"Cahira!" Stolas shouted, his voice sounding far away.

I turned my head. The cervidae was barreling towards me and all I could do was stare, accepting that I was about to be killed. But at that moment, the cervidae was blasted away by a wave of green magic. My eyes widened and I whipped my head towards the source. Alder was standing there, his gaze lowered. In one hand, he was gripping a bundle of various plants so tightly that his knuckles were white. His other hand was held out, his tattoos glowing and thrumming with magic. 

Stolas ran up to him. “Alder! I was just-“

“Quiet.” His voice was firm as he finally looked up.

I have never seen Alder this angry before. His beautiful blue eyes that usually held kindness were filled with pure rage. He ignored Stolas completely and came over to me. I almost cowered back, the strength of his anger surprising me. But once he looked at me, his expression was softer. After setting down the bundle of plants, he reached out, gently grabbing my arms and helping me sit upright. He looked over me.

"Are you alright, little blossom?"

I pointed a shaky finger behind him. "Th-There!"

The cervidae had recovered from Alder's blast. It was now dashing towards us at full speed. Alder didn't even take his eyes off of me. He lifted his hand and twirled it in a circular motion. Vines covered in thorns burst from the ground and wrapped around the cervidae's legs. The Atrophy tried to take over the creeping plant, but it wouldn't work. The vines were too fast and his magic must have been immune to the disease. The cervidae was soon covered in thorns.

Alder stopped twirling his hand. He opened his palm and then clenched it down into a fist. The vines tightened, squeezing the cervidae. The cervidae howled out in a mixture of pain and anger. It squeezed, and squeezed, and squeezed until it popped into a mess of nothing but black goop, bones, and antlers. I stared at Alder in surprise. Not only was I shocked at the fact that I'm alive, but at the fact that Alder had this type of magic. It was so… destructive.

"Now…" He murmured, lifting my chin gently. He turned my face from side to side. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I… I thought your magic centered in healing and research."

He sighed softly. "I'll explain more later. But just tell me you are alright. Tell me what happened."

I blinked. "W-Well, the wounded animals suddenly started shifting. The Atrophy spread u-until they became monsters. And then Stolas had me fight them. I did okay with the owls, but the cervidae was too much. I honestly thought I was going to die. I h-had accepted too, but then-"

I didn't realize I was crying until Alder's hand cupped the back of my head and pressed my body close to him. I could feel my tears soak his clothes as I buried my face into his chest. There it was. I hadn't accepted possible death. I was absolutely terrified. I was almost mauled by a creature taken over by a horrific disease. My body trembled as I hugged Adler, whimpering into him and trying to breathe in his scent. That sweet scent of petrichor, wood, and safety.

Stolas slowly walked up to us, avoiding the puddles of the Atrophy. He looked guilty. It was the first time I've ever seen him looking anything but confident. I pulled back and looked up at him, trying to give him a smile. He gave me a shaky one in return. His hand lifted, pushing up the edge of his glasses. He cleared his throat.

"You did good, Cahira." He said softly.

"Thank you, Stolas. I-"

"Shall we get you inside?" Alder interrupted me.

"O-Oh. Yes, please."

"Alder." Stolas started, looking at us as Alder helped me up. "This is a new development. We must-"

"You don't have to worry any longer, little blossom. You're safe now."

Alder had just completely ignored Stolas. I have never seen this before. The two were usually so in sync. They never fought and it seemed like they had a strong relationship. I looked back at Stolas who followed us at a distance. He looked so dejected. I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what. There was still some sort of anger in me for him pushing me into the fray like that. Maybe it would be better to not get involved at all.

Once we got inside the tree, Alder grabbed some supplies from the kitchen before leading me to my room. His attention was focused on me the whole time. Stolas, looking even more hurt by the second, retreated back out to look over the Atrophied mess we left behind. Alder had me sit on the bed. He set everything down next to me.

"Now… let's check you out. Do you mind if I take off your corset?"

I shook my head, not saying anything. Alder reached behind me and undid the fortified ribbons that held the ceramic corset on. Relief filled my body as the restricting garment was taken off. I only really wore it because it was cute, not for protection. Though, I guess I was lucky I did wear it and it did provide shielding. Otherwise, I would've been skewered by now. My hands trembled at the thought. I wanted to be okay. I wanted to not be so emotional, to accept that I lost a battle. I knew my family would've reacted differently and immediately started trying to get better. But I felt so weak.

Alder's hands slowly started to lift my blouse. "Lift your hands, please."

"I really did fight my hardest." My voice was soft, almost weak. I lifted my arms. "I thought that I was doing good."

