Chapter 44: Forty two

Upon further observation, I have deduced that both Leo’s blood and saliva contain properties which break down the toxins in the Scorcher and Cobra venom. Experiment Leo-S9 has shown that a direct injection of saliva into the site of the sting has slowed the effect of the venom, extending survival by several minutes. Experiment Leo-C2 shows the cobra venom has been completely nullified by the injection of saliva. 

A loud crash from somewhere behind me disrupted my train of thought, as a red blur ran across the wooden floor of the tent, chasing after a ball I’d created by transmuting a scrap of leather into a spherical shape. According to Barlows Bestiary, the red scaled kittenish reptile was a creature called a Leosaur. Which appeared to be a feline with reptilian aspects. The Leosaur’s from what I could decipher from the aged script, were very similar to lions in behavior, and lived in matriarchal prides. 

Female Leosaur’s were pictured with brown scales that lightened to a lighter sandy color along the Leosaur's underside. The males were red, and as I’d observed with Leonidas possessed a frill that could be flared out like a mane. I wasn’t sure why Leo had been alone in the desert, but concluded I’d either accidentally stolen him from his pride, or he’d been run out of his prides territory by his sire.

 The pictures of grown leosaur’s also showed them to have armored scales lining their backs, similar to that of a crocodile, and an examination of Leonidas showed signs of osteoderms developing along his back. I’d also discovered that when pressing on the pads of his paws to force him to extend his claws, that his claws had a groove running along the inside similar to that of a house cat. Though unlike a domestic cat or a normal lion, this groove would fill with liquid when his paw pads were compressed. Testing of this fluid showed it to produce a slight burning sensation, which led me to hypothesize the nature of the fluid may be connected to the Leosaur’s consumption of Scorcher venom. Barlows Bestiary mentioned poisonous claws, but the information was difficult to decipher with how worn and old the text was.  

Laying down my pen, I stood, stretching my arms up over my head to ease the slight ache from sitting hunched over the bench for so long. After checking that the ink was dry in the journal, I placed it inside my bag, as I’d learnt my lesson about leaving books out unattended when Leo was around. The little reptilian feline seem to take great delight in shredding anything he could get his claws into. 

“Leo, come.” I called, as I headed for the door, causing the cub to abandon his chase and rush across the room towards me.

As we left the tent, I noticed Viv was tending her horse, Chiron, and that her two friends were also in the opposite pen with their own mounts.

“Morning Kadia,” Viv called out when she noticed my approach. 

Is it morning still? I pondered as I returned the greeting and checked on Arion’s water. 

“Are you heading out?” I queried, noticing the saddle Viv had placed on her horse. 

“We’re going to ride out to a nearby oasis, we heard people gather there during the day so figured it would be the best place to find a replacement for Damian and Gemma.” The girl explained. 

 Over the past few days, I’d gotten to know my camp site neighbors and learnt the three girls originally traveled with two other people, who’d left because of an argument. Apparently, the three girls got annoyed with Damian and Gemma endangering the group because of their relationship. The couple had been favoring each other during fights, and leaving the others without support, which resulted in the argument that caused the group to split. While they could still enter the dungeon as a team of three, it was recommended not to enter without a team of four or more. Because of this, they’d spent a few extra days in Hathus to find a fourth before heading to the dungeon. 

“I hope you find someone.” I consoled, and getting a slight pout in response. 

“Are you sure you won’t consider joining us?” 

“It isn’t that I haven’t considered it, Viv, it’s that I can’t say I would be of any use to you. You’d probably be better off without a fourth than with me.” 

“You’re underestimating yourself Kadia. I think you should come with us, we’re only going in to the dungeon for fun, so it doesn’t matter if you’re not good at fighting.” Viv added, giving me a pleading look.

“I need to wait for my brother,” I told her, though a part of me wanted to go with them. 

It had been three days since I’d arrived in Hathus, and despite going into the main areas of the town daily to ask if anyone had seen a group matching the description of my guild members, there were still no signs of their arrival. Leaving the way I did had been foolish, and when the group continued not to show up, I’d worried they might still be searching for me near where we’d been camping. I shouldn’t have let my hurt feelings override my common sense, and gone back to the group or at the very least left a note. When I didn’t revive, they surely would have returned to the rock where they thought I’d died, and I could have left something there to let them know I’d gone off on my own. 

“You can leave a note with the camp site administrator, if he shows up he’ll need to speak to him to hire a camp site. Please Kadia, it’ll be fun I promise. I’d rather you come with us than some random person we might find.” Viv coaxed. 

“I don’t know,” I hesitated. 

