The chat with the elf had proven both simultaneously too long and too short for the girl in a man's body, yet didn't bother with either rushing him away, or asking him to stay. Instead, he gave a curt nod in farewell. The man, despite her initial reaction to his heritage, was proving to be a source of distraction from her more pressing matters... And as far as she was concerned, that was a good thing.

~

A small period of time had passed since her meeting with Escellar. It was a problem; finding the makeshift home of the jail when the original had been one of the first places ransacked by the horde. Yet, this time was also a time time to reflect. She knew why she had reacted the way she had when confronted with the possibility to hunt these rift beasts. 

Her recent "switch", she knew how hard feeling the magic in her had become, and how difficult it was for her to draw on any of it. Over the course of their trip back to Cykes, she had managed to return the djinn to where it had come. Yet, the initial summoning had been under an intense moment of duress. It was a scary thought, but she had no real control over [i]her[/i] magic. It was there, most of it was a part of her, but the feeling of foreignness within her own being was a mental block on her ability to cast even the most familiar of spells.

Arriving was not met with the fanfare she had expected. The "jail" was an old historical site; a fortress from before Cykes's time, ugly, and unremarkable to the point that people generally dismiss as to it being there to any extent. It was also a gathering for wounded soldiers, if the tents and nurses were anything to go by. "Hail," said one of the uninjured soldiers who had been sitting outside of the door "Eldren" had approached. "Authorized access only; Cykes is considered to be in a state of emergency, and the institutionalized are not to be disturbed." Eldren's eyes had yet to leave the injured. "...I'm here to see my uncle," he had said without thought. "I'm sorry sir, but there are to not be any ex-"
"What if I were to heal your comrades?" he had further said without thinking, "Surely there aren't many who can use magic to heal left around here, with a hunting party being formed, and many of them having been lost to the slaughter... Do you wish to see them die, otherwise?" There was a hint of something in his voice. Despite the obviously cocky tone, there was doubt. Doubt that his bluff would work, and even further if she could do what he claimed; she had never used healing magic before. "A male magic user then? I'm hesitant... skeptical, even, but willing to see if you're good for your word. Very well, healer, you have a deal." The guard turned his head over to the makeshift infirmary. "Nurse!"

~

A demonstration area had been set up. Seventeen; seventeen soldiers healed had been the price negotiated for his entrance. The first one had a broken arm, leg, and had a major case of internal bleeding that they couldn't get to. Riley felt his throat dry up and that swallowing was getting hard. To perform a miracle... that was what his offer had been. To perform something that she knew was likely impossible. But, she also had a small sense of reassurance; it was the only something that kept her going.

He approached the man's bed, and simply looked at him. Something could go wrong, and he could die, and it would be all her fault. He shook such thoughts from his mind, and touched the injured soldier. The skin was cold, much colder than it should have been for any living human. She gave her mana a little push. She could feel how different it was from her usual workings, how the possibilities were unrestricted in her current form. Yet, nothing happened still. "...I'm sorry, it seems my mag-" Then, it happened.

It was the littlest thing. The color returning to the soldier's skin, the bones in both broken limbs reforming into a natural state, breath returning to his being... A miracle had been performed, yet through her elation, she hadn't noticed a few things. A heavy fatigue, an indescribable burden on Eldren's body, and the lack of weight to his head to which she had lost consciousness.