"You should have never been in that situation in the first place. And I should have been there to protect you."

He lifted my blouse completely off of me. I had some small cuts along my arms. While the corset did provide protection, it didn't stop me from getting bruised. My abdomen had turned an angry red. The skin was starting to turn purple in some spots. When I looked at it, the exhaustion in my body had finally made itself known. The adrenaline finally wore off and I was suddenly aware of my aching muscles. Alder's rough fingers gently ran across my bruising and tender skin.

"I will do some healing. That should get rid of most of the bruising."

I frowned. "But I thought that it was complicated to use healing magic on me?"

"Well…" He hummed and tilted his head. "It will just drain you of your energy. But you are already fairly exhausted, so you will just sleep after."

"Alder…" I pushed his hand away from me gently. "Are you upset?"

His gaze darkened slightly. "I am. But I do not want to worry you."

My mind flashed back to our conversation before he had left to get plants. The frustration and panic, how he seemed so… unlike himself. And here he was, pushing me away again. But I didn't want that. I didn't want to brush off anything that happened. Pretending that there were no issues was destroying all of us. I wanted to know Alder's true thoughts. I didn't care what they were. I wanted him to talk to me.

"Alder, please. We need to communicate. I don't want to hide things from you and I don't want you to hide things from me."

His eyes softened and his hand squeezed mine. "Some things need to stay hidden, Cahira. It is to protect you. I do not want you to be dragged into anything that could hurt you."

"But I am already dragged into everything! I've been staying here for months. You can't just keep doing this. Your magic, the Atrophy… I need to know what's going on." My voice was almost desperate as I leaned forward.

Alder sighed, looking away from me. "I will tell you what you want to know. But I am serious about your protection. I cannot have you getting hurt. Promise me that you'll let me protect you."

"I promise." I whispered, staring at him.  

It looked like he didn't want to talk. I couldn't blame him. It's not like I came into his life able to take care of myself. I was a mess then. And I'm a mess now. But that shouldn't stop him from opening up to me. It wasn't like I was going to charge out there and fix all his problems. I didn't even know if I would be in his life forever. That thought alone stung, but it was the truth. I would eventually leave. 

"Stolas already told me about the Atrophy and how it's basically… incurable."

He nodded solemnly. "I have been working on how to cure it. And since it mutated, it looks like I need to work faster."

I intertwined my fingers with his. "Why doesn't your magic work against it?"

"I have no idea. It's like it's completely immune to everything." He ran his free hand through his long hair, his expression distressed.

"The Atrophy didn't seem to take over your magic when you attacked the cervidae. But-"

"But I cannot use my magic to make it go away. It is a complete mystery."

"And about your magic… Did you lie to me what it was about?"

"What?" His eyes widened. "No, no! Of course not! Perhaps I just… did not explain it fully."

I snorted. "Right."

He clicked his tongue and leaned forward, his hand ruffling my hair. "As I have stated before, it's complicated. My magic focuses on healing and research. But as the Fairy King, my magic does have many uses. As you saw, some of it is used to protect the forest."

The vines with thorns. Stolas had mentioned that his magic isn't as strong as Alder's. He said I would need to talk to Alder if I wanted to use my magic for combat, but wouldn't explain further. This must have been what he meant. That Alder would be much more proficient at teaching me to use magic during combat. It made sense, really. It was my fault for thinking that the Fairy King wouldn't be able to fight.

A sigh left me as I shifted and laid back in my bed. We made some progress. Not a lot, but enough to leave me feeling hopeful that I wouldn't be kept in the dark any longer. That at least, I would know some of what is going on. Alder let go of my hand and placed both of his hands on my stomach.

"Let me get you fixed up." His hands started to emit a soft yellow and green light.

I closed my eyes. "I apologize for how I spoke to you. And with the rabbit."

"It-"

"The rabbit!!" I sat up suddenly. "I need to make sure she's alright!!"

"Shh, shh. Stolas has it handled, I promise. Just close your eyes again." Alder pushed me back down on the bed. 

"Fine… I'll trust you."

"And I forgive you. You were scared, you were worried, and I wasn't being cooperative. You had every right to get angry at me."

I didn't say anything and focused on the warmth that spread from my stomach through the rest of my body. I needed to rest. I could feel my energy wane even more as Alder healed the bruising. My eyes closed as I let out a soft hum. Almost everything was fixed now. Our small argument was just that: small. Relief filled me as I slowly drifted off to sleep. I was alive, and I was safe. That was all that mattered.

Alder leaned down and softly kissed my forehead. "Sleep well, Cahira."