Combat Healer Ch. 43 (BOOK 4) (Patreon)

July 16, 2023

NOTE: I usually try to release early, but my official release schedule is Sunday evenings EST (as in, when I'm posting this chapter).

This was actually kind of a difficult chapter for me to write, just because I don't want to get bogged down in unnecessary details, so that I can move the plot forward to the more exciting stuff.

<< Chapter 42 | Ch 1 (Book 1) | Ch 15 (Book 2) | Ch 29 (Book 3)

- CHAPTER 43: Complications -

Present Day

Near the northern border of the Ryfle Kingdom, only about half a day’s travel from the Delanor Kingdom’s territory, a petite human girl with short red hair and excessive freckles reached out as the tall elf man grabbed beneath her arms and hoisted her off the panting steed.

It had been a long day of hard travel, the girl’s thin legs and thighs extremely sore, the strong elf named Jackel having pushed the horse to the limits of its endurance. It was well after nightfall, the unique Percheron of the elves having perfect night vision, their usually grayish-white coat not causing any unnecessary attention when they were keeping away from well-traveled roads.

The sounds of a gurgling brook could be heard nearby as insects and night birds chirped in the darkness.

The short redhead stumbled when the tall elf set her down on her feet, prompting him to gently guide her to the soft ground next to a tree, his tone reassuring.

“Rest, princess. I’ll set up camp as soon as I water the steed.”

The girl didn’t respond, trying to focus on calming the trembling in her legs.

Her body was still heavily pierced in silver rings and matching silver chains, including her face, but most of them were hidden by the tunic she wore, her shortly-cut red hair covered by a bandana, her legs partially covered in cut leather pants that were far too big for her.

She wore three leather belts, one around her waist, as well as one around each thin thigh to prevent chafing from the constant sliding that would occur from riding the cantering horse. The black silk robe she’d worn while pretending to be Ambassador Rosengard’s concubine, a gift from the young king, was still at the stables were the Delanor convoy had been forced to wait.

It was all a part of the ruse.

One to ensure they had enough time to get her to safety.

The silk robe was even on the stairs in plain sight, to give the illusion to any visiting knights that she was still present, only busy upstairs with a couple of the elf men.

However, that wasn’t the end of the ruse.

Upon discovering urgent news related to the monsters disguising themselves as people, one of the carriages had also left, entirely empty aside from the driver. In the event that the redhead’s identity be discovered, and in the event the knights of the Ryfle kingdom attempt to pursue the carriage, they would find it empty.

A wild-goose chase.

Their time wasted, while the strong elf got the princess to safety.

It was unlikely the truth would be discovered though.

For, the girl who was attempting to control her trembling, as she rested against the tree, was no longer a princess.

She was instead a lowly concubine belonging to Ambassador Rosengard, an identity she’d committed herself to, in order to avoid feeling nervous or otherwise reacting when she was around people she knew. And as a lowly concubine, the knights shouldn’t care what happened to her, and should never learn that the girl who once resided within the palace had ever left. Perhaps in a week or two, it would be discovered that the princess had perished, a falsified death, and she would be free from danger until it was time to ascend the throne as queen of the human kingdom.

The elves were still being cautious though.

As the last princess, the very last person who might claim the throne after her older brother’s demise, they couldn’t take any chances.

And so, the strong elf escorting her had attempted to avoid crossing paths with any people, especially once they got away from the capital. Now, the two of them stopped within a thick patch of trees in the wilderness, completely alone, not another person around for a great distance.

The tall elf finally returned after a time, his normally dark green eyes flashing silver in the darkness.

Patting the gray horse, he began pulling out some supplies from one of the saddle bags, only to walk over with a large piece of hard bread in his grasp.

“Here, princess. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

She accepted it, but decided to speak up at that. “Forgive me, sir. But I am Jasmine. The Ambassador’s concubine.”

The elf’s brow furrowed. “I thought the youngest princess was called Erika.”

