Yaric gasped for air. Hiding in the darker shadows against the wall, he strained to see through the low fog and diffuse moonlight. The creatures that found him last time were still out there. He wanted to listen for them, wanted to strain through the dark for the slightest scrape, the slightest scuff that might warn him. His body wanted oxygen more.

They would find him again. That was a given.

Reaching behind himself with his left arm, Yaric felt for the gash on his lower back. It wasn’t very deep, barely through to the muscle, but it felt like a branding iron being pressed into his back. Warm blood soaked his left leg. The desperate need for air lessened enough that his need to run overwhelmed him, and he darted through the fog again.

Yaric knew he just needed to keep running. Just needed to survive a little longer.

While he had no idea why he was always punished like this, he knew he wouldn’t be kept in this place for long. The curse would eventually be forced to send him back, and he’d be healed like it had never happened. 'Why did I have to fall asleep feeding the mill? I knew I needed to focus, but I was just SO TIRED… . No one can be expected to unload all the grain, feed the mill, bag the flour, pack the flour, maintain the machinery, do all the chores and run around for my uncle – with less than 5 hours of sleep a day! I'm only fifteen! Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t also snuck out to see Sally, but…'

Making it across the field unscathed, Yaric quietly snuck into the abandoned town. He knew better than to enter a building, shuddering at the memory of being so stupid in the past. 'Who knows what's already waiting in there? And even if there was nothing, I'm not going to trap myself for them. No, I'll keep to the shadows, keep low in the thickest fog and most importantly – keep moving!'

Movement! Having already passed two side streets, Yaric was about to cross a third when something stirred to his right, barely seen through the corner of his eye. On pure reflex Yaric crouched low and inched around the corner into the side street, cautiously peaking back the way he’d come.

'There! On the roof!' Yaric thought in panic. The dark outline of one of the creatures crept along the edge of the roof, silently stalking down the road. It was short, barely over 3 feet, but had unsettlingly long arms and legs. Even from across the road the wickedly long claws were easily visible.

Yaric froze in fear. It would be too much of a gamble to try to make a run for it now. Those things could jump a ridiculous distance, and they were on the roof; with their height advantage he probably wouldn’t be able to put enough distance between them in time. Two more crept along the roof only a few meters behind the first, just as the faint sound of feet scuffing the road tugged at his ears.

'Dammit, trapped anyway!'

With no choice, Yaric shifted his crouch and braced himself to run. He’d just have to run as hard as he could and try dodge any leaps those creatures made. 'At least they can’t change direction in midair... Right?'

The closest creature paused and turned to look back at the two following it.

'NOW!' he screamed internally, pushing himself to make a break for it.

Yaric bolted from the corner of the building, straight out into the main road. Sprinting down the road he angled himself towards the middle, aiming to give himself as much room to dodge as possible. Once there he jinked hard to his left, almost immediately hearing the damn thing land to his right and slightly behind, crashing to the ground and tumbling along the paving. He was faster. He would make it.

Three paces later his right arm was jerked down and away from him, burning pain lancing up from his elbow. Yaric stifled his scream as another creature hit the ground in front of him to his right, its momentum carrying it tumbling away from him. 'Wait, that can’t be right? It came from my left?'

'Stupid stupid stupid!' Yaric wanted to face palm, but this wasn’t like getting someone’s name wrong. They were trying to kill him. He was kind of busy… 'Of course, they are on the left side of the road too!'

Yaric jinked left again, and half a dozen paces later he jinked right. Three more creatures hit the ground around him, all too far behind him to be a threat. Ignoring the burning pain from the two gashes he’d already received, his feet pounded the cobble-stoned road as he raced through the swirling fog. The moon alternated between peeking through ominous clouds and lighting up the fog, actually making it harder to see ahead, and ducking behind the dark, roiling rain clouds, dropping everything into deep shadow. But there was nothing for it, Yaric had to keep going and simply pray he didn’t run into a dead end, or even off a cliff. His curse ALWAYS ensured that the worst happened.

'Not this time! There’s the town gate!'

Digging deep, Yaric surged faster, making for the gate and the dim road ahead. Even through the fog it was clear enough to see it meander off into the distance, the path glowing faintly in the moonlight. With wide open spaces on both sides, he could easily keep ahead of these things and dodge around any to the front of him. He would be safe.

