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Well, Mia thinks. There are certainly worse ways to go out.From her stomach, the gleaming knife buried to the hilt glints in agreement.
She's slumped against a cave wall, body too exhausted to stand. There are small rocks digging into her sides, but whenever she tries to shift her legs, they won't respond. Too much magic usage that day. Mia would laugh if she could, something cut off in a choke. She’s always warning Maya about overextending her powers, and now here she is, a walking cautionary tale.
There's blood dripping into her eye, and no matter how many times Mia attempts to blink it away, it keeps coming, tinting her vision red. Her head aches - she can barely keep her eyes open long enough to catch the glints of the light above her as she shifts. Stone walls surround her on all sides, extending into the dark, and the entrance hovers elsewhere above her. Somewhere off in the distance she can hear the drip of water, the occasional bump as whatever else lives in the cave decides to fluff it's nest.
Mia'd been cocky, overconfident. Too blinded by her own advantage and vindictive sense of justice to remember who she was going against. She may have been one of the most powerful spellcasters in the land, but Redd White was a noble said to have even the king in the palm of his hand. It'd been doomed from the start.
He'd caught her walking in town square, exchanging coins with one of the sellers in the back alley who could get the really good lizards for elixir. It was a special occasion after all: her protege had just graduated from their spell program, so he deserved the best they could buy. A gleaming blue leaf, a small lizard tail of the highest quality, one veiny crystal, almost golden if you looked at it in the right light. Mia had waved goodbye to the seller and as soon as she turned around White was there, a too wide smile and a hand held tightly to the wand at his side.
“Ah, so here’s the famous spellcaster that thinks she can take on the Blue Coven. You’re not much to look at, for sure.”
Mia had frozen in place, whirled around with her wand pointed at his face before he immobilized her with a single word, dragged her down to her knees with invisible ropes. “Maybe this'll teach you a lesson about interfering with things you don't have a part in. Don’t worry, I’ll make it stick.”
All she remembered after that was a haze of pain, the distinctive feeling of the air crackling around her as she was teleported. Knowing White’s connections, there’s no way he sent her anywhere even near civilization. Her vision is already starting to blur from the blood loss. No one is going to save her.
Mia loses time - she must, because the next thing she knows there are quiet footsteps echoing through the caves around her, the bobbing light of a weak tracking spell tracing its way to her.
The figure makes it’s way over to her, face in sharp relief from the light hovering right above her head.
“Chief?! What happened?”
Of course it’s Phoenix. Her star pupil, clumsy and snark just a few levels below her own, but with a huge heart and incredible talent. At least it wasn’t Maya who’d found her. This was going to break his heart.
“Redd White from the Blue Coven. They must have gotten word of our investigation, and decided to send a message.” She gestures bitterly to the knife in her stomach. “I didn’t want you to have to see this.”
“There must be something we can do. A Fey recovery incantation - you know how the spell works," Phoenix says desperately. His eyes flick around the cave, as if one of the patches of moss will solve the problem for him. “Can't you perform it?”
She coughs, small at first, then chest deep ones. There's not enough air in her lungs, not enough air in the cave, and each rattling breath she takes in shakes her frame.
When she can inhale properly again, she glances at Phoenix's face. Pale and drawn and when she keeps looking, she sees the light fade out of his eyes. God, he’s going to be alone to carry this. One last act of care.
“Take care of the house for me, okay? There's a lot more people you can help out there. And be there for Maya - she’ll need friends.”
He steels his expression. “No. I'm not letting this happen.” Without breaking eye contact, he pulls his bag closer to him, and briefly looks down to loot through his pouches. He pulls out a tome. Thick, bound leather, silver thread binding and embossed cover. It must be inherited, a tome of that quality - types Mia’s only seen locked in the Fey vaults from a distance.
“It says here: the spell of ultimate healing. The spellcaster must—” Phoenix’s eyes widen: he shakes his head and continues. “The spellcaster must, with the required materials, bring the focus to completion. The verbal incantation of the spell must be stated after orgasm to take effect.”