“Princess Erika is on her deathbed, sir, and may soon perish. I am Jasmine.”

The elf abruptly crouched down, giving her a serious look. “You are the princess, right?” he asked seriously, seeming uncertain for the first time.

Her tone became more serious. “I left ‘princess’ back in the palace, in my home, where I was almost killed by my own brother and the evil man who stands behind him. The same vipers who slaughtered all my sisters. I will one day be queen, yes, but until then, I am only Jasmine. No one of any significance. A lowly concubine of a great man.”

He sighed heavily, and rose to his feet, turning to grab what he needed to set up a tent, intending on sleeping under the canopy of leaves above their heads himself, unless the weather became poor and it rained.

The girl began biting into the hard bread, tearing off small pieces to soften in her mouth before chewing.

Finally, he spoke. “So, I will call you Jasmine then.”

“That is my name,” she agreed.

He took a deep breath, crouching down as he began to set up the tent. “No fires tonight. Not until we cross over to Delanor tomorrow.” He hesitated. “And Allister is a good man, so if that is truly the identity you wish to assume, then it will be a safe one.”

Jasmine swallowed the piece of bread in her mouth, before responding. “Forgive me for asking, sir, but I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

Jackel’s brow furrowed as he glanced at her again, finally responding in a questioning tone, once he looked away and resumed setting up the tent. “Just that Allister won’t actually treat you like a concubine? Not in the literal sense, at least.”

She frowned, her tone decisive. “Even if I one day become Queen Erika, I will always also be Jasmine, his lowly concubine.”

The tall elf stiffened at that, words escaping him.

He glanced at her again.

She held is gaze, her emerald eyes determined.

He finally looked away, resuming his task slowly. “I suppose…once you become queen…that will be your decision to make…”

She nodded, focusing down at her bread. “It’s a decision already made,” she replied simply. “I am Jasmine,” she added, just before taking another bite.

Holding it in her mouth to soften.

Chewing and swallowing once it was ready.

Her thoughts drifting elsewhere now, set on her near future.

Set on the freedom she felt in this moment.

The freedom of knowing that she was no one special. No one important.

Only a lowly concubine.

To a great and powerful man.

Her master.

* * *

After informing my elf comrades that the true source of the threat – the true reason these abominations even existed – was not what we thought, they immediately made preparations to send word back to the Queen. However, really, it was just an excuse to not seem suspicious when they escaped with the last princess of the human kingdom.

In truth, I had already sent word to the Queen myself, asking Wren to turn into a Balphor, a massive winged monster covered in midnight fur that had a face resembling a feline, and having her immediately fly to the capital of Delanor, so she could sneak in and deliver this news.

News that implied that most, if not all, of the abominations we’d defeated might not truly be dead. That the Eldritch Eye ‘possessing’ them might regenerate fully if it was destroyed within a body, and that any eyes removed weren’t truly dead unless destroyed.

In particular, I was most worried about the first elf noble who had been discovered as a monster, considering that I’d torn that large crimson eye out of the beast’s gaping torso, but had never actually seen it destroyed.

Fuck, what if it possessed and killed someone else?

Even worse than that, what if it killed the Queen?

The thought made me sick to my stomach, because there was nothing I could do right now, except wait and hope they knew where the eye was and what had been done with it.

By carriage, it was at least a three-day trip between the capitals of Delanor and Ryfle, but as a Balphor, Wren would be able to traverse that distance in mere hours. Which was a great relief, just that she could get there so quickly.

Unfortunately, even once she arrived, she still had the problem of daylight to worry about.

Considering she was a monster and very much looked like a monster, I couldn’t just have her fly around wherever I wanted. She had to run quite a distance away from the capital of Ryfle before taking to the skies, and would have to drop back down to the ground long before reaching the capital of Delanor, especially since she would no doubt arrive before sunset. She would then have to sneak onto the Royal Grounds, being careful to not be seen.

