The moment I read her name I knew something was up. I just followed Nayleth, worried and scared about something that might have happened to the poor girl.
I saw her for the last time a couple of hours ago, she was running around playing with her brother.
I was worried like I had never before.
Nayleth guided me to the infirmary of the castle. People of the vulpin and orc races were working as nurses and tending to some of the injured people. When I asked why they did not use healing magic, they answered that some injuries are better treated with natural methods as healing wounds forcefully for people who approached death was tiring and might cause damage. And then was the fact that the few healers that knew the spells were only level 1 or 2, so MP was scarce. In part was the reason why Nayleth was using a cane last night.
On one of the beds was Maple, eyes closed, breathing with difficulty and in clear pain for what I saw. Her brother was there. I made it faster there and checked on her.
"What happened?" I asked.
"M-my sister went to pick up some flowers and herbs and she seems to have grabbed something" Reynard looked at me crying while holding himself against her bed "She fell to the ground and did not stand up anymore, and started to get hot"
I placed my hand on her forehead. She was extremely hot, suffering an extreme fever. I looked at the nurse who was overseeing her, who was an orc lady.
"Can you do something?"
"W-well, first I need to know what poisoned her. We are just working on the description the young one here told us but..."
"She got poisoned with Satin's Root" I heard Dara close.
She arrived at some point and was looking at Maple. She approached and touched her forehead too, confirming the fever she was suffering from.
"The symptoms are equivalent to the effects of a local plant that is used to make poisons. I have a few in my laboratory."
"T-then you can make a cure, right?!" I asked, desperate. "An antidote, like charcoal or something" I had learned something in my only year in medicine, at least.
Dara took Maple's hands and started to examine them. On her right one, she had a small injury. She probably caused it to herself while picking plants without gloves.
"We cleaned the poison from her skin, but if it entered through her blood, then..." The nurse pointed out.
"For an antidote, we need a plant that is capable of deactivating the poison" Dara mentioned while letting go of her hand.
Nayleth pulled Dara's sleeve and then pointed at himself. He tilted his head while letting his left ear drop. I understood he was asking a question: "What about me?"
"Have you leveled your Antidote spell like I suggested?" Dara asked while fixing her glasses.
Nayleth's ears went to his scalp and shook his head. That was a no. And an embarrassed one.
"And I doubt anyone here has it" Dara shook her head. Then the plant she mentioned was the only solution. "The poison affects the nervous system of its user. On high levels it mostly makes the victim weaker, but on a small child like Maple..."
I wish she had not said that. I looked at Reynard, who was looking at his sister terrified.
"I-is my sister going to die?!" He asked on the brink of tears. His small hand reached for hers.
They both just lost their parents. Now he was about to lose her sister.
"No, she won't," I answered him and then looked back at Dara. "I am going to look for it. Tell me what it looks like and I will bring it back."
Nayleth pointed to himself and moved to my side. Seems he wanted to help too.
Dara sighed "No, Nayleth. You must stay and assist the nurses" She shook her head.
"Then I am going alone!" I said.
"Bad idea. The closest patch we have information about is the habitat of a dangerous monster. Is too much for a level 1 with a broken System" Dara's brown eyes pierced through me. She was being serious.
"Is not broken anymore" I answered "Show Status"
The screen appeared and Dara looked quite puzzled. Her stoic calm demeanor was replaced with confusion while seeing my stats and class.
"W-when? How?" She asked. "Tabula Rasa?"
"No time to talk about this! I will explain to you later, just tell me about the damn plant!"
Dara fixed her glasses while looking at the ground. For a moment she seemed to smile but quickly returned to her normal serious expression.
"Let's go," she said and turned around, starting to walk towards the exit of the infirmary.
"What?" I asked in confusion.
"I am not letting you go forth without assistance" she stopped and looked back at me over her shoulder "Even at my level that creature is a risk if I am not careful. Sending you alone would be foolish"
"Whatever" I answered and fell behind her.
I tried to act like I did not care enough, but in reality, I was happy she decided to accompany me. I still did not trust her enough, but I was hoping she would be not that cold when it was Maple's life on the line.
"You are taking s good risk at giving those hopes to Reynard," she said as we were leaving through the main gates. It was the first time I looked and passed through them, they were impressive, even when the rest of the place was clearly in a state of disrepair.
"What did you want me to tell him? That his sister is about to die?"
"We have only a few hours before the poison causes her brain to stop functioning," she said while walking in front of me.
"Can you teleport us when we find it?"
"No, we ran out of the stones required for the spell to function"
It is a race against time, in and out of the forest.