There’s a gap between them, where they both know how large this is, the way it sits between them. It’s something Mia’s daydreamed about in passing, been teased about by Maya. Something she and Diego brought up in bed once that brought her to her peak. But that was fantasy - this was reality. She can’t bring herself to possibly hurt Phoenix, even through his insistence. Even if it will save her.
“Phoenix’s that’s a spell for midwifery,” she says, attempting to dissuade him.
“Objection! It can work for all wounds near the stomach!”
Mia almost laughs, but manages to stifle it before the pain sets in. “Phoenix. This isn’t worth violating your consent - we can find another way.” Lie.
“No Mia, I—I’ve been wanting this for a long time, actually. But not like this.” Phoenix clenches his fists and takes a deep breath. “But I care about you. You’ve done so much for me - for everyone in this city. If you say you’re okay with it, I want to save you.”
She looks at him, eyes wide, wanting so hard to save her. He believes, more than anyone she's ever met. and that is enough to convince her. “I wanted this too, Phoenix.” Mia moves her hand a few inches to rest hers in his. Squeezes it gently. “You can try, as long as you don't blame yourself if it doesn't work. You're a powerful caster, but some things even magic can't fix. “
Phoenix nods his head. “But this can. I know it will.”
He scatters the components in a circle around them. Mia notices a few expensive spices in the mix and has to push down the wave of guilt. These are his stocks for his professional jobs: crippling his chances to strike out on his own.
“Phoenix, your supplies - you can’t use them all on—” He brings his lips to hers and Mia is cut off in a gasp. His mouth is warm and fits to the curve of her lips, small touches and then more, as they deepen the kiss.. She runs her tongue across his teeth in retribution, and he pulls their bodies together. She can feel him harden though his robes, a layered fabric that unfortunately still leaves enough to the imagination.
There's a heat growing in the pit of her belly, and the components around them start to glow. Mia can't help it, she jerks forward into his hands. “Keep going.”
Phoenix slips her robe off her shoulders, a simple deep purple and unties her robe in gentle motions, gently folds the belt and sets it off to the side. He lights two flames on either side of them and Mia can see his brow furrowed in concentration.
Underneath, she's wearing a silk slip, something soft and delicate that she'd bought from the market on a sale day. Something small - one nice thing that didn’t go straight into Maya’s education or into their business. It’s suddenly thin and all present in the cave - she wants it gone, wants his hands on her.
Her nipples harden underneath in the cold air and Phoenix runs a finger across them. He cups his other hand around her breast and his fingertips catch slightly on the intricate fabric. And she groans, sighs into it as he finally decides to move downward.
Phoenix still hasn’t gone underneath the slip but she can still feel every bit of sensation as he runs his hands around her curves, as the spell stalls the knife’s damage. His hand resting against her groin is pure teasing as she bucks into it, trying to get any sensation.
She can barely feel the effects of the wound, lost in the moment. Up and down, up and down. “Phoenix, Phoenix. I need. I need to—”
He understands and breaks the kiss. Mia feels the absence keenly.
Phoenix slides his hand underneath the slip, rough calluses from manual spellwork on her thigh and she shivers. He finds her slit: she's soaking and trembling at this point and all he has to do is run his fingers across lightly for her body to spasm. He rubs circles around her clit, pulling moisture from her slit. Mia toes the edge of desperation, and then he’s inside her, fingers filing her up and thumb still on her clit.
It’s a dance they do together, all the pieces of a ritual spell. Two people working together in perfect harmony. When she comes, it’s white hot pleasure - she can barely hear Phoenix finish the incantation, but he still keeps fingering her through it, thrusting in and out and bringing her to a second peak.
In the after, Phoenix slides out the knife slowly as the wound heals behind it. Her slick is still on his fingers, gleaming in the candlelight, and he gently turns the blade in his hands. He hands her her folded clothes and throws some salt in the air to cast a small cleaning spell. “Never give up, right Chief?”
Mia smiles, pride beaming out. “Just like I taught you.