The entire chamber felt frozen in time, no one daring to breathe. Kael worked frantically to rouse an unconscious Seila as Nox rushed to their side. Around them, the animals shifted uneasily, letting out nervous whinnies as a chill slithered through the vast space like a coiling serpent.

Emily had just arrived and knelt next to Alex and Ashe, a distant frenzy having crept into her eyes.

"Alex, move out of the way…" her voice echoed gently into their surroundings.

Alex had not taken his eyes off Emily since she spoke, and he'd not moved from his spot on the ground where he'd caught Ashe.

The woman lay still and silently in his arms, and he clutched her protectively, as though he could shield her from Emily. She almost looked peaceful in his embrace.

"Emily, just take a breath. I don't know what you're thinking, but she knew what she was doing… She had to know this would happen."

Emily flicked her wrist, and a thick cord of blood extended from her back and wrapped gently around Alex's waist. Extracting him from under the woman.

"I know, which is why I'll bring her back so she can give me a real reason."

Emily knelt over Ashe and pressed the side of her head to the woman's chest.

There was no breath and not even the slightest heartbeat.

Without hesitating, Emily got up and began compressions. Counting them off out loud.

"Emily, what are you doing?!" Alex hissed, but she ignored him in favor of tilting Ashe's chin up and breathing into her mouth.

There was movement from behind her, but she ignored that too.

She tried to activate Blood Price to connect to Ashe, but the skill couldn't find a target. The person needed to be alive, so she kept up compressions. All she needed was the briefest of windows, and then she could save her.

"Emily, you need to stop now the Healer's here," Alex whispered. He tried to lay a hand on her shoulder, but she shook him off and kept up going.

There were murmurs coming from all around Emily now, calls of confusion and anger.

"What are you doing, girl? There is no white source coming from her. She's dead; stop that this instant!" Yishmal's voice echoed from behind.

"Stop! I thought she was your friend," someone else echoed.

More voices called out, but Emily was too busy searching for the smallest sign of life; she didn't have time to deal with their whiny voices right now.

Emily couldn't allow Ashe to die, not like this. This was exactly how her grandfather had died. He had been a cruel man, and yet Emily had never been able to understand how he could so willingly give up his life to save hers.

Was he insane? Or did he have some long-hidden righteous side to him?

Sacrificing oneself was something a hero did, and Emily hated heroes. She couldn't accept this kind of outcome.

Ashe dying in this manner was beyond foolish. She'd rather drag this woman to hell than let her have her happy ending.

Emily reached down to give her another breath, but a large firm hand gripped her shoulder and neck in a vice-like grip.

Emily turned in time to see Kael frowning down at her with a look of dismay.

"What are you doing!?" his voice was a mix of anger and horror.

Alex tried to get in between them.

"Kael, stop, she said she could help-" he started, but Emily didn't have time for this. Every second counted.

Massive amounts of blood poured out of her whole body and exploded in the form of dozens of blades. Their keen edges cut through the air with a metallic ringing. Everyone but Alex backed up, unable to approach as the misshapen blades bent around her like a cage.

Emily knew CPR wasn't a sure thing, but she needed to try. That was when she realized how stupid she'd been. Ashe had blood, why was she acting like this was her limit?

Emily turned back and reinstated her compressions, but his time, she reached into the woman and began to circulate her blood. Emily had never tried to save someone like this before, but she was no longer living, which meant her blood was Emily's to command. With each compression, she expanded and contracted her heart. Circulating the blood through all of her extremities. Even as she forced the blood in her chest to expand her lungs and breathe for her, doing all of this would keep her brain from oxygen death, but her body showed no signs of starting up on its own again.

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Emily's frustration reached a peak when Alex stood next to her.

He could try and stop her, but she'd ignore him. If need be she'd kicked him out too.

"Emily…I trust in whatever you're doing. So how can I help?"

For the briefest of seconds, Emily looked up at Alex to see a determined look on his face.

"Keep them away, I-" Emily started, but then she felt the tiniest flicker of life coming from Ashe.

Alex forgotten, she turned back and poured Life source into the woman through Blood Price. Using it to bolster her vitality and heal the damage that had torn through her frame.

Emily felt her outer shell of blood snap like brittle glass and something rushing towards her, but she was too focused on Ashes returning life signs to stop it.

Alex cursed and left her side. What followed was a cacophonous clash of blades, followed shortly by his grunt of pain.

And when everything seemed to balance on the edge of a knife, Ashes' life signs exploded, and Emily's powers were pushed out, as her body took over and she lost control of her blood.

Ashe's eyes fluttered open, and she let out a pain-filled wail.

All around them, the shouts and sounds of fighting fell into silence.

Emily was panting from the exertion of CPR as well as the extreme amount of effort that was needed to keep all of the human process going after death, but relief washed over her as the woman looked around in confusion.

