Nora screamed, heart in her throat, as she watched Charles collapse after the lightning strike.
"Rian!"
She ran to him, tunic soaked, face pale with worry.
The ground was wet, the air thick with ozone, tiny sparks still crackling around the lone tree where Charles had fallen.
But as she reached him, something stopped her.
Charles, though bruised and blood dripping from his nose, didn't seem in agony.
In fact, he was starting to get up, a look of relief on his face that left her baffled.
'What the hell?' she thought, blinking.
She couldn't believe her eyes.
Charles rose to his knees, breathing hard, but the pain on his face faded fast.
His bandaged hands, barely mobile before, trembled less, and his skin, still scarred from burns, seemed to regain a healthier tone.
'This… this isn't normal,' Nora thought, stepping back.
It was like watching the dead come back to life.
Charles felt a warm current coursing through him.
