"Clamp his upper arm!"
"Our hands are too small and we don't have anything else to use!"
I stepped in and did as Vefir'd commanded. My hands were able to encircle the majority of Brutus's arm just below the shoulder.
"How much pressure?" I asked.
"Keep the blood from flowing but don't break bones." Vefir commanded, his eyes focused on the wound Brutus had sustained. After half a minute, he shook his head. "I was right, this isn't regular venom. It's continuing to travel without blood flow, though it has been slowed with the blood. Zaaktif, continue doing what you're doing. It's mostly magical in origin, maybe something to do with their magic? Hala!"
Vefir's train of thought was unintelligible to me, but his commands were immediately followed. Hala ran forward.
"Make a flame as bright as possible." Vefir didn't even look at the female as he made the command. She complied, making a pillar of flame nearly two feet across and as tall as I was. Instead of being focused and incendiary, the flames cast a bright light, shadows dancing across the snow as it melted underfoot. Brutus groaned as the light fell on his arm and subconsciously turned away, shading his arm. I looked at Vefir, to see his response before doing anything about it.
"Arm in the light, Brutus." Vefir said. The Alqat didn't argue, though he hissed again as soon as a part of his arm entered the fierce light cast by the flame. Even so, he turned his arm to the light and held it there, even as the muscles trembled uncontrollably under his skin.
"It's the magic." Vefir confirmed. "I want to test something. Brutus, it might hurt a lot. You still willing to let me do it?"
"Do it." He ground out. "I won't move."
"That would be for the best." Vefir replied as he laid his left hand's fingers gently on Brutus' forearm. The muscles stopped moving, and Brutus stopped the long, consistent hiss of pain. I wondered what Vefir had been so concerned about, given that everything seemed to be going well, but the healer grumbled to himself as he looked at Brutus' arm.
"I was right. Sorry, Brutus. This is going to get worse before it gets better."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"The magic that's hurting you feeds on magic. If someone gets healed before it's run its course, then the shadow will go dormant for a short time before returning with greater strength. Brutus, we need you to keep your arm in the light. I'll keep an eye on you to see how long it takes for the shadow to die down."
"Wait, if that's the case," I interrupted, "if one of the inherently magical Keel or Khatif gets bitten, will the shadow feed on their magic? Is it more deadly for magical creatures, or is it just magic that's aiming to affect the shadow?"
"That is a good question." Vefir flicked his tail as he thought for a moment before giving up. "It is also a question I don't have an answer for. We'd have to test it, and I refuse to do so at this time. To do so would be to sacrifice a life."
"Of course." I responded. As we'd spoken, Brutus's face had twisted into discomfort, and then pain. Then, shadow visibly crawled up his arm in defiance of the light that should have been dispelling it. It was slow, but his scales darkened and flickered with the light. Hala gasped, flagging, but Solia came and threw in her own flames, just as bright as Hala's. While the younger Khatif recovered, Solia made her flame smaller but just as bright, focusing it on the afflicted appendage.
After maybe five minutes, the shadow faded from Brutus's arm completely, though Vefir stated that it needed more time to be wholly healed. It was the first time I'd heard someone be told that, to be healed, he needed to spend as much time in direct sunlight as possible. As it was, the shadow was still there, just weaker. When he moved his arm, it left a streak through the air much like the shadow wyrms themselves did. I couldn't tell if it was getting better, but Vefir assured me that Brutus would be fine.
"Not much of the shadow magic was injected into him." Vefir assured me. "Even if there had been more, without my experiment, he'd be able to stave it off by himself, even without any help. I only did what I did because I could tell that he'd be fine either way and we needed knowledge somehow."
"Alright." I nodded. "Brutus, is there anything you want?"
He took a deep breath before answering. "I want to go into a deep dark hole and stay there. I'm starting to figure out that's not a good idea, though."
"Nope." Vefir chastised the much larger Hak'Tal. "In fact, I want you off guard duty tonight. Instead, spend your whole night in the nursery." When Brutus growled his disagreement at Vefir, he got a pointed finger stabbed accurately into the small wound on his hand in response. He didn't whimper or anything, but he stepped back in pure surprise as much as he did from pain. Vefir continued speaking as if he hadn't jabbed his claw into his patient's wound.
"We keep a fire going in there all night, so you'll have more light than everywhere else. Speak with Ytte as well, to ensure that the fire isn't allowed to die down to coals, because you need the light much more than the heat. In the morning, come find me. Before you go find Ashlani. Before you do anything for the Alqat. Do you understand?"
Brutus looked at me in confirmation, and I chuckled. "I won't stand between Vefir and his patient. Especially when that patient is my most loyal guard. Be good and you'll get back on duty soon."
The Alqat flared his frills and continued walking towards the city, his steps were only barely not surly stomps through the snow. I felt the increase in force he put into each step through [Tremorsense] and chuckled. Vefir looked at me as I continued pulling my wyrm's corpse.
"You mean that, don't you, Ashlani?"
"That I won't get in your way?" I clarified. As soon as Vefir flared his frills in assent, I laughed. "Of course not! You've saved my life at least once a week ever since we hatched, and I know better than most that you're very insistent with how your patients should be treated. I'll help you, and never get in the way."
"Thanks." Vefir laughed a breathy laugh.
I flared my frills, stepping into the bounds of the city with my prey. There, dozens of citizens excitedly looked at the results of our hunt, but I could see an excited Ytte in the back of the crowd, patiently waiting her turn. At that, I couldn't help but wonder what new discovery or information she had for me.