Relic of the Future: Chapter 25, Chapter 26

Panic gave him speed, allowing him to shoulder Emerald out the way just as Knight turned to face the new threat. His daughter hit the gravel with a gasp, and Ashari got Crocea Mors up before him with a gasp of his own. Time enough to catch Knight's blade as it swung diagonally upward.

Shards of metal flew slowly before Ashari's eyes. That, along with blood and his right arm, spiralling over and over as Knight's sword continued upward without the slightest loss in momentum.

Oh, Ashari thought dully, that's not good.

Gritting his teeth, Ashari dumped a full bandolier of grenades at Knight's feet, stooped to grab Emerald with one arm and haul her over his shoulder, then kicked back. Knight, like the last time, fled from his grenades before they could have any effect. Fortunate since he hadn't primed or pulled the pin from any of them. Bleeding terribly, Ashari pushed aura to his arm, as amused as he was terrified about the fact he still had aura left. The attack had been so swift and so powerful it hadn't even drained his aura. It had just bypassed it.

—Arc Royale: Chapter 25



For a moment, she'd been sure she would die as well – before Ashari, her summoned champion, placed himself between her and monstrous knight. Looking down at the bloodied wet cloth she was holding to his stump of an arm, she could see the cost of that. It was already healing. Somehow. Or rather, it was sealing up. Cinder had spared no time for offering him medical care, a hospital or even to cauterise the wound, but Ashari was somehow taking care of it on his own. Raw aura, she imagined.

He was quiet. How, she didn't know. If that was her arm cut off, she'd be sobbing or crying right now. His right arm too – his dominant arm. He was less a combatant than he had been before, permanently crippled, and yet he didn't once complain. His lips remained a thin line, his eyes closed almost peacefully, as he let her clean his stump and do her best to repay the sacrifice that saved her life.

[...]

Emerald tool a rag and held it under the bathroom sink, then came back to help clean the blood away, and any grime from the wound. Aura should prevent infection, but that was no excuse for being stupid. He hissed when she touched the stump and she hesitated. He nodded again, eyes clenched tight, and she gingerly went back to it. I can't imagine how much something like this would hurt, and to not even fall unconscious after. He's experiencing every bit of it.

—Arc Royale: Chapter 26