Bacorium Legacy Read Free

cut across his left cheek, running from his jaw to his ear, which bled profusely. The arrow in his leg was broken in half. And he had several other injuries which bled, but nothing too severe.
    What was killing him was the broken short sword that had pierced his lung.
    Emila gathered her mana up and ran her hands over his chest, sensing the full extent of the injury. He must have fallen at some point, driving the small blade between his ribs. The hilt had broken off, leaving only the top half of the blade, which would make it an nigh impossible to remove. She allowed herself a rare curse, for she realised how difficult it would be to save this man.
    Emila considered her options. The healing abilities of ice-form magick were not as strong as light-form or spirit-form, but they were better than the other seven schools. Her little sister, a spirit-form magus, had been far more skilled at healing than Emila was. She would not have had a problem with this. Emila, on the other hand - though she had trained at healing for years, she still had problems with it. They said a true healer never left a scar, but Emila sometimes did.
    An injury like this was difficult, but not impossible. As long as she was careful, she could pull the blade out of his lung and repair the damage. The problem was, she did not have time to be careful. The man's breathing was growing worse by the second. If she did not do something quickly...
    An idea popped into her head.
    And just as quickly, she cast it aside. She could not use such a spell on a complete stranger. Her father had told her so when he'd taught it to her - how vital it was not to do so. The risks were too great.
    The spell she was considering was dangerous. She had been told that she should only use it to save the life of another if there was no other option available, and even then, only on close friends and family. If the healer and patient were too incompatible, then the risks were said to be worse than death itself...
    Emila bit her lip. She didn't have time to think about it. It was the only way to save him. He would die if she did not. If he woke, and he turned out to be an evil man, she could always take off running.
    She was taking a huge risk to save the life of a stranger.
    Undeterred, Emila placed her hand on the man's forehead, and placed her other on her own. She gathered her mana, wove the spell, and released the energy.
    There was a flash of light in the room, and the temperature briefly dropped. Emila saw her breath as she gasped. A strange feeling ran through her, making her dizzy and causing her knees to buckle. She had to grab the edge of the table to remain standing.
    It took a minute or so for the effects to fade, but time was no matter now. The man's life was in no danger. When Emila returned her attention to him, his breathing was steady, his pulse was normal, and his face looked at peace, even though his injuries were still untended, including the pierced lung.
    That was it, then. There was no going back now. Emila wondered if perhaps she'd just made the greatest mistake of her life.
    No. Not her greatest mistake, she remembered. She had already made that two years ago.
    Emila sighed and drew up a wet cloth, wiping the blood and dirt from the man's face. She could already feel the effects of the spell. But until he woke, she wouldn't truly know whom it was she had just linked herself to.
    The man's closed eyes looked troubled.
    “I wonder who you are...” she asked him, half hoping he would answer. A moment passed, and he did not.
    Emila gathered her mana once more, and began the long process of healing his wounds.
    She worked well into the small hours of the night.

Chapter I
    How to Bring a Blush to the Snow
     
    He shivered. Even though he had lit a small fire, closed and locked the door, and closed the windows of his small hut, it did little to keep out the cold. The harsh winds of the north were unstoppable.
    He hated the cold.
    He shook his head. How it infuriated