Legs burning, his heart pounding in his ears, he furiously pumped his arms and legs, finally seeing safety. The sprint was taking it out of him, but he could do it. Breathing like there was not enough air left in the world, he ignored the sweat running down his face, dripping across his eyes. Sweat was dripping off the tip of his nose, weighing down his clothes, searing his injuries. Yaric didn’t slow for a second. He always overcame the challenge. 'I'm still here, aren't I?'

The dark night and swirling mist, along with his extreme exertion, combined to create a tunnel vision as he raced forward, darting through the gate. Maybe that’s why he barely noticed the unusually large shadows behind each gate post? Maybe that’s why he never reacted to the sudden movement almost perpendicular to him? Regardless, barely two paces past the gate something slammed into his right leg, ripping into his thigh and quad while tripping him up. He’d hardly started falling, barely even registered the pain, when a second impact struck his back, pain lancing through his shoulders as they were shredded.

Tumbling to the ground, Yaric slid along the dirt path that led out of the creepy town, while both creatures were thrown free. Gasping through the pain, he rolled over and pulled himself upright into a sitting position - and instantly saw both creatures getting to their feet, just three meters away. For a full second, he locked eyes with them, staring into their abyssal orbs for what felt like an eternity. The obsidian voids glinted maliciously as they stared right back, their obscenely wide mouths smirking malevolently. Then they jumped.

Yaric screamed.

 

---

 

(Earlier that morning...)

 

Gravel crunched softly as Lloyd made his way along the path through the hills. The scent of grasses and wildflowers were carried on the early morning breeze that caressed his hair, slightly chilled as it came down from the mountains behind him.

“Nothing beats getting off campus, does it Jelly?” Lloyd smiled as he patted his horse’s neck. Jelly flicked his right ear but otherwise kept steadily plodding along the path. “Oh, don’t give me that! Do you think I don’t see how excited you get when you see me with saddle bags? Only horse I’ve ever seen behave like a toddler about to get a new toy. Crazy horse…” Jelly ignored him and continued along the path, occasionally pulling his head to the side to better enjoy the breeze along his neck. Lloyd just chuckled.

“And those egotistical morons think this is punishment! Huh! Like I would not have paid good money to get out of Lekton!” Lloyd had a big grin on his face as looked across the hilly wilderness all around him. “Instead, they’re paying me!” he laughed.

The dark-haired man prattled on, sitting astride his huge chestnut horse. He wore a simple grey peasants tunic that stood in contrast to his fine horse. Any observer would also note the large saddle bags, and while the finer clothes and armor were hidden inside, the cloth wrapped sword and staff tied firmly within reach of the rider would be obvious to any with the right background.

His dark hair was mirrored across his face, with equally dark eyebrows and a near permanent 5 o’clock shadow across his jaw, highlighted further by his lightly tanned skin. As dark as his eyes were, they were gleaming as he continued talking to his horse, not missing a single detail around him all the while.

Lloyd was fully aware how ridiculous he must look, at 5’7, riding such a large animal and having a one-sided conversation with a beast that has been known to, on occasion, get spooked by its own shadow. Especially while he was grinning like a crazy man. But there was no one there, and even if there had been, Lloyd frankly didn’t care.

Most people wrote their own story of who they are, then put up a public façade to try make people read that story the way they want it read. Unfortunately, like most stories, they are generally fiction. No individual can be fooled more than they can fool themselves. Lloyd not only refused to pretend to be anything other than himself, but he also firmly believed his story was personal. It was his story, no one else's. Besides, if someone is always focused on what others think of them, they will forget who they really are.

That was the true reason he was out here in the first place, sent by The Council to respond to the appeal from Mist Haven. No High Wizard is ever sent for anything less than war, but here he is after being sent almost all the way to the Northern border of Malvec to assist a small town that was practically a hamlet. True, it turned out it wasn’t a new band of mountain kobolds or even gnolls that were raiding the village. But being sent after a small band of army deserters, no matter how well trained, is still insulting to any High Wizard. Even his apprentice would have been a little insulted.

His grin grew larger as he thought of what he would tell Rebekka when he got back. 'Army deserters. I obviously suspected it was something more dangerous like that. I had been worried it would be too much for you. Better to go myself, just to keep you safe. Hehe! I'll just have to make sure she won’t be able to get too close to my food for a few days after…' he rehearsed to himself, laughing at the thought of her indignation.

The river came into view as the path curved around the hill. He remembered this path well. From here it would wind along the sides of hills following the river, all the way down to Clery. He might even make it in time for lunch.

