“Where are we going, Harry?” Asked Edwin as he followed Hadrian. The skies were beginning to tint red and orange, and he was worried that Hadrian had lost track of time.

“There is this fellow outlaw, Daniel Hollow. I might have promised him you will look at his arm,” said Hadrian sheepishly. Edwin groaned.

“Of course, you did. I will do so, but it can’t be made known to anyone. Or I will lose my job at the clinic, and we will be driven out of Myrna. He is not blacklisted here, is he?” Asked Edwin. If he was blacklisted, then this was going to be harder. Edwin could already imagine having to set straight a bone in the sewers.

“No, not here. He is an S class warrior that has a bad reputation of hunting down dragons. Even the peaceful ones. He is not blacklisted anywhere, as far as I know,” Hadrian just hoped that Daniel was not lying to him.

“Where is he staying?” Asked Edwin, relieved that he wouldn’t have to go down in the sewers.

“By the wall. At the Dead ogre inn,” said Hadrian.

“That flea ridden place?” Asked Edwin with distaste. When they have come to Myrna, that had been the closest inn and the first one they checked. It was run down and smelled of cheap booze. “His wounds are probably infected by now.”

“Hopefully, you are a false prophet now,” said Hadrian as they neared the broken sign that showed that the inn was nearby. Maybe, when the inn had been new, the sign had been an artistic marvel. But now the paint was chipped and the arms of the ogre were missing. What was more, the wound had a crude picture of a cat’s head in it.

They entered the inn and looked around. Then Hadrian waved at a man sitting in the back, and he waved back.

“Ok, this is Daniel. Come on Eddy. Your patient awaits.” Said Hadrian, and they went to the empty section of the bar.

“Why is he not wearing healer’s robes?” Came from the warrior instead of a greeting. “Harry, did you find me a charlatan?”

Hadrian raised his hands and grinned.

“A hedge healer, but…”

“Hadrian Deranges, are you deranged? I am dying here, and you bring me a hedge healer? I should have let that dragon eat you!” Snarled Daniel, finger poking at Hadrian with each sentence.

“I am a graduate of the Mirstone Healer Academy and will get my license soon,” when he finished his spying job, not because of healing. But Edwin didn’t tell Daniel that.

“Oh, wonderful. You are a dropout charlatan. Who are you going to bribe for the license?” Asked Daniel with a condescending grin.

“Dany, don’t be a little shit!” Said Hadrian with a glare. “Eddy can really help. He knows about all kinds of stuff and can heal almost anything.”

“Why almost?” Hissed the warrior, eyes narrowed. He glanced between Hadrian and Edwin.

“I am a necromancer. But for the mana infusions, I can use Harry’s mana, don’t worry. You don’t look to need more than he can give. And you are not even feverish, so that means your wound is not infected. Now, will you let me look at it or not?” Asked Edwin. He felt strange that he was so used to being called a charlatan that he didn’t even bat an eye at it anymore.

“Sure. But first you will give me the diagnostic. If it differs from that healer who wanted to cut off my arm, I will kick your ass to next Monday,” promised the warrior. Hadrian made a step forward, now angry, but Edwin placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head at him.

“Fair enough. Extend your arm and remove your cloak,” said Edwin, now in healer mode.

The warrior uncovered his arm, and Edwin’s breath hitched. Tree bark coated the man’s arm. It went all the way down to his hands. Well, this wasn’t real bark, Edwin knew. These were hardened warts.

“Did your parents also have this?” Asked Edwin. He made a step back and gestured for Hadrian also to get away.

“You didn’t touch him, did you?” He asked the vampire, worried.

“Of course not, this looks gross,” said Hadrian with a shrug.

“Thank the Gods you are squeamish. This is tree man syndrome. It is both a genetic disease and contagious. It spreads through skin-to-skin contact,” said Edwin. Hadrian made a couple of more steps away from the warrior.

“So, you really are a charlatan? I have never heard of such a thing. My parents didn’t have it either,” said Daniel as he covered his arm.

“Did you have an organ transplant recently, then? Or touch someone who had the syndrome?” Asked Edwin. This inn looked like it never got cleaned. The dead skin that fell from Daniel could have caused an outbreak already. He needed to notify the mayor and issue a quarantine.

“I had a kidney transplant. How did you know?” Asked Daniel.

“This will travel up your shoulders. It will spread on your neck and earlobes, and it will go down your torso and will appear on your legs and feet. Not even an amputation can save you,” said Edwin. He took out a cloth face mask from his bag and put it on. He then took out another one and gave it to Hadrian.

Hadrian put it on, but left his nose uncovered.

“Pull your mask up! It is bad enough that I don’t have gloves on me. We can’t even go back to the children now!” Snapped Edwin. Hadrian pulled his mask firmly around his face and looked at Edwin.

“Is there no way to help him?” Asked the vampire. Edwin was not known for giving up. Surely, he would figure something out.

“He will need to take cancer medication to stop the cell growth. Furthermore, these will have to be cut off and his skin has to be frozen for a while. But that, if done by a real charlatan, could kill him,” said Edwin. “And he can’t be allowed to spread this to Myrna.”

“You want to flay me alive, charlatan? Do you want to meet my hammer?” Daniel stood up and hefted a heavy war hammer with his healthy arm. Hadrian pulled out his daggers.

“Now, now, Dany. Keep it cool, man. If Eddy says that there is no other way, then there really is not. Does he need a new kidney?” Asked Hadrian.

“The disease has already poisoned his blood,” said Edwin. He stared at the war hammer and made a couple of steps, so he was now behind Hadrian.

“Ok, Dany, put that away. Or we will tell the mayor you are contagious, and he will send the cleaners after you. And they won’t try to heal you,” said Hadrian. In a straight fight, even with only one arm, Daniel was going to win. Hadrian knew this and so wanted to avoid the possibility altogether.

“Darn it all, that is what I get for wanting to skip the waiting lists and getting a kidney off the black market,” said Daniel, sitting back down and resting the war hammer on the wall.

“You do know that most of those organs were illegally and immorally harvested?” Said Edwin, his disapproval clear.

“Yes, yes. Preach some other time. Now get gloves or whatever and flay me, charlatan. Darn, what a mess,” Daniel nearly ran his sick hand through his hair when he stopped himself.

The last thing he needed was to see if he could survive having the skin on his head peeled off. Good thing he had restrained himself from touching his head and neck with his sick hand after the first tree bark section had appeared.