However, once she successfully delivered her message to the Queen and returned to me under the shroud of darkness, I fully intended on having Wren sneak Blake out of the palace unnoticed, even if it would ultimately cause suspicion, simply because I was limited on my options to protect her without provoking a war between our nations.

As the Queen’s Ambassador, I absolutely could not afford to involve the elf kingdom in a war over what most would consider foolishness, which meant I couldn’t openly prevent harm from befalling this girl I barely knew.

Still, I had to do something.

Despite my better judgement, I was too attached now.

An attachment that had nothing to do with my physical attraction toward her and everything to do with just not wanting anything else horrible to befall her. And I had more than enough good reason to know what might happen in this castle if I didn’t get her to safety as soon as possible.

So removing her from harm’s way was my only option.

It was still a very risky spot to be in, especially when angering the immature king could truly provoke a war, but this plan was both the easiest way to keep her safe while simultaneously being the least likely way to provoke that anger, since I could just claim the concubine disappeared in the night and I wasn’t able to find her.

By all accounts, blaming her for her own disappearance was the safest option when she was impossible to find.

However, before I could worry about any of that, there was first work to do.

The human knights had just witnessed for themselves the threat these monsters posed, one of their own revealed to be a Lesser Eldritch in disguise, and I was absolutely expected to help in flushing out any other abominations, especially since I was the only healer in the entire castle who could use Greater Healing.

Something that sincerely shocked me, considering I knew so many healers back home who could use it. But I supposed that was a result of being at the top of the top, surrounded by others who were also the best of the best.

To me, I felt like the basic threshold to be a competent healer was to know Greater Healing. But to the general population, and even apparently to the majority of the human kingdom, which was definitely lacking in the talent department, knowing ‘Greater Healing’ was somewhat rare, and meant the healer was exceptionally skilled.

In hindsight, I knew I shouldn’t have been too surprised, just because I knew talent congregated in the north where there was good coin for completing any one of the plentiful Quests, but I supposed I didn’t realize the extent to which talent was lacking in the south.

No doubt the Guilds had talented individuals, but the fact that the king didn’t have a competent healer within his grasp was bizarre to me. Perhaps because such a female healer would never allow themselves to willingly fall within his grasp, since doing so would likely result in a lower position in society, as a servant, rather than a higher one achievable at the Guilds.

In the Delanor kingdom, it was the exact opposite.

Serving the Queen was an honor, and came with perks.

But clearly that wasn’t the case here, in this corrupted kingdom.

Of course, I was prepared to help in this endeavor of flushing out the monsters – it was literally the reason why we came.

But what I wasn’t prepared for was having Commander Demetri demand I leave ‘the whore,’ who was ironically a virgin, back at my chambers so that she wasn’t a distraction, or otherwise an unnecessary victim.

Despite the inherent danger in being around these abominations when they attacked, I was initially planning on keeping her by my side, being far more worried about Blake’s safety apart from me. Especially because, even if it was true that I personally saw her and valued her as a person, it was also undoubtedly true that she was ‘just a whore’ to everyone else.

A concubine to be used however desired.

After the stunt that Lord Edgard tried to pull, prior to me killing him, I didn’t trust that her being a ‘gift from the king’ – one given specifically to me, the Queen’s Ambassador – would be any form of protection from most of the corrupt knights currently assigned to protect the royal family.

The same royal family who had quietly been slain, one by one.

It was only with Lord Cassian’s reassurance – specifically that he would personally escort Blake back, and that it would be specifically his knights who were guarding my chambers – that I finally gave into the demand, trusting that he at least was a decent human being.

Or at least trusting that him having witnessed me slaughter Lord Edgard in cold blood, desiccating the short fat man’s entire body in a matter of seconds, would be more than enough to keep him fearful, even if he were to otherwise give into his baser impulses.

But that left Blake separated from me for basically the rest of the day.

