Chapter 17
Stupid Blade
Alissa had always thought of ending someone else’s life as inconceivable.
She couldn’t grasp how anyone could find themselves prepared to cease another’s existence.
The level of selfishness, apathy, and cruelty it took to take from another the one thing everyone had of most value—their lives—was unimaginable to her.
Having to kill animals to survive already took a toll on her, and she knew part of her was forever changed the day she took her first life.
Considering that, Alissa had always believed she was incapable of doing the same to a human being.
Someone who could be to another what she was to Dhalia or to her father.
Her eyes used to fill with tears at the simple contemplation of such a scenario.
Of course, she would have never expected that taking those men’s lives would be so easy in reality.
From the moment she left the wheat field and the blood-stained battleground behind, she had been replaying it all in her head.
The sound of her dagger piercing the soft neck of the first man, the way the blood seemed to boil out of where the blade was buried.
His eyes were wide, frozen in a lifeless gaze.
Alissa contemplated the fragility of life, how in that one second, she took everything that man had.
The memories of an entire life were forever gone, the dreams he might have had that would never come true.
The scars he carried in his body were now completely unimportant, as what was left of him rotted under the hot sun of Heldraine.
Death was a tragedy; it robbed people of everything they held dear. Yet it was precisely its inevitability that gave their lives meaning.
When the realization of what she had done hit, Alissa felt the guilt, once disguised by adrenaline, rush in. She felt for their mothers, who held those men, full of innocence, as babies in their arms and looked into their eyes with overwhelming love.
An invisible pain stabbed her chest with the thought of that happening to her baby and how that could be her reality in a few months if she didn’t succeed in her mission.
She had killed people, and now she saw how true the commitment she had made to herself that night was.
By committing to fight anyone to save those she loved, she gained the confidence she needed to save Dhalia, as she had saved Freyah.
The reason why those men had attacked Freyah so unexpectedly was still a mystery to them, unlike the weakness, sweat, and dizziness that became more obvious to her with every passing minute.
She believed her sickness was a response to the traumatizing events of earlier that day, but her burning forehead proved the cause was physical, not emotional.
Freyah glanced at Alissa; she looked paler than usual. “Are you okay, Lissa?”
“Yes, I just feel… weak,” she whispered, realizing how hard it was to swallow. Her muscles spasmed next.
Eldric immediately stopped the carriage to examine her. “Kriegen, were you injured?”
His eyes were wide, frantically scanning her body for any signs of harm. An impossible task when she was all covered in other people’s blood.
Was she hallucinating, or was the look on his face one of concern?
Her eyes began to roll back, giving in before she could answer Eldric’s question. He grabbed her shoulder and shook her in an attempt to keep her conscious.
“Alissa!”
Did he just call me by my first name?
“Alissa, can you hear me?”
“Yes… I… My leg,” was all she could murmur before blacking out.
Eldric unbuttoned her trousers in a rush and undressed her to the knee. He didn’t give a second thought to what he was doing; his eyes instantly traveled to her right thigh, where he found the deep cut inflicted by a blade in a wheat field.
He murmured a curse. “We need to go to the nearest town now, or she won’t make it,” he warned Freyah.
A verbal command and a gentle tug on the reins ordered the horse to speed like never before, as if Eldric and his horse spoke a language of their own.
129 DAYS UNTIL DHALIA’S DEATH DATE.
Alissa woke up in a large, white tent, lying on an uncomfortable wooden cot.
She examined her surroundings and only saw a few cabinets full of colorful potions and herbs.
The scent of medicinal ointments invaded her nostrils.
A woman she didn’t recognize sat on a stool by the entrance, her eyes closed, and Alissa understood by her heavy, slow breaths that she had fallen asleep there.
Alissa silently moved to stand up, but her leg hurt so badly she lost her balance.
Her hand instinctively covered her mouth, holding back a scream so as not to wake the stranger.
Glancing down, she realized she was naked, only a thin blanket covering her body.
She blushed as she wondered who could have seen her this way.
Her gaze turned toward the sleeping woman again, and as Alissa tiptoed to escape, her foot cracked. The unwelcome sound woke up the woman sitting by the entrance. Alissa stared, wide-eyed, assuming a defensive stance, ready to fight any threats.
“You’re awake,” the woman said, her tone sweet and tender, one that perfectly matched her exterior. She had dark brown skin, and her curly hair was loose, brushing the length of her shoulders. When she smiled, perfect white teeth appeared.
Alissa narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”
“My name is Desi Linard. I’m a healer and magical researcher.”
A crease formed in Alissa’s forehead. What does that even mean? she thought, but her mouth spoke different words. “Why am I here?”
“You were badly injured. Your friends brought you to me. You would have died if they didn’t get here when they did,” Desi explained. “Could you please sit down? I have a few questions in order to better continue your treatment.”
“Where are my clothes, Mrs. Linard?”
“We had to discard them. They were completely stained with blood,” the woman said. “Please call me Desi.”
Alissa remained standing, but the longer she bore the weight of her body on her legs, the harder it became to endure the sharp pain that insistently stung her thigh.
“You’re safe here, Alissa.” The woman’s voice was kind. It reminded her of the hushing of the oak tree leaves that brought her so much peace back in Bryniard’s forest.
Only when Freyah and Eldric stormed inside carrying changes of clothes with them did Alissa sit down.
Eldric was shirtless, and her chin developed life on its own as it automatically dropped at the sight.
Alissa had never realized he had so many scars covering his torso.
