The silence in Darana's home the next day was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.
The joyous news about Derek's miraculous recovery had spread like wildfire and reached her parents.
Her mother, Sara, stood by the wall, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
Her father, John, had not shouted. He simply sat down on the chair with his head in his hands, a man whose world had crumbled.
"You foolish girl," he finally said, lifting his head. The look in his eyes was not of anger but devastation.
"You've signed our death warrants with your silly kindness. Do you understand?" His voice grew harsher.
"The Night Mages will investigate this, he was already meant to die! The Channeler said so! A healer fucking declared it!"
"But he was dying, Papa!" Darana pleaded, her voice trembling. "I saved him. How can that be wrong?"
"It is wrong because it's unnatural!" Her mother whirled around, her face streaked with tears.
"The world we live in won't see a healer, it will see a monster. We taught you to stay hidden in order to survive and you've thrown it all away for a freaking boy?"
"It wasn't just for any boy! It was Derek!" Anger and rebellion flared in her chest. Her parents had lived in fear for so long they had forgotten how to be kind.
She had done a good thing. A righteous thing. She was a healer.
"You will not leave this house. You will not speak of this," her father's tone was firm and final. "You will not even look at another ailing soul. We just have to wait till this blows over."
Darana's throat closed. How can saving a life be a crime? Her tears fell in silence.
*****
The moon shone brightly that night as Darana slipped from her house. Her parents' warnings were chains she could no longer bear.
She had to see Derek, the life in his eyes, to know that her gift wasn't a curse.
Unbeknownst to her, Derek was also stirring, unable to sleep. An image of Darana's face appeared.
A fever-dream memory, the pressure of her mouth on his dick. A shocking, healing warmth that had pulled him from the brink of death.
He needed answers.
He had to see her and disregard those thoughts.
Both of their paths converge in the moonlight.
A soft, pained whimper from behind the carpenter's shop stopped her.
Curled in a ball, was the carpenter's dog, its leg bent at an unnatural angle, a deep gnash on its side, pooling blood.
This was a sign. A small, secret test. No one would know. She could heal him.
She knelt down, "Shhh, it's alright. Let me help you." She looked around then spat discreetly into her palm.
Gently, she placed the wet hand on the dog's wound.
The effect was instant. The bleeding stopped. The gnash healed. The dog yelped in surprise, then scrambled to its feet, its legs perfectly fine and bolted into the night with a happy bark.
Darana smiled, a wave of relief. It was good. She's a healer.
"By the gods…"
She froze. The voice was barely a whisper, laced with horror.
Derek stood at the corner of the shop, his face illuminated by the moonlight. Darana knew from his expression of disbelief that he had seen it all.
"Derek I can explain…" she started stepping toward him.
"Stay back!" He screamed, stumbling away from her as if she were a venomous snake.
"Don't you fucking touch me! You… you spat on it. You defiled it with your filth!" His mind was unraveling.
The stories of Conductors, of their foul bodily magic that corrupted everything it touched crashing down on him.
He laughed maniacally, pulling his hair. "Is that what you did to me? You sucked my dick in order to heal me? You defiled me?"
"I fucking saved you!" Darana cried, her fear turning into anger. "You were dying, I couldn't watch as my friend died!"
"I WOULD RATHER BE DEAD!" he roared, his voice cracking with hysteria. "I would rather be rotting in the ground than to be healed by this!"
He stared at her with so much loathing in his eyes. Darana took a step back, her hands trembling, as her heartbeat pounded in her chest.
"You're an abomination! Why did you do it? Why didn't you let me die like a clean, honest man?" He stepped closer to her.
He looked insane. Darana knew she was in danger. There was absolutely no reasoning with him.
In a burst of frantic, terrified strength, he lunged forward and grabbed her by the arms, his fingers digging into her flesh.
"We have to go to the elders! You have to be purged!"
"No! Let me go!" Darana struggled, tears welling up in her eyes.
It was then that Lily, the carpenter's daughter, drawn by the shouting peeked. Her eyes widened at the scene before her.
She watched as Derek's hand slipped smacking Darana's mouth. She saw the blood well from the split lip.
Then she saw the impossible. The bleeding stopped. The cut sealed itself shut.
A strangled scream escaped Lily. She turned around and ran, horrified by what she saw.
Derek stared at Darana's now perfect lip. The last of his sanity broke as he laughed like a mad man as he ripped his hair out.
"Monster!" he spat. He turned and ran, his voice rising in a frantic, terrified alarm.
"THE ABOMINATION HAS FINALLY APPEARED! A CONDUCTOR IS HERE! SHE'S DEFILING EVERYTHING SHE TOUCHES!"
Darana stood for a heartbeat, the taste of her own blood and her best friend's hatred in her mouth. Then, she ran.
*****
She burst through the door, slamming it shut. Her mother was clutching her younger brother, Dean, both their faces streaked with tears, having already heard the first shouts from the village.
"I'm sorry," she said, choking on her tears. "I wanted to heal, I thought I was healing."
Her father stood in the center of the room, his jaw tight. His eyes darted to her axe he had sharpened for this very purpose.
The promise he has made years ago, a clean death. He looked at his weeping wife clutching their son. Then he looked at Darana, at the terror and pain in her young eyes.
His hand twitched towards the axe handle but his heart couldn't. He could not raise it against them.
The initial plan so clear in theory, was an impossible monstrosity in practice.
"Get behind me," he commanded, his voice low and firm. "No matter what happens."
The sound that followed was the thunderous pounding of armored fists. The door splintered inward, revealing three Night mages, their crystal-tipped spears humming with deadly energy.
The head Mage scanned the room. "The Conductor. Surrender it."
"Get out of my house," her father growled, hefting the axe. He lunged in a wild swing.
The Night Mage didn't speak. He moved with chilling efficiency, blocking the axe. The crystal in the spear flared white, and a gush of wind erupted, throwing her father backwards. A wind Channeler.
John crashed against the wall and slid to the floor, his moans of pain filling Darana's ears. Blood pooled from his temple.
"PAPA!"
The mage now leveled his spear to her mother and brother. "The penalty for harbouring a Conductor is death."
The horror was absolute. She caused this. They're going to die because of her. Her eyes darted from her family to the guards.
I have to do something.
"Stop." She moved forward, placing herself between the spear and her family.
The Mages head tilted. "You have no authority, creature."
"Maybe not," she took another step, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. "But I have a bargain."
"I've heard the rumors. The King is sick. None of your Channelers can heal him, but I can."
She noticed the slightest shift in the Mage's posture. She had his attention. "My power is real. Take me to him," she gestured to the mob outside. "You even have witnesses."
"But you will swear it," she demanded, her voice steadier than she felt. "Not to harm my family."
The Mage's gaze lingered on her breasts as a slow smile curved his lips. If the King rejected her, there were other ways she'd serve before they kill her.
Her voice was calm, but she felt her legs shaking as she stared at the Mage. "Do you accept my demands?"
The Mage's smile widened, a cold, predatory.
"A bargain, is it?" he said, his voice a low purr. "Very well, Conductor. Your family is safe... for now."
"But understand this, the moment you fail to be of use to the Crown, your suffering will make you beg for the clean death your father could not give you."