THE RETURN OF THE HEALER

CHAPTER 5 — “AFTERSHOCKS”

The rain fell harder as Ray and Lira stumbled through the ruined monastery’s outer wall, their breaths ragged and uneven.

The distant shouts of guards echoed behind them, a constant reminder that the Arkwright hunt wouldn’t stop, not now, not after what Ray had done. Ray’s legs shook beneath him. “Lira… wait”

His voice broke, and he leaned against a crumbling stone pillar. Lira immediately spun toward him. “Ray? Ray, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

Ray pressed a hand to his chest, gasping. “It… it feels like something’s tearing inside, like the seal is… ripping.”

Lira grabbed his wrist and lifted his hand away. A faint glow pulsed beneath Ray’s skin, like threads of light knitting and unknitting inside him.

Lira swore under her breath. “Damn it… you pushed too far, too fast.”

Ray slid down the pillar, sitting heavily in the mud. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“I know,” she murmured, kneeling in front of him. “But awakening a Healer’s Dome at this stage? Even prodigies don’t do that.”

Ray gave a weak, humorless laugh. “So I’m either talented or doomed.”

“Both,” she said bluntly.

Ray looked up, pale. “Lira… be honest. Am I dying?”

Lira hesitated too long. “…Lira.”

She exhaled sharply. “Your seal is unstable. When it cracks, it forces your mana to surge. If the seal breaks all at once instead of gradually, your body… won’t adapt.”

“So… yes,” Ray whispered.

“No. Not if we manage it,” she said quickly. “We need to ease the seal open, layer by layer, not let it explode.”

Ray leaned his head back against the pillar. Rain slid down his face, mixing with sweat. “I don’t even know how to breathe right now.”

Lira cupped his cheeks, forcing his eyes to meet hers.

“Ray. Listen. You survived a full squad of trained Arkwright mages. You absorbed lethal spells. You protected me. That means the seal is responding to your instincts, not your fear.”

Ray swallowed hard. “So I’m not losing control?”

“You’re learning control,” she corrected. “Painfully.”

He gave a shaky nod. “Okay… okay. Just–give me a second.”

Lira glanced over her shoulder, hearing the growing noise of reinforcements. “We don’t have a second. But we’ll make one.”

She slipped her arm under Ray’s and helped him stand. Ray groaned. “I’m… heavy. Sorry.”

“You’re heavier than you look,” she muttered. “But I won’t drop you.”

Ray tried to smile despite the pain. “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me. Walk.”

They pushed deeper into the abandoned district, weaving through broken arches and vine-covered walls. The rain masked their tracks, but the guards’ torchlights flickered behind them like predatory eyes.

Ray struggled to keep pace. “Where are we going?”

“A safe place,” Lira whispered.

“You keep saying that.”

“Because if I name it, you’ll panic.”

Ray blinked. “That doesn’t help.”

“Too bad,” she shot back. “Hurry.”

But Ray stumbled. Lira gripped his arm tighter. “Ray!”

“I—I can’t…” He collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest. “It’s burning again.”

“Damn it…”

She knelt with him, her voice low and urgent. “Look at me. Focus. Breathe slow, slower”

“I’m trying!”

The glow beneath Ray’s skin intensified, bright threads crawling up his arms. Lira’s eyes widened. “Okay, okay, listen. This is a backlash. You used too much healing force too quickly. Your body is reacting.”

“Then make it stop!” Ray gasped.

“I can’t stop it,” she said. “But I can ground it.”

She grabbed his hand and pressed her forehead against his.

Ray froze. “What are you”

“Breathing link,” she said. “Copy my rhythm.”

Ray trembled as Lira inhaled slowly through her nose. He tried to match her. “Again,” she whispered.

Ray forced another breath. The glow began to dim. Another breath. The burning lessened. Another. Ray collapsed forward, panting against Lira’s shoulder.

She held him, steady and warm despite the rain. “There you go… good. Don’t pass out.”

Ray whispered, “You… saved me again.”

She huffed softly. “Stop trying to die and I’ll save you less.”

He laughed weakly. “I’ll try.”

Far above the ruins, atop Arkwright Manor’s eastern balcony, Duke Arkwright stood in full ceremonial armor, rain striking his shoulders like silver needles.

Beside him stood High Inquisitor Theron, his cloak torn and bloodied. The Duke didn’t look at Theron. He kept his gaze fixed on the storm. “Report.”

Theron bowed slightly, wincing. “The boy, Ray Graham, has awakened.”

“Details.”

Theron swallowed. “He deflected sigils. Broke a restraint seal. Manifested a Healer’s Dome. And”

“And?”

The Duke’s voice was ice. Theron hesitated. “He released a correction wave powerful enough to incapacitate my entire squad.”

A chilling silence.

Then: “Unacceptable,” the Duke murmured.

Theron lowered his eyes. “The seal placed on him… is failing.”

The Duke’s jaw clenched. “Impossible. That seal was crafted by the divine clergy themselves.”

“Yet it cracked.”

The Duke finally turned, his gaze sharp as a blade.

“Then we’ll reseal him.”

Theron stiffened. “My lord, if the seal has already cracked”

“Then we reinforce it,” the Duke snapped. “Or we kill him before it shatters completely.”

Theron bowed. “Understood.”

“And Theron,” the Duke added quietly,

“if the boy remembers who he is… nothing in this kingdom will contain him.”

Theron’s expression hardened. “Then we must silence him before that happens.”

“Exactly.”

Thunder growled above them. “And find the girl,” the Duke said. “The slum rat with him.”

Theron’s eyes narrowed. “Lira Vale.”

“Yes,” the Duke said. “She knows too much.”

Back in the ruins…

Ray leaned heavily on Lira as they finally exited through a collapsed archway. He groaned. “I feel like I’m falling apart.”

“You are,” she said. “But slowly. And that’s better than instantly.”

“Comforting.”

Lira smirked. “You’re welcome.”

Ray took a shaky breath. “Lira. Earlier… I heard a voice. During the fight.”

Lira’s expression shifted. “A voice? What did it say?”

Ray hesitated. “It said… ‘Don’t fear what you are. Fear what you forget.’”

Lira’s breath hitched. “Ray… that’s not a random voice.”

“You think it’s a memory?”

“I think…” She looked at him with a strange mixture of wonder and fear.

“…someone from your past is calling to you.”

Ray stared at her, cold dread and hope tangling inside him. “Then I need to know who.”

“You will,” she said softly. “But first”

She pointed ahead. A shadowy entrance carved into the ground lay before them, hidden behind a fallen statue. Ray blinked. “What is this?”

Lira stepped toward it. “A place where Arkwright eyes don’t reach.”

Ray frowned. “Lira… where are you taking me?”

She looked back, eyes fierce. “To the place where your real story begins.”

She lifted the rusted metal gate and revealed a staircase descending into darkness. “Ray Graham,” she said, “welcome to the Forgotten Catacombs.”

Ray swallowed hard. Then stepped into the dark with her. Behind them, torches flared in the distance. The hunt was far from over.