Exton

The call came into Gareth and I maybe three hours after we left - still lots of nighttime left to us. Ky explained hurriedly what Ob was wanting to do, and as much of her concern as she could give voice to; then Gareth summoned his elvensteed, Gwydion, and I took to the skies.

An elvensteed can outrun damn near anything in the world, and in the human world - no contest. My flying speed can be affected by a lot of variables - wind, barometric pressure, etc. - but it was less than an hour later that found us back in Raina's room.

I give K'thyri a curt nod, focusing my attention on Raina and Ob. "Hi, babe. What's up?"

"Ob wants to use Allah's Light to heal my wound, and I want you to be here when he does."

"When? Then you've decided?" She nods, and I nod back gravely. "You might want to consider some things, lover, before you have this done." I look to Ob. "It's not that I don't trust you, Ob, or your magic - but Raina's been healing just fine for 700+ years, without magic. Why mess up a perfect record?"

I look to Raina. "It's your choice, babe, but think about this: I've heard stories of magical healing - and yeah, it's fast - but is it complete? Does it leave you open to more serious consequences down the road? IF what you're dealing with was life-threatening, I'd say go for it - but we both know it's not. Rowan has the infection controlled, and the rest is just a matter of letting Nature take its course."

Back to Ob. "What if her body comes to expect magical healing whenever she gets hurt, the way the immune system can be weakened by frequent use of antibiotics? Nothing against you or your magic, Ob, but I'd feel a lot better if she wasn't taking any unnecessary chances. If your magic sword was 100%, you could make all of us immortal - but there are things it works on and things it doesn't. Are we sure we know all the rules it operates by? What if we overlook something that comes back to bite her in the ass years later? We don't know what's kept Raina and Erik alive all these years. What if your magic somehow interferes with that?"