Lucien fell sideways against the white stone. The Imperial medic beside him caught his shoulder before his head could strike the ground hard enough to worsen the injury.
Rolling the boy carefully onto his back, the medic immediately checked his breathing. Blood was pooled around Lucien's mouth, eyes, and ears, and his Shadow-Weave Suit was soaked through in several places.
The medic tried another weak restoration pulse, nowhere near the strength he would normally use on someone this injured.
Lucien's body reacted violently. His back jerked against the stone, and the muscles in his neck seized. A faint line of mana tried to travel through one of his damaged pathways and immediately collapsed.
The medic abruptly cut the spell.
That reaction frightened the surrounding healers more than the bleeding. They knew how to stop bleeding. None of them knew what to do when healing magic itself made the damage worse.
