Part IV

.....The whirlys looked up when they heard the air shrilling with death, but they had little time to react as Macomber came tearing through the cloud cover and slammed into the ground with his knee and fist. Shockwaves from the impact rippled outwards, upending the whirlybags and flipping Jacob up and out of his would be grave, his dark shell fizzling out.  Plantigrad materialized in Macomber's hand and he spun it in quick quarter turns, sending scythe like power beams flying in every direction. The whirlybags never stood a chance. Soon the remaining whirlys were chopped up and strewn everywhere, most lying in expanding blood specked mesoil pools.
.....Macomber stood erect and held Plantigrad out in front of him parallel to the ground. It collapsed into his fist and vanished. He strode quickly over to Jacob and gently rolled him onto his back.  He didn't look good.
.....“Mog fogging bastards.” He uttered under his breath.
.....He gave Jacob a once over for major external injuries. Finding none, he leaned in close to smell his breath. It was faint but it was there. The smell was slightly alkyl, which meant his metabolism was shutting down. Death would find Jacob quickly if he did nothing. Macomber's secondary was Thetaron, so he was not without curative ability, but it was limited. The best he could hope for was to extend Jacob's life long enough to get them the fog out of there. If he got lucky he might even save his life.
.....He knelt and began the requisite incantations.  He moved his hands up and down the length of Jacob's body. He incanted the simple Mol'arv curepure mantra his mother taught him as a child. It had served him well over the years. He could feel himself extending outwards through the backdoor of Jacobs mind. His body clenched as Jacob's pain and anguish flooded his calm. He cordoned it off quickly and continued his search. He found Jacob's central nervous system and flowed into it. He was right about Jacob's metabolism. It was shutting down and soon. Kick starting it would be a fogging bitch and a half. That was a process only the DeltaPrimes would consider attempting, and even they had trouble controlling the unique complexity of each individuals metabolism. His only hope was that the shut down was a symptom of a larger problem. One that he could fix and fast, he was running out of time. He focused hard and searched Jacob comprehensively. Shooting up and down the neuro-lymph system at speeds hard to imagine. Everything checked out there. So where was it? He began searching the musculo-skeletal system for tears or bleeds that could be putting him into shock. Nothing. He searched the heart next, it seemed to be functioning but slowing. He extended himself into the vascular system and....
.....There!
.....A pin hole leak in a small brain capillary. It was almost microscopic, which was a lucky break. Any larger and Jacob certainly would have stroked out and died. With his mind still inside of Jacob's, he moved his hand over Jacob's head and issued a soft curebeam gently from his palm. His lips moving in a reinforcement of the Mol'arv using the Aganon derivative just to make sure. The capillary closed itself. He checked the metabolism. It was stabilizing. He would live.
.....As he extracted his mind from Jacob's, Jacob opened his eyes, surprising him.
.....“Mayco, am I dreaming? Are we in Sgala?”
..... He flashed him a smile. “Nah you stupid git.”
.....“I tried to...I did the...where were you and...” Jacob struggled to speak.
.....“I know what you tried to do, everyone from here to fogging Sgala with half a brain could have guessed what you were about with the Zoji deriv. Trey and I would have been here if we could've, but don't worry about that, we will talk about it more later. Now stop trying to talk and relax as best you can, we have to get out of here, we don't know how many more whirly clacks could be coming for us right now.”
.....Jacob nodded and tried to get up.
.....“Easy there Jay, I've got you.” With that he reached down and lifted Jacob up and over his shoulder.
.....He turned and knelt, placing his fist down on the ground next to his knee. He whispered the lifter incantations and felt the power swelling beneath him like a geyser. He let it build until he had enough force. It was ready. He released his hold, and it exploded instantly, launching them high into the air. He weaved a booster incant as they reached the launch peak and they vanished into the night.