"It worked?" she gasped.

Emily's breath hissed from her lips.

"No, it didn't. And if you ever try something like that again, I'll kill you myself," she said with grateful malice.

Seeing that she was alive, Emily got up and turned back to look at everyone. The whole place was very different from when she turned around. Before they had started the ritual, no one had wanted anything to do with this side of the chamber, but now there were crowds of baffled spectators pushing in closer. Yet they maintained their distance as though unable or unwilling to get any closer.

Turning around to look for the source of the chaos earlier, she saw Selia had broken through her blood with sheer brute strength. With one foot in the grave, she had attacked Emily with a dagger. Alex had moved to block her and had been struck in the process.

As he clutched his side, Emily moved up beside him, eyed the woman, and then turned to look at Yishmal.

"Well? She's alive. Healer, do your fucking job and make sure she stays that way." Emily said icily.

Grabbing hold of Alex by the collar, she moved both of them away from the ritual site, away from the crowd.

Emily then pulled her blood inwards and noticed a look of astonishment on Alex's face as he tried to turn back to look at Ashe.

When Selia saw her sister alive behind her, she swallowed, and the fight fled her, causing her to collapse to her knees.

"I didn't know you could… She was laying so still and I…"

Emily turned to look at the woman. It was obvious she was still suffering under the after-effects of the curse, but that meant nothing to Emily.

She stopped beside Selia and spoke with a voice almost devoid of emotion.

"I'll forgive this just once because you're her sister. But if you raise your blade against me or mine again, I won't think twice. Even if you're her sister."

Moving past her, Emily frowned at Kael, who had not taken his eyes off Ashe, but when he turned to look at her, there was a strange light in his eyes.

She could see they would talk later, and as far as she was concerned they could all just fuck off, she wasn't interested right now.

When they got to the crowd of Wandering Fangs, Emily stared straight ahead. They just parted, and she moved through them without a second glance.

Heading over to one of the further walls, she found a spot with few to no tents and let go of Alex. Moving to lean against the wall, she slid down it on her back until she was sitting. By the time she got to the ground, she sighed, and her hands were in her face.

What in the world had come over here back there? She'd been in complete control, and then Ashe had done that, and it felt like she had none.

To make matters worse, the trembling had started, and it was out of hand. None of her mental exercises were helping to calm her as she struggled not to lash out.

Looking up from her hands, Emily saw that Alex was gone. She didn't try and move from the spot. All she could do right now was keep herself still by clutching her sweaty hands together.

She closed her eyes for a few short minutes, but she opened them again when she heard the sound of fabric unfurling.

There stood Alex as he went about setting up his tent against the wall they were near. He didn't say a word as he worked, only shooting her glances now and then to make sure she was still there.

When the basics of the tent were set up inside, he moved over to her and offered a hand. Still, he didn't say anything, but his eyes seemed to understand.

She took his extended arm, and he yanked her up into a standing position.

Leading her to the tent.

When she was inside, she saw he'd brought her pack inside already and had unrolled her sleeping bag.

Emily collapsed into it, burying her face into the wooly material. Alex entered the tent, and the sound of the flap closing could be heard.

For a while, there were no words spoken, but Alex finally broke the silence. His voice was calm, but there was a serious tone to it.

"Emily, can you raise the dead?" he asked.

Emily pulled her head from the covers and looked at Alex.

"What? No, that wasn't magic. It was resuscitation-" she started but stopped when she remembered that while the technique was popular in her world, it was probably unknown here.

"It's a skill from my old world, but anyone can do it if they know what they are doing," she continued.

Alex's eyes widened, and he leaned in.

"Can you teach it to me? Even Healers can't do anything like that, with so few resources."

Emily frowned and put her elbows under herself.

"Slow down, man. The skill only works if you apply it directly after vital signs cease, and even then, it's a gamble. Also, are you serious? You guys have freaking magic here. How can there be no way to jump-start someone's heart?"

Now it was Alex's turn to frown.

"Well, there are but… most forms of resurrection are high-ranked skills. The gods can do it through their believers, and several titles can do it but they are all considered either blacklisted or impossible to attain."

Emily hummed and turned over onto her side, facing the tent wall.

"I suppose I can teach it to you, but you're going to have to come up with something to make it worth my while."

Emily heard him shifting behind her, the sound of his own sleeping bag unfurling.

"I'll think about what would be an equal exchange. People are probably going to give you a wide berth from now on, but seeing as we left so quickly, you never got to hear their words, so I'll say them for you. Good job, Emily, and thank you for your help."

Emily swallowed a lump forming in her throat and pushed it down. Blinking rapidly, she glared at the fabric wall, but she noticed as she clutched her arms to her chest that they had all but stopped trembling.

Blood points: 609

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