"Levy!" Evie called out louder. Her face became utterly pale as her magic glowed even brighter over his wound. She poured a larger amount of magic energy into Levy, converting it into healing magic and hoped that it would help close his gaping wound faster than he was fading away.
The men were holding their breaths. Reed and Elias even looked away now, unable to watch anymore. Elias was already tearing up as he hid his face. Everyone was tense and no one was speaking. Evie herself was super focussed on what she was doing that she had long blocked out any sounds and distractions.
At that moment, Zanya had only just arrived at the scene and saw what was happening. The men immediately made way for her and as soon as the light fae assessed the situation, she spoke in hushed tones to Evie in haste. "My queen, please trap him inside a crystal. Quickly! As that would be able to keep him with us for now." She urged and Evie immediately did as Zanya said..
In the next instant, Levy was trapped inside a dark crystal that was similar to the ones all the light faes had been trapped in previously.
"Will he be alright if he's inside the crystal?" Evie asked now, her expression calm but fear and worry was brimming behind her willful eyes. "After all, he is not a light fae. There would not be any side effects on him, right?"
"You had magic placed on him before they left Crescia, right, my queen?" Zanya reminded her.
Evie nodded. She had actually forgotten about doing that totally. She indeed had put protection magic on them all.
"That protection magic you put in him was actually what's keeping him alive. Or else, with a wound like this, there is no way he is still alive…" Zanya explained, and everyone's eyes widened. Everyone then realised why Levy was still able to hang on to life even though he was so severely injured like this. Unlike Zanya who had been quite experienced in healing wounded beings, this was the first time Evie is attempting to heal a vampire. And not to mention that it is one whose wounds were beyond severe. Just one look at the wound and Zanya could tell that there was no way Levy could survive if not for the protection magic that the queen had placed on him. "If not for the magic you had put on him, he'd never survive no matter how powerful the healer is."
"You mean… he's going to survive?" Zolan asked, hopeful anticipation colouring his voice. The rest of the men looked up with eyes shining with hope as well.
Zanya looked at them and then back to Evie. "The queen had already casted more spells to help but he needs the time for the magic to do its work. If the queen did not trap him in that dark crystal, he would have died before the magic could carry out its job and heal him. So, trapping him inside the crystal is the only way to give him more time as it will stop time for him. On top of that, the dark crystal has the ability to reflect and multiply the magic which is held within it. Thus, the healing magic the queen has cast would only be more effective with him being encased within it."
"So, being trapped inside the crystal is the same as being frozen in time?" The men's voice sounded stunned.
"Yes. Everything that is trapped inside the crystal will be frozen, even one's consciousness. However, the magic that is already inside him will not be frozen. It will continue on and do its job and heal him."
With Zanya's explanation, the men including Evie finally released the breath they were holding in. They had thought there was no more hope for Levy and had tried preparing their hearts to accept the worst to happen.
"How long will he need to stay inside the crystal? Before he can be fully healed, I mean." Evie asked.
"His injury is too severe. So, based on my previous experiences, I guess he'll probably take several hours before you can let him out, my queen." Zanya replied respectfully.
Evie nodded and she let out another deep breath. She then looked at her men and seeing them all dishevelled and bloodied, it only made her heart squeeze a little with sympathy for them. It was obvious to her they had been fighting all by themselves for a long while, and non-stop from the looks of it. She could not explain how relieved she was that they were all safe now. Though a little worse for wear, but none were missing any limbs or body parts.
"Thank you for waiting for me," she said with such heartfelt emotions that the men were touched and bowed deeply to her. "I'm sorry that I'm late." Evie felt really bad that due to her tardiness, they had to be pushed to such a point. Even to the point where Levy had gotten so badly injured. She was truly thankful that her magic could preserve his life and heal him. If he was not able to be saved, she did not know how she would have taken it.
"You're not late, princess." Samuel said kindly, understanding what the princess herself had to go through to get out of the barrier the prince had put up. It must not be an easy feat for her to break that and rush here this quickly. Then a proud small smile curved slowly across his face. "It's amazing how you always arrive just right at the moment when we needed you the most. It was exactly the same when we were besieged by those savage orcs. We had thought that we were truly done for at that time as well."
Finally cracking a smile, Evie approached them one by one and started healing them by herself instead of asking the other light faes to do the task. She wanted to show them her appreciation and what better way to do it than to heal them personally by giving them the queen's personalised healing session. While healing the men, she chatted with them and caught up on the happenings of the few days that they were not together.