A small glass vial materialized in Lucius's hand, filled with a glowing red liquid. It pulsed faintly, warm to the touch.
He unstoppered it carefully, the sweet medicinal scent filling the air, honey mixed with crushed herbs and something else that made his enhanced sense tingle.
Lucius tilted Seraphine's head back gently, supporting her neck with one hand. Her lips were pale, stained with blood that had already begun to dry.
"Come on," he murmured. "Just swallow, please."
He tipped the vial, letting a small amount of liquid touch her lips. She didn't respond immediately so he tried again, letting more flow into her mouth.
Her throat moved weakly, swallowing in bits.
Relief flooded through him as he watched her throat work. He poured more, slowly and carefully. She swallowed again and again until the vial emptied in his hands.
Lucius set it aside and waited for it to begin, his hand still supporting her head.
It didn't take long before the blood on her lips began to fade. Colour returned to her skin, the greyish pallor warming to something closer to healthy. Her breathing, still quick but no longer desperate, deepened and became more controlled.
He pressed his fingers to neck, checking her pulse. The irregular rhythm had smoothed out, it became stronger, steadier than before.
"Thank god," he breathed, then he caught himself. Thanking gods felt wrong after everything that had just happened.
Her eyes fluttered.
"Seraphine," Lucius leaned closer.
She groaned softly, her hand moving to her head. "What….what happened?"
"The ritual backlash was worse than expected. You collapsed and even coughed up blood." He kept his voice calm, and steady despite the tension. "But you're okay now. I gave you a healing potion and from the looks of it it seemed to work."
She opened her eyes slowly, her silver pupils staring at him, exhausted and confused. "A healing potion? Where did you…."
She trailed off, seeing his expression.
"It doesn't matter," Lucius said quietly. "You saved my life, went as far as to take my pain. This was the best I could do for you in return."
Seraphine stared at him for a long moment, reading what he wasn't saying. Then slowly, she tried to sit up.
"Easy." Lucius assisted her, supporting her back as she shifted upright. She was still weak, trembling slightly, but alive.
"How do you feel?" He asked.
"Like I absorbed the pain of someone who absorbed a god." She managed a weak smile. "Which I suppose is accurate."
Lucius handed her the waterskin. She drank it carefully, wincing as the liquid touched her raw throat.
As she drank, something shifted in her expression, a flicker of realization on her face, then quickly hidden. Her free hand moved to her chest, pressing against where her heart beat, as if checking something.
Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly. Then her face went carefully natural.
Lucius noticed the movement but didn't mention it. "What is it? Are you still in pains?"
"No, no." She lowered her hand quickly. "Just….making sure everything's working properly. The potion seems to have done its job."
But her voice was too controlled, too careful to be what she said.
Lucius frowned. "You're sure? You can tell me if something's wrong."
"I'm fine, really." She smiled, and it looked genuine enough. "Tired, sore, but fine. The potion seemed to have done its job well. You saved my life."
He wanted to push, to ask what that moment had been about, but she was already changing the subject before he did.
"We should probably move soon," Seraphine said, looking around the clearing. "Heaven's forces could still be tracking us and I assume we need supplies, and a place to recover properly."
Lucius hesitated, then nodded. She was right, they had overstayed there duration, they couldn't stay here any longer than this.
"There's a town called Hancock. It's where I…." he paused, choosing his words carefully. "There's someone there who helped me. An Oracle to be precise. She performed a ritual to locate the sun god for me, which worked out well."
Seraphine's eyesbrows rose. "An Oracle? That's….useful. You didn't mention her before, why?."
"It was complicated. She's an information broker, who works out of an old shrine. She deals in secrets." He met Seraphine's eyes.
"I need to go back and thank her for her help. And…" he hesitated. "We might need her services again, for the weather gods."
"The weather gods." Seraphine's expression Hardened slightly. "Right. The other half of your mission." she looked away. "How far is Hancock from here?."
"Two, maybe three days on foot. If you can manage it."
"I can manage it." She pushed herself to her feet, using the tree for support. Lucius stood immediately, ready to catch her if she fell .
She swayed slightly but stayed upright. "See? Fine."
She wasn't fine. Lucius could see the effort it took for her to stand, the way her hands trembled slightly from the motion. But he also recognised the stubbornness in her, and her unwillingness to share.
"We'll take it slow," he said. "No rushing. If you need rest—"
"I'll tell you." She cut him off, but not unkindly. "I promise. I'm not trying to be a martyr here."
'Lair' Lucius thought, but he didn't say it.
They gathered their few belongings. Lucius insisted on carrying most of the weight, and this time seraphine didn't argue.
As they prepared to leave, Lucius noticed her pause, her hand going to her chest again. Her expression flickeded for a moment, before she caught herself and let her hand drop.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Ready." She smiled at him, and this time it didn't quite reach her eyes.
They started walking, heading northwest through the forest. The morning sun flickered through the canopy, casting dappled shadows across the forest floor.
Lucius kept glancing at Seraphine, watching for signs of weakness in her, ready to catch her if she stumbled, even by mistake. She walked steadily enough, but he could see the tension in her shoulders, the careful way she moved.
Something was wrong, something was definitely wrong and he knew it but she clearly didn't want to talk about it.
So he let it go, as of the moment.
Behind them, Seraphine's mind raced.
The divine core, her divine blessing. She felt it the moment she woke, the hollowness where power used to sit, the way her energy felt thin, and fragile.
The resonance ritual hadn't just hurt her. It had damaged something fundamental. Her divine core was degrading, the corrupted blessing that had sustained her since the church cast her out was slowly unraveling.
She could feel it. Like a candle burning down, the wick growing shorter with every passing hour.
How long did she have? Days? Weeks?
She didn't know.
And she wasn't going to tell Lucius, or at least not yet. He had already used his last resources to save her once. She wouldn't burden him with this. Not when they had gods to hunt, enemies to fight, a mission to complete.
She would find a solution somehow. In Hancock, maybe or through Cophey's contacts or through research.
She had to.
Because the alternative, watching her divine energy drain to zero, feeling her life force unravel with it…
She pushed the thought away and kept walking.
"Tell me about Cophey," she said, breaking the silence. "What's she like?"
Lucius glanced at her, surprised by the question. Then he started talking, describing the shrine, the ritual, the sharp-eyed oracle who had helped him despite the risks.
Seraphine listened, nodding in the right places, asking questions. Acting normal.
And in her chest, her divine core flickered, like a candle in a growing wind.