“Water.”

“Yes, Ma,” Leith replied, pouring a cupful of water into the smelly mixture his mother was churning.

He picked up another cup and filled it with alcohol, preparing the next part of the process quickly before his mother would need it. In a third cup, he poured in a tiny vial of cerulean liquid, so vibrant it was almost glowing. Then, he measured out a few spoonfuls of alcohol and added it to the cup, diluting the brilliant color into a dull blue.

Leith proceeded to dump the solution into the mixture unprompted– he already knew everything his mother needed and when she needed it. He’d been learning from her for as far back as he can remember.

His mother stopped churning the concoction manually and instead covered the pot with a lid, screwing it into place. She then pressed her thumb against a riftcore on the side of the pot, activating a mechanism that began whisking the pot’s contents.

After a few seconds, she lifted her finger from the riftcore and unscrewed the lid, revealing a blue dough-like material, something that she would later shape into pills.

She sat up taller with a sigh, tucking loose strands of her brown hair back behind her ear and stretching a little.  She then turned to Leith and asked, “Come check if this batch is good or not.”

Leith nodded and stepped up, peering into the pot. His mother would often test him, always making sure that he hadn’t forgotten anything important. He scooped a little out with the back of a spoon and sniffed it. Smells sweet, seems pretty normal. He then popped the medicine into his mouth and immediately started coughing as the horrid flavor attacked his throat.

“Why is it so spicy?” he gasped, grabbing a beaker of water.

His mother started to laugh, covering the pot and putting it down. She rummaged through a cabinet as she said, “I was wondering how you’d react after tasting that! See, we received some new ingredients last month and I added something that you haven’t seen before.”

She turned back around when she found what she was looking for and presented it to Leith.

“Is that… a tail?” Leith asked, his burning throat forgotten as he leaned in, curious. His mother held something that looked like a tail made of chitin, about as large as her forearm with a bulbous stinger attached to the end.

“Yes. This is a tail from a baby dunestalker. It’s a riftfiend commonly found in the desert and your Pa harvested some for us during his last expedition. The flesh of this creature can increase the potency of certain ingredients…” his mother trailed off, looking at Leith expectantly.

“And so it increased the potency of the snakeweed concentrate a ton, but it happens to have the side effect of making anything it touches horrifically spicy,” Leith finished, sighing. “But did you really have to make me taste that?”

“It’s good for experience,” she deadpanned, giving him a thumbs up and then shooing him away as she started rolling the dough into pills, smaller than what their usual ones looked like. The fire in his mouth aside, having this dunestalker flesh was fantastic– it would allow them to make more of one of their most important medicines. Snakeweed concentrate– the liquid in the blue vial– was an effective fever reducer. However, the amount of snakeweed needed to make effective pills was far too much, so they’ve long struggled with a shortage of the medicine. The new ingredient meant they had to use less snakeweed, so they could stock up on more to use later.

In fact, one of their current patients could make use of a more potent medicine, Leith thought as he pushed open the rickety door leading from the apothecary into their home. The poor lady was struggling from high fevers from what they thought was some sort of bacterial infection. She seemed to be getting better with antibiotics, but the fevers were unrelenting and they often had to stay up at night to cool her down with water or ice.

Leith made his way into their kitchen, finding a heating plate and a faded orange riftcore. He set the riftcore into the plate and willed it to life, a small fire now emanating from the orange crystal and into the metal plate that lay atop it. While the riftcore needed Leith’s assistance to light up, it would continue to stay lit due to some mechanism in the metal plate that he didn’t fully understand. He picked up a clay pot and lifted the lid, sniffing its contents to make sure it was still good before placing it atop the heating plate. He noted how the flame sputtered sporadically, turning on and off at random intervals. Hmm I charged it last night… we might have to buy a new one.

Leith made his way back where he came from and instead of going through the door to the apothecary, he went through another door off to the side, entering their infirmary.

Their infirmary was quaint and rather small, much like everything else in Karya. Leith’s father would often tell him stories of massive hospitals that could be found in the larger cities of Maksar, such as the Capital itself or Ilmar, with multiple floors and dozens of doctors that could treat thousands of patients at once. Here at Karya, all they had was his mother’s apothecary, his father’s infirmary, and Hani and him helping out.

He made his way through the small room, glancing at the three patients there, two of whom seemed to be asleep. The third waved at him and he waved back with a smile.

Leith opened the door at the end of the room and entered the small extension that acted as their clinic, where a diminutive boy with dark brown hair was sitting, reading a book.

“Hey Hani, how’re you holding up?” Leith asked his younger brother.

Hani glanced up for a second before going back to reading. “We only had one guy– Mr. Withers– come in with a little coughing and congestion. I gave him our cold remedy and sent him on his way. Told him to come back if he felt worse after a few days.”

“Did he pay?”

“Nope! Mr. Withers said that he’s been struggling with money recently and promised to donate next time.”

