Cort's fall to the ground was what brought everyone's attention to him, but the sight of him laying beside his own severed arm shocked them all. Lond was the first to reach the unconscious young man on the ground, kneeling beside him and putting a hand to his forehead.
"He's already getting cold," Lond said. "Do either of you have a way to stop the bleeding?"
"I've got a healing potion," Leaf answered. He was already joining Lond on the floor beside Leaf and Cort. He had pulled a vial with a bright red mixture inside of it. He had pulled out the stopper on the vial when Ashen appeared atop Cort's chest suddenly, waving his paws wildly at them.
"Stopstopstopstopstop," Ashen sputtered out. "Put that away, Leaf!"
Leaf simply shot the ermine a quizzical look, but Lond was more frantic. "Ashen, if we don't treat the wound immediately Cort is going to die," he said.
"Both of you, calm down," Emile said. He had walked over much more calmly than the others, standing above them all. He glanced at the damage on Cort's arm, then back to Ashen. "Let the weasel handle it."
Ashen gave a nod, then hopped off of Cort and ran alongside his body. He got to Cort's pocket and reached inside, pulling out a small piece of chalk that barely fit in one of his paws. He drew a rune on the floor that none of the party recognized, though Lond watched in total wonder. The rune began to glow, and Ashen spoke to them after he put the chalk down.
"You all fought very bravely," Ashen told them. "You especially, Emile. I apologize for judging you so harshly. Now, I must ask that you all keep what you are about to see a secret. While not expressly forbidden, the young master and I are aware that it may frighten or panic others. I will do my best to explain as I work."
Ashen reached towards the rune on the floor, and it started to glow more intensely. His paw then disappeared into the rune and the floor. There was a look of what could only be called strain on Ashen's face as he pulled back out. Eventually the entire object was pulled out of the rune, and Lond gasped when he saw that it was another human arm. The same size as the one laying bloody on the floor.
"Young master Cort is human," Ashen explained. Despite his size, he carried the arm up to where Cort's previous one had been with relative ease. "He's a human soul, more precisely. There was a curse placed upon him as a child that tore his soul from his body, but still it resides on this mortal plane of existence."
"How is that even possible?" Lond asked. Ashen had produced a needle and a spool of thread from seemingly nothing, though Lond figured he had just conjured it with a form of magic. "I mean. Soul magic is very complex. Most of the time it's just linking an object to one's own soul."
"The magician who cast that curse was extremely powerful." Ashen waved a paw, and the wound on Cort's shoulder was healed and cleaned to what the ermine judged as an acceptable level. He then began sewing, gaze focused fully on his work even as he spoke. "One of those most wanted dark wizard types."
"Zola?" Emile asked, much more intrigued by the conversation.
"No. I feel this man is even more dangerous than Zola." Emile let out a disappointed sigh before walking away from the medical site. Ashen continued with his needlework, with Lond and Leaf observing closely. "This man has deigned himself an 'Archfiend,' whatever that title may mean."
"That's an old name," Leaf replied. "If he's got the guts to name himself that, then he's some serious business."
"His real name is Levia, and he is the reason my master is in this state." The needle work finished, Ashen returned the needle and thread from whence they came. Lond was curious. The skin tone of the arm was much lighter than the rest of Cort's body. "This body you see is little more than a puppet piloted by his soul. The one blessing of this work around-." The skin tone of the arm began to darken all around until it exactly matched. "-is that Cort's soul will shape the body parts that I use into his own. At the very least, he looks like he would have been if he was not affected by the curse."
"So you just keep a bunch of body parts lying around in storage," Leaf added. Ashen nodded as the stitches also vanished, the healing process completed and Cort's body looking like it had not been damaged at all.
"It's the best I can do," Ashen added. "Cort has wanted to be a diver since before he was cursed. With this method, he can do it."
"Ashen, can Cort die?" Lond asked. It was a question that he wanted to ask since Ashen began explaining. He was just waiting for a moment to let it out.
"His body can sustain damage, and he can grow tired and weak without food or rest just like you and I. Soul magic is an odd thing, one that even I have yet to fully grasp. The theory Cort's father and I came to is that as long as the soul has a vessel it recognizes, it will reside there."
"And should the body be destroyed?"
Ashen's face became grim as he lowered his head. "I fear I don't know. My assumption is that the soul would just wander aimlessly then. Unable to interact with the world around us. But that's not even the real problem. The longer the soul is away from the true body, the weaker it becomes."
"How long does he have?" Emile asked suddenly. He was stooped down away from the group, not facing them as he examined something on the floor.
"If the deterioration continues at this same rate-," Ashen began, looking at the resting face of his young master. "-Cort's soul will disappear in three years."
There was a beat of silence, all of them letting the gravity of the situation sink in. Emile, of course, was the one to break it. He had walked over to the rest of his group, dropping the spoils of their battle with the stronger feralise onto Cort's unconscious body.
"That settles it for me," Emile said. He was receiving looks of admonishment from the other three conscious party members, including Ashen. "I'm gonna help this kid out. Sounds like a pretty crappy situation like mine, except he's got a time limit. Ashen, you got any idea where this Levia guy is?"
"I was hoping that Iphos-Magus could help us," Ashen answered.
"Rumor has it that the dark wizards make their homes in labyrinths," Leaf suggested. "Something about the monsters being important to their secret magic."
"We'll keep our ears out," Lond told them. He looked to Cort again. When Iphos-Magus had suggested he become a diver, Lond thought his master lost his mind. However, without that he would have not met someone like Cort. Or Emile. Lond would still be sitting alone in his tower library, the only company of his being a frequently absent master or the characters in his story books.
"Let's head back to the camp," Ashen suggested. "We can sort out plans once Cort wakes up."
The group agreed, and they gathered up their spoils. The elder feralise dropped its staff as the spoils of war, as well as a magic stone the size of Lond's palm that had a soft orange color.
They clumsily draped Cort over Emile's shoulder before walking back through the mist stone into the first chamber. There, they gathered the magic stones and pelts from the larger battle they had with the rabbit pack before backtracking to the entrance they came through.
"Just right back through there?" Emile asked as they approached the stairs that brought them to the labyrinth. A ways up was that familiar black curtain of magic.
"That's right," Leaf answered. "Shuffler entrance, but they all come out at the same exit."
"Let's get out of here," Lond said as he led the way up the stairs. "We can handle dividing the loot later."
The party of divers ascended the stairs, stepping through the barrier and leaving the dungeon for the day.