Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 449: Luck is another name for destiny (1)

He hears the lapping waves of the sea, the calling calls of the sea birds, and the smell of the ocean.

For a second, he was.peaceful until pain brought him back. 

Pain, prickling pain, feeling like needles are being pricked on every inch on his body, ants crawling through his veins. 

He wanted to jolt to life but the pain suppressed him. 

But he also feels a cooling sensation, being transmitted to him. Cool like water. And he smells the herbs. 

Someone is applying herbs to his body, he deduced.

Slowly he opens his eyes. 

'Argh' he winced in pain and he looks in front of him. That woman! He was about to push her again when he feels the pain in his arms.

'I'm not her, outlander' the woman said looking at Arial with wariness and her hands stopped doing whatever she is doing. In her hand is a green cloth. 

Arial is sure that cloth is being dipped by something. Maybe herbs.

'My name is Tatiana.' the girl said, looking at Arial, her eyes betrayed none of her words. She also looks kind of fearful but she did not distance herself away or ran.

Arial was about to call her a liar when he decided to look at her more attentively. 

He looks at her and realizes that while she has the same black hair, her hair was longer, and her face was slightly different from Liselle. 

It almost look like they were the same but they are certain distinct difference. Like the mole on the woman neck, a small mole just around the area of her neck. 

Liselle doesn't have that. But her skin was as flawless as hers but she looks.kinder, untainted by darkness. 

He doesn't feel any killing intent from her or any malice or guilt. Arial like to believe he is a good judge of character and looking at that woman, he felt no danger. 

It was at this time he deeply realized the mistake he has made. Might he be mistaken? He mused.

'I don't know how I can mistake you with her. I was..' I was what Arial mused. What could he say that would not make her misunderstand? 

Forgive me doesn't really change the fact that what he did might cost the woman life.

Even though Arial is lying on a hay stack, and his body is still not free from the pain he struggles to apologize to this person. 

A mistake is a mistake. At least here, he must admit to it and take responsibilities for it. His struggle is expressed by his hard expression and the woman smiles a little.

'You were insane' the girl said as a matter of fact.

'What did you say!' Arial said shocked at this woman audacity to call him insane. Not many people dare mocked the Dragon.

'You must have expended much of your internal energy and the energy backfires.' she said calmly with no hint of fear as she rubbed something that smell like weirven herb, the herb that grows on marshes. 

It seems exactly like the weirven herb that one of the Knight master in the Knight Academy once cultivate near the Marshes behind the Academy.

What happen actually? he mused

Ana just smiles and recall what happens while rubbing the cloth on the naked body of Arial.

*************************************************************

A FEW HOURS AGO. 

Arial was about to swing the glaive down when his blood vessel ruptured and his swing became weaker and slowed down almost immediately. 

Seeing this sudden weakness of her attacker, Ana rolled to the other side, dodging the swing. 

Cold sweats runs through her back. It is a brush with death. 

Even in his weakest moment that swing of his attack created a deep gash in the radius of the slash, sand flying everywhere as the man collapsed on to the white sandy beach.

He immediately coughed up blood and looking at her with such killing intent that Ana could not help but wanted to run from the area. 

and then the man lost his consciousness and close his tired eyes. 

Ana was looking at the man with wary expression. There was only silence and the lapping of waves. 

Sometimes she could hear the calling calls of the sea bird flying near the shores.

Should she leave him? 

He did try to kill her after all. Should she kill him? She slowly come to the man, sharpening her own dagger and slowly and cautiously she turns the man body facing her. 

The man is breathing hardly and slowly. She looks at him, her dagger raised, aiming at the man throat and then.......it stay there on the air.

She couldn't do it. 

She never killed anyone or anything. Her sister might not have that same weakness or mercy like she did but Ana is Ana. 

She couldn't bear to kill the man. 

It was beyond stupid for her but she brought him inside her cave, and then she uses what she learns of the Compendium of Healing. 

Compendium of Healing is one of the books in the Library of Ragora. 

It is a compulsory read for all recruit. She feels his pulse and could feel the chaotic energy swirling inside his body and a primal power roaring to be let out. 

Ana was so shocked that she almost throws the man hand from her. 

What she felt was something unfathomable, such chaotic energy bordering on such earth defying power, and killing intent so lethal that she almost gets a heart attack just feeling his pulse.

Whoever this man is.he is a consummate expert, powerful, and clearly one of those peak level masters she heard about in stories.

But she knows what his problem was. 

He has gone insane. His veins are in turmoil, his meridians is recovering and exploding at the same time. 

It must be because he is learning in some forbidden skills and was just finished having a breakthrough.

Usually after having a breakthrough it will take a few hours or maybe days, maybe even weeks before the power could stabilize itself in the person body. 

During that period of time, excessive internal energy must not be used or it might send the energy into chaos. 

Some even have to stop using internal energy for a while. This is clearly the case of energy reversing. 

There is not Blood Lotus flower or Calming Mind Pills on her person. Not that she could afford it either way. 

Blood Lotus could be absorbed into the meridians channel and then help heal the affected channels while Calming Mind Pills could be used to calm the chaotic energy inside the body. 

Both of these material is hard to obtain and more so for the Calming Mind pills which can only be created by a talented alchemist. 

All of this knowledge she learns in the Compendium of Healing under the section of Internal Energy Affliction and Cures. 

But the only master alchemist Ana knew is in Ragora. Other master alchemist outside the Bastion, she did not know.

One she has no access to, another she did not know. She could only do her best.

The only thing she could do is to give him weirven herb and slathers it around his body. 

Weirven herbs has healing properties usually used to treat external wound but weirven herbs grinded with Sigurn leaves would resulted in an absorbing properties. 

It would absorb itself into the body and heal the internal injuries. 

But for one of such degree, Ana just hope that this person in front of him have remarkable healing abilities or he might be crippled or worse the internal energy will flare up and the man will die in shock.

She then unrobed the man from his armour and removes his undershirt and she must admit that the man figure was like the statue of the Gods. 

He was muscly, and powerful looking even when he is unconscious. Combined that with his handsome face, Ana feel her heart skipped a beat and her cheeks become red.

What am I thinking? She mused. 

She then focused on her job making the herbs. She grinds the leaves and after an hour she finally got the concoction. 

She dip a piece of clean cloth into the concoction, a green colored liquid, with a pungent smell of herbs and wipe the cloth on the man body, tracing her fingers around the hard body of the man. 

Even in her situations she smiles. The only other person she has ever touched like this was Sanaa.

She looks at the man white hair and for some reason she has a premonition of sadness. She ignores it and keeps wiping it, earnestly trying to save him.

Then she could feel the man is trying to move and she stopped her hand.

***