The First Legendary Beast Healer

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A flicker of golden light drew Elias’s attention away from the clock.

He looked up, his hand still resting on Daniel’s arm, as the light spread into a moving image above his head. The outline of a beast appeared within it, followed by another, and words formed beneath them.

“Your rebirth has awakened your beast affinity. You can heal beasts through touch and communicate with them through thought. You can form bonds with any number of beasts that accept you.”

Elias read the words again, his grip loosening around Daniel’s arm. Any number of beasts? Every hunter he knew could only form one bond.

“Elias, what are you looking at?”

He turned towards Daniel, then glanced back at the light.

“You don’t see that?”

“What am I supposed to be seeing?” Daniel followed his gaze towards the ceiling. “Are you feeling ill too?”

Elias reached up, but his fingers passed through the image. The words faded as he lowered his hand.

“I just need a little air. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Daniel watched him get up, and Elias tried to give him a reassuring smile before stepping outside.

Near the hospital gate, a stray mutt lay against the wall with one hind leg curled beneath it. Its fur was dirty, and it bared its teeth when Elias crouched beside it.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Let me look at that leg.”

He held out his hand and waited until it stopped growling. When it allowed him closer, he gently moved the injured leg and found a swollen wound beneath the fur.

The beast flinched, but Elias kept his palm against it. Warmth gathered beneath his fingers, and he looked down as the swelling began to ease.

The wound slowly closed beneath his hand.

He almost pulled away in surprise, but the mutt lifted its head and sniffed his wrist. It struggled to its feet, and Elias steadied it, expecting the injured leg to give way.

Instead, it put its weight down and took a few steps towards him.

Elias stared as it nudged his knee and wagged its tail. He had treated injuries like that for years. They needed cleaning, medicine, and days of care, yet the beast was already walking around him.

He rubbed his palm, unable to stop the smile spreading across his face. He had been given a gold mine.

Beasts had been falling sick without any clear cause, and some had even turned against their owners. At the yard, he had seen people spend everything they had trying to save them. A bonded beast stayed with its hunter for life, and wealthy owners would pay almost anything to keep theirs alive.

His eyes went towards the hospital entrance. He got up, gave the mutt a final stroke, and hurried back inside.

Daniel was adjusting the blanket when Elias returned. Before either of them could speak, the phone in Elias’s pocket began to ring.

Kenneth’s name filled the screen, and the smile left Elias’s face as he answered.

“I need thirty thousand for our school project,” Kenneth said. “Make sure you send it today.”

Elias’s gaze settled on Daniel.

He remembered the amount. He could still see Daniel leaning against him outside the hospital that afternoon, too weak to stand while Elias tried to find them a cheap ride home. The money he had saved for the treatment had gone to Kenneth.

“Are you listening to me?” Kenneth asked. “I said I need it today. Don’t wait until the school starts disturbing me.”

“Daniel is still in the hospital.”

“And what does that have to do with what I just told you? You already promised me the money.”

Elias slowly sat beside the bed. Before, that tone would have sent him looking for the money.

“You speak to us as though we’re filth,” he said.

There was a pause on the other end.

“What did you just say?”

“The same people you call your family. You don’t even ask how Daniel is doing before you start demanding money.”

Daniel’s hands stopped moving on the blanket.

“Elias, I don’t have time for this. I told you the money is for a school project.”

“Then it’s time you learned to fend for yourself and pay for your own project.”

Kenneth went quiet again. Elias could hear voices in the background before his brother spoke.

“Who took my brother’s phone?”

“You’re speaking with Elias Miller, and you can go to hell for all I care.”

He ended the call and put the phone away before Kenneth could answer.

Daniel stared at him.

“Brother, why did you do that? We already agreed to send him the money.”

“You’re staying here and getting the treatment you need.”

“But what about Kenneth’s project?”

“He can work out how to pay for it. I’m not taking you out of this hospital to send him money.”

Daniel looked down at his hands, rubbing the place where the IV line entered his arm.

“You know we can’t stay here.”

Elias moved the blanket away from the tubing. “I’ll find a way to pay.”

“It’s more than the money, Elias. There’s a wealthy man who wants his beast to take my bed. They’ve already told us we have to leave, and there’s no way we can afford what they’re asking.”

Elias’s hand stopped on the blanket. That pressure had helped convince him to sign the discharge papers the first time.

Daniel shifted closer to the edge of the bed.

“You should go and ask them when we have to be out. We don’t want them making trouble for us.”

Elias put a hand on his shoulder before he could get up.

“Lie back down, Daniel. You’re not leaving before you’ve been treated.”

Daniel watched him uncertainly, but Elias was already looking towards the door. He needed to find that man before the hospital sent someone to clear the bed.

He flexed his fingers and lowered his voice.

“We’ll heal his beast and keep you here by any means possible.”