Chenzhou had worn the medallion for so long that it had managed to transfer some of the poison directly into him. She suspected there was a large dark colored bruise underneath the miasma coving his chest. Certain poisons left marks at the injection point and for a few of them, it was the only way to tell they were there.
Chenzhou's had apparently been subtle enough to go unnoticed or to be diagnosed as something else. Healer Huang didn't seem all the bright and there was such a thing as too many healers in the surgery. There were very few universal rules and beliefs that transcended all kingdoms on the rock, especially in medicine and the Camelia's attempts to heal Chenzhou by bringing healers from all over the rock was sound in theory, less so in practice.
Eirian's magic had been able to destroy the poison in the medallion, so she knew she could destroy the poison left in Chenzhou.
Her magic had also completely destroyed the medallion. It could definitely do the same thing to Chenzhou, which meant she'd need to heal him at the same time as she destroyed the poison. It was possible to complete two tasks at the same time with magic, but it required the person using it to be incredibly skilled and focused.
And at full strength.
Eirian was too of those currently.
How important could the third one be?
Eirian's magic had always been different from normal magic too. It was magic, that much she was sure of. But the writings of most wizards described their efforts to pull magic forth from some well deep inside them.
Eirian's magic had always been right there, a massive ocean just under the surface of her skin and constantly pushing to get out. Wizards spent their lives trying to be worthy of great magic, to convince it to work through them.
Eirian had to convince hers to stay contained, letting it out every once and a while to satisfy it.
Wizards had to try, and Eirian did too, just in different way.
Wizards also described their magic as a non-elemental element. Only a few of the most powerful wizards in recorded history had said their magic resembled a known element. Malbec had compared his to a storm of wind and water. There'd been another, a man who lived west of the Spine of the World a thousand years before Malbec whose magic had been the rock itself. There was a fabled sailor historians claimed could control the sea.
Even Song and Snow had a famed cultivator from the Age of Warfare who was said to have killed a god and fought off an invasion from the world of the dead with magic that went beyond the power normally associated with cultivators and was described as the crush of avalanche.
Eirian had never read about another wizard who described their magic as fire. It probably wouldn't have been received well, and Eirian had gone out of her way to avoid any of the Assessors sent by the City of Illumination. Rumor was one thing; visual evidence was another.
Eirian knew how to heal. It wasn't her specialty, but she could do it. Not to the level of surgery or anything like that, but she could close a basic wound and stop bleeding.
She shouldn't need more than that to save Chenzhou and Healer Huang and Healer Akari were present. Theoretically, they could help.
…maybe.
None of them could bring back the dead.
Not even Eirian. That was the one thing magic was famous for not being able to do.
She could wait, gather her strength, and Chenzhou could die in the interim. The poison would most likely die with him, with the medallion gone, but Chenzhou would be dead, and Eirian actually liked him.
Just a bit, but he had turned out to be remarkably different than what she'd first expected. The evil, conspiring man she'd expected had turned out to be good, desperate, and dying.
He also hadn't taught her everything she needed to know about the Camelia yet. She could learn it on her own if he died, but it would take twice as long and twice the effort. Eirian like to be efficient.
And there would be challenges to a stranger taking over without Chenzhou there to support her. The Camelia didn't take change well, that much was obvious already. And the comfort the court felt in arguing with Chenzhou was not behavior that would ever have been allowed in the capital. Her Uncle didn't allow anyone to argue with him in public and only a few were allowed to do so in private.
She didn't want to do it without him, she realized. Which was off. They barely knew one another really. She'd only been here a month and a half. He was in love with Anna, and she was still nursing the wounds left by Philip. The two people in the world she trusted, her uncle and cousin, wanted her back in the capital and there was no doubt they had plans to make the Camelia suffer for its role in her marriage.
And she liked the Camelia. Despite its current doom and gloom. It was a fresh start. Something that was just hers and she could make it into anything she wanted.
And there was a good chance she'd get a few fun fights in the process.
There was work to do and Eirian loved having something to do.
So Chenzhou couldn't die now.
Eirian wouldn't allow it. Her magic started to rise again, pushing and pushing until it started to burst out at the seams.
"Stand back." She ordered as the flames manifested around her.
Anna let out a hiccupping sob as Eirian reached for Chenzhou. "What are you doing? What is she doing? He's too weak!"
Was he? Eirian supposed she should find out. Chenzhou had hung on this long. His body may have been frail, but his spirit was not.
If Eirian could keep his body alive while she burned out the poison, there was a good chance he'd make it.
~ tbc