I can barely breathe or move. I don’t know how long I’ve been locked in here. I’m suffering in silence, waiting to die again… I don’t know the reason for this pain, this agony. I just want it to end.

  “No… no!!” I whisper through clenched teeth. “Please!”

  My limbs contract and twist violently. The muscles stand out sharply under my skin.

  “Damn it!!” I bite down hard on the edge of the sheet until it hurts.

  I cry. I cry, but no tears come out. The piece of fabric in my mouth tastes like dried blood and rancid saliva. My gums ache.

  My intestines burn, as if stomach acid had leaked out. I blink, but the fog covering my eyes barely lets me see my pale, almost skeletal hand.

  The cramp has passed.

  I exhale slowly, trying to calm down. I’ve been alone since Eleanor visited a few days ago. She hasn’t come back since. Though it’s my fault—I insisted she leave me alone, that I’d recover soon, that I didn’t need to pay for a doctor. Now that bad decision is costing me dearly.

  I’m not even sure I’d survive if a doctor helped me now. If I do, he’ll take the little money I have left. I’ll have nothing again. If I have to crawl my way back to improve my life even a little, I’d rather not have one at all.

  My head throbs and the rays of sunlight hit me directly through the window, but I feel cold. Very cold.

  Earlier, people knocked on my door after hearing my dying-dog whimpers, but I turned them away.

  I didn’t choose to come into this world, but now I regret giving myself a second chance. I think the fever is speaking for me.

  I hear a loud knock at the door.

  “Ethan!?” someone shouts.

  I can’t answer. When I speak, it feels like my chest is exploding.

  I barely register the jingle of metal brushing against the brass lock. The door opens and a presence approaches me.

  “By Lha’el!” they exclaim.

  They shake me a little, but stop when they hear my growls. Gently, they turn me onto my back. The sheets beneath me are soaked with sweat.

  “Are you okay!? Ethan!”

  Her hair seems to burn in the sunlight. I let out a sigh as my eyes finally focus on her gaze.

  “No…” I cough. My ribs vibrate. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me…”

  She says something I can’t hear. I can no longer bear the weight of my eyelids and close my eyes. For a few moments I feel a warmth that comforts me deep inside.

  ◇◇◇

  I open my eyes and feel my limbs a little more relaxed. But not enough. I try to sit up, but even moving my fingers is painful—as if someone had crushed my hand with a stone.

  I blink a few times to adjust to the light. My eye sockets burn.

  The few cobwebs and scratches on the wooden beams are still there. The ceiling is the same. When I breathe, besides the burning in my chest, the air reeks of rancid vomit even though the windows are open.

  I scan the room and notice a slender figure sitting on a chair. Her legs are crossed and her head rests against the birch wall.

  “Hey…” I try to speak. My mouth tastes like metal. “Rya…”

  She doesn’t answer. I huff like an animal to get her attention. It hurts to speak.

  She startles slightly and turns to look at me. A smile escapes her when she sees I’m awake.

  “Good morning,” she says, standing up. “How do you feel?”

  “A little better…”

  I'm liying.

  I look toward the window. The fresh breeze moves the sheer curtains and the sun is still shining intensely.

  “How long was I asleep?”

  “A whole day.” She shakes out her arms.

  She approaches and leans over a bit, placing her palm on my forehead. I look away.

  “How…” Coughing interrupts me. “How did you find me?”

  “I asked Eleanor why you hadn’t shown up for three days.” She keeps her hand on my forehead. “Then I told the receptionist I was your friend and she gave me the keys.”

  My eyes widen and the air escapes me. That much time locked in here?

  Rya stops touching my face and steps back, sighing. Not in relief.

  “You still have a fever…” she murmurs. “Let’s hope it goes down.” She stretches her back. “By the way, are you hungry?”

  I shake my head.

  I’m worried I’ve been fired for missing these days. I’m still bedridden and I don’t know for how long.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “I’ll let the doctor know to come back later,” she says, nodding toward the table. “He left a couple of infusions for the pain and fever. They’ll also help you sleep.”

  It’s hard to look her in the eyes. Before, I solved my problems alone. Now I can’t even stand in front of her.

  She’s doing far more than just helping me understand my power. I don’t know how to make it up to her.

  “Thank you…” I say barely.

  Rya sits back down on the stool.

  “Answer me something. Do you know how you got sick?”

  “No.”

  “Really?”

  “I suddenly felt bad while I was working. That’s all.”

  I can’t hold back the cough. It’s hoarse and rough, and it tears at my throat as it comes out.

  I’m sure Rya said a couple of words, but she stopped when she heard my wheezing.

  ◇◇◇

  My flesh twists and it feels like someone is striking a bell next to my head. I’ve lost count of how many infusions I’ve taken, but the pain doesn’t go away. I vomit bile and dark mucus pours from my nose. I can’t take it anymore…

  “Isn’t there anything I can do!?”

  “I’ve already done what I could…” he murmurs.

  A thin elderly man with receding hair examines every inch of my body with his fine hands.

  “I believe he’s been poisoned.”

  “What!? What kind of poison?”

  Rya watches me intently, her brows lowered.

  “I think it’s black death,” the doctor says, stepping back.

  The old man looks at me while pursing his lips.

