Now it was Aurelia who was laughing, so hard that tears were streaming down her cheeks. "You should've seen your face!"
"If it's so funny, then come up here and describe it to me!" I swung my body to the top of the branch but it was already groaning beneath my weight.
Below me, Aurelia removed the bow from over her shoulder and nocked it with an arrow. "I can help you," she said. "I'll shoot the arrow into the tree. Tie your rope to it and then you can slide down."
It was a terrible plan. But better than what I had now, which was no plan at all, so I scooted aside to make room for her arrow. She shot it, but instead of hitting the tree, it arced to the right, heading straight for me.
I ducked as it flew past me, grazing my hair. "I forgot how not help
ful you can be!"
She glared at Crispus. "He shoved me!"
Crispus only shrugged. "You're up there to learn magic, not to be rescued by a girl."
"You're right." Then I leaned down as far as I dared. "Aurelia, do that again."
"Are you insane? No!"
"A day ago, I wouldn't have had to ask you to shoot me."
"A day ago, you deserved it."
I shook my head. "Listen, I felt something when the arrow went by. If you want to help, then shoot me."
Aurelia began muttering under her breath. I couldn't hear the words, but Crispus was chuckling, so I was pretty sure it was a string of insults about me. She drew another arrow, aimed directly at me, and let it fly. The arrow whooshed past me. I heard it move through the air and even watched its spin. Every feather on the shaft was as clear as if I were studying it up close. The arrow wasn't moving any slower than usual, but I saw it that way as it flew past me. As soon as that one passed, she sent another one. This time when the arrow approached, I reached out for it. I felt it brush through my fingers, but then it was gone.
In the attempt, I lost my balance and my hold on the rope and began falling. Air rushed through my hair and I was pretty sure Aurelia and Crispus were yelling at each other to help me, though there would be nothing they could do. I crashed through some lower branches as the ground came ever closer, ripping away the remnants of the bandage on my arm. I sent out all the magic in me, with no thought in my mind except to slow my fall. But when the magic hit the tree above me, all I heard was a terrible cracking sound.
I landed hard on my back, and directly on my wounded arm, which exploded with pain. But there wasn't a moment to waste, for the tree was already beginning to tip.
"Run!" Aurelia yelled.
"Nic!" Crispus sounded panicked, but kept running. I got to my feet just in time to see the trunk of the tree and its load of tangled bricks coming directly at me.
Nic! Nic!" Aurelia was screaming my name. She and Crispus were pushing at the tree, trying to move it off me, but it was as large as a ship and they were having no luck. Then she shushed Crispus. "What is that sound? Nic, are you laughing?"
I couldn't help it. Nor could I remember a time in years when I'd laughed so hard. This entire situation was so completely ridiculous, what else was there to do? Of course I was laughing.
Finally, I squirmed around until I was in a better position, then with my back braced against the ground, I pushed up on the trunk with my legs. The bulla was doing the work, I knew that, but it was still amazing to feel the weight shift. I rotated my hips to get the thickest branches off me, and then pushed at them with my arms.
Once he saw me, Crispus twisted his body between the smaller branches until he could offer a hand to help me up.
"How did you survive that?" His eyes were wide with amazement. "You should've been crushed."
"I just stopped it." Which was all the explanation I could offer. "When the trunk fell, I grabbed hold and pushed back."
Crispus grinned. "It's exactly what we thought last night. You have the powers of the goddess Diana, her strength, her ability to communicate with animals. She can heal people." His eye traveled to my injured arm. "Nic, she can heal herself."
By now, the wound felt hotter than the bulla ever did, and I held out my arm to show him. "Does this look like I can heal myself?"
"Maybe you haven't tried." Aurelia's eyes brightened.
"I don't know how!"
"Then I'll have to treat it tonight. I'll be scrubbing that arm for hours, and hours" -- her grin turned wicked -- "and hours."
That was motivation enough. I closed my eyes and thought about the wound, the way it constantly burned and ached. For a moment, nothing happened, but I focused my thoughts even further, and connected them to the warmth of the bulla. Once I did, the feeling of magic rushed through me, wrapping itself around the entire arm like a stiff wool blanket.