There is a brief stare down between the two. This stare down is broken when Amneal feels a break in his mana. The link between him and his lover begins to fade – her lifespan is diminishing again. He needs to get back to her.

  An outlining of his blue mana radiates around his body, separating itself and forming a midair doorway as if it was its own entity. He looks back at the newly formed opening, knowing that his time on this side of town was now up. He could no longer battle Brandon or pursue Ulysee, even if he wanted to.

  He wanted to feel anger – wanted to feel desperation. But instead, he felt obligated. His heart told him to get back to the sickened woman that was waiting back at their home. Their cabin.

  Amneal turns around and makes his way to the portal. He stops before heading directly through the magical air space.

  “I’ll have the girl and her mana, the next time we see each other.”

  Amneal walks through, cutting off his physical presence from his previous opponent. Brandon watches as the newcomer he battled, leaves to a place unknown. His mana tracing couldn’t even pinpoint where he was heading.

  The portal closes soon after behind him. Brandon turns away and strolls in the direction he last saw the woman heading in.

  ***

  The chapter shifts to Amneal, who appears to be walking through snowy lands, amongst tall mountains, in the background. These lands tend to give off a magical vibe, with Amneal feeling the link between him and his lover restoring. He already feels better because of this.

  Amneal reaches a cabin, still on the lower end of the edgy region. He enters the home, seeing a woman standing in the kitchen with a knife. She attempts to hold herself up using the counter in front of her, though she collapses shortly after.

  “Niavi!”

  Amneal rushes over to help her. He reaches her in a hurry, holding her up as he meets her at floor level in the kitchen. She sweats in his arms, showcasing her extreme condition before his arrival. This is something she often did when her health took a turn for the worse – which was more often than either of them would like.

  Amneal’s eyes land on her pale skin, scanning her from visible head to toe. He seems to have returned directly on time, as moments later and her health would have been in a much more dangerous state.

  “I’m so sorry,” she smiles in her weakened state.

  “Don’t keep apologizing for something you can’t help,” Amneal reminds her. “I should have been back sooner. My task took longer than expected and my timer ran out.”

  Amneal holds Niavi against his chest for a moment longer, looking down at her as if he was going to lose her at any moment. He captured her image in his mind once again, as if he was storing a mental collage of photos of her. In loving memory…he never wanted to say.

  “I shouldn’t have been gone so long,” he tells her softly. “I’m the one who should be sorry.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Amneal carries Niavi to her bed. He tucks her into the covers, with the early morning sky peeking through the window. The sun hasn’t quite revealed itself yet.

  “I’ll finish prepping our meals. You just relax and worry about recovering.”

  Amneal notices her skin gaining its color back. He also spots her cold sweats going away. Niavi is recovering at a fast rate from Amneal’s presence alone.

  It was the link that Amneal and Niavi shared that was keeping her alive. Amneal knew he couldn’t be away from her for long periods of time because of this. A spell that allowed Amneal to share a constant supply of mana with Niavi, as the disease that Niavi had was some sort of mana deficiency disease. A curse better yet.

  ***

  Amneal brings the prepped bowls of vegetable stew into her bedroom – a platter held them up as heavy levels of steam came from both bowls. He placed the bowls on the dresser first, bringing Niavi a cup of tea from the platter instead. She grips the cup from the handle, instantly blowing the liquid before taking a quick sip.

  “Thank you so much for this,” Niavi tells him near instantly.

  Amneal is about to respond, but Niavi continues.

  “I don’t want to be a burden to you.”

  Amneal stops himself before he can take another series of sips. Her words catch him off guard.

  “Niavi, you aren’t, and will never be, a burden. Please stop saying that.”

  This is deeply how Niavi feels – being the sick one from just the mere distance of her and Amneal. It was worse than this before the spell that linked the two of them together, as it was almost an instant death sentence for her.

  Placing the trey of food on her legs, Amneal gives Niavi access to the food that she once started prepping. Enough of her strength had returned for her to begin eating. The more she ate and gathered her energy, the more he could feel his mana draining. She was getting better at a rapid rate – Amneal often told himself that he had plenty of mana to spare. Though he knew this not to be one hundred percent accurate.

  The spell that Amneal used to bond the two together by mana, was taxing on him. He managed day by day doing this, as there was a limiter that allowed him to be able to sustain such magic. His use of magic was cut in half, making him only half as strong as he could be. And the further away he was from Niavi, the less strong he was. He could only reach the peak of his powers when he was within range of Niavi. He often compared this to a Wi-Fi signal – the further he was from her, the weaker they both were.

  Niavi took a moment from concentrating on her food to smile at him. This was all he needed to get him through. All he looked forward to. Her closed mouth smile had placed another photographic image in his mind. Amneal left out of her room shortly after. It was nothing short of a miracle the amount of willpower he held to withstand such an ongoing spell and not show any signs of sickness. Or seatbacks. Or immobility.

  “I’ll be in the kitchen cleaning if you need me,” Amneal tells her on his way out. However, he stops himself before he can close the door behind him. He remembers something that he was so close to forgetting.

  Entering back into the room, he grabs her favorite novel off the mini bookshelf against the wall. He brings this to her, seeing the bookmark that was placed near the beginning of the book once again.

  This would be the third time this month she had started this book over. He notes to himself.

  Amneal places the food next to her just as she is nearing the completion of her bowl. She takes a big sip of her tea and Amneal walks out the room, this time closing the door behind himself.

  He leans his back against the door, tilting his head towards the ceiling as what he tried to hold in while he was in the room, finally comes out. Rivers of sadness slide down the sides of his face. Thin rivers.

  He’s unable to imagine a world without Niavi – all he wants her to do is get better. He brings his palms out in front of him, seeing a slight tremble in his hands. This was the first time he had felt such a thing – though he held an idea as to what it was.

  It’s taking longer for my mana to recover. He notes to himself. I’m running out of time. At this rate, either I will die from mana exhaustion, and then Niavi will die, or I won’t have enough mana to put into her, and she will die right before my very eyes.

  Amneal exhales before walking off. He continues his moments in life, one step at a time.