FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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

Chapter 23

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

Cody

WHY???

Why was this happening?! We arrived back in Zangar and I ran off to let Aceh we were home, only to find the dojo entrance blocked by a crowd of Zangarians. I had pushed my way through the crowd to see Aceh about to strike Malakye!

Despite my plea for them to stop they continued to fight. I couldn't watch the fight, couldn't bear to. Even if I had had the stomach to watch I was blinded by tears. Tears which had since been soaking into Jason's shirt. He held me as I cried, my tears fuelled by the continuing sounds of fighting. Jason's comforting musky scent helped to calm me, but my mind was just unable to fully comprehend the situation.

Why were they fighting?

How was Malakye alive?

Was this real?

There was a flash of light and then a sudden gust of wind which even made Jason wobble. If Jason hadn't been holding me I would have likely been knocked over from the force. Many of the crowd around us cried out in shock. I turned round and saw both Aceh and Malakye on the ground. I dashed forwards towards Aceh who was the closest to me. I skidded to a stop once I saw all the blood. The crimson red pouring from Aceh's arm was all I could see. I felt like I was going to throw up.

"ACEH!!" A young Zangarian cried out and ran past me and knelt by Aceh's side.

His reaction spurred me out of my shock. As I stared at him the unnatural orange of his fur was quickly bleaching out and returning to his natural white colouration before my eyes. I don't know how or why his fur had turned orange. My question was quickly forgotten however as my eyes came to lay upon what remained of his right arm. It was twisted unnaturally and was bleeding heavily from several points where the bones in his arms had come through his pelt. I collapsed to my knees and and threw up as the metallic tang of his blood caught in my nose. Moments later Jason and Michael barrelled past me and began wrapping their shirts around what remained of Aceh's arm.

What had happened?

I looked over to where Malakye had landed. He was laying still on the ground just like Aceh. But from here I couldn't see if he was as badly injured as Aceh was. What had happened? I just couldn't think straight...

Movement caught my attention and I looked over at Malakye. He was beginning to stand. It really really was him. Part of me had been hoping that this wasn't real. But there he was. He looked at me, clutching his right arm which hung limply at his side. He was hurt... no where near as badly as Aceh was. Part of me wanted to run and embrace him and not let go, but I was frozen to the spot. A little afraid of him. How could he do that to Aceh? There was no emotion in his expression as he looked my way. He looked from me to Aceh, who was still unconscious, and then back at me. He looked at all of us. It was like he was a stranger! He wasn't the same Malakye I had known! As he turned to leave I called after him.

"WHY?!" I cried.

He looked over his shoulder at me for a few moments before he just shook his head and walked off. The crowd parted for him as he approached and moments later he was gone.

"We need to stop this bleeding!" Michael said in mild panic, snapping me back to Aceh's predicament.

"Carry him into the back." Eric ordered. "I know where he keeps the bandages and medicinal herbs."

Michael and Jason easily carried Aceh between them as they followed Eric into the back area of the dojo. They were followed by the young Zangarian clad in the white dojos uniform; he was crying. I could still feel my own hot tears pricking at my eyes as I followed. I was careful to avoid stepping into the trail of blood that they were leaving as they moved him.

The crowd had started to leave. Now the fight was over there was no reason for them to stay, although a few did try to follow as we carried Aceh into the back. The warriors kept them from getting very far, stopping even Aceh's students from following bar the one who had rushed to his side after he fell.

"Take care of your friend. I will send one of the healers once we secure the dojo." The drake, who judging from his fancy metal armour and expensive looking sword, was in charge of the warriors. "We will send the students away as well."

"Thank you." I sniffle. "What about..." I point in the direction of the student disappearing into the back of the dojo with the others.

"Reece?" He asked, looking off towards where the young drake had disappeared following my friends. I had no issue with the young drake, he was obviously as concerned about Aceh as I was. "No I won't be sending him anywhere. He's been living with the tiger for the last while now. His father has publicly disowned him." My ears shot up on shock at the story and then folded back as memories of my past reared their ugly head. My own father had beaten me when I had shown myself to be gay. I ran away and join with Eric and he others. "Shame too. I've known Reece since before he could walk. He's a nice lad but his father is a pompous ass!"

"I'd better... be going." I stuttered before following the others.

By the time I made my way down the dark passage into the living area, following the trail of blood to where the others had brought Aceh. They had laid him down on one of the cots, and were busy tending to his wounds. Eric was busy grinding herbs into a paste, Michael was ripping cloth into strips to use as a make shift bandage. Jason and Reece where pressing down on his wounds in an attempt to stop the bleeding. What made this terrible situation worse was how I felt absolutely helpless. I felt like I would just get in the way if I tried to help.