Still talking to himself about all the things he would eat once they arrived, Lloyd continued riding through the morning while dreaming of the diverse ways he could dispose of his trail rations once he had real food. The sun was high overhead and the breeze, while faster, was not as cool when they finally crested the last hill and looked down over Clery.

Clery wasn't a very large town, but being situated just above the confluence point of the tributaries that formed the Taiyuan River, it was well situated for trade. Almost all trade from the Misty Mountains came down the various tributaries and finally onto the Taiyuan River, while every town and hamlet upstream got the supplies they didn’t produce themselves from Clery. It was small, but prosperous. Lloyd would definitely get some good food today.

It had been almost eighteen years since he’d last passed through Clery, but the whole town looked almost exactly as he remembered it. While mostly situated on the north bank, there were still a few buildings on the south side. More than that, the town was prosperous enough to not only have a proper stone bridge across the river, it actually had two! The eastern bridge was closer and led into town, while the western bridge gave access to the grazing land on the south side of the river.

The south side still had the town’s two smiths - Lloyd could see their brick charcoal bins from his hilltop as well as the smoke wafting up from their chimneys. The mill was still there, closer to the western end of the town, but the area was mostly dominated by a few docks and warehouses on the river; three large buildings twice the size of the average barn looming over the water.

Clery proper sat on the north side. The town square, with it's inn and store fronts, was situated opposite the east bridge. The far western side of the main road featured a single, very large livestock enclosure, close to the new bridge.

Farms lay beyond Clery, as far as one could see. Clery might be an important trading town, but it was still dominated by agriculture. The rich farmland and ample water ensured its food production would always be well above what its population would suggest.

Lloyd’s stomach rumbled...

Jelly trotted down the path and across the eastern bridge, where Lloyd directed him down the main road toward the square. He might be hungry, but even a High Wizard had to register his presence with the town officials.

Dismounting at the stables beside the inn, Lloyd led Jelly through the stable doors.

“You stayin' in a room, or just looking fer somethin fer the horse?” asked the young boy inside, just a little too loudly. He observed silently as the boy barely turned his head towards him, still intent on rubbing down the saddle he was working on. “Well? Which is it?”

Lloyd watched the kid straighten up, first wipe the sweat from his matted brow, then wipe his hands across his overalls. The scrawny kid was barely a teenager, if that.

“I’ll be staying at the inn. Just dropping off Jelly here to get him looked after.”

The boy cocked his head slightly. “Jelly, huh? Ok, well you need ta book the room first, or you will have ta pay the full charge.”

“Book a room before looking after your mount? Hmmm... Fine, you start looking after Jelly, I’ll go book the room now.”

“That aint a problem, but I won’t go no furtha than takin' off ‘is tack. Not till I hear from Old Freda. Names Phil by the way.”

“Lloyd.” Lloyd watched as Phil took the reins and led Jelly off to the side, where he started removing Jelly’s tack. Barely crouching, his dirty mop of blond hair was almost visible under Jelly. “I’ll bring yer saddle bags ta the front when I finished here. Leave 'em by the front desk.”

“Great. Take good care of Jelly.”

Lloyd made his was out of the stables and walked straight into the inn. The front was surprisingly well appointed, with a fireplace at each side, a ring of comfortable looking chairs facing both of them, and small tables between each chair.

Spotting a middle-aged woman behind the counter at the far end, Lloyd made his way over. “Hi, my name is Lloyd Chen. I’d like to book a room if you have one available?”

“Of course, plenty o’ space. Just a room or will you be wantin' meals as well?”

“Definitely meals as well!”

“That I can do,” she laughed, “many locals come by at mealtimes for nothin' but the food. And I mean it! Some don’t even order extra drink, just eat ‘n leave. Sorry sir, I still haven’t given you my own name! Always gettin' ahead of myself. You can call me Freda.”

Seeing Lloyds confused look she cocked her head with a slight frown.

“Sorry, your name was actually mentioned earlier, I just had a different expectation. Didn’t realize you were the Freda I was told about.”

“You brought a horse to the stables?” she inquired.

Seeing his nod Freda huffed, “Damn kid. He’s still callin' me The Old Crone or The Hag, isn’t he?”

“It was actually just ‘Old Freda’, but I was still expecting someone, you know, old.”

“Don’t worry about it, that kid drives everyone up the wall. He took your horse?”

“Yip, but he refused to do more than remove the tack until you gave the go ahead. Said otherwise I have to pay full rates.”