Lord Edgard was ‘mysteriously’ unable to be found, the scattered soot in the Guard Station having mostly gone unnoticed, putting Commander Demetri fully in charge of the situation.

The knights were organized, Essence Crystals were supplied, my Greater Healing was cast repeatedly, and those found to be truly human were shown evidence of the type of abomination that potentially hid amongst them. A sight that was especially harrowing for those who personally knew the ‘man,’ prior to his unsightly slaughter ‘as a monster.’

A slaughter that was hopefully permanent now, since the vine-like tentacles of the destroyed eye had been carved out of the interior of the body and subsequently burned. With the entire body soon to follow after, once we ensured the castle was fully rid of monsters.

Two of the elf Fighters from my convoy were allowed to accompany us, the Commander being humble enough to acknowledge that their assistance might be necessary, though they were asked to hold back and simply observe.

It was a long day.

And fortunately…or perhaps unfortunately…no other abominations were discovered.

Not a single one.

The Commander had neglected to inform the immature king of the threat until the late evening, startling the arrogant bastard when the older man interrupted him in a lounging room that also served as the king’s entrance to his harem’s quarters. Currently occupied with two of his concubines, with him thankfully still clothed from the waist down, when informed of the threat.

A threat the young king thought was absolute nonsense at first.

One of the knights presented him with the severed arm we’d originally brought, a visible open mouth full of jagged bony teeth going up the forearm.

The king reacted like he didn’t believe it was real.

In the meantime, I silently cast my spell on both him and the two young women with him.

One of the young women seemed to notice the healing, even looking toward me in confusion, while both the king and other woman didn’t notice at all.

Clearly, none of them were monsters.

Though clearly, the immature king was his own kind of monster, finally noticing the two elf Fighters and demanding their ‘filthy kind’ leave his presence.

Both were more than happy to oblige.

Commander Demetri was not happy.

After arguing with the king for a few minutes, who had shifted to complaining that he hadn’t been informed sooner, even though he also clearly didn’t care about this supposed threat and didn’t want to deal with it, Commander Demetri finally glanced at me, silently seeking affirmation that I’d done my part.

I gave him a simple nod, confirming these three weren’t abominations.

He simply focused back on the king, his tone a bit sarcastic.

“Very well, your majesty. I will both keep you informed and also avoid bothering that royal head of yours at all costs.”

The king scoffed. “I don’t need the attitude, Demetri. Just take care of it. And where is Lord Edgard?”

“I am currently unaware of his presence, your majesty. However, I am much more interested in the whereabouts of Lord Grimaldi. As your advisor, I feel it is exceedingly important he be notified of this development. He was already supposed to meet with the Queen’s Ambassador, but has yet to return from his earlier business.”

The king scoffed again, running his hand through his auburn curls. “Yes, well Lord Grimaldi is a very busy man, as I’m sure you know. It takes a lot of work to run my kingdom.” His tone became sarcastic. “Are you really suggesting that this meeting is more important than matters involving my kingdom, commander? Is that what you’re suggesting?”

Demetri ground his teeth. “Perhaps we have a difference of perspective on what counts as ‘important,’ your majesty.”

“Perhaps,” he replied in a haughty tone. “Now, leave me be. I was having a pleasant time before you interrupted.”

The Commander turned to leave without a word.

Once our small group was back in the hallway, my two elf comrades nowhere in sight, no doubt having returned to the rest of the convoy, one of his men spoke up in a whisper.

“Forgive me for asking, commander. But are we not going to check his majesty’s harem?”

Demetri spoke through his teeth, his tone very sarcastic. “His majesty appears to be very unconcerned about this grave threat, and it has me thinking. Perhaps we are overreacting,” he scoffed. “Perhaps checking his royal harem can wait until tomorrow once we are all rested. After all, if the threat is so unimportant, then perhaps it can wait until it is most convenient for the king, when he is occupied elsewhere.”

Several of the men exchanged uneasy glances.

