“Nonononono—”

Ethari’s voice broke into a panicked whisper as he scooped you up and rushed from the chaos, the sounds of battle fading behind him. He half-carried, half-dragged you to the shelter of a nearby tree, lowering you gently against its trunk.

The air still shimmered faintly with leftover magic—wild, unstable. You’d been caught in the crossfire between dueling mages, struck by a spell that hadn’t been meant for anyone. You didn’t even know what it was supposed to do. All you knew was that your body ached in strange, deep places, and something inside you felt… wrong.

“It’s alright, you’ll be okay,” Ethari murmured, though the tremor in his voice betrayed him. His hands moved over you in a frantic rhythm, searching for anything the spell had caused.