Sweat pooled on her brow as Kyera focused and took a quick stab. The soft crunch sound alerted both herself and Clovis to her success. Prayer in the language of shadows fell from her lips as she slowly pulled the needle back out.
"What was that?" Clovis asked almost nervously and Kyera gave him a sad smile.
"The sound of a skull caving in." she replied before using the needle to dig out the now dead creature. The shapeless worm lay on the bed beside the Empress. A small sac of some sort attached to its back. She examined it closely and growled.
"Damn." Kyera cursed without warning, shoving the body into a vile. He frowned realizing the worm was more dragon like and made of a nearly clear, translucent flesh. It looked almost ethereal. Then it struck him.
"Is that a Soul Worm?" he asked in disbelief and Kyera shook her head.
"No, but similar. This is what kills the body so a soul worm can devour its mind. We call it a Doll Maker." Kyera explained as she sprinkled powder onto the creature and stoppered the bottle. Clovis felt his skin crawl as Kyera spoke.
"Doll Maker?" he asked looking at the pale beauty of his mother's face. She did indeed look like a porcelain doll. Her delicate features whiter than normal and her cheeks flushed from the fever. Kyera nodded sadly.
"It feeds on the power within the spine. The longer it feeds, the less possibility that the victim will ever move again. The cruelest part of a Doll Maker is nothing it does will actually kill you. You still feel pain, and you are still aware, but you are helpless." Kyera explained examining the wound left by the creature. Little marks inside the whole caught her attention.
With great care she used two needles to extract a white membrane. Pale yellow markings making her uneasy. "someone stabbed your mother with a Dollmaker egg sac. Who hates her this much?" Kyera demanded looking at the woman with pity in her eyes. She ran a gentle hand over the older woman's brow to silence her pain.
"Wait you mean there are more inside her?" he asked eyes widening.
"Only one, its okay they are born in twos." Kyera explained trying to sooth him. "One Doll Maker and one Drainer. The Drainer is why she's asleep." kyera explained looking her over. She began feeling the Empress's body over searching for the lump she knew to find. Sure enough, at the base of her spine a rock sized lump could be felt. Kyera repressed a shudder as it moved. She slid her hands out from under the Empress.
"Did you find it? Can she be woke up?" Clovis asked, his voice dreading the answer. Kyera hesitated.
"I will not know till it is removed from her body and I check her system. We need to roll her over as carefully as possible." Kyera responded. Between them both amd a guard they rolled the Empress onto her stomach. Clovis frowned as he noticed the visible lump. Blood and some whitish liquid seemed to be present. Kyera cleaned it off and used her knife to slit the skin open and extract the creature. Its teeth holding onto the juncture between two vertebrae.
Without a second thought, Kyera pierced it through the brain, leaving the dead body to be removed. Once she put it into a bottle she smiled. Focusing her energy she made a full sweep of the Empress's internal system before removing her hands from her body.
"Leave her on her stomach for a while, we need to rinse that wound a couple times before we sew it up." Kyera ordered sitting back into the chair by the bed. Clovis handed her a small cup of tea, and waited patiently for her to finish it.