Ava Smith stirred on the bed and blinked, staring at the strange ceiling in confusion. Memories of being pushed into a room rushed to her. She touched her chest and noticed that her shirt was unbuttoned, causing her to quickly sit up and look around in alarm.
She felt strangely rejuvenated and remembered faintly how Anthony shoved drugs into her mouth.
"Wait, Anthony saved me? Even my old sickness is gone!" She exclaimed in shock, not believing that a random guy healed her of a sickness which defied numerous legendary doctors.
She looked around and saw him lying lifelessly on the floor, making the smile on her face evaporate.
"No! Anthony!" She shouted and rushed to hold him in her arms. His pulse was incredibly weak and he looked half dead. His lips were purple, his face white and sickly. Anthony was also running a high fever, his body can't seem to stop convulsing.
"Oh no, what do I do?"
She looked around for anything that could help, and saw a water filter. She rushed to it, removing her outer suit to dip it in water.
She insisted on keeping her torn up full attire for a month. Who knew it would come in handy at this point?
All of a sudden, one of her bracelets began to blink furiously. No, it was not the one with the tracker. She had pressed the tracker to send signals to her family's tower, immediately they crossed the lake. She had noticed that indeed, the lake was the only barrier that separated the island from the human world. So she re-established the connection without encumbrance .
Wait, the one blinking was the ancient bracelet!
She frowned as she wetted the suit.
"Where's the resonance coming from? Don't tell me the heir we're looking for is one of the evil cultivators or guards." She whispered with dread, not wanting the heir with such a powerful lineage to be someone innately evil.
This should only happen if she was close to the lost heir. Especially if the heir was in danger. Her brows were pinched in confusion as she squatted beside Anthony cleaning him up. Her bracelet began to vibrate furiously the moment she got close to him, making her sigh.
"The heir can wait. I can't reach him now anyways." She whispered and began to unbutton Anthony's shirt to clean him up.
She noticed something flashing a red light in Anthony's shirt, and her heart skipped a beat at the possibility. She immediately dragged out the necklace Anthony was wearing underneath his cloth, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.
Ava's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Her bracelet was blinking out blue lights furiously while vibrating and resonating with the red light on Anthony's locket.
"My Lord!" Ava whispered in disbelief.
She shook her head, feeling a sense of deja vu, and immediately turned Anthony around to pull up his shirt.
And there it was, the dragon tattoo and his fabled birthmark. She gasped and her knees weakened, making her collapse beside him.
"He's the lost dragon prince, Stephen Meyers? Why is his name Anthony instead of Stephen? And I have been busy ransacking the whole world for all the Stephen Meyers I could find. I finally found him and completed our family's task. I must not let him die before me!" Ava whispered in determination as she stared at him.
There were no drugs, she could only use her cultivation energy. She began to carefully channel energy into his body to preserve his breath till she finds a permanent remedy. She noticed that his right leg was hotter than the rest and ripped out a part of his trousers to examine the leg.
Ava immediately gasped as she stared at the festering wound. The crocodile fangs!
The poison from it was spreading, making his leg rot with frightening speed. She quickly tore out some parts of her shirt, improvising a rope.
She channeled her fire into the rope and tied it tightly around his leg. She began to forcefully drag it down, making the poison and pus seep out from it due to the pressure she was applying on the skin. Soon she got to the edge of the open wound and tied it even tighter around it.
Ava was afraid her actions would cut off blood supply to the area, but it was better than the poison flowing to his heart. She tore out another piece of her cloth and channeled her fire into it, tying it around his ankle.
She gritted her teeth and began to drag it up, pushing out more poison and pus from under his skin. Soon she got to the edge of the wound and tightened it even more.
She used the two hot pieces of clothes to isolate the wound from the rest of his leg.
"I should have brought an anti-poisoner if I knew that I would encounter such a situation." She whispered and sighed, feeling remorseful.
Just then, she heard an explosion, and her ears perked up as she listened to the sounds of fighting. She looked at the tracking bracelet and smiled. The rescue team had arrived!
*****
"Young mistress, are you alright?" Fred, the head guard asked, rushing to the room. He looked all bloodied and totally messed up. He had his energy longsword with him, a gun and several weapons were strapped to his body, in addition to some defense entrapments.
Thank goodness they came adequately prepared, if not they would have lost to the ruthless evil cultivators. The guards helped her up after bowing to her respectfully, and tried to drag her out of the room, totally ignoring the unconscious Anthony.
"Stop this madness! Didn't you see my unconscious companion?"
Fred frowned unhappily. What business do they have with that stranger? They only came to save their important young mistress, others can go fuck themselves.
Just then, Richmond, their old steward, walked in with his assistants.
"Two people should carry him up carefully. He's more important than I can ever be!" She ordered, her face stoic like that of a commanding soldier.
Richmond frowned on hearing her words.
"And who could be more important than you, young mistress, Ava Smith, the almighty princess of the Smith clan?" Richmond asked, trying to keep the disapproval out of his voice.
"He is Stephen Meyers, the lost master of the great clan, who we, the subordinate families, have been tasked to find. The same Stephen who I have upturned the whole earth to find! It's enough that he became like this while trying to save me. I'm the one meant to protect the prince, but he got hurt instead while trying to protect me. We must save him by all means, else I will be executed for failing my mission, neglecting my duty and putting my master in danger!" Ava spat angrily, disgusted by their arrogance.
"Protect the master. We must attend to his needs. The medical team should get the laboratory ready while the emergency team administers first aid to him!" Richmond ordered.
At once, Anthony was lifted by two hefty soldiers while the rest encircled him as they walked to the waiting helicopters. Ava looked at him worriedly. If anything happens to him, the consequence was one which no one could bear.