Philo Amarus's Arc

Chapter 12 of 12

Eris slept for a moment against the warm stones of the hearth. Philo watched the gem at her throat pulse a slow, even red. The drain had stopped, but the flame had not fixed her hand, and it would not last forever away from the fire. He needed the healer before the cold came back. He stepped outside the temple and looked up the slope. The path forked past a stand of pines. He did not know which arm led to the spring. Celestia Starwing stood at the bottom of the steps, ears turned toward the trees. "I can carry you to the fork," she said. "Past that, I do not go. The healer hides her door from anyone with wings." Philo lifted Eris again and climbed onto the unicorn's back. She ran through the pines and set them down at a weathered wooden post. Two carved arms pointed opposite ways. One read HEALER'S HOME. The other read LAKE OF LOVE. Celestia bowed her horn and turned back down the path. Philo took the healer's arm and walked with Eris leaning on his shoulder. The trail ended at a clearing Philo did not expect. A tall stone temple stood among the trees, its pillars carved with small crosses, its steps swept clean. It looked like a house for a god, not a healer. He hesitated at the base of the steps. Then a pink pegasus stepped out from behind the columns, purple mane loose over her shoulder. She looked at Eris, then at the gem, then at Philo. "Thessalia is inside," she said. "She has been waiting since the fire on the hearth flared. Bring her up. Do not let go of the stone." Philo climbed the steps with his hand pressed flat over the pendant. Inside, the air was warm and smelled of crushed herbs. A woman rose from a low bench by a basin of steaming water. She did not ask their names. She took Eris's stiff hand in both of hers and turned it toward the light, then looked at the gem at her throat. "The swan gave her its heart," she said. "You kept it warm. Good." She guided Eris to the bench and set her palm over the pendant. Eris's fingers uncurled one by one. "I can take the cold from her hand tonight," Thessalia said. "The gem is another matter. It belongs to the swan, and the swan is still chained." She looked at Philo. "You will have to go back down and finish what you started." Eris met his eyes and, for the first time all day, laughed once, quiet and tired. Philo laughed too. He had not planned to. He nodded, and sat down beside her to wait out the night.