A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

For the next hour or so, the room became a whirlwind of activity. First, Emily and Elora started drawing countless healing sigils on and around the bed. These began their work immediately, slowly easing Erik's grave wounds.

Meanwhile, Emma was spamming her first ranked light spell on him to produce the same thing. While still not very powerful on its own, its power increased exponentially in conjunction with the sigils. Meanwhile, his head rested on her lap, and her hands were gripping the side of his head.

As for Astrid, she helped where she could, but unfortunately there wasn't much she could do in a situation like this. Most of the time she was simply pacing around the room with a stormy expression, constantly crashing against the same kind of luxurious furniture that graced Erik's dimension.

At least, that was what she did until Emma reminded them of Alice…

After that, it became Astrid's job to talk to Erik's unconscious face in an effort to keep Alice company, without even knowing if the young wereverine was watching.

Fortunately, as Erik learned later, she was.

Yet, while they fussed over Erik, Runa went largely ignored. She received some minor healing to offset the weeks of starvation and punishments she suffered through, but her main problems were related to the soul and not urgent.

Currently, Erik's mother remained in a sort of coma, induced by Elora. There were several reasons she couldn't allow the woman to wake up right now…

* * *

Finally, after an hour of hard work, there wasn't much more they could do for their husband. The sigils were working hard to heal the grievous wound to his chest and drive out the shadowflame infection that had already begun to spread through his veins.

Much like what was currently happening to Ankhur.

Since his condition remained critical, Eira and her medium also continued to wrap themselves around him like a protective shell while the minotaur girls used all her power to try and rectify the mistake she made.

At the same time, Emma also continued what she'd been doing for the past hour. Diligently and quietly, she continued flooding Erik's body with her light energy while his head rested on her lap. Around her, Emily worked to maintain the sigils, while Astrid remained a frustrated mess attempting to keep Alice company.

Yet, Elora's presence wasn't crucial anymore. Her healing magic was only really effective if she could apply from within Erik's soul, but her previous home was currently occupied…

Thus, with Erik stabilized and slowly healing, it was time for the fairy to turn to Runa.

Deciding it would be better to give Runa her own bed, she gently picked up her mother-in-law and left the room.

Yet, before she could enter the room across from them, she noticed a large group of people coming down the hall. It was Naeku and her family. The weakened Ankhur was struggling heavily, but manged to walk on his own two legs while supported by Enkai and Amina, his vampire wife.

As soon as she saw them, a thoughtful frown appeared on Elora's face, but then she halted in her tracks and decided to wait for them.

Ankhur moved relatively slowly, but it wasn't more than a few seconds before they were in front of her.

"Lady Elora, correct?" Ankhur asked her with a soft voice and gentle smile. Yet, despite addressing Elora, his eyes were drawn to Runa.

"That's right," the fairy answered indifferently. "What can I do for you?"

"How's your husband?" he asked in response, clearly either trying to get in her good graces before getting to what he really cared about, or simply scared of what he might discover when he asked about Runa.

"Heavily wounded, but he's in a stable condition and will recover in time," she answered politely. In the end, she was still in another's home, and since they were taking the effort to be diplomatic, she refused to stoop lower. "Thank you for asking."

Ankhur nodded, but then gulped and fell silent for a second, as if trying to decide on his next words.

But Elora saw through him and decided to make the first move. "Since Erik is currently stable, I was just about to start treating my mother-in-law. You're free to attend if you wish, but only you and Naeku. The rest of your entourage will have to wait outside."

"You—!" Enkai began indignantly, but before he could finish, Ankhur nodded gratefully. "So it will be," he answered with a gentle smile.

Before anyone could object, he turned to Naeku, "Little Naeku, would you mind helping your old father inside?"

They young werepanther had slightly wet eyes, as watching him struggle to get walk this far had already been difficult for her. The only way she knew him was as the most powerful person in her life, who could beat back all the evils in life. And yet, right now, she could push him to the ground with one arm.

When she heard his question, she rapidly nodded and tried to take over from Amina, but the vampire wasn't content. She narrowed her eyes at Elora, "He needs two people to help him walk properly. Don't you dare try and embarrass him!"

Elora raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Amina with a hint of appreciation.

But then she simply waved her hand and pulled a chair out of the storage jewel on her forehead. "There's no need for that," she said indifferently, before turning back to Ankhur. "Please, take a seat," she continued, while conjuring a dark green magic circle and causing the chair to float slightly above the ground.

Several of Naeku's family took a startled step back from the sudden appearance of a chair. Elora smirked with a hint of ridicule, but had to give credit to Naeku and Ankhur for standing their ground.

After recovering from the shock, Ankhur raised an eyebrow, "You truly have mysterious methods, Lady Elora…"

After a sign from him, Enkai and Amina then carefully sat him down in that chair. A grimace of pain passed over his face, but Elora didn't react to it. In fact, she was quite impressed. She'd never felt it herself, but she'd heard about the excruciating pain that shadowflame infection caused.

"Are you sure about this, husband…?" Nadia asked hesitantly, obviously reflecting the thoughts of everyone else present there.

"I am, Nadia," he nodded softly while sighing in relief due to not being on his feet anymore. Then he smiled, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just wait out here for me. Or, better yet, go get some rest yourself. You've all been sitting by my bedside for days already…"

None of them answered, but their stubborn expressions told him all he needed to know about their intentions, thus causing him to grin and shake his head helplessly.

Regardless, Elora didn't give them anymore time, and walked into the room in front of her, followed by Naeku and the floating chair with Ankhur in it.

Once they were inside, the doors closed, and Elora gently put Runa on the bed.

Ankhur's chair settled down next to the bed, and Naeku stood next to it. Her father's eyes didn't leave the comatose werewolf.

"Can you… tell me what's wrong with her?" he asked Elora, a little afraid of the answer, but not willing to remain in the dark.