Demetri continued, more serious now. “I am most concerned about informing Grimaldi of these matters. As much as I dislike the man, he is practically running the kingdom and needs to be made aware. If something were to happen to him, I fear the entire realm could rapidly deteriorate. Is there truly no one with any ideas as to where he has gone?”

One of the men spoke up hesitantly. “I have occasionally spotted him riding southeast, sir. Toward his estate.”

Demetri grumbled at that, focusing on me. “Ambassador Rosengard, I thank you for your services, but now that we have checked all who are present in the castle, I feel it is time for you to return to your chambers for the evening. Lord Cassian will escort you.”

I frowned at that, because I knew for a fact that we hadn’t checked everyone.

In particular, I had not yet cast my healing on the older woman who had been taking care of the last princess, or the servant girl who guided me through the sewage tunnels. In fact, I had not been taken anywhere even remotely similar to the hallways where the princess had been kept, even if I undoubtedly did cast my healing on most of the other servants.

Of course, I had no doubt that both of those maidservants were fully human, but I felt like this oversight might imply there were others who had slipped through our grasp. In truth, the entire operation had been very unorganized compared to what I was used to seeing from the elves, although I suspected it was a natural result of the Commander being kept in the dark by Lord Edgard for months, if not several years now.

I mean, if both he and his knights hadn’t even been aware that all the princesses had died until recently, then how could he possibly know who was left to be checked?

I focused on Cassian, who simply turned and gestured for me to follow him.

It had been a long exhausting day full of tension for everyone, and no one was interested in unnecessary pleasantries.

No goodbyes exchanged.

I personally would have been less anxious at this point, except that I was worried due to Wren’s difficulties in locating the Queen. She’d been on the Royal Grounds, back in the capital of Delanor, for at least six hours now, since before sundown, and yet hadn’t been able to locate her older twin. More than that, she hadn’t been able to locate anyone we could trust, whether that be Sylvia, Astaer, Celestine, or even Alyssa.

I was trying not to panic, since everyone else on the Royal Grounds was acting normally, but I definitely felt stressed for my own reasons.

I followed Cassian in silence back through the castle hallways, most of my focus on Wren as she silently listened and observed from a perch on top of a high stone building. She’d already made an attempt to infiltrate the castle once, but still hadn’t found any evidence of Queen Eliza’s whereabouts.

It wasn’t until Lord Cassian abruptly stopped ahead of me…

That I realized there might be a problem.

My tone was immediately hard. “What’s wrong?” I asked seriously, stepping forward to see around the corner, only to answer my own question when I focused on the elaborate double-doors leading to the guest chambers.

Everything was perfectly in order, except for one glaring issue.

There were no guards!

“Where are your men?” I snapped, doing everything in my power to not flat-out run, knowing that I didn’t hear anything abnormal happening inside with my improved hearing. Without thinking, I dropped the bag of remaining Essence Crystals by one of the furnished couches as I went.

Cassian was quickly hurrying to catch up. “I don’t know. There should be no reason for them to have left. Certainly not both of them at the same time.”

I spoke through my teeth. “I swear if I find them inside, doing anything other than talking, then we’re going to have a big problem.” Except, I knew they couldn’t be inside, because I literally heard nothing. No movement, no talking, not even any heavy breathing. “And if she’s not in there…” I added threateningly.

“They wouldn’t do anything to her,” Cassian said firmly. “I swear they wouldn’t. Even if she’s a concubine, they know she’s for you, and they would respect that.”

I wasn’t convinced, focused on controlling myself now so that I didn’t break the door when I opened it.

And the moment I did so, I found an empty room.

Pitch-black inside, no candles lit, no available light.

And yet, with my new eyes, I still saw.

Saw that there was no one.

I immediately started heading for the bedchambers on the left, figuring I’d check there first before trying to track down where they might have gone.

“Cassian,” I began hissing threateningly. “Where the fuck would they have…” My voice trailed off, my pace abruptly slowing down, when I heard the quietest of noises. A noise so quiet that I wouldn’t have heard it with my normal hearing.