“Do you really want to spend all your time following your brother around?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“No, but.” 

“Then come with us,” the dark Elf coaxed. “You said you wanted to split off from your brothers group anyway, just leave him a note that you’re okay and let's go. Who knows when they’ll show up, you could wait here for days.” 

Biting my lip, I looked at the elven girl and then over to her friends. Should I go to the dungeon with them? They seemed nice enough, and I’d enjoyed talking to them over the past few days. 

“Alright, I’ll come.” I agreed, and Viv let out a little squeal as she rushed forwards to pull me into a hug. 

“I’ll go tell Nim and Amara we don’t need to look for anyone. We’ll leave as soon as we’ve got everything packed.” She exclaimed, leaving her horse behind as she ran over to speak with the other two girls. 

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As I walked back to my tent, I reconsidered my decision to join Viv and her friends. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the girls, they seemed friendly enough, but the thought of leaving without speaking to Markion left me feeling guilty. I’d ditched my brother without so much as a word, and with the fact they still hadn’t arrived in Hathus made me feel even worse. I was a horrible sister for just running off, and would have been better off just confronting the hunting team about how hurtful I found their bet. 

 

“Are you sure we should do this?” 

Ears perking at the sound of Amara’s voice, I hovered just inside the door way of my tent, focusing on the conversation. If the girls also had doubts about me joining them, then I could use that to back out of going.

“Of course, just look at her tent, and that horse. She clearly has a lot of gold,” Viv responded, and I stiffened shocked by the friendly girls words. 

“But wasn’t she traveling with a large group? What if she tells them what happened and they come after us? We should find someone else.” 

“Oh please, they obviously ditched her. How is she going to find them in the desert with no money or supplies? Even if she did find them, we’ll be long gone.” Nim scoffed.

No money or supplies? But I have plenty of.. wait, Amara said, ‘what if she tells them what happened and they come after us.’ What is going to happen? Are they planning to rob me? 

“Don’t worry so much Amara, it’ll be fine.” Viv said her voice growing fainter. 

The girls continued talking among themselves, but they’d moved further away and the sounds of them dismantling their tent made it harder to make out what was being said. Not that I needed to hear anymore than I had. Leaning against my work bench, I considered my options regarding what I’d overheard. I could simply tell the girls I’d changed my mind, and hope they left me alone, but the idea didn’t sit well with me. 

Somehow, I don’t think they split from their former team members over an argument about their relationship like Viv said. They’ve clearly done this kind of thing before. I’m betting they’ll wait until we’re away from Hathus in the midst of the sand sea and then attack me as a group. 

Letting out a low laugh, I shook my head remembering a story my brother once told me about how he’d been lured into a dungeon by a pretty girl, and how she’d gotten him killed in order to loot his corpse. She wasn’t strong enough to directly attack and kill him, so was using high level mobs in dungeons to do her dirty work for her. 

 Markion said he’d been playing on an alt account and returned in his primary account to where he first met the girl. He let her lure him into the dungeon again, but this time turned the tables on her so she was the one killed, then camped the respawn point to kill her repeatedly. 

Once I’d finished packing away the few tools I’d left out, I grabbed a single piece of paper from my bag and a pen to write a brief note to my brother.

Markion, 

 If you’re reading this you’ve arrived in Hathus, and I haven’t returned before your arrival. I’m sorry for leaving on my own, I needed some time alone to work through some things. 

After arriving in Hathus, I met a group who’ve asked me to join their team in the dungeon. They’re just so friendly, I can’t help but be ‘lured’ in.  

Hope to see you soon, 

Kadia. 

P.S Tell Bastian to give Killian back his two gold, because they were wrong about me dying. Let them both know I’ve got a pair of darts with their names on them. What those darts are dosed with depends on how convincing their apologies are, same goes for anyone else who was betting on me. Which better not include you, or it’ll be Scorcher venom regardless of any apology you may give. 

When the ink was dry, I rolled up the letter and sealed it with wax, using my guild token as a stamp. With the letter safely tucked away in my bag, I continued packing up my tent. I’d visit the administrator’s tent before leaving Hathus with my new friends to give the letter to him along with a sizable bribe to ensure it was given to Markion if the group showed up after I left. 

As I rode out of Hathus with the three girls, I was grateful for the cloth mask covering the lower half of my face, as it hid the wide smile I was unable to keep off my face. I’d been considering the need for live test subjects for an experiment I wanted to conduct with the Scorcher venom, and was planning on finding some small animals to use. Now a set of fortunate circumstances gave me an Orc, a Dark Elf and Human to test out my theories on.