Young Writers Society

"I don't know, either," Jayk answered. He'd only met her an hour ago, how was he supposed to know what she could or couldn't do? He looked around at where Aerik was lowering Jerica on the ground. "Hey! Elias wants to know if you can use the R'hyk."

"Of course I can," Aerik muttered, glancing back at them. "You might wanna move, it's gonna get wet."

Jayk stepped forward swiftly, dragging Elias with him, just as a stream of water came through the door and began floating down the hall, towards the bedroom on the left.

"I know that," Elias managed to sputter before getting yanked away again. He looked back and saw water gushing out of nowhere. He turned to Jayk and gave him a long look. "That's the R'hyk too, right?" he asked, his voice sounding tired.

"Yep," Jayk agreed, turning him loose and plopping down on the ground next to Aerik and Jerica. He pushed up Jerica's right sleeve and cringed. "Ouch."

"What happened to you?" Aerik asked, looking down at her arm as well.

It was swollen and was a solid bruise, from her wrist all the way to her elbow.

"Scelinon," Jerica answered weakly.

Aerik cringed. "You've really gotta stop taking Beasts on by yourself."

"What was I supposed to do when it attacked?"

Aerik hummed for a moment, then nodded. "Fair." He looked up at Elias, gesturing at the stitches. "You do that?"

Elias was able to stand up and steady himself without problem now that the effects were wearing off. He did sway little, though.

He brushed down his shirt and stared down at the stitches that Aerik gestured at. "Yep," he said. "I'm the combat medic, after all."

It was supposed to be a joke, but his voice was too strained and tired to make it obvious.

"Not bad." Aerik nodded, then looked down at Jerica. "I'mma heal it now."

Jerica groaned loudly and let her forehead fall against Aerik's upper arm.

"I know..." he said soothingly, moving his arm so that his hand hovered over her arm.

Jerica groaned again, more of a pout than anything, but wrapped her left arm around Aerik's waist. Aerik wrapped his hand around her forearm, dark cyan sparks flying from his hand.

This time when she groaned, it was pained. She gritted her teeth and curled, knees rising a bit as her body tensed and she turned more into Aerik, pressing her forehead even harder against his arm.

Jayk cringed as he watched, then looked up from his spot on the floor. "This is also the R'hyk."

Elias couldn't help but watch with wonder as Aerik seemed to effortlessly heal without much trouble. He wasn't normally a jealous type, but he couldn't help but feel a bit envious. Having normal healing power like that had always just been an unattainable dream, and even though it didn't concern him at all, it always hurt to watch other healers.

"What can't the R'hyk do?" he asked as he looked away from Jerica, not able to bear the look of pain on her face.

Jerica kicked her feet against the ground, more in a fit than anything else, as Aerik finally stopped.


"Fuck!" She left her forehead pressed against Aerik's shoulder as Elias spoke again, but muttered. "Give me a will to live."

"That's what baths are for." Aerik patted her back. "C'mon."

He hooked his arm under hers, then stood up and dragged her up with him, then started down the hall.

Jayk rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, not bothering to get up off the floor, then looked up at Elias. "I mean, it can't teach you how to do anything."

Elias watched as Jerica basically threw a tantrum and got dragged away like she was a small child pouting that she had to take a bubble bath. In a way, there was a lot of truth to that thought.

His gaze then returned to Jayk. It was just the two of them now. Again. Because that went great last time. A sigh left his lips as he relaxed his posture, not even realizing there was built-up tension on his back.

"I'm assuming it's hereditary?" he asked.

Jayk looked at him a moment, then decided he didn't like the fact that Elias was standing over him, even though he wasn't trying to loom. He stood up and cracked his back, then shook his head. "Nah. Anyone can learn it, you just have to have someone show you how."

That piqued his interest, and Elias's eyes seemed to catch the light. "Do you know how to use the R'hyk?" he asked.

"Yeah." Jayk's mouth quirked into a little smirk. "I learned when I was a teenager. But even if it were hereditary, I'd still be able to use it." He gestured vaguely down the hall. "Since my brother, and all."

Elias opened his mouth to ask a follow-up question, but the words hit him all at once.

"Wait," he said, backpedaling. "Your brother? You mean... Aerik?"

"Well, I don't mean Jerica," Jayk laughed, then strode across the room and flopped down in one of the overstuffed chairs, gesturing at the other one invitingly.

Elias huffed out a bit of air through his nose and then strode over to sit next to Jayk, slumping in his chair. "Why were you so hostile to us to begin with then?" he asked.

"If you call that hostile, I've got some bad news for you." Jayk snorted, but was smirking. He rubbed his face. "But mostly because it had to be believable. I couldn't very well go 'hey, I'm Aerik's brother, trust me!' since Aerik doesn't exist. I just needed to put on a show for my men before I convinced Jerica to accept my help. I knew she was too smart to start shit, and we never planned to hurt either of you."