[Veilbinder] - Chapter 23
After a re-read, the previous chapter felt a little dry, so I'm trying to loosen up my writing style a little
Please enjoy and thank you for reading!
[First]
As it turns out, sarcastically whispering "I don't know. Why don't you tell me?" under your breath because you're uncomfortable and irritated wasn't the best move in a room full of overly eager academics. This wasn't helped by many of them having hearing much sharper than a normal human. Furthermore, they had just been reassured that there was, for all intents, theoretically no danger to them from the Veil, a far cry from what would charitably be considered a decent amount of risk.
The day wasn't even half over and already Xander was exhausted both physically and mentally. He much preferred how the Imperial Academy handled the revelation about his and the crews' aetheric weirdness. By comparison, they had kept themselves incredibly restrained with their observations. Maybe it was due to some order by the king, maybe it was because they had been forewarned by the letter Atha had sent ahead, maybe it was because they didn't really understand what they were dealing with. Ultimately it didn't matter. The point was that at the end of the day no one had gone back to the ship feeling like he did now; like an overused sweat rag that had been forgotten in the musty depths of an old gym bag.
Trial after trial. Hold this. Touch that. Drink this. Stand over here and let me try this spell on you. Let's poke and prod you with mysterious magical devices. Does the Veil dissipate faster if you're tired? I don't know, why don't you repeatedly do way too many strenuous exercises and we'll find out. What was making you sick? We've got theories, let's test them all out.
It just. Wouldn't. End.
To top it all off, he could have called it off it at any time after the first few tests. He had fulfilled his part in the agreement. The Keepers had practically tested more hypotheses and potentially learned more about the Veil in the first couple of hours than probably any scholar on Tyrium because for once, the Veil could be safely and reliably contained inside him. It didn't spread and form magic nullifying barriers around him like it did everyone else. Unfortunately for him, he was stubborn. Yes he trusted them enough to be reasonably certain they wouldn't try anything truly dangerous but more importantly he didn't want this to drag on for any more days than was absolutely necessary, so he grit his teeth and soldiered on. The entire time, the healers that accompanied Devna made repeated observations to try and determine how he was able to survive without the aetheric signature that would normally indicate a healthy soul, something the scholars back at Aestrahd hadn't revealed to any of the crew.
He was sure that last topic would be deeply existential and unsettling to think about once he had recovered a bit. For now though, he was certified Veil free and off the Keeper's Isle. Devna, Leander, and Miri had escorted him back to the dorms where he insisted that he was fine and that they leave him in the common room. He was certain that they wanted to pore over their results and moreover, after the grueling morning, he didn't want to see any of their faces until tomorrow at the very least. Hell, he didn't want to see anyone right now.
Too tired to climb to his room, Xander had draped himself lengthwise on one of the common room's ottomans with his hands laced over his face. It wasn't long before conscious thoughts faded and his breathing started to slow.
---
Far away, eyes of liquid starlight observed the curious little soul that radiated the familiar resonance. It had been alarmed, then perplexed, both emotions distant enough to feel new, as it watched the little light wink out, then return, again and again, before holding steady once more.
Thoroughly intrigued, it started to move closer, treading once more on astral paths long since abandoned.
---
A light touch on the arm caused Xander to come to with an undignified snort having never noticed that he had drifted off to sleep. Miri, who had been hovering over him, flinched back. She had barely touched him. He groaned as he rubbed his face and looked around with bleary eyes.
"Ugh, who the f- oh." he mumbled in English before switching over to Vilsirin, his mouth uncomfortable and gummy, "Miri... Hey... What's going on? What time is it?"
To say he was fine would be a stretch, but the rest had certainly done him some good.
"It's only a few hours past midday." she replied, stepping back as his posture made directly sitting up difficult and forced him to awkwardly roll to one side. "How do you feel?"
"Eugh... better, I guess. Hungry as shit though." he yawned while rubbing the last of the sleep from his eyes. He was still tired and could feel a gnawing pit in his stomach as if a few days of not eating were suddenly catching up to him.
"Ah, some of us expected that to be the case. Here." she explained while holding out her hand. In it were several marble sized spheres wrapped in waxed paper.