She shook her head to drive away the thoughts, refocusing instead on the concerned looks of her friends.
They were worried. As a matter of fact, they were too worried for her liking. A concern that couldn’t have been exclusively related to whatever happened to her ending up in that tent. There was something else bothering them.
When Eldric’s cheeks turned red and he averted his gaze, clearing his throat, she was once again aware of the thin blanket that covered her body. She grinned despite herself.
Freyah must have noticed the not very subtle exchange of glances and the stiffness of their bodies because she clicked her tongue and slid a dark blue cloak over Alissa’s head.
“Why are you shirtless?” Alissa asked him, as if she hadn’t been almost naked herself a second ago.
“I used my shirt to wrap around your injury.” His eyes drifted down, landing where the deep cut on her thigh was.
“You should be glad he did, you would not have survived if he hadn’t stemmed the bleeding,” the healer interrupted, noticing that if she never spoke, they would keep pretending she didn’t exist.
Alissa’s eyes met his; the odd tightness in her chest and the air catching in her lungs were a surprise even to herself.
Desi cleared her throat, breaking their spell. “I gave you a potion to treat your fever and prevent any infections. But that will be temporary, at least until I’m sure what your condition is so I can treat you accordingly.”
Freyah held Alissa by the hand to help her lie down on the cot again.
She never left her friend’s hand, even when she was safely lying in that cot. Eldric stood by her side, his strong arms crossed over his chest. His teeth clenched as they all listened to the healer’s words.
“Alissa, do you have any trouble swallowing or muscles spasming, most specifically your jaw?” Desi asked.
Her question seemed completely random yet surprisingly accurate. “Yes, how did you know?”
Desi pressed her lips together. Whatever she had to say wouldn’t please Alissa at all.
“Would you be able to tell me if the blade used to stab your leg was rusted?”
“It was—that thing was older than Mr. Hamit.”
Even though Desi had no idea who Mr. Hamit was, she nodded with sorrowful eyes.
“What does this mean?” Eldric interrupted, his voice carrying an urgency Alissa hadn’t noticed from him before.
“I’m afraid Alissa contracted Ferrugia.”
Eldric cursed under his breath and punched the closest cabinet.
They stared at him, puzzled by his unexpected outburst. “Ferrugia?” Alissa asked.
“It’s a disease caused by an infection spread from injuries inflicted by rusted steel.”
“Is she going to be okay?” It was Freyah who spoke this time.
“Ferrugia is a very rare, fatal disease here in Heldraine. However, for your luck, I have already developed an experimental potion to treat it. It had a fifty-percent success rate for the patients I’ve treated,” Desi said while she removed the bandages wrapping Alissa’s leg to check the injury.
“Fifty percent? What about the other half?”
Desi’s silence fell heavier than any words. Alissa swallowed in response.
“Give her the damn potion, woman. What are you waiting for?” Eldric rushed to the potion cabinet, skimming the labels, rummaging through the glass vials, desperate to cure her.
Freyah placed her hand on his shoulder to calm the man down. He was acting oddly anxious and impatient since Alissa fell ill.
“Will you please stop messing up this cabinet? It took me months to organize it, sir,” Desi said, her hands on her waist, holding the position of a mother reprimanding their child for misbehaving.
Even though Desi wasn’t much older than him, Eldric must have felt like a child because he did as she said.
“I will administer her the potion, but it is not that simple. I will need to handle the treatment every day for about nine days. She will need to stay here in full rest during this period.”
“Nine days? There’s no way!” Alissa snapped. “I can’t lose that much time. I need to leave.” The possibility of having to sit back for that long while her daughter died triggered her biggest fear: wasting precious time and not getting back to Dhalia in time.
Before all this, Alissa had the perception that nine days was a short period of time. Now, when her daughter’s life was at risk, those days were too precious to waste. Even if they meant she would be risking her life as a consequence.
She made a movement to stand up, but Eldric and Freyah stopped her.
“Do you want to die, miss?” the healer asked, the softness in her voice still unwavering. “You will, if you leave before I end your treatment.”
Desi started walking toward the exit. “I’ll give you all some privacy to decide.”
When the woman left, Alissa stood, moaning in pain, limping to retrieve the rest of her clothes from the chair. Freyah stopped her before she reached it. She leaned forward and embraced Alissa tightly.
“You need to stay alive to be able to save Dhalia, Lissa,” she whispered in her ear.
“I can’t,” Alissa murmured. She pushed back, her eyes filling with tears.
“Will it be of any use to our purpose here for you to die before we do what we came here to do?” Freyah said, her voice louder and more serious this time.
It caught Eldric’s attention, and he narrowed his eyes, curious about what could have been so important to make Alissa fret about having to delay their trip to the capital for a little over a week.
Freyah’s words hurt. They hurt so badly because Alissa knew them to be true, and once again she found herself stuck in that miserable duality of feelings; she was losing precious time and risking not getting back in time for Dhalia, but would any of it matter if she died trying?
Dhalia would end up fated to death as a consequence of her decision.
Alissa glanced back to where Eldric stood, afflicted. “How long till we’re in the capital?”
“Another six days of travel. If we stay, it will be a little over a week here and another on the road.”
She immediately started doing the math. If Eldric’s predictions were correct, they would be arriving in Golheim about eight weeks after leaving Bryniard. Dhalia would still have almost four months before Senectus Subita ended her life.
Alissa nodded, upset.
Nyfrel would be their home for the upcoming days.