  “If that’s the case… I’m afraid there’s no antidote.”

  I can barely keep my eyes open and my jaw trembles.

  I hear Rya holding back a sob.

  “But…” the old man says after a moment, “he has symptoms that don’t match that poison.”

  He approaches again, touching my arm.

  “The poison doesn’t leave those marks on the skin.” He speaks to himself. “Besides, it feels hard and rough.”

  Rya stands beside me, watching the hands of the person examining me. Her gaze breaks.

  The air burns my lungs when I breathe.

  I don’t know what I did to deserve this suffering. I wish someone would stop it.

  The doctor mutters something I can hardly understand. My vision fades. I feel cold. Too cold.

  “I don’t understand why…” His fingers move up my limb.

  Suddenly the doctor lifts my eyelids. Though he’s close, I only see a blurry shape.

  “Ma’am, close the curtains.”

  The room fills with darkness. Before I could barely see anything. Now I’m blind.

  “Why are his eyes glowing?” she asks the old man. “Doctor, what’s happening to him?”

  He doesn’t answer. His presence disappears into the room. I hear distant clinking.

  The creak of his boots returns, approaching me.

  “Sir, listen to me.” He places a stone in my palm and wraps my fingers around it. “Transfer your mana into this arcanite crystal.”

  Mana… what…? I think.

  “Why does he have to do that? What does he have?” Rya asks.

  I press the crystal with the little strength I have left. Nothing happens.

  “No…” I cough. “I don’t remember how.”

  “You have to. Or you’ll die.”

  I sob and bite down hard. I squeeze. Nothing.

  “No…!” I cry. “I can’t…”

  “Ethan, listen.” She touches my hair. “It’s the same as training. Concentrate.”

  I gasp like an animal. My abdomen contracts until it crushes my stomach.

  “No!!” I scream, tearing my throat. “Cut… cut the hand.”

  “What…? But…” she whispers.

  “Cut my hand off!” I say through gritted teeth. “Rya, make a cut…”

  She jumps off the bed and the mattress shakes. Air whistles as she draws her sword.

  Rya holds my palm gently.

  “Here I go…”

  My skin parts and my blood spills. It’s thick like oil.

  Please… please… I beg inside.

  I squeeze hard. The air leaves me. The edge of the crystal digs into the wound.

  My eyelashes fall. I stop hearing.

  I dream of my parents. Of the life I wanted. Away from the streets. My belly always full and clean clothes every day. A comfortable bed.

  I open my eyes and that vision disappears. The air smells of dust and sweat. I sigh when I see the same battered walls.

  I feel warmth. Enough to annoy me. A beige sheet covers my body.

  “You’re awake,” Rya says.

  “Yeah…”

  The sky is tinted orange.

  I try to sit up, but she stops me.

  “Have I slept another day?”

  “No.” She shrugs. “Just a few hours. How do you feel?”

  “I’m still breathing. That’s something.”

  She smiles.

  “The doctor said you’ll have to keep using the arcanite until all your corrupted mana drains out.”

  I shake my head.

  “How? What happened?”

  She walks to a table and rummages in the drawer. She takes out a tiny stone.

  She comes toward me. Her face troubled.

  “This saved you,” she says, showing me the crystal.

  A dark energy moves inside it, like ink underwater. I swallow and my hands start trembling.

  I can’t look away from that object. It’s like an abyss, and I feel it watching me.

  Rya pulls the crystal back when she notices my reaction, returning it to its place.

  “What…” I clear my throat. “What did the doctor say?”

  “That you have a kind of late-onset mana sickness.” She turns her back to me. “And that it’s the first time he’s seen it in an adult.”

  I purse my lips and sink my head into the pillow.

  “Is it… bad?”

  The sun has left the sky and night settles over the city. An icy breeze raises goosebumps on my skin, which has regained its normal tone. Somewhat. Rya closes the windows and lights a candle. The weak flicker casts shadows across part of her face.

  She approaches the bed with slow steps.

  After sitting on the edge, she lowers her gaze.

  “A little, yes,” she answers after a while. “Some of us get sick when our power awakens.” She pauses. “And there are cases where it awakens after childhood. That’s what the doctor explained. But you… it’s just rare for an adult to suffer from it.”

  Rya stands and paces the room. Her hair looks darker without light.

  “But I don’t understand why now.” She crosses her arms. “You’ve been using your power for a while, and now you get sick?”

  I stare at the ceiling, trying to find the right words. My temples still hurt.

  “I…” I hold my breath. “I used a bit of my energy the last time we trained. Sorry. I just wanted to know what it felt like.”

  Damn it all. I’m simply… no longer sure I want to keep going. I’m too tired.

  I blink to clear the moisture from my eyes.

  After a while Rya lets out a long sigh.

  “I’m not going to ask how you managed to use your mana. I think we’ve both had enough.”

  She walks to the door, placing her hand on the knob.

  “Are you hungry? I am.”

  “Yeah, sure. Can you bring me some pork ribs?” I force a smile.

  “When you recover.”

  Rya leaves quietly. I hear her footsteps through the walls.

  Even though she’s no longer here, I whisper a few words:

  “I’m sorry.”

  I’ll try not to be a burden to her anymore from now on.

  I don’t want to see her like that again.