Freda marched across to a door near the fireplace on the left and flung it open. Almost before the door was open, she was yelling “Phil! The customer is bookin' a room! You sort his horse out right, you hear? And you use my proper name you brat!”

She turned back to Lloyd, ignoring the faint reply from the stables, and much more quietly inquired “Is there anythin' particular you need done for your horse sir?”

“Mostly just a good brush down, but I’ll pay extra for good grain and maybe a few carrots.”

Freda closed the door and turned back towards him, cutting off the faint yelling coming from the stables that she was still ignoring. She smiled as she walked back around the counter and to the large book sitting on it. “I’ll give him your instructions when we’re done. Now, a room, breakfast, dinner, and your horse. Is there anythin' else you will be needin' sir? We also do laundry and baths.”

“I’ll take you up on the bath, and let you know about laundry.”

“Good, that’s done then. Well, the eatin' room and kitchen are through that door on your right, once in there the door on the left leads to the baths. We’ll let you know once yours is ready though. Food is from sunup till 3 hours after, so don’t miss it. Dinner is ready from 6. Both include a drink. If you want food outside o’ then, you can arrange it with the kitchen for a small extra charge, or buy from the market. The rooms are up the stairs behind me on your right, numbers on your key. We’ll charge you if you lose it. Any questions?”

“Just one. The mayor is still in the building across the square with the hitching post outside?”

“Yes, still there. So, you’ve been here before then. Not sure if Liam will see you straight away if your visit is unexpected, but at the very least you can set up an appointment should he feel it’s worth it.”

“That won’t be a concern, just letting him know I’m here. Thanks for your help. Phil said he would be bringing my saddle bags through, please have him leave them here at the counter. I’ll be heading to the mayor first and will take them upstairs when I get back.”

Freda smiled in reply and Lloyd turned to leave. Once outside he crossed the square directly towards the building housing the mayor’s office, and straight through the front door. Just inside was a small seating area and reception desk with a flight of stairs beside it.

Lloyd took note of the room. It seemed more poorly designed than he remembered, more like an old house with some remodeling to try to turn it into office space. The inn hadn’t been here the last time he came through, but in contrast the design was far better. Even the fireplaces were situated to also warm the stables and dining room during winter. The mayor’s offices just made do.

Four people were in the cramped reception when he walked in, the receptionist sitting behind his desk, and one woman and two men conversing in front of it. Everyone went quiet and looked up as he entered. Just as the receptionist tried to stand up and greet him, one of the men in front of the desk inquired, “Can we help you?”

“Yes, my name is Lloyd, Lloyd Chen. I’m looking for the mayor, I believe your new mayor is a Mr. Liam?”

The first man exchanged a glance with the woman, while the second man fixed him with a slight glare and interrupted the first man. “I’m Liam Saqqaf, mayor for almost a decade now. If you want to speak with me though you’ll have to make an appointment, I'm busy today.”

“Sorry, it’s been over seventeen years since I last came through, so to me you are a new mayor. No offence meant. An appointment won’t be necessary though.”

“Oh? You are actually interrupting important business; I will not be discussing anything with you outside of an appointment. Do you really think you can just walk in the front door for a chat?”

“Wow, ok. I don’t get the hostility, but we have nothing to discuss. I’m just here to let you know I am in town, as I’m required to do.”

“Travelers are not required to report their whereabouts! People come and go every day! Now, since you won’t be making an appointment either, you may leave.” The mayor waved him away while turning back to his original conversation. Lloyd was a bit taken aback by the attitude; he'd seldom had conversations go so far south so quickly. The man had also been appointed mayor, so he had to have very good interpersonal skills, yet he seemed almost hostile from first sight. It was only when taking a closer look that Lloyd noticed the bags under his eyes, the slightly disheveled clothing, the constant wringing of his hands and the strained look on his face that he was failing to fully suppress.

“I don’t know if I’ve caught you on a bad day, or if you’ve somehow misunderstood the conversation,” Lloyd began as the mayor ignored him, “my full name is Lloyd Chen, a High Wizard from Lekton, and as such I am required to register my presence in your town with you, the mayor.” Liam visibly paled as Lloyd mentioned his status as a High Wizard, all conversation stopping immediately.

