"What's your name?" I asked the child as she wiped her tears.
"It's Mila," she said. Her eyes were red and puffy.
"Hi Mila, I'm Simeon, this is Teresa, and that's Bella, she's actually the reason you're still alive," I said and introduced us all.
She glanced around at each of us individually. Teresa and Bella both smiled and waved at her. It was like they were suddenly as young as she was.
"Thank you for saving me, I just wish you were in time to also help my parents" Mila said to Bella.
"I honestly do as well. What was it that you think made you all sick again?" Bella asked her. Her voice was so soft and gentle I couldn't believe it was really her.
"It was the curse, at first it only made the animals sick. But then it started making people sick too. My father tried to take us to Elren's Rest to get help, but we never made it," Mila said and picked up the brown bag she had been clutching when we found her.
Bella rubbed her chin while she considered what Mila had told us. I could tell something wasn't sitting right with her by the look in her eyes.
"Where exactly are you from?" Teresa asked Mila. She was also speaking softly. I found myself imagining her as a mother suddenly.
"I'm from Lilyfield, it's not far from here. But I wouldn't go there unless you wanna end up like me and my parents," Mila said and pulled a leather bottle out of her bag.
"And you said the curse hit the animals first?" Bella asked as if she wasn't sure she had heard correctly.
"Yep, right after Governor Conlin senior ran off the animals started getting sick," Mila said.
The news that Conlin senior had run off didn't add up to me. He had been the Governor when I was still a child. He was middle aged back then, if he was still the governor until recently, he would have to be almost 90.
"What do you mean Conlin senior ran off? Wouldn't he be an extremely old man by now?" I asked Mila
"Yeah, this year we celebrated his 91st birthday," Mila said and popped the top off the bottle.
A foul stench passed my nose. It was one of the worst things I had ever smelled, it was almost as bad as the odor that came from the capsule Elias was sealed inside of.
"What just died?" Teresa said and waved at the air in front of her face.
"Is it this?" Bella said and snatched the bottle away from Mila before she could drink from it.
"Hey, that's mine! Get your own water!" Mila yelled and tried to take the bottle back.
Bella moved the bottle closer to her face and gagged. She passed the bottle to Teresa. She sniffed the bottle and immediately began pouring the water onto the ground. The smell became stronger as the water puddled in front of us.
"Please say you haven't been drinking that?" Teresa said to Mila.
"Well yes, everyone in Lilyfield drinks this water. Governor Conlin junior said that the curse just made our water smell bad. He assured us that it was safe to drink," Mila said. She still looked upset that her water was taken.
"So, I'm guessing Conlin junior is the son of senior?" Teresa said to me.
Yeah, and from what I remember about him, he's an asshole of the highest caliber," I said as memories of him battered my mind.
"You aren't wrong, he can be a jerk at times, but if my dad left me in charge of a dying village with nothing more than a note to warn me, I would be angry too," Mila said.
"Well, none of this makes any sense. The potion I gave Mila wasn't for magic, so in theory she should still be at death's door. Also, that water smelled too foul for anyone to believe it was safe to drink. Another thing is old men don't typically just run off. I can't imagine how huge a problem would have to be to make someone that old just flee and leave his people in harm's way," Bella said thoughtfully.
"I never knew him to be a coward, but maybe whatever is going on is so bad that he made an exception," I said.
"I keep telling you all it's the curse, it's really bad," Mila said and popped the top off another leather bottle.
She took a long drink from the bottle as we all stared at her in disbelief.
"What?" she asked while meeting each of our gazes.
"Where did you just get that water bottle from?" Teresa asked her.
"Oh, I guess it came to me because I was thirsty. Things that I really want or need just come to me sometimes," Mila said and grinned.
"So, I'm not going crazy, she really is holding our water bottle right now?" Teresa said with her head slightly tilted.
"We'll get to that later, why do you think it's a curse? The person who assigned the quest seemed to think some kind of creature was harming your village," Bella said.
"Governor Conlin junior told us that some kind of creature cursed our village and that's why his father fled. So, I guess it's both a creature and a curse, are you guys gonna fix everything?" Mila asked hopefully.
"We're gonna try," I said.
This small quest suddenly felt like it was gonna be a lot more difficult than I originally thought. If what Mila said was true, we would have to kill the creature and probably cure everyone affected by this curse as well. Bella still seemed skeptical about the curse as well. I needed to know what she was thinking.
"You're struggling with something, what is it?" I asked.
"Health potions don't break curses, so either Mila wasn't cursed, or no one is. The chances of Mila getting some kind of physical sickness while the rest of the village is being stricken with a curse seems really low to me," Bella said, still stroking her chin.
"So, you think they're wrong about it being a curse?" Teresa asked.
"The foul-smelling water lines up with some kind of water borne sickness, and if everyone is drinking the water, that would explain why they all have it, '' Bella said.
"So, all we need to do is stop them from drinking the water and clean it, somehow?" I asked.
"Right, that still doesn't explain the story about the creature or why the former Governor ran off though," Bella said.
"Well, that could all be a lie as well," Teresa said with her hands raised palms up.
"If those are lies then where is the Governor and how do you explain the Wolf man?" Mila asked as she struggled to hold my sword upright.
"What the hell," Teresa yelled and caught the sword by the blade as it fell toward Mila's face.
"Sorry I was just looking at your sword and I thought I really wish I had a sword, and it appeared in my hands," Mila said and shrugged.
"Violation, anyway we gotta get to Lilyfield so we can figure this whole thing out," I said and stood up.
"What are you gonna do?" Bella asked Mila.
"I don't know, without my parents I'm completely alone in the world," Mila said as despair spread across her face.
"Well come with us, we'll keep you safe until we find something better for you," Teresa said.