"We need to reset his bones." Eric announced. "We won't be able to stop the bleeding until we treat the wounds."

There was an audible grunt of discomfort from Aceh, and then another. He was starting to wake up!

"HOLD HIM DOWN!" Michael yelled as he rushed over to aid Jason and Reece.

Aceh struggled against their hold, the pain now hitting him. He growled and snarled in pain as he thrashed against their hold. My foot-paws were rooted to the ground, I couldn't even move, couldn't feel anything below my waist. How pathetic was I? But I didn't know how to help here!

"Easy now!" Eric cooed as he knelt down next to Aceh. "We need to treat your wounds!"

"Release me!" Aceh snarled.

"You are losing too much blood!" Michael snapped.

"I will heal myself!" He roared.

"Please Aceh!" Reece sobbed.

Suddenly Aceh fell still and a moment later the others backed away, releasing their hold of him. Now they had backed away I could see him clearly. His white fur had begun to turn orange, just like it had during his fight with Malakye. What was happening!?

There was a sickening snap of bone, again and again. I looked at his arm and the bone had begun to retract back into his arm. The grunts of pain made it obvious that this was exceedingly painful for Aceh. But somehow he suffered through it, he just lay still and took the pain almost without complaint. Time seemed to slow as I watched his wounds heal as if by magic. Once the last of his wounds had sealed shut, he let out a heavy sigh and fell limp on the cot. The colour quickly bleached from his fur as he lay there unconscious.

"That's some freaky shit!" Jason exclaimed.

Eric knelt down next to him once again and place his paw on his head.

"He's asleep." He sighed. "Well at least we don't need to worry about him bleeding to death!"

"Did anyone here know he could do that?!" Jason asked.

"No." Michael replied, not taking his eyes of the prone form of Aceh.

The young Zangarian sobbed and sniffled. There was obvious relief there, but unlike myself he was trying to hold back his tears. I finally managed to move and took a spit on the floor next to Aceh. He looked peaceful... if it wasn't for all the blood that stained his white fur. There was a bowl of water with a rag in it on the floor. I grabbed it and began to mop at the stained fur of my friend. Reece joined me and together we began to slow process of cleaning Aceh's fur.

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

We all sat in silence. Michael was busy making a broth over a fire, just trying to keep busy, while the rest of us sat staring at Aceh's unconscious form. None of us could understand what had happened. I certainly couldn't. It was like a surreal dream... more of a nightmare. Reece an I had finished cleaning the blood from Aceh's fur about an hour ago. He didn't talk much, but then I wasn't in much of a chatty mood myself. My mind was bogged down with questions.

Why had Malakye and Aceh been fighting in the first place? Where had Malakye been all this time? Was that even Malakye? Too many questions and not enough answers.

"Hello?"

The voice cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter, cutting the tension and distracting me from my thoughts. We all turned to see who it was. As I turned I figured it would be the healer that had been promised to be sent by the warlord in the dojo. But I hadn't expected this individual!

"Lord Valelor!" Eric exclaimed.

To all of our surprise it was indeed Lord Valelor! He wore his usual distinctive white fur cloak over some expensive looking black and silver clothes. His wedding band on his wrist was eye catching.

"Ah I see I have the right place." He smiled. "I heard you needed a healer. After hearing what had happened I was intrigued and came myself."

"Most kind of you." Eric bowed his head repectfully. "I know you are busy, we appreciate it."

"As I said I was intrigued by the report." Meaning he wouldn't have come otherwise I thought. "I had heard that his right arm had been severely broken. But it would appear that it was exaggerated."

"He healed himself." Jason muttered. "Don't ask me how, but he did."

"Hmmm." Lord Valelor mused. "Well I shall have to see for myself."

He pulled out a water skin, opened it and a moment later the water inside flowed out into the air. It was amazing! The water shimmered as if it was casting its own faint light. It was so elegant and beautiful I lost myself in the beauty of it! The water floated down and encased Aceh's arm.

"Well it would seem that it was indeed broken, but is almost completely healed. There is still some damage in the surrounding muscle; nen burn it would seem." He said aloud, not speaking to anyone directly. "It would appear that he ran out of nen while healing."

"Nen?" Jason asked.

"The energy that all Zangarians use to bend the elements." Michael answered. "But I wasn't aware that Aceh was able to use it as well."

"All k'tan are able to use nen." Lord Valelor added.

"Aceh's a k'tan?!" Jason exclaimed in shock. "Am I the only one who didn't know this?"

"No. I wasn't aware." Michael sighed. "Not until I saw him fighting Malakye."

