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This is one of the worst executions they have ever had to intervene in. “It’s a mass execution.” Melissa had reported to the group after she found the announcement, and Milo had winced and said “I hate those.”
Zack quickly finds that he agrees with Milo. He always struggles when they go to rescue mages from executions, but this is the worst one he has seen yet. He clamps his hands over his mouth, shock and nausea fighting for top position.
He has time to do that, because Melissa is rushing in with water swirling around her like a snake, water which she then sprays over the whole, awful display. And then she, Milo, Cavendish and Dakota turn to fighting off the mage hunters, which means it is time for Zack to perform his role of healing the injured mages.
There are a lot of them. He heals as quickly as he can, at least thankful that he has progressed enough with his magic that he can stay present while he does so. He dashes from person to person, tugged by strong urges to heal that won’t leave him alone even while he heals the current victim. Then he frees them and they run.
He is surprised to find that he is getting quite out of breath, despite not actually exerting himself much physically. He ignores that though, because the job is nowhere near done yet. The fight rages around him, but like always he focuses on healing while his friends keep the hunters off of his back. He is getting more and more tired, but he just keeps going until finally he heals the last one.
They keep fighting until the captured mages escape, then they flee. They run into they reach their planned safe spot, then they stop. And Zack can feel tugs to heal each of them, so strong he is nearly bowled over. He hurries to Melissa first, and heals her wounds quickly. Then he rushes to Dakota, but he stumbles and falls on the way there. His friends call out, asking if he is alright. He brushes them off and heals the older man, but his legs and arms are shaking quite a lot.
He staggers to Cavendish next, who is the worst off of all of them, like always. As he heals, he starts to feel very lightheaded. The shock and the fear, probably, he’ll be ok. He finishes and staggers over to Milo, taking a deep breath. Melissa suggests that he take a quick break from healing, but he shrugs her concern off because the tug to Milo is so strong, he is clearly badly injured.
Zack places his shaking hands on Milo’s arm and his wounds begin to heal. Milo is still watching him with concern. “You sure you’re alright, Zack?”
“I’m good. I’m not the one bleeding from like ten places.” He replies jokingly, although he isn’t really sure that he is good. He feels even fainter, spots are dancing in his eyes. He tries to take a deep breath, but he can’t seem to take enough air. And he is utterly exhausted, and getting more and more exhausted, his limbs are so heavy…
He needs to finish healing Milo, he needs to. But the world is getting darker and darker, and Milo’s voice is getting farther and farther away.
———
Zack opens his eyes to find that he is lying in a narrow wooden bed, looking up at the wooden planks of the ceiling. The blankets are scratchy, but comfortable. Looking around the room, he sees two other beds, and a window with the curtains drawn. Next to his bed is a chair, which Milo is sitting in.
He tries to sit up, but a wave of dizziness hits him and he slumps back. This also alerts Milo that he is awake. “Don’t try to sit up.” He says immediately, touching Zack’s shoulder gently. “You’re still suffering from magical exhaustion.”
“Wha’s that mean?” Zack mumbles. Even his mouth feels difficult to move.
“You used too much magic, basically.” Milo says.
“Oh.” Zack groans, reaching up with a heavy arm to rub his eyes. Moving his arm feels like it has stones tied to it, weighing it down. He manages, though. But he feels another wave for exhaustion and is relieved to allow it to flop back onto the bed. “I didn’t know that was possible.”
“That’s why we kept telling you to stop.” Milo says. “You aren’t used to using magic, and you were healing dozens more people than you have before. We were worried that you didn’t know your limits.”
“And apparently I didn’t.” Zack sighs. He feels like he has been submerged in a pond of mud, and his head is pounding. “Does this happen to you, or am I just an idiot?”
“You’re not an idiot.” Milo says immediately. “And it can happen to us, but not often. We know how much we can do because we’ve been using magic for so long, and we know the signs that we’re overdoing it.”
“But surely sometimes you have to? I mean, I couldn’t not heal everyone, I had to…” He groans. “I feel like I swallowed sand.”
“Oh, I have water.” Milo pours him a cup of water and helps him to drink. “And sometimes it’s unavoidable, like if you’re in a fight, but since collapsing in a fight will just make everything worse it’s better to avoid it.” Then he looks down at him. “And you definitely shouldn’t heal everyone to the point of exhaustion, quite a lot of those injuries could’ve waited.”
Zack looks up, and notices now how uncharacteristically worried Milo looks. And that, more than anything, is what makes him start to worry too. “Can you die from magical exhaustion?”
“If you exhaust yourself too much, yeah. That’s rare though! Don’t worry. You’re definitely fine, now that you’re awake.” Milo says hurriedly, obviously noticing the fear flashing across Zack’s face. “It’s just that sleeping forever is a possibility if you use way, way too much magic.”
“Oh. Great.” Zack wishes that someone could’ve given him a handy book with all of this magic information that Milo and Melissa have been taught since they can remember, that he has to catch up on now. “But I’m ok now, right?”
“Of course!” Milo exclaims, squeezing his shoulder. “You’re just need to rest for a few days. You’ll probably recover much faster than I did from my first magical exhaustion, because I was six.”
Zack nods, and looks up at the ceiling. He really does feel heavy and rather ill, his skin is clammy and the very thought of moving makes him want to fall asleep again.
Milo takes his hand. “Your hand is very warm.” He remarks.
“Your hand is cold.”
“No, you just have a fever.” Milo retorts. Well that explains the shivers. “Zack, listen. Just because you’re a healer, doesn’t mean that you need to heal everyone else at your own expense. We can handle injuries ourselves if we need to, and that’s better than you making yourself unwell to heal us. Ok?” Milo is definitely concerned, Zack can tell from his voice. He supposes that he did collapse while healing Milo, and that might’ve freaked him out a bit.
He isn’t really used to people being concerned about him. Aside from his parents, who were very worried about him. But he avoided people as he didn’t want to corrupt them, and he didn’t want to risk them finding out the truth about him. He had a small group of friends, but they were never close, and his teachers were… often the cause of the issues.
But Milo does care, a lot, and he feels bad for worrying him. “Ok, Milo.” He promises. He tries to squeeze his friend’s hand, but it is a rather weak squeeze. Milo squeezes back properly, smiling down at Zack with his usual sunlike beam. Zack feels his face heating slightly. He smiles back, and Milo leans down to give him a hug. He hugs back the best he can, even in his exhausted state.