"What's this? Some kinda special medicine?"
"It's candy." she said with a chuckle. "Spellcasting- well, manipulating aether, takes effort, especially for novices, so it's not uncommon for magic users to have some close at hand. Your body purges itself of most, or maybe all, of its aether when you come in contact with the Veil. We weren't sure if it was something your body was actively doing or if it was a result of absorbing the Veil. I guess this confirms that it is an active process even if you're not consciously doing it."
He nodded, taking the offered sweets. He unwrapped one of them to reveal a cloudy lavender colored lozenge before popping it into his mouth. It was sweet and bitter and intensely floral, like sipping perfume. It wasn't bad per se, but had the flavor been any stronger his eyes would have started watering. Once the sugar started flowing, it only took a few seconds for the hunger pangs to dull and fatigue to start leaving his limbs.
"Better?"
"A bit, yeah. Thanks, for checking up." he admitted.
"There was something else." she said, producing a small, murky, well polished quartz crystal on which several small runes were etched. "We think the less pleasant side effects of absorbing the Veil are being caused by how rapidly the aether is leaving your body, so until we can get you properly trained we would like you to take this and keep it with you for the time being. It's a basic siphon, meant to slowly draw the aether out of you and disperse it into your surroundings."
"If getting rid of aether is what's making me sick, not having any... right. Makes sense. So I just keep this in my pocket or something?" he said, taking the crystal.
"That would be fine." she nodded.
They sat in silence for a few moments as Xander examined it. He slowly rolled the crystal around in his hand, his eyes tracing its runes and facets while his teeth clicked against the half dissolved hard candy. Miri broke the silence after he pocketed the crystal.
"Would you-if you're feeling well enough that is-be willing to help us with one last experiment for the day?"
He looked up at the pensive werecrow with a cocked eyebrow. "Uh... yeah... sure? I guess it depends on what it is. If it involves any heavy lifting I'm gonna need a little more time to recover, or a lot more of these." he said while gesturing to the remaining still-wrapped candies.
Miri visibly relaxed as her expression brightened. "No, it will not involve anything of the sort. I can explain more on the way, but it will actually be a chance to help someone, sooner rather than later, while helping us confirm a few theories at the same time."
He chewed his cheek while briefly mulling over what she said. He felt like he had a pretty good idea of where this was going.
"Alright, lead the way." he relented, unwrapping another potpourri drop.
---
"We're heading back to the hospital." Xander stated. He and Miri had been walking for a few minutes now. The sugar had done wonders in silencing his hunger pangs and his limbs were no longer protesting every movement. "I'm guessing someone's been cursed or something?"
"Mmhmm." Miri hummed, "You have the right of it. We've yet to get a name. She stumbled into Hunter's Rest a few days ago, delirious, incoherent. She has several serious injures and numerous minor ones that have yet to heal."
"The Veil can do that?"
"Yes. Remember, it prevents the movement of aether into or out of the body. It's like... trying to breathe the same air over and over. She would have been healing normally at first. Probably didn't even realize she had been contaminated. But over time, her healing would have slowed until her body could only contend with small cuts or scratches. Left alone for long enough, not even those would mend properly, but that's true for anyone... except, presumably, for you and your people."
"Fuck yeah." he quipped in English, flashing a quick smirk. Miri looked over and tilted her head inquisitively, expecting an explanation. "Don't worry about it," he said, switching back to Vilsirin, "just kinda happy we've got something special too."
"Right..." she continued, clearly not understanding but also not willing to push the issue, "In any case, as you may have guessed, we wish to see if your Veil siphoning abilities works on living beings as well. Her and the guard that brought her in."
"Makes sense." Xander said, now in better spirits, "Anything else to worry about?"
"Only that the concentration of the Veil will be greater than anything we've tested thus far."
"Bring it on."
The rest of the trip passed quickly and it wasn't long before he was ushered back into the same cursebreaker's ward that he had been taken to a little over a week ago, only now the roles were reversed. Now, he was joined on the other side of the door by Miri and Devna and small group of healers along with a couple keepers that he recognized from this morning. Peeking in through the small multicolored windows soured the small morale boost Miri's earlier remark had given him.