He turned to face Lloyd fully and hesitantly took two steps forward while putting his hand out to greet him, worry visible in his expression. He swallowed slightly as they shook hands and stammered, “Please forgive my earlier dismissal. With my daughter sick, and now being called back to my office to deal with… I'm supposed to be looking after my daughter...” Lloyd interrupted him by raising his left hand.

“Relax, I’m just letting you know I’m here, that’s all. Also looking to find out if there are unfulfilled appeals or any requests, as required. If there’s nothing you need, I’ll be out of your hair and relaxing at your fine inn for a couple of days, then I’ll be on my way. No harm, no foul.”

The tension drained from Liam’s face as he gave a weak smile. “Thank you, I’ll make note of your arrival as soon as we’re done. Still, please accept my apologies. I normally would not have acted that way to anyone... Uhhh... Will you be making use of credit chits?” he asked, hoping to change the subject.

“No, I know you’re too far out of the way to have much reason to travel to Lekton, I’m not going to make your people wait what will likely be years to be reimbursed for a couple of days boarding. Unless you really do have open appeals, you can consider me just another traveler passing through from here on out.”

“Excuse my ignorance, we get Mages here every season to boost our crops, occasionally healers too. But we’ve never had a High Wizard before. We have no open appeals, but exactly what kind of requests would you be able to tend to?”

It was Lloyds turn to be a little embarrassed as he replied, “Actually, you wouldn’t normally get a High Wizard coming through here. We’re a couple of ranks higher than the Mages you get coming through your town. High Wizards normally only serve capitols or lead Mages in major wars,” he shrugged sheepishly. Liam, however, turned an even paler shade of white. “To answer the second part of your question, I am far more combat orientated than any mage that comes through here would normally be, but I’m at a high enough level above them that I can do most of what any of them can do. What were you hoping could be done?”

Liam gestured to his friends, “Douglas and Tarah are here about our livestock pen. It’s on the west side of town and holds all of the livestock for the whole town. We’ve expanded so much to the north that there’s no full-time space left for the cattle, it’s all cultivated. The grasslands on the south side of the river are far less arable, so it’s best used for grazing. Only, it’s also less travelled wilderness, so there are too many threats for us to keep such tempting targets that side of the river.”

“It also allows the town to keep a lot more livestock,” Tarah pitched in. “Most farmers could never manage to watch over livestock and tend to their crops, even if they had the land. Building our livestock pen and putting another bridge over the river lets the farmers work together. Six of them rotate each day to watch the herd, so individually they are only away from their farms for one day every few weeks. Now everyone has livestock.”

“That sounds pretty clever, I guess, but I don’t get what you need from me?”

“It is the cattle pen itself, the pen was not built with proper drainage, and with the rains we have had the last couple of weeks it has become a bit of a quagmire. Even the shelters inside had to be pulled down when they started collapsing. Not to mention the problem we now have with mosquitoes.”

The mayor jumped back in at that point. “I’m pretty sure that’s why my daughter has got so sick, the mosquitoes have been really bad lately. If this spreads…” Liam trailed off as looked out at the town visible through the window.

Lloyd cringed slightly. “As I said, High Wizards are far more capable with magic than Mages, being Mages ourselves at one point, but carrying on much further with our studying and training. However, that particular problem is so far from my areas of expertise that I won’t be able to help nearly as much as I think you’re hoping for. I should be able to improve it a little,” he added placatingly, “but it will mostly just be drying it out and killing off any larvae currently in the pen. The best drainage I’ll likely be able to add would only improve the situation a little, not resolve it.”

Everyone’s faces fell, and Tarah tentatively spoke up. “Are you able to protect them overnight? The cattle? We could do a better job with the pen ourselves, only it will take us days and we would need the cattle out for the entire time. That is why we haven’t been able to fix our own mess.”

“Sorry, I can’t stay here that long. I’m technically not even supposed to be here. But I’ll do what I can today, and the next time Mages come through to see to your crops, grab each one of them as they arrive. It’s almost certain at least one of them will have an earth affinity, they’ll be able to sort you out easily.”

Confusion as well as disappointment was clear on all their faces. The mayor even seemed to sag a little. It was common for Unconnected to have very little understanding of magic, afterall, arcanists tended to keep to themselves, but Lloyd had expected them to know something. “Don’t worry about the technicalities, all you need to know is that having an earth affinity will mean something like what you need done will be one of that Mage’s areas of expertise. He or she will definitely be able to sort out your problem. However, I am much more adept at healing than I am with earth magics. So I should be able to sort out whatever is wrong with your daughter, Mayor.”

