A shrill scream cut through the air as the doors to the central room were pushed open. Four men carried in an improvised stretcher on which lay a body soaked in blood.

"Rockfall!" shouted one of the porters. "The supports have given way!"

Master Wilford was immediately on the move. "In the middle! Claire, Manwise – assist me! Valentina, you too."

The central treatment room was a perfect circle, its walls covered all over with shimmering Essence patterns. The Leb Essence was so dense here that it hung in the air like a mist.

"By all the flames of the Martyr," Claire gasped when they saw the injured man. The man was barely recognizable as human. His chest was crushed, the ends of his ribs protruding through torn flesh.

"Interesting," murmured Vyxara. "The injuries are severe, but not incurable. At least not with the enhanced Essence here."

"Status!" barked Wilford, as his hands began to weave complex patterns.

"Several shattered ribs, one has punctured the lung," Manwise reported calmly. "Internal bleeding. Skull fracture."

"Valentina, stabilize the chest," Wilford instructed her. "Claire, take care of the bleeding. Manwise, the lungs."

Valentina stepped forward and began to weave. The Essence patterns on the walls reinforced her every move, making the Leb Essence as supple and malleable as warm wax. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lorenzo watching spellbound.

"No, no, NO!" Wilford interrupted her harshly. "Don't you see the pattern of the cascade? Use it! Like this!" His hands formed a complex gesture.

Valentina suddenly understood. The Greystone Cascade was like an invisible river flowing through the room, pooling around them. She didn't have to weave her pattern against it, but with it. She adapted her movements, allowing the Essence to flow through the predetermined paths.

The effect was amazing. The broken ribs slowly began to straighten up again, splintered bones began to fuse together again.

"Better," Wilford growled. "Claire, more pressure on the artery!"

They worked as if in a trance. Manwise's deep voice murmured ancient Altothal formulas to amplify his effect, while his hands wove precise patterns. Claire's copper-red hair was sticking to her face with sweat, but her movements remained steady and controlled.

"He's losing a lot of blood!" Claire suddenly warned.

"Damn it," Wilford hissed. He pulled a vial of Distilled Essence from his robe. "Here, this will enhance the patterns. Valentina, take over the arteries from Claire. Claire, try to slow down the heart."

Stabilizing the arteries was infinitely more complicated than the ribs. The blood pulsed wildly and irregularly, the injured vessels were like a labyrinth of torn tissue. Valentina felt panic rising inside her. If she made a mistake, the man would die.

"Calm down," Vyxara's voice cut through her rising anxiety. "Think systematically. What do you see? Describe it to me."

"The arteries are-" Valentina began in thought.

"No. LOOK closely. Which Essence flows do you see?"

Valentina forced herself to breathe more calmly. The flow... Yes. There was the natural flow of Leb Essence in the man's body, disrupted but still recognizable. The Greystone cascade pulsing through the room. And...

"Good," praised Vyxara. "And now what? What's the logical first step?"

"The largest artery first," Valentina murmured. "Then the smaller vessels, from the inside out..."

The young healer Sadie came rushing in, her arms full of vials of Distilled Essence. "I've brought everything I could find!"

"Well done," growled Wilford, without looking up from his work. "Put them there. And then help the other healers with the bandages."

More healers had arrived – those without the gift of manipulating Essence, but with years of experience in wound care. They prepared bandages, mixed tinctures and assisted where they could.

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Valentina concentrated fully on her task. Step by step, just as Vyxara had told her. The Greystone Cascade made it possible to direct the Essence much more precisely than she was used to.

"Damn, the lungs are collapsing," Manwise suddenly cursed.

"Let me help!" shouted Lorenzo and jumped in without hesitation. His hands moved in perfect coordination with Manwise's patterns.

"I'll help too!" said Sadie in a trembling but determined voice and began to weave supporting patterns.

They worked for a few more precious minutes that felt like hours. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, the man's condition stabilized. His breathing was shallower than normal, but regular. The worst of the bleeding had stopped.

"That's all we can do at the moment," Wilford finally said, after he finished working on the man's head. His voice sounded tired. "The ribs will never be back to their old shape. And the lungs... well." He shook his head. "But he'll live if he survives the blood loss. Probably even be able to work again, if not underground."

He wiped the sweat from his brow and surveyed the exhausted group. "You've all done well. Especially you-" He nodded curtly at Valentina. "Your technique is unpracticed and unorthodox, but you think systematically. That is... acceptable."