"You didn't even clean her up?" Xander asked, his voice equal parts confusion and indignation.
"It's not like we can touch her."Devna shot back. Her voice carried a hard edge but she tamped down her irritation. She had to remind herself that this was all entirely new to her former patient.
"That's- fair... Sorry, it's just-"
"Insulting. I know. She's not going to last much longer if things progress as they are and we can't even give her the dignity of dying not covered in filth."
"... How long has she been like this?"
"To get this bad? Weeks, easily." Devna grimaced, "Are you ready?"
"I think so. Yeah." he nodded, patting the aether siphoning crystal in his hip pouch, "It sounds weird asking this, but don't have any aether in me, do I?"
One of the keepers chimed in. He recognized them from this morning. They were wearing a pair of the same aetheric lab glasses from earlier. "It looks like the siphon is working properly. It is... highly unusual... but there doesn't appear to be any aether circulating within your body."
Those that weren't there for the morning's trials gawked either at the keeper or at Xander, a couple couldn't decide who to stare at and he could see their shocked stares dart back and forth between the two of them.
"I guess I'm ready then." he nodded at Devna who let out a grunt in response.
She reached for a set of runes etched into the top and bottom of the door, opposite the hinges, and for a final one in the center of the door. Once the last rune had been deactivated the door let out a quiet but audible creak as the forces that had been holding it sealed against the frame disappeared. With once last look at the assembled academics, and a final confirmatory flick of the ear from the perpetually grumpy cervine healer, Xander opened the door and entered the ward room before the door was once again sealed behind him.
As he got close to the bed he scrunched his nose as a rancid stink assaulted him, undercut with the scent of old mud and rotting leather. It actually wouldn't have been that bad had he not known its source.
"Holy shit, lady. Something fucked you up good." he commented at the pitiful sight in front of him.
She was an anira, a wylder that had catlike traits, with the cat being a tiger in this case. Over seven feet from toe to ear and well muscled, she would have easily been intimidating had they met on the street. As she was, he could only feel sorry for her. She was unconscious with her mouth open in a grimace, her lips badly cracked as her breathing came in ragged gasps. Her ruddy blonde hair and her fur, which should have been a tiger's trademark orange a white with black stripes, had been matted down with weeks of grime and muck and was dotted with patches of red where numerous cuts and scrapes had refused to close and started to fester. The palms of her hands sported numerous cuts and the arm she held to her chest looked wrong. The hand rested at an odd angle which suggested it had been broken or dislocated. An ankle too was badly swollen and rested wrongly, having been injured and never allowed to heal as she kept putting weight on it. There were also signs of a fight, gashes through her clothes where he could see her fur peeking out, the injuries presumably having healed early on before lack of aetheric circulation had started taking its toll.
Xander shot one last glance at the door to see everyone crowded around the little view ports. He sighed as he flexed his hand, repeatedly clenching it with a nervous energy.
"Alright," he said, hovering his hand over the anira's shoulder, "let's do this. Three. Two. One."
He let his hand drop.
Those watching looked on in wonder. Normally, when viewed through an enchanted lens, the Veil resembled oil on water, spreading to and coating any living thing that came in contact with it. Now, in defiance of all they knew, some property of Xander's being was making a mockery of the equilibrium that should have been observed. It started with the anira's extremities as the Veil started to withdraw from her hands and feet, moving inward and upward towards where his hand rested on her shoulder. Once there, it behaved as they had seen earlier, being drawn into the core of his body rather than flowing over it, safely contained in a slowly expanding mass in the middle of his torso where it would eventually fritter off into nothing.
For him, the expected vertigo and nausea never came. Instead, all he felt was a slight shift in his equilibrium and a faint cold numbness in his fingertips which lasted for all of the few seconds it took for the process to complete. Around his neck, his aurite flared briefly before returning to normal.
On the bed, the anira's breathing started to calm before she jolted with a gasp. Her jade green eyes flared open and she focused directly on him before they rolled and she passed out once more.
[First]
Posted Jun 11, 2026, 10:19 AM UTC