himself before he ran out of magic. His back remained raw and blistered. There was nothing else he could do; it would have to wait.
Groaning, he peeled off his shirt as gently as he could, gritting his teeth as the fabric pulled from the open sores. The rub of the fabric against his wounds was far too uncomfortable, so he dealt with the added pain.
Tossing the shirt to the side, he lay on his stomach and tried to relax. He dozed, feeling the magic trickle in. The constant pain was mind-warping, and he struggled to push through the fog.
He tensed at the sound of footsteps coming down the hall, the sudden jerk of his muscles sent pain screaming through his back.
Clenching his eyes shut and exhaling, he wondered how they always knew when he was awake. Determined not to move, he lay as still as possible. The footsteps were lighter. Layla’s. Emane heard her come up to the bars and stand watching him for what felt like forever. Then she walked over to the fireplace and sat in one of the two chairs.
He should have stayed silent—after all, he had lain there simply to convince her he was asleep. “What?” he asked. “You only burn your victims if they are awake?” He turned to look at her. She sat in the armchair, her head down. Her eye was red, shiny, and nearly swollen shut. Her cheek was black and blue. Grunting, Emane tried to push himself up, but the pain forced him flat. “He hit you again.”
She shrugged. “Why would you care?”
“He has no right to hit you.”
She laughed, the laughter quickly turning into a sob.
“Layla, let me heal you.”
She stood slowly, confusion etched on her face. “You haven’t finished healing yourself.”
Emane gritted his teeth as he moved himself to sitting, trying not to groan. “I ran out before I could get to my back. I was waiting for it to replenish.” He took a deep shuddering breath. “But I have enough to fix your face.”
“If you do, you will have to wait longer to heal yourself.”
“Yes.”
She took another step forwards. “Why would you do that?”
“No one deserves to be treated that way.”
Her chin rose, looking down her nose at him. “You are trying to trick me so I won’t hurt you.”
“No,” he said softly. He gingerly pushed himself up, grunting. “I know you’re still going to hurt me.” Her eyes furtively moved to the floor. She stood there, trembling, as he took slow, painful steps towards the bars of the cage. “Please, Layla.”
Emane could see a tear glistening in her other eye as she inched her way towards the cage. When she stood face to face with him, she whispered, “You can’t touch the bars, they will hurt you.”
He nodded. Turning his hand to the side, he cautiously slid it between two of the snapping bars. He couldn’t feel the magic they were made of, but he could feel the heat off them. He winced as the movement of his arm stretched the burnt skin along his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he grunted. “I can’t reach any further.”
Eyes wide and trembling, Layla inched closer until his fingers touched her cheek. Closing his eyes, he allowed the healing to flow. As soon as he was done, she took a quick step back, her fingers running over her face.
Emane slowly withdrew his hand before sinking to the ground. He painstakingly laid himself flat again.
Layla looked nervously over her shoulder before sitting down on the floor in front
of him. “Why do you love her so much?” she whispered.
His eyes fluttered open for a second. “Why don’t you?”
She sputtered, “You don’t understand.”
“No, you don’t understand. You have never understood. You saw a little sister that scared you. Instead of loving her despite of it, you hated her for it.”
Layla scrambled to her feet, whirling towards the door. “Dralazar!”
Dralazar grinned, striding across the room. Grabbing her chin, he turned her face to the side. “Look at that.” Pulling her chin down, he looked into her eyes. “Didn’t I tell you our soft-hearted Protector would heal you?”
Emane clenched his fists.
“Very good, Emane. Now that we know you can heal those you despise, you will heal me.”
“No.”
“Emane.” His voice was too calm. Emane had learned to fear the calm more than he feared the anger. “This can be as hard or easy as you want. But in the end, you will heal me.”
Emane didn’t feel the fire coming, but he heard it crackling forward a second before