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Her ears were ringing. She couldn’t hear her breath as she gulped it into her lungs. The storefronts that lined the town square were sideways, gaping at her like eyeless sockets in a skull. She tried to hold her head in an effort to steady her vision but there was something heavy on top of her.
“Where did that Meteor come from?” someone shouted.
“Keep your eyes up! Aim and fire!” shouted another. That might have been Shamir.
“Professor! Your highness! They aren’t moving!”
The chaotic sounds of her allies scrambling around her to defend against a sudden bandit attack faded in and out, first clear and then as though they’d been submerged underwater.
This was supposed to have been a simple mission to subdue a group of bandits who had been attacking central church clergymen and sacking the villages that lined the main road. So simple in fact that she’d chosen to use it as an opportunity to observe Dimitri’s progress in handling his battalion.
That had changed when the Meteor spell ripped through the clouds above them without warning. She remembered looking up to find it hurtling down directly above her, so close that she could already feel the heat radiating as it crisped the edges of her hair. Then her vision went black.
Whatever was on top of her was crushing her back and making it difficult to breath. With shaking arms, she herself up enough to roll over so that she could see what she was pinned beneath. A splash of blue fabric caught her eye and her stomach twisted.
Her head swam and she fell back as the world tilted around her but at least she was on her back. Twisting her head to look at him, she feared the worst. His golden hair was dark with dirt and debris and his face was pale beneath dark specks and smudges of soot. He looked dead.
“Dimitri…” she croaked, intending to call his name to rouse him. “Dimitri…”
He coughed weakly and tried to open his eyes. Squinting at her, she felt him take a shaking breath before trying to speak. “Professor… ‘re you hurt?”
Before she could muster an answer, hands closed on his shoulders and the shouts of others faded into her senses.
“Lift him carefully!”
“Support his head.”
“Is he alive?”
It looked like he was floating away from her as he was lifted and moved. She reached up to grasp at him but he was already out of reach and leaving her field of vision. Her lips parted to call after him when a firm gloved hand clapped on her extended arm to heft her to her feet.
Byleth gave a shake of her head as she stumbled into the force Catherine used to pull her up. “There ya go,” she said, doing a fair job at masking her concern. “You okay?”
Her head was still throbbing but at least her vision had steadied. She gave the knight a nod but her eyes darted about the field looking for the head of her house.
“I thought you were a goner,” Catherine continued fixing her hands on her hips. “That thing was on top of us before we knew what was happening. The kid saved you.” Before she could continue another fireball penetrated their line of defense at the town gates. Thunderbrand glowed as Catherine hefted it. “Make sure your student is alright, I’ll see to the front line.”
Byleth nodded and with still wobbly footfalls, she started off in the direction Catherine had indicated. Everything would be okay, she reminded herself, if she could just stay calm.
Soon, she found a cluster of church soldiers apart from the main fray which sped up her pace. Why were there no healers among them?
“Hey.” She skidded to a halt. “How is he? Where are the healers?”
“Not good,” said one of them. She didn’t know his name nor did she care to look too closely at his face. As he stood to answer her, the way to Dimitri cleared. He was seated, leaning back against the wall of a brick building. He was breathing, thank the Goddess, but it was labored. Sweat dripped down his face, making streaks in the soot that marred his cheeks and he was clutching his side.
Another in the group stopped beside her, speaking in low tones. “We only brought one healer and she was injured in the first volly.”
She cursed and her hands tightened into fists at her sides. This was supposed to have been easy. A training exercise at the most. Her eyes darted to the face of the man beside her, the ferocity there made him step back. “Go find the village healer. Bring them quickly.”
Not waiting to see that he did as she instructed, Byleth stepped into the semi-circle of soldiers still clustered around the prince. “You lot get back to the front line immediately. Do not let them into the village.”
How could she have been so careless? Had life at Garreg Mach made her so soft that she let her guard down even when the bandits had been bold enough to rush them while inside the village. Regular bandits fled when they saw the Knights of Serois and Catherine had not been discrete in the wielding of Thunderbrand.
His eyes were shut, focused on managing the pain that made his legs shake uncontrollably and her stomach twisted sharply. Byleth knelt in front of him and her hands were on his thighs to steady him before she could second guess the action. There was a horrible, familiar smell about him but she pushed that thought aside to focus. At her touch, his eyes opened slightly, still heavy lidded and what might have been a laugh rattled out of him.
“Ah. You’re alive. Thank the Goddess.”
She shot him a narrow glare. How could he have been so foolish? She was responsible for him, not the other way around. His hand continued to clutch at his side, fingers twitching with the shaking of his arm.
Having followed her gaze, he gave a slight shake of his head. “It’s nothing Professor. You should get back. I’ll be alright.”
Her lips thinned into a tight line as she gently but firmly pulled his hand away from his side. What she had mistaken for the black of his uniform was charred skin and melted fabric. His entire side from armpit to hip was a grotesque mixture of fabric and skin. Now she knew what that smell was. She’d encountered it often on the battlefield, especially where mages were concerned.
His hand had been pushing against a deep gash beneath his ribs and when she removed his hand, blood so dark that it could have been black oozed from it. In the moments it took her to register the extent of his injuries, his arm had begun to spasm in her hand.
