Bloodhoundhearts

The kitchen was still thick with the smell of ozone and the metallic tang of blood. Elena sat on the floor, cradling Hilary's head in her lap. The pink glow in her eyes had faded, leaving her feeling hollow and cold. Every time Hilary winced, Elena felt a sharp pang in her own heart.

"Hold the bandage tighter, Mason!" Mark shouted. He was leaning over his sisters, his hands shaking. Even the strongest brother in the family looked small in the face of such a wound.

Just as the panic began to swallow them, the front door burst open. This time, it wasn't a monster.

"Elena! We saw the light from the ridge!"

A young man with broad shoulders and golden-brown hair rushed in, followed closely by a girl with a bow slung over her shoulder. This was Carlson, twenty-one years old and Elena's oldest friend. Behind him was Leah, nineteen, her dark eyes wide as she took in the ruined kitchen and the splintered back door.

Carlson dropped to his knees beside Elena. He didn't ask questions about the dead-quiet forest or why there were mice trapped in the corners of the room. He saw the blood and immediately went to work. He was the son of the village healer, and though he hadn't finished his training, his hands were steady.

"Leah, get me the clean water from the stove. Now!" Carlson commanded.

Leah moved with a hunter's grace. She grabbed a fresh cloth and a basin, her eyes darting to the ruined back door. "What happened here, Elena? It looks like a war zone."

Elena couldn't find the words. She just looked at her hands, which were still stained with the gold of the Fae and the red of her sister.

"Orcs," Beatrice whispered from the stairs. "But then... Elena... she did something."

Leah stopped, her hand hovering over the water basin. She looked at Elena, really looked at her. She had known Elena since they were children, playing in the streams and hiding from the village elders. Elena had always been the quiet one, the one who saw things others missed. But this was different. There was a lingering heat coming off Elena's skin, a pressure in the air that made Leah's skin prickle.

"They're gone," Elena muttered, her voice sounding far away. "I made them go away."

Carlson ignored the talk of magic for a moment. He was focused on Hilary. He peeled back the blood-soaked fabric of her dress, his jaw tightening when he saw the depth of the claw marks.

"It's deep," Carlson said, his voice low so the parents wouldn't hear him from the stairs. "The Orcs carry rot on their claws. If I can't clean this out properly, the fever will take her by morning."

Elena's heart skipped a beat. "No. No, Carlson, you have to save her. She saved me."

"I'm trying, El," Carlson said, his brow furrowed in concentration. "But I need more than just water and herbs. I need a miracle."

Leah stepped forward, her hand resting on Elena's shoulder. "Elena, look at me. When the light happened, what did you feel? There is still something... strange about the air in here. It feels like the woods before a storm."

Elena looked at her friend. She looked at Leah's steady gaze and Carlson's desperate work. She looked at the Fae woman, Betty, who was still unconscious against the wall, her golden blood slowly stopping its flow as if the house itself were trying to keep her alive.

"I felt everything," Elena whispered. "I felt the truth of them. They weren't just monsters. They were small, hateful things. So I made them small."

Carlson looked up then, his eyes searching Elena's face. He reached out and touched her forehead. He jumped back, his fingers stinging as if he had touched a hot coal.

"You're burning up," he said. "Elena, whatever you did, it's still inside you."

Leah knelt on the other side. "Use it, Elena. If you can change a monster into a mouse, can you change a wound into whole skin? Can you see the truth of Hilary's body?"

The idea was terrifying. Elena didn't know how to control the pink light. It had come out of her like a scream, a raw reaction to her sister's pain. But as she looked at Hilary's pale face, she knew she had to try.

She reached out her hands, hovering them just above Carlson's busy fingers.

"I don't know how," Elena cried.

"Just want it," Leah encouraged, her voice a firm anchor in the storm. "Want her to stay with us more than you fear the dark."

Elena closed her eyes. She stopped listening to the rain. She stopped listening to Mark's heavy breathing. She reached deep into the center of her chest, searching for that spark of rose-colored fire.

The heat began to grow. It spread from her heart to her shoulders, then down her arms to her fingertips.

Outside, the wind picked up, howling through the trees. Miles away, in the Obsidian Castle, Aiden paused as he stepped into his steaming bath. He felt a surge of pure, healing light ripple through the tether in his soul. It was so bright it almost blinded his inner eye.

"So," Aiden murmured, his voice echoing in the marble bathroom. "She isn't just a seer. She is a healer too."

Back in the cottage, the kitchen was suddenly bathed in a soft, warm glow. It wasn't the violent explosion of before. This was a gentle, pulsing light, the color of a summer dawn.

Carlson watched in awe as the jagged, red gashes on Hilary's stomach began to pull together. The skin didn't just stitch itself back; it glowed for a moment before becoming smooth and unscarred. The gray tint of the Orc's poison vanished, replaced by the healthy flush of sleep.

Hilary's breath evened out. She sighed, a deep and peaceful sound, and drifted into a natural slumber.

Elena slumped forward, her strength completely gone. Carlson caught her before she hit the floor.

"She did it," Leah whispered, her voice full of wonder and a little bit of fear. "She really did it."

Carlson looked at the girl in his arms. He had loved Elena in his own quiet way for years, but the girl he was holding now was a stranger. She was something ancient. Something that the kings and vampires of the world would kill to possess.

"We have to hide this," Carlson said, his voice grim. "If the Palace finds out what she is... if the Bloodhound Prince hears of a girl who can turn monsters into mice and heal the dying... she will never be free again."

Leah looked at the ruined door, the dark forest waiting outside. "I think it's too late for that, Carlson. Look at the Fae. Look at the sky. The world already knows she's here."