"K'tan are rare, but not uncommon. We Zangarians are blessed with a large number of k'tan within our race. Some other races are only blessed with one or two k'tan each generation." Lord Valelor explained while he continued... what ever it was he was doing to Aceh. "Some k'tan bloodlines have been completely wiped out over the centuries, between warring clans and infighting. Others have simply been bred out, their appearance so rare that there is no one to teach them how to utilise their gifts. Undoubtedly some are completely unaware that they are k'tan. It takes year of practise to properly learn how to draw upon and control ones nen."

"That's very informative." Eric smiled. "Do you have any theories why Zangarians are blessed with so many k'tan?"

It would seem that Lord Valelor enjoyed showing off his knowledge. He went into great detail about some of his theories about the number of k'tan in certain races. But I wasn't interested in his explanation, and lost myself as I gazed into the shimmering water he was using to heal Aceh's arm. Lord Valelor examined the rest of Aceh's body, the water moved over Aceh's body at the drakes will, allowing him a deeper insight into Aceh's condition. He remained silent during the rest of the examination.

"His shoulder is dislocated." He announced after a long period of silence. "There is not much I can do other than to pop it back into place. Would you hold him down?"

Michael and Jason slowly moved to help, Jason holding his legs and Michael leant over his chest. Lord Valelor lifted Aceh's arm, moving it with deliberate care, positioning it with intent. Once he seemed happy with the angle he tugged on the arm, hard, a faint pop echoed through the room. The noise made me feel nauseous, I dry heaved once but managed to suppress it. Aceh groaned in pain, his eyes fluttered open before he fell unconscious once again.

"There." Lord Valelor said, apparently satisfied.

He carefully lay Aceh's arm at his side. The shimmering water moved and engulfed Aceh's shoulder.

"His ability to heal is impressive, but he has exhausted his nen." Lord Valelor said aloud. The way he spoke made it seem that he wasn't actually talking to us, but simply thinking aloud. "I've infused some of my own nen into him while he recovers. If he doesn't wake up by tomorrow morning you should seek out a healer to infuse more nen into him. Given the extent of his nen burn I don't dare infuse any more."

He lifted the water sack and the water elegantly flowed through the air and back into it. The room seemed to dim once the water returned back into the water sack. I missed the shimmering light already. No longer having the distraction to keep my mind of Malakye and Aceh's current predicament.

"I shall take my leave." He turned and walked to the curtained doorway.

"Thank you again Lord Valelor." Eric said politely.

"Oh yes." Lord Valelor said as he stopped and turned round. "You are invited to attend the Warlord council tomorrow at midday."

"Oh?" Eric said. "In what regards?"

"Malakye shall be addressing the council, and will be giving an explanation on where he has been all this time. Lord Anaris wanted to invite you to join, given your previous closeness with his son."

I didn't like how he had said 'previous' closeness. It was like he was making fun of us. But it was hard to argue given the fact I wasn't sure if I could even class Malakye as a friend anymore. He hadn't even looked sorry for what he had done to Aceh. He didn't stay to help him... he didn't even attempt to greet us. He just walked out.

"We shall be there." Eric replied.

"It is optional. But please remember you have been invited to observe only. If you have any questions I ask that you save them for after the meeting, and ask Malakye in private."

"We will remember that. Thank you." Eric bowed his head once more as Lord Valelor finally departed.

"What an ass!" Jason spat.

"Sweetie." Michael sighed, putting his arm over his shoulder.

"Well he is!" Jason snorted. "Just be glad I didn't say so to his muzzle!"

"I am." Michael leant down and hugged Jason from behind. "And I'm so proud of you!" He smiled and gave him a big kiss on the side of the muzzle. "Well dinner is ready for anyone who wants it. What about you Reece?"

"Yes please. Thank you." Reece replied shyly. The first thing he'd said in hours. Although I can't say I'd said much more than he had.

"While we eat I think we should all consider whether or not we will go to the meeting tomorrow." Eric said.

"What?!" Jason bellowed. "Of course we're going! Why wouldn't we?"

"Some of us may not be ready to face Malakye yet." I knew that Eric was referring to me.

"I... I'll be fine." I insisted, although I wasn't overly confident with what I'd just said.

Eric simply nodded and then went to help Michael serve up dinner. I honestly didn't know if I could face Malakye, even just be in the same room as him. I did want to know where he had been and what had happened to him. I have some time to think about it. I'm sure Eric would understand if I decided not to go.

But right now I didn't want to think about it. Perhaps I'd cosy up to Reece and get to know him. If Aceh had taken him in then I'll be seeing a lot more of him. I'm sure he wants a bit of company as well. After we eat I'll make an attempt at getting to know him and hopefully he'd be willing to chat. Tomorrow I'll decide if I want to go to the meeting, and hopefully by then Aceh would be awake. Maybe he could explain what had happened while we were gone, and help me understand why he and Malakye had nearly killed each other.