Heal Me Tender

The smell of antiseptic. Soreness and aches all over. Darkness. Warmth. The softness of the bed. What bed?! Wasn't he supposed to be in the dungeon on the hard rock floor?

Remien opened his lead-heavy eyelids and blinked. The light was too bright, making him wince. Slowly, the man turned his head a bit. And at that moment, he almost wished he hadn't. Another surge of overwhelming pain shot through the body. He groaned. Every little thing was causing discomfort and pain now. How annoying.

When Remien regained his vision, he could finally see his surroundings. He found he was lying on a neat bed. Its red linen was decorated with little white hearts. And there were black frills on the edges. What?! Oh, this wasn't his room at all.

Remien searched the space for anything he recognized. This time he was careful not to move his neck too much. And he saw a familiar face. It was Silvesta, a young woman with straight hair up to her waist, smooth pale skin, and stunning red eyes.

"Oh, Remien! You're alive!" Tears welled up in her eyes. Silvesta rushed over and plopped on the edge of the bed beside him. She grabbed his hand, squeezing his fingers a little too much. Some more pain followed.

"My partner. Did you get her to the healer?" Remien asked. His throat was dry. He could barely move his tongue. And that taste of iron was sickening.

Silvesta nodded, but then she lowered her eyes and shook her head. She opened her mouth, yet no sound came out.

A gruff male voice answered in her place, "We sure did, but she was gone way before we found you two. She passed away back in the dungeon. I'm sorry."

Remien shifted his gaze to the speaker. Wolfred's middle-length dark brown hair appeared to be in a bit of a mess. The scruffy beard around his grumpy face gave off a somewhat rugged look.

"What did the healer say?" Remien stared at the faraway table, full of teddy bears and other stuffed toys. But his eyes were empty as if he wasn't really seeing anything.

"She is gone, Remien!" Silvesta said, wiping the tears with the back of her hand. "Nothing could be done, nothing. We asked it all."

Remien let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes. It took too much effort to keep them open. And there was little sense in that.

"I see. Thank you. What about the body?"

"She's still at the healer's, Remien." Silvesta cleared her throat. "You said she wanted her parents to take care of the funeral. At least that was how I remembered it."

"Right." Remien forced his eyes open again. Specks of light danced in front of him. A few seconds passed before his vision cleared again. Silvesta caught hold of his shoulder. He grimaced. Did she have to do all that touching? It hurt too much to be pleasant. Yet, the attention itself was enjoyable, so he said nothing.

Remien looked down at his arm. But all he could see were white bandages, layers, and layers of them. He raised his hand to his face. That irritating cloth was there, too.

"Mirror."

Silvesta hesitated. But she let go of his arm and walked to the boudoir to fetch a round handheld mirror sprinkled with gemstones. This item was done in red and black, too. She held it up for him so that he could see his reflection.

"Oh, great," Remien said. His hair was a matted mess. There were streaks of dark red here and there, much more than he would have liked. His black hair now had a strange red hue, the color of dried blood.

The bandages covering his arms were stained with red, as well. He tugged at the sheet that was covering him and threw it off. Silvesta covered her nose and mouth with the palms of her hands, blushing. She looked away. Her eyes changed color from their usual red to a bright glow. Remien studied the rest of his body.

"Even better," he concluded with a frown. Remien pulled on the loose end of the bandage on his face and removed it bit by bit. The wounds had been stitched together with thread enhanced by dark magic. Wisps of black aura were still visible on the edges. He stared at his reflection and smirked.

"Come on, it's not that bad," Silvesta whispered. She slowly lowered her hand and forced herself to meet his eyes. She leaned down, planting a kiss on his cheek.

Remien chuckled.

"Wolf, take your girl away from me before I…" He cleared his throat. "Before I do something stupid. But thanks, Silvesta, that made me feel better."

Wolfred pulled Silvesta away from the bed and onto the chair beside it. She pouted but remained there.

"I'll need a source to recover at least some of my energy. Better make that two or three," Remien said with another frown. "I can't even think straight yet."

"One step ahead of you." Wolfred grinned. "The girls are on their way."

"Oh, really? That's great news. By the way, where are we? Why do I have this strange feeling that this is your bed, Silvesta?" Remien asked.

"Because it is." Silvesta smiled.

"What? Don't you have a guest room?!"

"I'm having it cleaned. It's… How should I put it? Everything there is soaked with blood. That smell was driving me crazy." She peered into his eyes. "Besides, I couldn't just miss such an opportunity. How else would I get you here?"

She winked at him. Remien laughed.

"Yup, Remien, you might wanna buy the lass a new coach and carpet. You kinda ruined her old ones."

"Sure, I will. No problem. How bad is it, really, Wolf?"

The man handed him a rolled-up scroll. Remien broke the seal and skimmed through the many letters.

"Ugh. The magic energy circuits are damaged. An elixir a day will keep the energy from regenerating to the fullest. At least it has wine in it. That makes it tolerable.

And what if I don't take it? Ah. What?! My whole energy supply will rip the weakened circuits to shreds?! Pfft. I'm not some freaking rubber doll that can burst from too much air!

Hmmm. I should be able to use some of my magic. As long as it needs only a bit of energy. Oh, well. I will have to make do with what I have. Good game. Well played. You have been demoted to level 1. Is that how it is?" Remien scratched his chin.

Wolfred shrugged. "I dunno. I guess if that's what it says. Just take it easy for a while."

"Easy? As if I could if I wanted to." He chuckled. "This is going to be so much fun!"

Wolfred stared at him. "Well, if you say so."

"Ah, whatever." Remien threw the scroll onto the bedside table. "Are my nurses here yet?"

"Nurses? You mean…" Wolfred never finished the sentence.

The door flew open. Two young women peered inside. One of them had long blond hair streaming to the floor. The other woman's hair was short and brown, neatly tied in two cute buns. In identical petite white dresses, they stood frozen. Matching white stockings hugged their slender legs. Their large eyes widened even further under their long, dark eyelashes.

"There you are, my pretty little fairies. You're just in time." Remien sat up against the pillows.

The women gasped.

"Oh, Remien! Is that really you?! Are you alright?! What happened?!" the newcomer asked. Her hand flew to her full pink lips.

"Don't worry. I will be fine in no time. The good part is that I'm still alive and have my magic. Can we skip all the small talk?" Remien pointed at the bandages on his head and smiled. "How would you like this? On or off? "Whom would you prefer, a mummy or a zombie?"

"Just you." They batted their eyelashes at him.

Wolfred stood up and left the room in silence. Silvesta glared at the two guests and rolled her eyes. Slowly, the silver-haired woman sighed and rose from the bedside. She followed her dungeon partner out of the room, slamming the door behind her.