Chapter 3

Lyra's POV:

Cody and Faye carefully lifted the unconscious woman, Elara, from the wreckage. They laid her gently on a patch of grass by the side of the road.

Her left arm was twisted at an unnatural angle. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, and each breath she took was a ragged, whistling gasp.

Faye frantically tried to use her mind-link to contact the pack doctor, but her face was tight with panic. The signal was weak here, distorted by the mountains.

"The doctor... he says it's too late..." Faye's voice broke, thick with despair.

A murmur of pity and horror rippled through the crowd. Everyone knew what that meant. The noble lady was going to die right here on this roadside.

I walked over and knelt beside Elara, ignoring the blood that stained her fine clothes.

Cody reached out to stop me. "Don't touch her, child!"

I lifted my head and met his gaze. My silver eyes held the weight of centuries, and the seasoned warrior froze, his hand hovering in mid-air.

My small hand came to rest on Elara's shattered arm.

"Stop!" Faye shrieked. "You'll make it worse!"

I ignored her. A soft, silver light, like liquid moonlight, bloomed from my palm.

As everyone watched in horrified fascination, a series of sickening cracks and pops echoed in the quiet. Elara's twisted arm began to move, the bones shifting and aligning under the silver glow.

The sound of the bones knitting back together was unmistakable. Someone in the crowd gagged, but most were too stunned to make a sound.

In less than ten seconds, her arm was perfectly straight. The skin was smooth and unbroken, without a single scratch to show it had ever been injured.

Faye and Cody stared, their mouths hanging open. This was impossible. Not even the most powerful Healer in their pack could do something like this.

I moved my hand from her arm to her chest, where her life was bleeding away into her lungs.

The silver light intensified, brighter than before.

Elara's body convulsed. She coughed violently, spitting up a mouthful of dark, clotted blood.

Then, her ragged breathing smoothed out, becoming deep and steady. A touch of color returned to her deathly pale cheeks.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. They were weak, but clear.

"What... what happened...?" she murmured, looking around in a daze.

Faye burst into tears of joy, throwing herself forward. "My lady! You're alive!"

Every single person was now staring at me. Their expressions were a mixture of awe, fear, and something akin to worship.

I drew my hand back, the light fading. My face felt a little pale from the expenditure of energy.

Elara's gaze found me. She struggled to speak. "Thank you, child... Who are you?"

I looked at her, my expression calm. Then I said the words that made the blood freeze in their veins.

"Your bones are mended, and your lung is whole," I stated, my voice flat. "But you will still die. Your soul is rotting."