“Yeah, right,” Leith said snorting. “Anyway, why don’t you take a break? I have some of the morning’s stew heating up on the stove, you should go eat.”

“Ooh okay, sounds good! I’ll come back after eating, I can help feed the patients later,” Hani said, dashing off towards the kitchen.

Leith sat down in Hani’s place, resting his head on the countertop in front of him. He was tired– he’d been working nonstop since dawn and by now the sun must have been close to setting.

They wouldn’t have had to work so hard if money wasn’t such a glaring issue. His parents were the only medical professionals in town, and so the medicine his mother sold and the surgeries his father did had the potential to be extremely lucrative. Leith’s parents, however, refused to ask for money at all. They taught Leith and Hani that good health was a right, not a product. That everyone deserves treatment whether or not they could afford to pay. Due to this doctrine, his parents would only ever charge anyone if they felt they could afford it. If the patient claimed they couldn’t, then they could receive payment for free.

Leith admired his parents for everything they did and everything they stood for. What he didn’t appreciate was how most of their patients could most definitely afford to pay but would refuse to do so. Mr. Withers, for example, owned a rather prolific stall at the town bazaar. Leith knew firsthand how much the man made selling fruit on the weekends– the exorbitant sum he expected for a basket of mistberries was the reason Hani could never have his favorite fruit.

He was certain that patients like Withers were simply cheapskates, unwilling to part with their money even to thank someone who saved their lives. That line of thinking often made Leith feel a little guilty, but he felt he was justified in his indignation.

Given that buying a loaf of bread would often cost three coppers and replacing a heating riftcore could cost thirty, their family was struggling and all four of them were swamped with work. If not for Leith’s father and the hunting expeditions he risked his life in, they would likely be starving by now. They couldn’t even afford to send Hani to a nice school– unlike Leith, the younger boy didn’t have much of an interest in medicine at all, and while Hani would never complain, Leith knew that his brother wanted to attend school and Leith really wanted to make that possible for him.

Leith desperately wanted to attend some sort of higher institution as well. The stories his father told him about the prestigious academies of Maksar, famous enough for even foreigners to immigrate here just for study, had awakened a foolish dream within him long ago. It really was foolish– his family did not have the hundreds of gold necessary to afford a proper education.

He knew, however, that his father knew. He was aware that his father worked so hard finding work hunting in part because of Leith. He knew that his parents were saving money in the hopes of eventually sending him somewhere else to study. A proper academy in a nearby city.

He knew he should tell his parents to stop saving, that their finances were horrible enough already and that they should spend all the money they’ve saved on themselves, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Some foolish part of Leith’s mind couldn’t help but cling to his dream, even though he knew it was so far out of reach.

His thoughts were interrupted as their favorite patient strolled in, holding a massive basket filled to the brim with bread.

“Leith?” Carrie called out, her voice muffled and her round face obstructed by the wall of bread in front of her. “Help me out, would you? I can’t see shit.”

Leith strolled over and plucked the basket out of her arms, the surprising heft almost making him keel backwards. “What the hell… how much bread is in here?”

“No idea, I dunno how Papa expected a little girl like me to carry all of this bread,” Carrie said, sighing dramatically.

Leith decided not to reply to the “little girl” comment, lest she decided to clock him in the face. The girl was tall, towering over most of the men in the town, and heavily built from kneading dough since she was a child. She was a little taller than Leith and also so much stronger that it was rather embarrassing.

“You wanna come inside?” Leith asked. “We have some stew heating up, you should eat with us.”

“Nah, I’m gonna go back, Papa still needs help,” Carrie responded, walking out of the clinic with a wave.

“Tell your father I said thanks!” he shouted after her.

Noticing the setting sun, Leith dropped the bread on a table and began to close up the clinic, locking the door and bolting it shut. He proceeded to check over the patients in the back– two of whom had broken their legs from a carriage crash and the woman with a viral infection. He called Hani over to help feed them dinner– fresh bread and a bowl of stew– and to administer their medication before wishing them a good night.

Carrie’s father would often collect their leftover bread and provide it to Leith’s family, something that they needed and appreciated immensely. It was Duran’s way of showing gratitude after Leith’s father had miraculously saved Carrie’s life when she was a newborn. She had grown terribly ill with pneumonia, a disease that was exceptionally dangerous for someone so little. Carrie’s mother had died during birth, so losing Carrie would have broken Duran completely. Now, Duran thanked them by trying to keep them fed, even though he wasn’t particularly well off either.

Only God knew how much they needed it. Leith did the majority of the cooking and it was depressing to see his list of ingredients growing smaller and smaller by the day. The fortune his father and mother had brought back from the war had long dwindled, and now their only real income was his father’s role as a medic on hunting expeditions. Even now, his father was out on an expedition, hoping to earn enough coin to get them through the winter. Leith missed him, but he should be coming back soon enough.