The quietest…

Of whimpers.

A pained tormented sound.

Fuck!

I bolted forward, despite not having far to go, definitely breaking part of the door when I tried to open it this time, causing an almost panicked whimper that was quickly muffled.

Immediately, I activated my skills before I even had a chance to register what I was seeing in the pitch-black room.

FORETHOUGHT.

REFLEXIVE INSTINCT.

HASTE.

It felt like the entire world slowed down as my mind started to register what lie within the darkness.

Literally, what lie within.

The body of a knight lying awkwardly on the floor by the large canopy bed, appearing unconscious.

Another knight slumped against the wall on my left, also appearing unconscious.

I didn’t see any blood, but I quickly realized…

Neither were breathing.

And neither were the knights from earlier. The ones Cassian had assigned to guard my room.

But it was more than that.

They were more than just dead.

I realized the one on the floor actually had a gaping hole in his neck.

Absolutely no blood, but visibly looking like he’d been impaled by something long and sharp.

His skin looking far more gray than I felt like it should, even if he’d been dead for a few hours.

A light appeared behind me.

Cassian had lit a candle.

The moment he stepped into the room, he recognized both of them.

“Shit,” he hissed. “They’re from the Select Guard.”

I was already aware that the king’s ‘Select Guard’ were the bastards who were helping to hide the deaths happening in the castle and perhaps even doing worse to the women, royalty or not.

The worst possible people to be in this room.

Cassian held the candle up higher. “Where are my men? They must have knocked them out.”

I didn’t respond, holding up my hand to silence him.

Because I was literally in the room now, and yet I still didn’t hear anything.

The whimpering had disappeared.

I was concerned there might still be a threat, one that I didn’t want to tip off by trying to search the room, knowing I wouldn’t reach Blake in time if someone had a blade to her neck and I didn’t know her exact location. Because unfortunately, there were quite a few places to search, everything from underneath the bed, to behind one of the ornately furnished chairs, to behind a large dresser, or even hidden in one of the numerous cabinets.

I strained my hearing even harder, beginning to pick up on Cassian’s heartbeat, and then…

I finally picked up on a second heartbeat.

Faint.

There was no breathing.

It was coming from inside a cabinet by the far wall, past an ornate reclining chair.

I quickly began moving in that direction.

FORESIGHT unexpectedly activated.

I instantly halted in my tracks.

Danger.

I was potentially in danger.

Real danger, even despite how strong I was now.

As if there was a feral animal ready to attack in self-defense, scared and cornered and highly lethal to even someone like me.

Cassian spoke up behind me. “Shit, is he dead? I think he’s dead!”

My mind started putting the pieces together before I even began consciously grasping what I was dealing with.

I spoke without thinking, my tone loud and firm.

“Step out of the room,” I demanded. “Now!”

The heartbeat I was picking up…

Immediately froze.

Stopped beating entirely.

Cassian hesitated.

I spoke again.

“I said now!” I snapped. “Leave, and close the door!”

Surprisingly, after a full day of interacting with me, after a full day of hunting down monsters, he listened without question, setting the candle down on a small table by the door as he did so, leaving some light in the room as he closed the doors the best he could.

My mind was still working overtime.

I tried to figure out the best approach, only having a suspicion at this point.

I forced my tone…

To be gentle.

“Blake, it’s me. Please tell me you’re okay. Did they hurt you? Do you need me to heal you?”

The heartbeat…

Abruptly started beating again.

Rapidly picking up the pace.

The whimpering…

Abruptly started again, rapidly becoming almost panicked.

And I sensed…

That the immediate danger had passed.

The wild animal, cornered and afraid, was no longer about to strike.

I quickly stepped forward and knelt down to a smaller cabinet, one I felt like might just barely be large enough to fit someone her size.

“Blake,” I whispered, my tone full of concern and sympathy. “Are you in here? Are you hurt?”

