"Damien is... what?" Evelyn asked, panic surging as her vision blurred with tears.
"Damien is here, Princess," a woman's voice answered from behind Cece.
They turned toward the sound to find Dr. Zora, the academy healer. She was the same Lumen who had treated Evelyn's injuries in the past. Dr. Zora stepped forward and pulled back the curtain that separated the adjacent bed from Evelyn's.
What Evelyn saw made her heart drop to her stomach.
Damien lay on the bed, unmoving. But it wasn't his stillness that shocked her; it was the fact that his entire body was encased in a jagged, red crystal, as if he had been preserved in stone.
Evelyn's breath hitched. She sat up slowly this time, her eyes glued to the crystal. Her mouth opened and closed several times, her words failing as her vision clouded again.
"What….what happened? Why is he like that?" she finally managed to choke out.
