a relief in a moment. The scar tissue is what’s tugging at all the wrong things, so with it gone, some of the pressure will ease up.”
“Oh! It’s—” King Alric cut off, and his left hand flexed into a grip and relaxed again. “You’re right. It’s not painful, but it is a very odd sensation.”
“Yes, it is that.”
Sora applied it to another spot and watched as his diagnostic lines adjusted to show the change in the body. Yes, this was doing the job nicely. The scar tissue was disappearing without too much of a struggle. Except that spot. Bad spot. Sora dropped another application onto it and glared it into submission. There, that was better.
He continued in this vein for a while, finally coming around to the front and dealing with the pectoral area and elbow. He rocked back on his heels for a moment, watching to make sure that things were going as they should. They appeared to be.
Cameron came around as well, urgently asking his mate, “Do you feel the difference?”
“I do,” King Alric admitted. “It’s as if my muscles were bound by a strong cord all this time, and someone’s come along and cut it. It’s relieved some of the pressure.”
“That’s a good analogy for what I’ve done,” Sora said approvingly. “Now, rotator cuff. This will feel good, no pain or pressure.”
He went back around the table even as King Alric asked, “Do I need to stay still for thirty minutes, or can I get down?”
“Stay still, please. While we’re waiting on it to heal, we can talk more about what to do, and perhaps call my father and bring him into the loop.”
“I would love that. Thank you for this, Sora. You’ve invested so much time and energy into this clan, into my people. We are truly grateful for all you have done and everything you’ve already taught us.”
Sora paused, not expecting this heartwarming statement, and found himself a little choked up. He’d rarely been praised like this, so sincerely thanked, as if he’d provided an unexpected miracle.
Lisette snorted. “We got along very badly without him, clearly.”
King Alric’s expression softened as he turned to Lisette. “And your clan’s specialty was never healing. You were forced to learn things on the fly under the worst of circumstances. Your hard work and dedication have kept us all alive for five centuries.”
The older mage nodded and swallowed audibly. “Thank you, Alric, but look at what he’s already managed in twenty minutes. I feel like beating my head against a hard surface. Sora, you’re a miracle worker.”
“I’m hardly that, but I thank you for the sentiment.” Sora grinned at her, his chest puffing up a bit. He’d barely done anything to really help King Alric yet, and already he felt such a sense of accomplishment from their reactions. “King Alric, I can honestly say your clan has become very dear to me. I’m happy to help you and excited to provide you with more tools. Lisette is far too amazing to ever feel that she might be lacking.”
“We are blessed to receive any help you can give us,” Lisette replied with a warm smile.
Sora mixed up the next potion he needed for the rotator cuff, glancing up now and again to study that dark head of hair, the injuries he couldn’t immediately treat. He thought of what it must have been like, five hundred years with no option but endurance. And it was all so pointless. Any healer worth his salt would have been able to mitigate this damage right from the beginning. The very healing ability that his clan took for granted.
And King Alric hadn’t even thought to ask for help because he was past hoping at this point.
It saddened Sora, it truly did. He felt like he’d made a huge contribution to this clan by reaching out to this good king. These people didn’t have a single healer to call their own. And wasn’t that a sad state of affairs, when his clan had many? Sora knew some of them would come to Burkhard to help, but for how long? There wasn’t a dedicated timeline, not yet.
Wouldn’t Sora’s abilities and talents be better used here?
He shook off the thought, as he couldn’t be distracted right now.
“Alright, hold still, please. Just one good swipe, and then we’ll let that settle in for a while. Good. Now, let’s call up my father and tell him he’s got a challenge to tackle with me. That should go over well, as he