The Legendary Healer

Chapter 2

That night, Kevin stayed in the cell when he heard cells and cries from other prisoners. Silent footsteps that could not be mistaken as those of assassins moved quickly and the sounds of agony gradually drew closer towards their direction. 

Kevin's eyes snapped open and his stomach churned, a cold chill crawling up his spine as he stared around him with heightened urgency arched into his brows.

They were killing gradually, working their way through each cell one by one.

And with his heart pushing hard against his chest, knew that they were there because of him, everyone else were just victims.

Another scream echoed closer, then the sound of a body hitting the stone floor. His hands clenched into fists and his chest tightened.

He turned toward the man chained beside him.

The man was massive, even sitting against the wall and not minding the sounds just outside like it was nothing to him.

"Aren't scared of what's going on out there?" Kevin inquired and for the first time, the head of the man turned, accessing Kevin with a disdain filled gaze.

"Scared, I do not fear anyone, not even death itself!" He responded. 

Even though they were both in a cell, his chest puffed with pride and his head was high up like someone who had seen a thousand lives flash in his eyes. It was just the person that he needed.

Heavy suppression cuffs glowed around his wrists, but even weakened, something dangerous radiated from him.

Everyone would have written the man off as old and weak, however Kevin could easily tell from years of observation that this man had to be powerful. 

The way he shifted under those heavy cuffs so easily and the way his eyes caught the environment which was so sharp and sensitive.

They were all tell-tale signs that he wasn't just a man that had been trained to war, he had experienced a lot of it too, just enough to make him go numb to the screams and yells of agony that sounded just a distance away from them.

"Hey," Kevin whispered sharply.

The man's eyes snapped open instantly with a growl.

"Can you defeat those men?" Kevin asked, his voice low, masking the urgency that filtered through his throat as he spoke. 

The man's gaze cut toward the corridor, then back to Kevin and he almost laughed, his voice twisted with something that resembled self pity.

"Defeat? When I was in my prime, I could take them all down with a single hit, hell, I would not have even needed to touch them to defeat them." The aging man boasted, his voice rough like with the sense of both pain and achievement.

"That's why they gave me this suppression serum to be able to cage me here. I was once the great general that enemies only had to hear was coming to war to piss their pants and give up the struggle."

Kevin smirked, it was exactly what he needed right now.

"Then why are you rotting in here?" He continued further.

The pain paused and his eyes flashed with pain and rage. His hands were clenched tightly against his clothes and his gaze flashed with cold rage.

"Because I refused to hand over my military authority to a treacherous snake," he growled.

 "Elias framed me for treason, poisoned me with a suppression elixir, and threw me in this hole against my will, framing me and lying to everyone that I had tried to join an enemy faction against the king." His tongue clicked with disdain as he spoke further.

Kevin's hands clenched so tightly that it bled as a similar memory rushed into his mind in waves. How he had been betrayed in just the same way.

He knew that it wasn't time to linger on those memories when his life was on the line so he asked quickly. 

"If I restore your strength, will you stand by my side?" Kevin said those words in one breathe, his brows arched throughout.

The man stared at him, before breaking into a burst of harsh laughter.

His eyes surveyed Kevin even further. This time, he took notes of the tattered clothes, the scar, the visible bones on his neck that made it seemed he had never had anything decent for a meal before he had been thrown into this cage.

"You?" His eyes dragged over Kevin slowly, casting more looks of disdain and irritation that his words couldn't carry.

His lips curled with the bitter taste of disgust almost instantly.

"A nobody from the slums with no talents? How could you possibly help me? I heard the guards talking when they threw you in. You're just some slum rat who barely got by on scraps that he could find here and there.

You aren't even worthy to lace my shoes if it wasn't for that damn Elias! So what gives you the audacity to even dare to think that you could help me?" 

Kevin ignored the insult. His eyes had caught something earlier when they first locked him up.

A restoration herb. It was small, almost invisible in the darkness, but Kevin recognized it from his research notes. It grew in places soaked with concentrated energy, and a cell that once held a suppressed general would be exactly that.

"There's a herb growing in this cell," Kevin said, his voice steady. "If I show you how to use it properly, you can get part of your strength back. Enough to kill those men."

The man's eyes narrowed.

"A prison weed is going to break a suppression seal?" He shook his head. "Boy, you don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm the one who designed every defense keeping this city alive," Kevin said, his voice cold. "I know energy pathways better than anyone. If I say that herb can help you, it can."

The footsteps stopped right outside the next cell. A prisoner begged for his life before his voice was cut short by the sound of metal tearing through flesh and Kevin knew that they were next. 

"Turns out you were locked up by Elias too," Kevin said, watching the man's face. "So we want the same thing."

The man's hands clenched into fists.

"Fine," he said finally. "I'll accept your help."

Kevin let out a breath.

"However," the man continued, his voice dropping to something deadly, "if something goes wrong, if you're lying to me or if this fails..."

He leaned closer, his eyes turning cold and beast-like.

"I will kill you myself before I die."

Kevin's heart tightened, but a broad smirk cut through his face.

"Deal," he said, a slight smirk forming in his face.