Goodbye curse

We walk through the path back to the Kodama village. Or, to be exact, Lionel walks. I'm carried by him, and what Knox and Caspian are doing can hardly be called walking too. The two are still plagued by bad luck and often bring down one or the other branch or stone. But now we are almost in the village, and Lionel finally let me down.

"Thanks, Lionel," I say to be polite.

But no one asked him to do so. The opposite was the case.

"No problem. The team's healer should always be protected."

That statement makes my rescue sound like a tactical decision. Thanks, that's really encouraging. I don't understand this guy. Sometimes he seems so heroic, and then other times he is like... this. He is for sure a good person, but I can't help but to think that he doesn't seem as selfless and pure as described in the novel. 

"You are back! Alive?"

Dusk looked visibly surprised.

"Hello, old man, it's also nice to meet you again," I say, a little annoyed.

"Is the beast really defeated?"

"Yes! You don't have to live in fear anymore."

"Yeah," the Kodamas shout and jump happily back and forth.

"As you know, we have a little time pressure. So what is our last task?" I ask.

"You let the impossible happen and freed our village. We've recognized that your comrades are good people. And we also believe that you have no evil intentions. Therefore, no third test is necessary. We will break the curse."

"Thank you very much."

"Knox, Caspian. There is no third test needed. They will lift your curse, because we have proven ourselves."

"Finally free!" Caspian calls out, glad, holding his hands up.

"Nice," Knox says joyously.

Dusk mixes a mixture of herbs in a bowl and throws some in each of their faces. Both with some muddy mixture in their face are stunned and look surprised in my direction.

"What was that out of nowhere?" Knox says.

"Oh man, I think I got something in my mouth," Caspian says while looking disgusted.

"What was that, Dusk?" I ask the old Kodama.

"The curse is now lifted," he says dramatically.

"Was this a necessary action?" I ask, curious.

"No! It's only symbolic."

"Aria?" Caspian asks again.

"Yes. Your curse is lifted now, thanks to this definitely necessary procedure."

"Ok... finally free," he shouts and gives a high five with the similarly joyous Knox.

"Ahh." Caspian holds his hand in pain, as Knox has much more physical strength than him.

Actually a predictable outcome.

"Then let's go back to our camp." Lionel says.

"Goodbye, Kodama," I say.

"Goodbye, witch. We'll give you one piece of advice for your journey: Don't let your past control your future. The future isn't set in stone. Neither is your destiny if you really want to change it."

Without saying a word, I follow the others. It would be nice if he were right. In any case, I will try my best to change my future.

"Oh man, I'm so dead tired," says Caspian, sighing as we follow the path back to our camp.

"Who are you telling this to?" I say exhausted.

"Don't stay that far behind; we've lost a lot of time," Lionel says.

"Yes, why are you so slow? Come on, you two," Knox shouts while walking to Caspian, who is crawling a little further back with me, and hits him on his shoulder.

"Ouch, Knox," Caspian shout and holds his hurting shoulder.

"How can they be so energetic? They didn't sleep last night either and defeated a monster?" I ask Caspian, who is as exhausted as I am.

"I have really no idea; they are not quite right in their heads!"

"True words." I say as we reach the camp.

Now that we are back. Let's check if I have to use my healing powers on them.

"Come here! Let me check your injuries?"

"I won't say no to that," Caspian says and rushes to me.

"Just scratches," Knox says but still comes to me for a checkup.

"Ok, let's see. I look at his injuries. My gaze, however, falls on his arm.

"Didn't you say that you just have scratches Knox? Your arm is swollen and probably broken!" I say shocked. 

"Not worth mentioning. I didn't even notice," Knox says, a little ashamed.

"That's a serious injury. I will heal you with my power."

I put my hands on his arm, and the wound wrapped with golden light heals. The other minor injuries also begin to heal. As I stop, I have to notice that it is a bit tiring. But the more I use my healing powers, the less it bothers me. It seems to be a matter of practice. In any case, healing the injured bird back then was more strenuous than healing Knox's wounds. But it was still exhausting.

"Finished," I say, a little exhausted.

"Thank you, much better!" Knox says while swinging his arm.

Now I check Caspian's wounds.

"Caspian, you have just a few bruises. I'll apply some healing ointment so that your wounds don't become infected."

"Don't you have a little healing potion or something like that for me?" he asks.

"Sorry, but no. The wounds are not that serious; aside from that, I have to save the healing potions for more serious cases. The same goes for my powers."

I open my bag and search for the ointment. But suddenly something jumps out of my pocket. I fall backward in shock.

"What the...?"