2. Ancient magic

Surprising why Stella did not take the wounded guy to the hospital? She would not afford his medical expenses, and he might die before being attended to. She was very sure she could combine her scientific knowledge of medicine with her grandmother's ancient treatment to save his life.

Grandmother Elizabeth, all the while, hadn't spoken a single word to her that she thought maybe the old lady had forgotten her. Her face had no evidence of excitement at all. Instead, she maintained a straight, expressionless face which saddened Stella.

Grandma Elizabeth gestured them to take the young man through a sliding door on the wall to the inner room, one which Stella and Morgan didn't know of its existence until then. She led them in until they found a stone platform resembling an altar in the middle of the room, where she gestured for them to place the already unconscious man.

The room itself was so strange to Stella and Morgan. As Stella scanned around, she was shocked when she had a faint recollection of some of the things, only that they were not very clear to her. She felt like she had once seen them before but she didn't give it a thought.

In any normal circumstances, Stella would have already asked her grandmother what all these were because after staying together with her for twelve years, she had never seen any of it. Deep inside she wondered whether her grandmother was a witch for her to have such things with her.

As if reading her mind, "Come on Stella, we got to save his life. I will explain everything to you later," the old lady said as she placed her walking stick at the side and sat at the corner.

"Here, take this and deal with the gunshot wounds before we can start," the old lady spoke as she passed her a small woven basket that had almost everything that Stella needed.

All this while, Morgan, who was standing beside her was in a daze watching Stella deal with the wound.

One thing, though, caught Stella's attention. With each passing second the bite mark on the young man's stomach was growing strange. It was growing large, the spaced puncture wounds were arranged in a circular pattern, with each puncture exhibiting a faint bioluminescent glow.

The edges of the bite mark were jagged, reminiscent of serrated teeth, and there was a slight acidic residue around the perimeters of the wound. It was not a normal wound that she had ever come across.

Grandmother Elizabeth, too, must have noticed it, and her face was turning paler with each passing second. There was a clear hesitation on her face as if she was contemplating something.

After a little silence, the old woman summoned Stella and Morgan to sit beside her. She had Stella remove her pendant, carry it on her palm, and keep her palm open.

Stella didn't quite understand what her pendant had anything to do with treating those alien-looking bite marks, but she was not in for any argument. After all, it was her grandmother who had given her the pendant on her fifth birthday.

As Stella and Morgan faced the unconscious body, the old woman faced the opposite side, giving them her back. She was facing an old oak tree which was just before the window, and with stern warnings, she started her magic trick.

"No matter what, don't open your eyes," the old woman warned. Stella, make sure that your palms remain wide open, otherwise we will lose him.

Since Morgan and Stella were facing the opposite side, they didn't notice Grandmother Elizabeth's eyes glowing blue. They could penetrate a person's heart.

With clear determination etched into her weathered face, Grandma Elizabeth crossed her legs and started chanting in an ancient language, one which Stella and Morgan could only understand very little. Guided by an ancient knowledge passed down through generations, she opened her palms as she continued chanting, a little louder than the first time with each passing second.

As Grandma Elizabeth continued to chant, her voice was weaving through the night like a melody. With each word, a shimmering aura enveloped her, drawing upon the latent magic of the earth making gusts of wind blow into the room.

It was almost morning when the ritual reached its climax. A soft glow emanated from Grandma Elizabeth's outstretched hands, illuminating the darkness with a warm, golden, and blue light. The golden light originated from Grandma Elizabeth's hands while the blue light was a reflection from the pendant on Stella's palm.

With a gentle touch, Grandma Elizabeth pressed her palms against the wounds on the young man's body, channeling the healing energy of the earth into him.

Grandma Elizabeth slowly and carefully took Stella's pendant and had it pressed gently at the edges of the wound, after which she instructed them to open their eyes.

Slowly but surely, the wounds had started to recede, driven back by the ancient power of Grandma Elizabeth's magic.

The two grandkids watched in awe as the wounds on Lucian's body started closing before their eyes, leaving behind only faint scars as a testament to the ordeal, they were eager to know what kind of magic that was.

As dawn broke on the horizon, the last of the wounds had already been healed, restoring the skin surface to normal as if nothing had happened to it at all. The skin had been healed, the only thing that remained was for him to wake up from the unconsciousness that he had succumbed to due to excess loss of blood and the fever. He only needed a little rest before he could wake up.

Stella and Morgan were both feeling tired, having stayed up all night, and before they could ask the young lady a question she spoke first.

"Stella, I know you both have a lot of questions to ask me, but unfortunately I don't have any more time to answer any of your questions. I would leave you a book from which you would get the answers. In the meantime, take care of yourselves. Stella, remember to always put on the pendant, never even for once should you ever remove it because the time is near. Morgan, I'm sorry that you have to take this duty at such an early age."