Capítulo 32: Burn (Part-7)

"She's still alive."

No way. Even when I was focused on killing the goblins, I had taken a second to check the girl. I could feel no pulse.

But if... somehow...

I was planning to see where the goblins were going, but now I just want to see the girl.

I followed Elaina back to the others. Luca slid down the slope from the side to join us. He looked at me and said nothing.

There she was. Sylvie, kneeling by the girl's body.

No... Not body. Her name is Momo. She is alive. Please... live.

Ren had taken off his cape and used it to lay Momo on it as Sylvie healed her. There were blood smears on the cape, most likely from how brutally the girl's back had been scraped from being dragged across the forest floor. I didn't even want to imagine what her back must have looked like from those wounds.

Had it just been a few minutes ago, a thought like this would have made me angry all over again. I would have lashed out again.

But now as I watch Sylvie... I feel different. All my rage is gone, all I want is for this young girl to live.

Sylvie sat beside the girl laying on her back on Ren's cape. Her back injuries must have already been healed as Sylvie worked on healing wounds and injuries over the front of her body.

"Liam can you focus some light on this part?" Sylvie asked me.

Ren and Elaina were standing guard over us while Luca brought over and lit some fire torches. I went over and kneeled by the unconscious body, sitting across Sylvie as I focused light from my sword over her lower abdomen.

Usually I would never willingly look upon a young girl's body. But none of us really cared. The situation was far too critical for any of that.

Her wounds were horrible to look at, but what caught my attention even more was how Sylvie was healing all of it.

Sitting cross legged on the forest floor, Sylvie looked all serious as she concentrated on her magic. On each fingertip of her right hand were small green glowing disks that rotated and glowed brighter or got duller individually as she moved her fingers like one would play a piano while hovering the hand over the affected area. On her left hand was a smaller than palm sized green glowing orb of magic on which glowing dots would appear and disappear as she moved and hovered her hand over the girl's body. With each small movement of the fingers on her left hand, the dots would slowly move, appear, disappear or connect to each other. Sylvie kept looking at the glowing orb for reference and observation while she healed Momo. I understood nothing that appeared on the orb, and it seemed only Sylvie could read any of it.

The external wounds over the girl's body had already been healed mostly. The edge of the wounds would glow green and slowly close up inwards. Those wounds healed up quickly, and Sylvie didn't seem too concerned about them. But she still focused and did her thing over parts that had seemingly already healed. Even I could tell what she was really working on were the internal injuries little Momo had sustained.

Curious and relieved by what I was seeing, I really wanted to ask Sylvie about what she was doing, but I didn't want to disturb her.

Thankfully for my unending curiosity, Sylvie herself broke her focused silence to tell us what was going on.

"Thank goodness we found her when we did. She really shouldn't be alive. I managed to stabilize her. Brought her back from the brink."

"What happened? How is she?" I asked.

Sylvie sighed. "As you all must have already realised... She was violated. That itself is a traumatic experience that would kill almost any other. As for her injuries, she was badly bruised, scarred and bled all over her body from the wounds. Internally, a few of her vital organs had already been damaged and many bones were broken. There were some serious injuries to the lower part of her body as well. It was bad... really bad."

She took a deep breath and continued."I healed her physical injuries. But the damage done to her mentally was undoubtedly the worst. I can't even begin to imagine, but the trauma she felt was extreme. Usually I would deposit some magic into the body to heal some of her injuries naturally over a short time, as that's usually the best type of healing, but I couldn't this time. I healed all I could in her body, everything possible so that she doesn't feel any pain at all. Any kind of pain will add to the trauma and tip her over the edge. Physically she is now as healthy as she can ever be, but mentally she is barely hanging on to dear life by a very thin string."

Sylvie slowly ran her fingers through Momo's hair and looked up at us. "She shouldn't be alive. Physically, mentally, her wounds are so terrible she should have died long before we arrived. Yet she lives. She is holding on... barely. Even though she is unconscious, she is holding on. I don't know what gives her this strength. But she is strong, so strong. But the trauma left her in a deep coma. I... I just hope, she has enough strength to continue holding on. Her will to live will be key."

A tear dripped down my face. Such a young girl, barely 11 years old, showing such strength.

Man... I'm so happy. I'm so happy. We couldn't save the brother, but we somehow saved the sister. After witnessing the horrible fate the brother had suffered, I didn't know what to do... All I could feel was rage and rage and rage. Even killing the monsters did nothing to calm it. But now I see this girl, fighting to live with all her will. I can't... I can't think about anything other than how proud of her I am. How happy I am. How relieved I am.

I just want to protect her. I want to take her back to her home. And wish that she will make it through this and wake up back to the world. Her life won't be easy after what has happened. The loss of her brother will bear down on her forever, it will be really painful. But if she can survive this, she can survive through anything. I know it. I believe it.

Thank you Momo, thank you for surviving. Thank you so much.

I wiped my eyes and wrapped up Momo in Ren's cape, carefully picking up her unconscious body in my arms. I'll carry her myself.

I looked up to Ren with a bright smile that couldn't be more true than anything ever.

"Let's reunite her with her family. Let's take her home."