THE RISING OF THE WICCA

An inspection

As soon as she walked in Evanora was engulfed with thick air and darkness, she blinked a few times to be able to clear her vision, and her eyes grew wider at the sight in front of her.

A young man lay on a bed near the entrance, he was drenched in sweat, his skin was pale, and had a few reddish spots all over him. His eyes were closed as he tossed around and seemed in a great deal of pain. She winced at the sight.

Feeling her heart sinking deep, she wanted to reach out to help him, not for the sake of the kingdom or her family name but only for the sake of easing his pain. She approached closely and watched him, his lips were parted as he breathed heavily through his mouth.

"Has he been like this for a long time? What do you know about the symptoms?" the witch asked as she turned back to the knight behind her.

"He has been like this for over a week now, we keep him hydrated but other than that there is nothing we can do. Sometimes when he is conscious he complains of a pain in his chest. His fever comes and goes, but he keeps sweating a lot."

"What about the spotting?"

"It's all over his body, we don't know what triggered it." The king explained.

She knitted her eyebrows and appeared in deep thought, she had read many books in her life, including medical ones, she had some basic skills as she had to care for herself, but this was on another level plus they expected her to use her magic to heal it.

She has heard of some wizards and witches possessing such powers, her mother told her about healing magic and she read about it in books, but it took a long time of practice and a talent you had to be born with.

She moved closer to the man and put her hand on his forehead, his body was burning. She lowered her hand and put it near his mouth, feeling his short hot breaths. He let out a small sound every time he inhaled. Then she pressed her fingers to the veins in his neck listening for his heartbeat.

Her every action was monitored by the two men standing beside her. The knight thought that she was familiar enough with sick people that she could do a quick checkup and waited for her to speak with curiosity.

The king was also watching silently as her hand now hovered lightly over one of the red spots on his skin. Her eyes watched closely the sick man's face as she lowered her fingers and touched the spot. He didn't wince. The feeling of the spot was natural but something underneath the skin must have been damaged and it showed through the spots.

She stayed silent for a few more moments before sharing her assessment of the situation, trying to remember everything she had learned.

"His lungs are damaged, his breaths are short and he is in pain, the spots are probably reflecting the damage being done to his cells due to the lack of oxygen. The fever and sweating are signs his body is trying to fight the virus or whatever it is but it's not improving. I need more time to supervise him and I need time to go through some books. Only then I will be able to tell you if I can be of help or not." She headed out of the room followed by the King and his knight.

"What kind of books do you need?" The king asked.

"I brought some of my books." She seemed deep in thought as her mind went through the list of books she had and wondered if any described healing spells and more importantly if she could perform them.

"We have all kinds of books in the castle." Sir Theon boasted. "I think you will be able to find what you are looking for in the library." Feeling the King's eyes on him, he added, "Of course, if King Rokan allows you to."

The king nodded his head passively as Evanora looked at him waiting for his reaction.

"Okay then, If you'll excuse me now," Evanora said as they approached the yard they came through earlier.