This was almost effusive praise from Wilford.

The non-weaving healers took the patient to one of the recovery rooms in the inner circle, and Valentina and the other Weavers sat exhausted on the floor and against the walls.

"Thank you," she thought to Vyxara. "I would have lost my nerve without you."

"Oh please," the demon snorted in amusement. "I only asked you a few questions. You did the work all by yourself. You're better than you think, little Weaver. Just don't let yourself get rattled."

Claire stepped up to her and patted her gently on the back. "The first hard case is always the most nerve-wracking." She smiled warmly. "But you put up a good fight."

"Indeed," agreed Manwise, who was cleaning instruments with something that smelled suspiciously of herbal liqueur. "Impressive precision with the arteries. Most beginners get far too hectic."

Even the shy Sadie ventured out of her reserve. "You quickly grasped how to work with the cascade. That was really clever."

"It was indeed." Lorenzo had stepped up next to her, his green eyes shining with enthusiasm. "Especially the adjustment of the flow rate in the smaller vessels – brilliantly done. I wish I could work so delicately."

Their eyes met briefly and Valentina felt her heart skip a beat. In his gray healer's robes, with that intense gaze, he looked even more attractive than in courtly attire.

"Valentina," Vyxara said meaningfully in her head. "You'd better concentrate on your work. I think the old curmudgeon has a few more things planned for you."

In fact, Master Wilford was already impatiently gesturing for her to follow him. "When you have recovered sufficiently – I would like to clarify a few more theoretical questions with you. Lord Lorenzo, you are of course invited to accompany us."

Valentina pushed herself away from the wall and followed him. Lorenzo, who had been listening attentively to the exchange of words, joined them. Wilford's study was a vaulted room in the outer ring, full of books and instruments.

"Look here." Wilford reached for an empty glass vial and wove a very simple, ineffective pattern out of Leb. "What do you perceive?"

Valentina studied the Essence pattern. "A faint Leb Essence interaction with the glass, like we often see it when we work with Leb. Similar to what I observed with the dirty water."

"Exactly." Wilford nodded approvingly. "And now..." He pulled out a bottle of herbal liqueur, soaked a cloth in the liqueur and wiped it thoroughly over the vial. "What do you see now?"

"The interaction has disappeared!" Valentina exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh, interesting," Lorenzo murmured. "Like Valentina's water purification pattern."

"Precisely observed." Wilford leaned forward. "I have a theory. These tiny creatures we suspect are in polluted water – I think they're everywhere. On every surface, every instrument... Even on our skin."

"That's just too good," Vyxara commented with amusement. "Fascinating that he deduced that. I'd have bet that it would have taken humanity another few hundred years. But I'll be quiet, I don't want to spoil your fun."

Valentina frowned and added it to her list of things she would pester the demon with over the next few days. Vyxara just laughed in a corner of her mind.

"I noticed this by accident when I spilled some of it once. Since I instruct my healers to regularly clean all instruments and their hands with herbal liqueur, we have noticeably fewer infections," Wilford continued. "Something in this liqueur is killing these creatures."

"And you think if we adjust my water purification pattern, it could have a similar effect?" asked Valentina excitedly.

"Possibly." Wilford began to draw complex patterns in the air. "If we combine the basic structure of your pattern with the Greystone Cascade..."

They spent the next hour developing different variations of the pattern and theorizing about their possible effects. Lorenzo came up with some brilliant suggestions, which Valentina took up enthusiastically.

"That's a really strange form of foreplay," Vyxara mocked. "The way you shamelessly caress each other's intellect. And right in front of your teacher."

Wilford noticed the glances the two young people exchanged and frowned disapprovingly. "Concentrate," he warned sternly. "This is important research, not courtly banter."

They continued to work until late afternoon, but combining the patterns proved more difficult than expected. Finally, Wilford leaned back, exhausted.

"Enough for today," he grumbled. "You've learned more in the last few hours than most people do in weeks."

As they left the study, Lorenzo smiled warmly at Valentina. "That was fascinating. I hope we can do research together again soon."

"I hope so too," she said quietly.

"I'll see you later," said Lorenzo cheerfully.

"Later? What's later?" asked Valentina, confused.

"A banquet! His Grace, my father, wants to officially introduce you to the court," Lorenzo said with a laugh.

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