“Good luck, Jala.” Shade whispered as he turned his full attention to the stretch of rock strewn shoreline that was growing larger by the second. He did his best to guide the Spell Hawk toward the narrow stretch of sand, but he had sacrificed most of the control of his ship in his final attack against the dragon. He felt Grim’s hand seize his wrist and smiled sadly as he met the Priest’s eyes briefly before dumping the remainder of his power into his last attempt to save his friends.
The ship screamed in protest and twisted in the air a breath before it slammed into the sand. Blood filled Shade’s mouth as his teeth slammed together with the impact. The ship skidded sideways throwing sand into a blinding wave that nearly obscured the black rocks looming ahead of them. In the last moments of flight Shade had realized there was no avoiding the rocks and so he had poured every ounce of his power into turning the ship. It would be his side that suffered the brunt of impact and if Fortune was still smiling Charm was on the same side of the ship as Grim and they would both have a chance at living.
*
Shards of dull grey metal littered the rock strewn shore barely beyond the reach of the grasping waves. Kneeling Exodus plucked one of the smaller pieces from the sand and turned it over in her delicate fingers as she somberly considered the remains of the Spell hawk that lay crumpled against the rocks. She had poured her strength into the ship the moment Shade had broken away from the dragon, and he had spent the breath of mobility she had given the battered ship to bring down the dragon that had ended his fight. She had tried to grant Shade another chance at life in the only way she knew how given the circumstances, and he had taken her gift and thrown it back in her face.
With a heavy sigh Exodus tucked the metal shard into one of the pouches lining her belt and carefully picked her way across the rocks to the ship. With a heavy heart she slid through one of the gaping sides of the ship fully expecting to find mangled corpses inside. It seemed too much to hope that anyone had survived the devastating crash.
Her eyes lit on Charm first and hope bloomed in her as she noticed the faint rise of his chest, before movement in the front of the ship drew her attention to Grim who was lying half sprawled in the floor struggling to rise. Blood soaked his left side and Exodus felt a moment’s panic as she realized that it couldn’t be his blood. Grim had no visible wounds large enough to account for that much.
Her eyes moved instantly to the crushed left side of the ship, but she couldn’t see Shade from where she stood. Moving silently through the debris Exodus advanced and had to stifle a cry as she spotted a pale hand dangling from the pilot’s seat with a steady stream of blood flowing down it to pool on the floor. Her panic rose as she drew close enough to see Shade fully and her eyes lingered on the jagged length of metal that protruding from his stomach pinning him to his seat. The left side of his face was blood soaked from a deep gash across his brow and from what she could tell his arm was entirely crushed.
Her heart sank in her chest as she took another step closer then froze as she noticed the blood bubbling on his lips. Moving swiftly she crossed to Shade’s side taking care to avoid Grim’s feeble attempts to rise. The Shifter was barely conscious and she doubted Grim even knew she was on the ship, but he wasn’t her concern at the present. Shade was, and if the blood was bubbling on his mouth it meant he was still breathing. Desperately she pressed her fingers against the side of his throat and felt her spirits soar as she caught the faint erratic beat of his pulse.
“Nix bring me a body quickly. I don’t care what it looks like or who it is as long as it’s human.” Exodus commanded sending the mental thought to her servant like a thunderclap that couldn’t be ignored.
Her mind raced as Exodus quickly sketched out her plan and she smiled at the sheer genius of it. Nimbly she dipped her fingers into her pouch and drew out a slender white vial. She frowned as she considered the dust inside then glanced down at Grim and sighed. The powder was expensive, but there was no help for it. What she was doing had to be done in utmost secrecy with no witnesses beyond herself and Nix. Quickly she unscrewed the cap from the vial and dumped a small portion into her hand and impatiently waited for Grim to attempt to struggle blindly to his feet once more before she threw the powder in his face. His body sagged as the Dreamdust worked its magic and she moved hastily back to Charm to dust him lightly as well. Judging by the knot on the side of the rogue’s head she doubted he would have woken regardless, but figured it was better safe than sorry.
“May I ask why you are wasting Dreamdust on unconscious men and why exactly you needed this?” Nix asked as he dropped a limp body to the ground before her.
“Help me get Shade out of his seat.” Exodus commanded without bothering to answer either of his questions. She didn’t have time to explain if she was going to save Shade’s life. “Sorry Rose. She murmured as she tossed a handful of dust into Shade’s face and used her power to steal a portion of Rose’s talent with healing. There were times when it truly paid to be the Aspect of thieves she mused with an impish grin. Other Aspects were limited with their powers, but her gift for borrowing made her talents endless.
“I think he will die if we try to remove that. Maybe we should get help.” Nix’s voice was filled with caution as he pointed at the jagged metal and tried to pull Exodus back.
“No one but us can know about this.” Exodus hissed as she used the stolen gift of healing on Shade and pried the metal from his gut. An incoherent groan rose from the man as she half drug Shade from his seat. “Help me damn it!” she snapped at Nix and he quickly sprang to obey.
Awkwardly they maneuvered Shade back to the rear of the ship and lowered him gently to the floor beside the corpse. Exodus glanced between the two bodies and realized glumly that the dead man was actually in better condition than Shade with the exception that Shade was still somehow managing to breathe.