Haemish inclined his head in response and then elaborated with words. “Truthfully, I believe your conclusion is correct. However, I wished to confirm it with further experimentation before telling you about it. As of now, I believe that to be the case.” Boren nodded distractedly, staring at Aarav in the bucket as if seeing him in a new light.

“Did Aarav know? If he did, why didn’t he just tell me?” Boren whispered, a shadow of a tear forming in his eye. “Didn’t he trust me?”

“No, Boren, I do not believe it had anything to do with trust, and just as I kept it from you until I had done more tests, I too believe he wished to be certain before sharing it with you. I also believe that we have a slightly more urgent matter to which we must attend.” Haemish said, placing a comforting hand on the depressed boy. It seemed to mollify him temporarily; it would have to do. Only Aarav could curb the boys' doubts and curiosities.

“Haemish, if that is possible, then it could mean….” Haemish simply nodded to Marasa’s words and the inevitable conclusion she had come to. “The applications! Can the skill be used outside his body? Can the separated parts of him use the skill? I hate to say this, but if this sort of thing is possible, he might not be treated well. Especially if some of the military minds catch the wind.” While it was generally accepted that Darf was a peaceful country, it was balanced on the sharp edge of a knife, with four large and powerful countries on all sides. It was only a matter of time before the tenuous peace broke. Or at least that was the impression that the military heads had of the situation.

“All the more important, no one finds out about this outside of this room! Apart from the Queen and the King, of course. His life will not be the same if this is publicised, and we will lose the advantage this skill could give him and us.” Haemish warned, looking between his co-conspirators.

Boren nodded, but Marasa replied. “We will not have any secrets to keep if we can’t identify what is causing his deterioration and how to fix it or reverse it. Any ideas?”

“At the moment, I honestly do not know enough about Aarav’s abilities to comprehend what could be happening. The only thing I can think of is sitting and waiting and watching. Perhaps monitoring how quickly the fluid is lost will allude to the remaining time until there is nothing of him left. I have no more of the Slime else I might have added.” Haemish concluded in resignation. His shoulders slumped slightly, and he sighed.

“Very well, let’s wait and monitor,” Marasa said, echoing his sentiments. Boren nodded, stunned into silence that some of the most knowledgeable people he knew could do nothing.

Eight hours passed; Marian had long since gone home once she finished the clean up with Marasa and Haemish’s help. No one would let Boren help given the circumstances, giving him the critical job of keeping an eye on Aarav’s dwindling stock. It was the best job for him, he couldn’t focus on anything else with Aarav in the room, and he refused to go to bed without knowing his friend's condition. Haemish had to admire his dedication to someone he had only met a few short days ago and really got to know only yesterday. Hopefully, this turns out better than we expect.

Haemish couldn’t bear the idea of Boren’s heart being broken by losing Aarav, but that was another of life's norms. Where there was life, death also lingered, and no one could block him from that fact, and it just didn’t need to be so visceral. This time spent with Boren would allow him to contemplate these questions.

“Master Haemish!” Boren called, “I can see it is reducing steadily, look!” Haemish came over from where he sat, whispering to Marasa. It had been another hour, and they had been marking the bucket diligently since first starting the process.

Boren stepped back from making the final eighth mark since they entered the lab. On the inside of the bucket now stood eight identically spaced indicators. With the bucket’s sides being straight, it was a clear indicator that the reduction rate was steady.

“Okay, now that we are sure that the speed is steady, we should be able to work out how much time we have left. If my calculations are correct, then it gives us roughly….a little under two days from now.” Haemish relaxed a little. “Okay, that gives us a little time to understand and hopefully come up with a solution to the problem.”

“Two days? It isn’t a lot of time, but at least we have a goal to aim for. Do you have any idea of how to start this?” Maras asked.

Both Boren and Haemish shook their heads and simultaneously said, “Not a clue.”

Another eight hours passed, and Boren was sleeping on one of the beds in the clinic now. The boy had been ready to collapse on his feet from exhaustion. He had not advanced past the threshold required to get away with reduced sleeping hours like Marasa and Haemish. Nothing of consequence had occurred, and they wondered if there really was anything they could do for the Slime.

Over the last few hours, they had tried checking his status with their various skills, including Haemish’s newly acquired language, English, as Aarav called it. Marasa had tried healing spells, Mana, Stamina and Health restoration potions and abilities, even some of the brews that Boren had concocted. However, they used those sparingly, not fully understanding the adverse effects those might have. Nothing seemed to work.

Now looking down at the swirling mix of liquids, pastes and bits of herbs floating above the Slime, it was a testament to their resolve to bring the creature inside back from the brink. Even the mist formed from Marasa’s spells hovered over it all in the bucket, and nothing was sticking.

Haemish finally looked up at Marasa. “Is there a place we can keep him safe? I think we need to sleep on this. I am out of ideas now, but I am not yet ready to give up. There must be something we are missing. I pray to Phionix that he will be fine, but I can’t trust that. I suspect he overloaded his system, and if there is a way we can reverse that, he will likely come back.” Haemish slumped a little in his chair from the emotional exhaustion of the past day. This incorrigible Slime certainly knows how to make a man sweat! Some rest would do Haemish good. Then he could return to the problem with a fresh mind.

“Not to worry, I will keep him in the room I keep for myself when I need to stay overnight. It is almost time to start the clinic up again. Goodness, I didn’t even realise we were here all night. We should get Boren up to bed as well, and he will need to sleep comfortably if things don’t go well in the next few hours.” A kernel of hopelessness crept into her voice as she said the last words, and Haemish couldn’t help but feel a little of that worm its way into him. They really had tried everything they could think of, and nothing had worked.

“I will take him to bed, and they head to sleep myself. You can keep what is left of Aarav here and make sure you sleep a little as well. We will meet back here in a few hours and see if we can come up with anything else. Sorry for keeping you up all night.” Haemish smiled. “It was nice to talk to you, though, even considering the circumstances.

Marasa returned his smile with one of her own, albeit a tired one. She did not say anything else but picked up Aarav’s bucket and started the process of opening up the clinic. “Goodnight, Haemish, or rather, good day, I suppose it is now.”

Haemish, after nodding in acknowledgement, left the clinic with Boren in his arms. The boy had not roused at all when Haemish carefully collected him. “Must have been exhausted.” He muttered as he traversed the corridors to Boren’s rooms. Laying him in his bed, he swiftly made his way to his rooms, and not ten minutes after leaving the clinic, he was fast asleep.