Mind reeling from the scent and the state of her beloved student and friend, she grasped the loose arm of her coat and pushed it against the wound. An agonized shout burst of him as she applied pressure, followed but quick breaths that hissed in and out of him through gritted teeth.
“Hold this here.” She moved his hand for him and he did his best to obey, pushing the fabric that was quickly filling with his blood against the wound. “You’re going to be alright.”
Her fingers were clumsy at the small pack she kept at her belt. Just enough room for a concoction or two just in case. A small bottle fell to the ground as she removed the other. Luckily it did not break but she paid it no mind to remain focused on the task at hand. Clenching the stopper in her teeth she wrenched it out and spat it aside.
“Here, you need to drink this.” With a tenderness that surprised even her, she slipped her hand along to the back of his neck, cradling his head as she prompted him to lean back and open his mouth. The amber liquid would keep him stable as she tried her best to heal the worst of it. Even with the coughing fit that overtook him, he swallowed at least half of the bottle.
“Move your hand,” she instructed but the sleeve of her coat clung to his skin, soaked through with blood. His pain must have been excruciating and he was trying with all that he was not to let it show. Steadying herself with a deep breath she began to work. A biting cold began to build in her arms as her palms began to glow. Soon that cold spread through her hands to gather at her fingertips. A moment more and the white glow from Heal spread from her hands to the gash on his side. He gasped, his heels scraping in the dirt on the cobblestone path. Her eyes stayed fixed on that spot, even though the light from the spell illuminated the burns and blistered skin surrounding it.
“This is going to hurt,” she murmured with a glance up to his face.
Sucking air into his nostrils, he gave a quick nod.
The skin, gaping thickly began to soften and she reached out to squeeze the skin together so that the spell could seal the wound. What began as muffled shouts burst out of him in another pained scream. Her brows knotted at the sound and she could feel her own breath become ragged at the sound of his suffering.
Slowly, the skin began to fuse but she knew that the spell was almost spent. The wound was so deep and she’d only managed to treat the surface wound. New sweat beaded on her brow as she pushed and pushed, draining every last ounce of magic she could from the beginners spell but it was no use. Gasping for air, she let the spell go.
Her hope shattered as blood continued to push through tender new skin she’d fused. She was out of time.
“Professor?”
Her eyes darted up to his face. The smile on his mouth was at stark odds with the deathly pale of his face.
“Thank you for everything. I see now that I probably would never have achieved my goal… but I am glad that I met you along the way.”
Shaking her head, she took hold of his chin smearing the blood from her fingers garishly as she did. “No. Dimitri, stay focused on me. They will be back with a real healer soon.”
“The dance was this month… I think I would have liked… to dance with you.”
The focus in his eyes shifted, growing hazy and panic welled up in her. With a sharp slap to his face she called his name again,ordering him to look at her. Cradling his cheek in the palm of her hand, she held his face as the light left his eyes and the tremors in his limbs ceased.
Sorrow gathered in the pit of her stomach, solidifying in what felt like a boulder inside of her and she squeezed her eyes shut against the pain.
“I know that you did not want to leave the young Prince alone but why did you not reverse the flow of time when you saw how gravely he was injured? I see. You still do not trust this magic.”
Sothis sighed.
“Well, now, like before, it appears that you have no choice. Although, perhaps it is the best that you do not use it unless there is no alternative.”
Even knowing that he would be alive again soon, releasing his face to fall limply to his shoulder was torturous. Her coat was steeped in his blood and her fingers sticky with it as well. He seemed so small as she rose to step back and the desire to stay and hold him, even though he wouldn’t feel it, nearly drove her back to the ground.
“Now, now. All will be well momentarily. You know what you must do.”
_____________________________________
The cheers of the villagers filled town square as Catherine shook hands with the mayor. They had successfully fended off the bandits that had been plaguing the villages along this road with no casualties and hardly any injuries to speak of.
She watched from her spot near the supply wagon as Dimitri praised the members of his battalion and they in turn thanked him for his leadership with shouts and raised spears. It was endearing how he blushed even when the praise was well deserved. He turned to catch her eye and she offered him a pleased nod of her head. He had, indeed, done well.
Before she could fully straighten, he was approaching her at a trot. “Professor. I wanted to thank you for bringing me along. I learned so much from watching you and the knights and I couldn’t have done that if you hadn’t been confident in my abilities. I hope that I made you proud today.”
For a moment, in the failing light of the evening, his face looked pale again and she caught the scent of his burned flesh. Giving another shake of her head she placed a firm hand on his arm. “You did exceptionally well today, Dimitri. I knew that you would.”
He was positively beaming. “Tell your battalion that we’ll be moving out soon. We want to return to the monastery to resume our monthly mission as soon as we can.”
“Yes, Professor,” he said with a slight bow. The spring in his step was evident even in his turn away from her. It was fortunate that she spoke quickly enough for him to hear.
“Dimitri?”
“Professor?”
“The dance is coming up this month, isn't it?”
He tilted his head to the side, confused by this question. “Why, yes, I suppose that it is. I hadn’t given it much thought to be honest.”
Byleth nodded.
“Why do you ask Professor?”
“No reason.”