“M-Master,” she finally whimpered, her tone pleading. “P-Please h-help me. P-P-Please,” she begged. “Help.”

I carefully began opening the door, expecting the worst.

It still didn’t prepare me for what I saw.

She was trembling violently now, her knees up to her chest, her shaking arms wrapped firmly around them, legs shivering like she was freezing, clearly in a ton of pain.

Because there were…

Bones.

Jagged bones everywhere.

One coming out of her left forearm. Another coming out of her right hand between her knuckles. And yet another coming out of her thigh just above her knee, as well as…

As well as one…

Coming out of her right palm?

I’d seen a lot of horrible injuries in the years that I’d been a Scourge Suppressor, but never ones that looked like these wounds.

Lots of broken arms and legs, where the bones were protruding from the skin, but never ones that looked like these.

And yet, I quickly shifted my attention away from the obvious injuries, no blood in sight, focusing on her face when I realized her jaw was disfigured, perhaps dislocated, and that her eyes were…

Glowing.

Her beautiful green eyes…

Were glowing red.

They were glowing a bright crimson!

Just like all the other Eldritch Eyes.

And she was trembling violently.

Visibly terrified.

Visibly in pain.

Her bright red eyes were filling with tears, old salt stains visible on her tan cheeks.

“P-Please,” she whimpered again, her jaw moving oddly. “Please h-heal me.”

I only hesitated briefly, because I knew what she was.

I knew what kind of monster she was a hybrid of.

But then, I decided that the worst that might happen was that she ‘might’ freak out, choosing to cast my spell anyway.

“Greater Healing,” I whispered.

Clearly her human half mattered.

Visible relief washed over her expression briefly as the pain subsided…and yet there was no change in her clearly damaged body.

The pain quickly returned.

Her shaking visibly picked up again.

“P-Please,” she whimpered desperately this time, closing her red eyes in defeat, more tears slipping out.

I decided to deliver the bad news.

“Blake…you don’t…need healing.” I took a deep breath. “Because you aren’t injured.”

She focused up at me in shock, looking almost betrayed, clearly thinking I was lying. “W-Why?” she begged. “Please, I’ll do anything you want. Just please take the pain away. Please, I promise I just want to serve you.” She whimpered again, more tears streaming from her crimson eyes. “Please don’t make me suffer. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Didn’t do what on purpose?” I wondered quietly.

Her face contorted in grief. “I didn’t mean to kill them,” she sobbed, her eyes squeezing shut. “But they…but they…they tried to…” She couldn’t continue.

I carefully reached out and gently grasped her face in both of my hands, her dislocated jaw feeling extremely muscular on the ‘damaged’ side.

She stiffened with eyes closed, and then slowly opened her tearful red eyes.

My tone was sincere and full of regret. “I’m sorry this happened. I honestly believed you would be safe here all day, and I’m sorry you were left here unprotected. It won’t happen again. I promise that, one way or another, I’ll keep you safe from now on.”

She whimpered again, her tone pleading. “P-Please. Please heal me, master.”

I took a deep breath. “Blake, you truly aren’t injured. This is your skill. Shift. I can use it to grow claws.”

Her eye filled with confusion. “W-What?”

“These bones…aren’t broken bones. They’re weapons, Blake. Your weapons.”

She just stared at me…

In complete disbelief.

FEEDBACK: Thoughts? Theories?

We will delve more into this situation in the next chapter, including what actually happened and why there's no blood (theories?).

IMPORTANT: I am extremely far ahead of the published books (which are $5 each), and so I am currently only releasing newer chapters to the Demihuman tier and higher.

ALSO, RELEASES: Innocent Devil's Harem Book 7 is live on Amazon.

Combat Healer 2: Holstaur Essence Archer is also live on Amazon.

Please leave a rating on Book 1 for both, if you haven't already (even if you don't buy it, you can rate it on Amazon, and if you leave a review, just say you read it on Patreon).

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