Chapter 238 - Only So Much One Can Do

When we got closer, the answer became apparent. The owl was the thing Cornellio knelt next to. One of its wing was broken and laid in an unnatural position, and its feathers were smeared with blood. Cornellio was trying to pour his blood that flowed freely from a wound on his wrist into the bird's beak, but it was too weak to swallow.

He was muttering something under his breath in Finnish in an urging tone, and had the most distressed expression on his face.

I could see the life that the vampire's blood was full of, and how some of it got into the owl after all, not letting it die here and now. I could also see the impurities in it: bits of someone's memories, personalities, auras. No wonder a vampire's blood could turn a person mad.

Without prompting, I knelt next to the owl and moved some things around. Impurities to one side, the pure life force inside of the poor animal. At my efforts, it shifted slightly and opened its eyes.

"Lumi!" Cornellio let out a soft sigh of relief and moved his hand away. The flow of blood stopped. "Just keep still, and I will bring you to a doctor…" his eyes shifted to me and JJ as if he just now noticed our presence. "You two. What did you want?"

"There's no need for hostility, Cornellio. We only wish to help," JJ said. "But you need to stand up as the master of this house before much could be done without starting more fights."

"I won't let Lumi die. I know healing magic." To add more weight to my reassurance, I smiled and didn't say just how much of the healing magic I knew, or for how long I've been studying it. "I will help her and whoever else needs medical attention."

"That's a boy, actually." Cornellio noted, then sighed. "This is so pointless when you think of it. You should take care of other wounded first. Owls only live for so long. This is my fifth Lumi. I like to think it's the same soul in different bodies, but in the end, it's just a platitude to myself."

He stood up and made an elegant bow. "Thank for your help, Diana, Jean-Jacques. You are right. I should think about my priorities. Tell me, do you know anything about the fey who intruded on us? Will he return? Might the spell break again soon?"

"Eve's with the control array now, so even if it will, she will fix it next moment… But we've seen Staghead again, too, and gave him a good slap on his wrist." I pursed my lips. "I tried to kill him, but…"

"Fey are cunning and vile creatures without an ounce of morality and the worst sense of humour imaginable. Today only confirms it. Don't feel shame for being unable to stop it—the one who should be ashamed the most is me."

After saying this, Cornellio threw one last glance at Lumi, then turned towards the rest of the hall. That alone made some pause and pay attention, and when he spoke, the rest stopped what they were doing, too.

"My guests! The immediate danger had passed, and as I was told, won't return now. I apologise for not being able to protect you from the fey's schemes. But look at yourself now? Why do you keep looking at each other like wolves? Are you going to keep playing into today's intruder's hands? If you don't want to stay and help, then leave my house and don't disrupt this day further. Those who wish to stay and help come here. There's much to do, and everyone's hands will be busy."

Cornellio spoke briskly, but with a lot of emotion that could only come from his heart. After that brief speech, he switched his attention back to us again. "Diana, please, see if anyone else needs first aid. Jean-Jacques, may I ask you to find and bring here my butler and my head of security? If they evacuated according to the plan for cases like that, they should be outside of the gates."

And like that, our work on clearing up this mess started. I healed as much as I could, as many people as I could. Vampires didn't need that, thankfully—they were either already dead, withered husks on the floor, or good enough to move around. Others, though…

Most were just a collateral damage, but I saw a few torn into deliberately. These, I couldn't help, so I turned my eyes to the still living. I channelled life from Earth into their bodies and melded flesh and bone as well as I could.

But sometimes, it just wasn't enough. Ghost told me that, but when I saw the heart of the man I was healing stopping despite all I put into healing him, it was like the ground went away from my feet.

The life was still there, in the body. I could've added more, tried to—

But Ghost also taught me when to stop. If I kept going, I would've only ended creating a ghoul, and it was… It wouldn't have made my teacher proud. Sometimes, a healer had to know when to stop.

Tears filled my eyes from sadness towards the poor man who got help too late, from the exhaustion of this long day, from anger towards Staghead, who caused all this. I wanted to sit in a corner and cry this all out… I wanted to hug JJ and cry until his shirt was soaked through with my tears. Maybe then I would feel better.

But I didn't have the luxury yet. People were moving around. Some left, but many stayed, and many still needed my skills. I wasn't the only one who could heal here, but every witch healer counted today. Human medics Cornellio called for could only do that much.

All in all… never before did the saying "the first blin always comes out as a lump" felt more appropriate for an occasion.