Leith’s mother emerged through the apothecary door just as he left the infirmary. She looked exhausted, with tired eyes and a slight slouch even though she usually stood ramrod straight.

“How’re you boys doing?” she asked, sitting at the kitchen table and laying her head into her arms.

“Pretty good!” Hani chirped. “Today was easy, we barely had anyone come in.”

“Yeah, I only had two patients come in the morning and Hani had only one,” Leith affirmed.

“That’s good, you two definitely needed an easy day,” their mother said. She hesitated before asking, “Did we make any profit?”

“The first patient paid five coppers, but the two after didn’t pay anything,” Leith replied, shrugging.

“Hmm… I made about two silvers’ worth of sales today at the apothecary… not too bad, I suppose,” she murmured. “I hate to ask you two to do anything else today, but we’re running low on our antiseptic, right? Could one of you go collect some rotspern?”

“Of course, Ma,” Leith replied, heading towards the door.

“Wait, let me come too! I wanna see the dogs!” Hani exclaimed, skipping ahead of Leith.

Leith and Hani walked through the winding and cracked cobble streets of Karya, headed towards the side of the village closest to the Rift.

Rotspern was a riftplant that was infamous for its eponymous stench. Leith’s mother had tried to grow some at their house, but the malodor it released wafted into nearby homes and soon their neighbors were knocking at their doors and begging they move the plants elsewhere. Despite what the smell might have implied, rotspern was an invaluable ingredient used to make powerful antiseptics, something unimaginably important for their surgeries.

Now, their rotspern grew right outside the stone walls encircling Karya, the scent working to keep out curious riftbeasts from the town. One type of riftbeast, however, actually enjoyed the smell and would instead stay near the walls just so it could live amongst and feed on rotspern.

Soon enough, Leith and Hani arrived at the squat stone walls and hopped over them, both of them immediately falling to the ground as massive beasts leaped upon them, their maws opened wide and revealing sharp canine teeth.

Rothounds were strange creatures. These dogs were massive, towering over most humans given they stood more than six feet tall. The fangs they had for teeth alluded erroneously to a carnivorous diet– instead rothounds were strict herbivores, living off of wild vegetables with a preference for rotspern.

Hani laughed as the rothound on top of him nuzzled its nose into his chest. “Hey buddy, are you happy to see me?” The rothound growled in affirmation, laying down lazily next to Hani as he vigorously petted it.

Another rothound was laying its head on Leith’s legs, yawning and showing him exactly why they had ‘rot’ in their name, causing Leith to cough as its disgusting breath washed over him. He pulled himself away from the rothound and stood up, petting the riftbeast’s mottled black-and-red fur before kneeling down to pick up rotspern.

It didn’t take too long for Leith to collect the rotspern since they grew abundantly here, and before long he was holding a smelly bundle of spindly leaves. Hani was still playing with the rothounds, so Leith leaned against the stone wall, deciding to wait a little. The younger boy could use some time to relax.

They all needed some time to relax, Leith thought to himself. He would never complain to his parents, but he felt that the steadily increasing workload was extremely draining. Leith had basically no free time and while he had always been somewhat distant from the others his age in town, he had been growing more and more estranged from them over the past couple years.

Still, Leith supposed his life wasn’t too bad. He loved his family and they loved him, and besides he really didn’t have the right to complain when his mother and father were working so much harder than him.

Leith gazed off into the distance, enjoying watching the setting sun and ignoring the stench filling his nostrils. He knew that in the distance was the Rift, a crack in the earth that more or less led into another world. From it spawned their most potent ingredients and a range of strange beasts. It was also where his father was right now.

Expeditions to the Rift were quite common, and since Karya was so close to one of the openings to the Rift, it sometimes acted as a final stop for hunters before their adventures. A neighboring, larger town actually attracted more hunters than Karya did, but they still received some who needed to make a quick stop before entering the Rift.

Skilled medics were high in demand, so hunters would often take Leith’s father with them and would generally pay fairly well. It was their only real source of income and was the one thing that allowed them to keep themselves and their patients fed.

The problem was that the Rift was dangerous. The place was teeming with riftfiends– monsters originating from the Rift that would actively hunt humans. Leith’s father used to be a part of the Royal Hunters– a company of hunters employed by the Crown itself– so he was plenty competent. Still, Leith couldn’t help but worry about him.

Hopefully he’d be back soon, he had told Leith that the expedition would only last about two weeks, after all. The second week was already up and they were a couple days into the third, so he should be coming home any day now.

Just as Leith was about to tell Hani it's time to head back, he noticed something. What looked like a cloud of dust seemed to be moving towards them. Frowning, Leith squinted into the distance, trying to use his hands as a scope to make what he was seeing a bit clearer.

Was that… a herd of deer? A herd of deer kicking up enough dust to mimic an incoming storm?

The riftfiends are here.