Chapter 68: Tending to the sick

Givontair: 

Just like how the guards said, the people have coughing fits. This is not a sickness I have seen before. Their lungs are damaged. I know for a fact that physical and mana therapy are in order. That, and blood root.

As the nurse prepares the bitter tea, from the blood root, I go to the ones who are closer to death's door than the rest, and pick the first patient. 

The Uruk man is pale as a ghost, and no longer responsive. I get him in a chair, and pull his shirt off. Then, I place a hand on his stomach, and begin to give him mana vibrations. That seems to be able to break him out of his stupor because he begins to cough. 

"What?" The man asks, his eyes finally having some clarity to them. 

"I am healing you. Sit still," I tell him. My badge is on the night stand. He sees it, and calms down. For the reminder of the treatment, he stays silent. From time to time, he barfs out mucus and blood in the bucket I prepared for this very purpose. When I am done with him, he takes a hold of my arm. 

"Aren't you that white dragon?" He asks me, as he looks me up and down. 

"I think you shouldn't care about that too much. I am here to help," I say, as I help him back in the bed. Before I can move to the next patient, he clears his throat. 

"Thank you. But, am I going to die?" He asks. I shake my head. 

"You will be given a bitter tea, for a week. The only thing I want from you, is to keep warm, and clean," I then go to the next patient.

Mana physical therapy is not as costly as outright mana treatment. Still, I am tired from healing Nate. That doesn't stop me to make the rounds, though. For, I manage to get through all the people in the make shift hospital. 

My head feels as if someone has used it for war hammer practice. This time, I don't just go out aimlessly. I go to the head nurse, and ask her for directions to the inn. 

"Go down Ash Street, and then turn left, along Uruk Street," she tells me. "The inn is the only five-story building in the entire town. It towers over everything else." 

"Thank you," I tell her. I walk in such a pace, as my tired legs would allow. If Ajax decides to attack now, then I will be at a disadvantage. 

The night is calm, around me. Uruk street is full of colorful houses. With manicured gardens, and with fences in all colors of the rainbow. I wonder what the Dread thinks, about such things in its territory. When I find the inn, Norrix is getting out of it. I wave at him, and he comes to me. 

"Going out?" I ask him. He smiles bashfully at me. 

"Eli went out before the sunset, or so Nate told me. He is still not back. I was worried about him," that makes me frown. The bed is calling me, but I can't leave a member of our group alone, in such a place. 

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"I am coming with you," I tell him. Norrix looks me up and down. 

"No offence, but you look like death warmed over," he tells me. Huh, is it so obvious, that I am tired? 

"I can still shift into a dragon, which will be of great help, in case my father is here," Ajax can shapeshift. More than once, I have crossed paths with him, in his various forms.

 Yet, he never tried to kill me. Up until Trelia, we have never even fought. His scent is always the same. My senses are still keen, so I don't worry about missing any clues as to who is before me. 

"I thought you couldn't shift in here?" Norrix asks me. I massage my temples, to try and get rid of the headache that plagues me. The thumbing continues, even after I pour some mana inside my head, to give myself a slight energy boost. 

"I can't, to be truthful. Yet, I will chance the rage of the Uruk necromancers, as long as we end up alive after a bout with Ajax," Norrix nods, and then begins to lead me in the empty streets. We go back to Uruk Street, and he takes a left turn. All the while, the two of us let out slight pulses, to see where Elias is. 

The elf's last mana traces lead to the gates of the town. I blink at that. 

"Did he leave, without telling us?" I ask Norrix. 

"He doesn't seem the type," the vampire answers. He goes to the watch tower, and begins to climb. My headache is too powerful, for me to trust myself that I won't tumble down a ladder. When he comes back, it is with a grim expression on his face. 

"Elias left with a woman, who looks like him. The guards said that she acted odd. She didn't walk like a woman," Norrix says. I run a hand through my hair. 

"This can only be Ajax. He must have placed Elias under a hypnosis," then, I get an idea. "Wait, was it just with a woman? Did one of the necromancers also go outside?" 

"There was a man who waited for them outside the gates," Norrix says. When he comes to the same conclusion as I, his eyes widen. "Do you think Ajax is going to sacrifice Elias, to restore his wounds?" 

I nod at that. Father doesn't suffer necromancy, unless he absolutely must. I pull out my bottomless bag, and motion Norrix to come over. 

"Get inside, it is almost time for the sunrise," I see that he doesn't want to, so I add. "You can't help Elias, if you end up a pile of ash." 

That seems to be enough for him, because soon, he is in the safety of the bottomless bag. I sniff the air, and then go in the direction of Elias's scent.

For his mana signature to stop showing itself on the gates, he must be in a bottomless bag. My nose catches another scent. One I am familiar with. It is indeed Ajax. I run out of the gates, not bothering to stop when the guards call to me. 

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