earlier, exploding into shards.
“No,” the healer said, his voice hoarse. “You didn’t.”
More stones fell. Not many, but enough.
“You were tearing the cave apart,” the healer continued. “You were going to bring the mountain down on us. On him.” He pointed at Kane. “You would have killed him instead of healing him.”
Liam stared at the broken rock, his chest heaving, disbelief and fury tangling together inside him.
“That’s not possible,” he said, though his voice wavered. “I felt it. I felt the connection. I almost… I almost had it before you stopped me.”
“You felt power,” the healer replied. “Not control.”
Liam turned back to Kane, lying there unmoving, his wolf’s body looking wrong in a way Liam couldn’t put into words. Too quiet. Too still.
“I don’t understand,” Liam snapped. “He used his power for Kael and it worked. Kael walked out of this cave on his own four feet. We both watched it happen. Why can’t I do the same for him? Why is it so hard for me?” Tears of frustration mixed with sweat dripped down his face. His body felt drained, yet he had not accomplished anything.
“Listen, this is the wolf realm, and here the wolf’s power is magnified,” the healer said carefully. “You on the other hand, are a human in a foreign realm – maybe that’s why it was easier for him. And it doesn’t help how you are feeling right now.”
Liam’s gaze hardened as he clenched his fists. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You are not channeling,” the healer said. “You’re forcing.”
He stepped closer, lowering his voice, though the cave no longer shook.
“I can feel it in you,” he went on. “Your anger. Your fear. Your grief. You are pouring all of it into the magic, and magic listens to emotion before it listens to intention.”
Liam laughed bitterly. “Shouldn’t I be angry?” he demanded. “Look at him.”
He pointed at Kane, his hand trembling.
“We walked in here together. He was fine. He was walking. And now…” His voice broke, just for a second. “Now he’s lying there like he’s already gone. Am I supposed to take this with a smile? Is that what being warden is supposed to be?”
The healer didn’t argue. He could already see that arguing with Liam in the state he was in would only make things worse.
Instead, he nodded slowly. “Your feelings make sense,” he said. “But in this state, you will only cause more damage. To him. To yourself. To everything around you.”
Liam dragged a hand through his hair, pacing now, boots scraping against stone. “So what? I’m just supposed to stand here and do nothing?”
“No,” the healer said. “This is only one way we have tried. WE can still try something else once you calm down.”
Liam turned on him. “And what would that something be?”
For a moment, the healer hesitated.
“Leave for now,” he said finally. “I can take care of him while you are gone. Try controlling your magic in the human realm – if it works there, we can try again here.”
There was a long silent pause.
“You’re right…” Liam finally said. “I need to speak to Ethan. He’ll help me figure this out. Help me get out of here into the human realm.”
The healer nodded, “I will when you’re ready.”
Liam walked back to Kane’s side and dropped to his knees, resting his forehead briefly against his wolf’s shoulder.
“I’ll be back,” he whispered. “I promise.”
The healer placed a hand on Liam’s arm. “We’ll keep him stable, don’t worry too much when you’re gone, just focus on how to control the warden.”
Liam nodded as he stood.
“I’m ready.”