Liam straightened up at that and almost started rocking on his feet, clearly wanting to leave now.

“Is your daughter nearby or on the way? We could stop there first.”

“Yes! Yes, my house is the very first on your right as we leave the square. We’ll be passing it on the way to the pen!”

“Well then, let's go,” and with that, Lloyd turned and walked straight out, not pausing to look back. He was barely in the square when Liam rushed up beside him and started leading the way. They crossed the square, turned onto the main road and then immediately into the first house. Liam led Lloyd straight up a flight of stairs and down a short passageway. Tarah and Douglas elected to wait outside the front door.

“Please wait a moment, I’ll be right back.” Ducking into a room on the left, Liam closed the door behind him, and Lloyd could faintly hear a hushed voice from inside. He waited patiently for the man to talk with his daughter. Just seconds later the door practically flew open as Liam dragged Lloyd inside. “Please! Hurry! She’s far worse than when I left...”

Striding up to a bed on the far side of the room, Lloyd looked down at the young girl. She was older than he expected, but still only around fourteen or fifteen. Her dark hair was matted to her face, and while her clear green eyes seemed to look right at him, they didn’t seem properly focused. She was extremely pale, and her bedding was soaked with sweat. Most concerning of all was the violent shivering wracking her body.

Lloyd started channeling arcana before he even made it to her bedside, dropping to his knees beside her and placing a hand over her sternum. He focused on channeling the spell, rotating through one after another, only distantly aware of the girl’s father shooting off panicked questions beside him.

Lloyd frowned as he finished the last spell, finding no evidence of any virus or foreign bacteria. She had no illness. Thinking quickly, Lloyd switched to scanning her different organs, looking for signs of damage, malnutrition, anything that looked out of place. Severe liver damage, damage to her kidneys, inflammation in her heart and brain. No damage to the skin to indicate a bite or sting.

“Focus,” he snapped, “has she eaten or drunk anything she shouldn’t have? Maybe swum in the river recently?”

“What? No. What’s that got to do with anything? Heal her!”

“She’s not sick, she has some kind of toxin in her system, probably in large quantities to have done so much damage so quickly. How many times has she gotten sick? Quickly!”

Liam was very obviously confused and out of his depth as he hesitated slightly, then replied, “Maybe once every two or three years? She almost never gets sick!”

“No, I mean how many times has she thrown up! Since these symptoms started?”

“None! She hasn’t thrown up once!”

Lloyd frowned deeply as he looked out the window, lost in thought. Something was very wrong with this situation, and Liam switched from spells to detect common toxins to potent poisons. 'There! She’s ingested Harrow’s Twitch... Agghh!'

“Run, do whatever you need to do, get me hemlock, dwale root, henbane and theriac! NOW!”

Liam took off as Lloyd grabbed the glass the girl had beside her bed and tossed the contents across the room. He flooded the glass with pure arcana for a full minute just to be sure. Harrow’s Twitch wasn’t a normal toxin, it was a highly potent poison that required magic to make. Flooding that much raw arcana through the glass was sure to break down any that might have been in the glass.

Lloyd used magic to dry the glass, leaning into his air affinity to dry the glass without heat, then quickly cast another spell to fill it halfway with water. Switching back to the girl he focused on healing the existing damage. There was no way to cure her yet, but even if he could, the damage already done was severe. As anyone trained in healing knew, removing an arrowhead doesn’t do anything to save the patient. It just needs to come out so you can start healing. The arrowhead isn’t what kills people, it’s the damage it does to the victim when going in. And sometimes when coming out. This was a little different, as Harrow’s Twitch would continuously cause more damage until removed, but he could still heal faster.

Ten minutes later heavy footsteps charged up the stairs. Lloyd had only managed to reduce the swelling on the girl’s brain and heart by half, and only partially repaired her liver. Being magical in nature, the poison was actually fighting back.

An unknown man barged in, holding a small bag. He quickly tossed it to Lloyd, blurting “I had everything but the henbane, Liam ran off to get it somewhere else!” The stranger paled slightly when he saw the girl and took an involuntary step back. “Is she going to make it?”

The girl had lost consciousness. She had progressed to full body convulsions by now, and Lloyd was barely slowing the damage down. “That’s the goal. Start squeezing the dwale root into the glass, and don’t stop until the color is as dark as the table it’s on!” The stranger lunged for the bag, and fishing out the root, immediately started squeezing it over the glass.

