Chapter 44: Poison (2)

Emeric’s eyes opened, for a brief second. He was on the floor, the ceiling spinning above him. Faces blurred as he tried to focus his vision.

He couldn’t move. He tried to speak but that was also not on the table.

Oh great!

But he could feel and all his nerve endings felt like they were on fire.

He tried to speak again but he coughed. Blood splattered over his shirt as he tried to speak.

The blood was pooling into his chest.

The system pulsed.

---

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[POISON DETECTED]

[TYPE: NIGHTSHADE EXTRACT — RANK D]

[EFFECT: PARALYSIS, RESPIRATORY FAILURE, CARDIAC ARREST]

[TIME TO FATAL: 5 MINUTES]

[SYSTEM INTERVENTION INITIATED]

[REGEN — SKILL ACTIVATED]

[EFFECT: ACCELERATED HEALING. SLOWING POISON PROGRESSION.]

[NEW SKILL: POISON RESISTANCE ACQUIRED]

[RANK: E]

[DESCRIPTION: You have developed a resistance to common poisons. Future exposures will be less severe. This skill will grow with repeated exposure.]

[SYSTEM NOTE: POISON PROGRESSION SLOWED. RESISTANCE PARTIALLY MITIGATING EFFECTS. SEEK TREATMENT IMMEDIATELY.]

---

He couldn’t move.

His body was fighting the poison and he could feel it. His regen skill was working but the poison was pushing back.

He felt like his nerve endings were being smelted with hot coal and he could do nothing about it. The system had given him a poison resistance skill but maybe that was for poison before it progressed into his body so deeply.

He wasn’t sure how this worked but he knew he could not die now.

The time before it became fatal was five minutes. He needed help. He tried to call for help but nothing came out.

He could feel his bond on his chest, nudging at him. He let out a ghost of a smile, trying to comfort her but he could not form it fully. She was restless, moving around his chest.

He wanted to tell her it was okay, but he couldn’t afford that lie.

His vision darkened at the edges once again.

Isolde. He whispered her name in his head.

She was the only memory he could hold on to as the darkness closed in.

Was he dead?

***

Emeric came into a tiny bit of consciousness, feeling himself submerged under some form of heavy current.

Where was he?

Was this the afterlife?

His awareness floated in and out, moments blurring together, making him unable to tell what was real and what was not. Faces appeared in his mind and disappeared. Or was it his mind?

Same with the voices spoke words he couldn’t quite understand. They seemed visibly distressed.

He was in a bed, he noticed.

Suddenly, the bed gave way under him and he was back in the forest.

The wyvern was face to face with him. Its jaws snapped loudly, as it tried to chomp his head off.

He tried to move but his body wouldn’t obey. It disappeared as soon as it came, his being descending down into another space that he could not tell apart.

He saw Isolde.

He tried to reach her but his hands passed through her like smoke. She crumbled in ash and was gone in a blink.

Then he woke up. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

This time, he knew he was awake because of the pain that greeted him. The ceiling above him was unfamiliar—white stone, vaulted, a temple maybe, or a healing hall. He tried to move but his body felt like it had been tied to an anchor and tossed into the sea. His lungs burned and his breathing sent pain throughout every part of his body.

He couldn’t speak. He could barely breathe.

A door opened and he could hear footsteps closing in on where he was laid.

A woman appeared at the doorway and made her way to his bedside. She was tall and slender, dressed in grey robes, her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her eyes were sharp and assessing, and she looked at him like he was a puzzle to solve.

"You’re awake," she said. "Good."

He tried to speak but his throat was raw.

"Don’t," she said. "The poison has damaged your vocal cords. They’ll heal. But not if you strain them."

He closed his mouth, watching as she pulled a stool close and sat down, studying him.

"I am Healer Maren. C-rank. Water affinity. I’ve been assigned to your case."

She paused.

"You were poisoned. Nightshade extract. A coward’s weapon. It attacked your lungs first, then your stomach, then your heart."

She leaned forward.

"I’m also an adventurer." She told him as if explaining how she knew about the posoin beside being a healer.

He wanted to say something but she cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"You should be dead. But something in your body is fighting it. Your healing factor is — unusual." She said with a fascinated pause.

She didn’t ask what it was. She didn’t seem to care.

"I can help you. But it will take time."

She stood and placed her hands on his chest.

"Don’t move. Don’t speak. Just breathe."

He wanted to nod but his eyes were affirmation enough and she saw it.

She closed her eyes and water began to form at her finger tips.

Tiny droplets began to gather and swirl around them, spreading out across his chest.

The water glowed a soft blue color and it felt warm.

He could hear her muttering something but he was floating off again.

The glow spread, seeping into his skin, into his lungs, into the places where the poison had taken root. He felt it moving through him, finding the poison, pushing it, breaking it down.

It hurt. For a few seconds then stopped hurting.

He closed his eyes, allowing the feeling to wash over him.

The process took hours but Maren didn’t stop.

She worked on his lungs first, where the poison had settled, where it had begun to spread. Then his stomach, where the poison had pooled. Then his heart — this part was important as it would attack there next. Stopping all cardiac functions was the final nail in the coffin when nightshade was used. It truly was a coward’s weapon.

She worked in silence, her breathing slow and steady.

He drifted in and out.