'The girl is lucky. Her father is obviously quite intelligent. When he found out this guy did not have everything he needed, he didn’t waste time waiting for everything to be gathered before carrying on his search. He obviously instructed this guy to deliver everything once it was collected together and just ran to the next place.'

Not two minutes later more steps thundered up the stairs, and Douglas burst into the room. His face was glowing brightly as he held up two bottles and wheezed out, “I’ve got the henbane and theriac! Someone should be here with everything else any second.”

'Even smarter than I thought; he also sent others off to search at the same time. The girl might actually make it.'

More footsteps raced up the stairs as another stranger barged in, this one a woman with dark hair and striking green eyes. “Sally! Oh please, no, please, not this…” Her desperate eyes jumped to Lloyds as she grasped the girl’s hand, but Lloyd was forced to tune out her frantic pleas as he focused on fighting the magic that was still killing the girl. Fifteen seconds later Liam burst in, carrying yet another jar. Lloyd hadn’t heard him coming up the stairs so heavily was he focused on his spells. Spotting the stranger, Liam darted over with his jar while telling Douglas to leave. The room was getting crowded.

Lloyd distantly noted Liam thanking the stranger and asking him to wait outside, and the stranger replying that he needed to keep squeezing the root over the glass. He also mentioned that Douglas had found henbane already; everything he’d asked for was here. Lloyd closed his eyes and continued channeling with everything he had, even shaping some minute traces of the poison he’d detected into water.

Finally, Liam tapped his shoulder to get his attention. The water was now dark enough. “I need both of you to take some henbane and hemlock, equal amounts of both, and grind them together. Quickly!”

“How?”

“Just put them in your hands and rub them together! Go!”

Liam was white as a ghost as he grabbed some of each and joined the stranger in rubbing his hands together, while the woman, who Lloyd guessed must be the girl’s mother, trembled almost as much as her daughter. 'Sally, the girl’s name is Sally.'

Lloyd stopped channeling his spells when he saw enough time had passed for them to be ready. Reaching for the jar of theriac, he instructed both men, “Carefully add the mixture to the glass, don’t spill. We don’t need a perfect ratio or even a perfect antidote, just enough to counteract the magic.”

Both the woman and stranger started at the mention of magic being involved. Once they dropped everything into the glass, Lloyd evaporated some of the water to improve the ratio, then carefully added the theriac, watching for the reaction as he continually cast another spell. Finally, the mixture changed rapidly from a brown, undissolved mess, into a deep red, pure liquid.

Lloyds next spells were almost reflexive as several drops were raised from the glass and deposited at the corners of her eyes, up her nose, on her sternum, wrists and inside her elbows. The drops seemed to phase through her skin almost instantly, and two seconds later the convulsions slowed considerably. Lloyd cast healing spells across all her organs, noticing immediately that the resistance was almost gone.

By the time the resistance disappeared and the healing spells finished their work, the convulsions had ceased entirely. Although she was still unconscious, Sally let out a long breath and her body settled deeply into her bed.

“Let her get some rest, she’ll be fine now.” At that the woman broke down sobbing. “Just make sure to wake her in an hour or so, she needs to try to eat a good meal. The damage has been repaired, but she burnt through a lot of energy. But promise me you’ll get the food from somewhere public like the inn! We still need to find out who poisoned her.”

“You’re certain she was poisoned? Deliberately?”

“Absolutely positive. The poison that was used required an arcanist to make, someone more highly trained than the mages your town usually sees. She might not have been the target,” he added, looking at Liam meaningfully, “but for now the food and drink in this house is not safe regardless. Don’t touch anything until after I come back and look everything over.”

Lloyd started walking to the door as Liam held the sobbing woman. “I’ll give you your space today. No one gets over this kind of experience quickly. Maybe move her to the inn when you wake her, and sleep there for now? You won’t have to worry about anything in your house being tainted, and it will be safer for all of you since I’ll be there as well.”

“Where are you going?” Liam asked nervously. “What happens if she gets worse again?”

“She won’t. So long as she doesn’t get poisoned all over again, she will be perfectly fine. I promise. As for me, I’m going to go with… Tarah, was it? I’ll go with Tarah and Graham to your pen and see what I can do there.” No one corrected him on Douglas’s name. “You need some private time to process what happened and support each other, while what I need is fresh air. The sooner the cattle pen is done the better. Then I’ll finally be able to start with what I’m actually trained to do.”

“Which is?”

“Hunt!”