"Mother puss bucket! What the hell kind of freaky ass mini-me grunge-ring reject was that thing!?" It takes a bit of concentration to keep my knees from knocking together or folding up and dumping me onto the floor completely.

"It's a Blyght." Kryst lets out a cough.

"Blight?" I wring out my hands, flexing my fingers to get the last of the numbness out of them.

"Blyght. Emphasis on the 'y.'"

"How is that any different from what I said?"

Sitting upon my shoulder, wrapped in a dry face cloth blanket, Kryst ignores the clarification question. "As for what it was? Blyght's are fairies that have suffered some form of magical corruption. Enough that it's twisted their very essence into a sort of antithesis of what they should be."

Kryst is shivering as if she's freezing. The normally near fluorescent coloration of her hair and eyes has faded to a washed-out magenta. Even her dragonfly-like wings hang limply from her back. The shimmering, rainbow iridescence replaced with a foggy, dull gray membrane.

It's been a few minutes since the creature was put down, and it's taken us that long to get our stomachs and breathing under control. Kryst seems to have taken the worst of it. Followed by me and then Cinnamon.

"It's a perversion. Fairies are the essence of... " Kryst pauses. "They create. Breathe health, enrich nature. Whether that be flora or fauna, fairy's bring life wherever they tread; or wing about, as the case may be." Kryst looks up with a precocious, yet slightly sad, smirk. "There's a reason why all fairies are female you know."

"There are no male fairy's?" Cinnamon pipes in from the doorway. Now no longer caught up in our previous lusty fervor that adorable bashfulness of hers has quickly returned. She's slipped on a pale baby-blue shirt, probably from my wardrobe as it seems to have a male cut to the design. Tented out over her chest and hanging just long enough to teasingly cover her gorgeous, naughty little nookie, the tantalizing outfit makes her look even more sexual. Like she is getting ready to lounge on an animal skin rug in front of a fireplace for a playmate centerfold shot.

"Not a one." Kryst answers. "At least not any that are birthed on the prime material plane that is. If you do see a male fairy you can bet gold that they made a deal or managed to slip through some kind of rift or portal directly from the FaeWylde."

I tighten the towel around my waist also feeling a bit aware of my nakedness after the fight. Cinnamon glances over but then averts her eyes and dives into her pack, pulling out and placing on the floor what I now recognize as her Herbalist kit.

"You remember my talk from before, yeah? How fairy's can, and do, restore balance to nature?"

"The way my head is pounding right now?" I manage a pathetic smile. "How about I lie I say that I do."

"Well, what you were saying about the other fairies not liking that one now makes sense. A Blyght is like a parasite. They leach Mana from their surroundings. Consume it. And so as a consequence just like their name suggests wherever they go pestilence follows. Plants, wither and die. Animals and people get sick. The land itself can get corrupted as they draw the essence from everything around them."

"So is this something that happens naturally to fairies? Or some kind of disease? She seemed a little sickly looking, but to turn into…" I indicate the oily mess on the floor. The corpse of the fairy is bubbling, dissolving in front of our eyes. Judging by the speed of its liquefaction it wouldn't be long until it's nothing but pooled sludge staining the white tile. "How did it change into that thing?"

"It's not a natural occurrence. Technically, anyway." Still shivering, Kryst looks up. "Areas with high levels of chaotic energy or where powerful necromantic residue exists. Places where the elemental planes have been weakened, where the land has been so twisted by calamity that the rules of nature no longer apply. War-torn battlefields where death has occurred on a massive scale, you know, magical wastelands and cursed earth. Those are the sorts of places that Blyghts may spawn as a sort of unnatural 'natural' phenomenon."

"So what caused this one to go all horror show freak of the week then?" Moving about the room I collect my scattered tools along with the various springs, cogs, screws and assorted pieces and pile the lot back into my bags and tinkerers kits.

"It must have been some kind of magical catalyst, but we are definitely partially responsible." Kryst rubs her chin with finger and thumb in thought

"Us? What do you mean?" Cinnamon straightens from where she is bent over her bag.

"Our little frisky frolicking fun time. Sexual activity. I told you both before. Copulation is a powerful thing. The joining of beings. Opening those gates. Evoking a connection to the spark of life."

"Wait, this thing became a monster... Because we got jiggy with it?" I boggle.

"Definitely." Kryst nods.

"Kryst? You said cursed earth." Cinnamon glances between us both. "Are you saying what happened to her… was because of… me?" At her thighs both hands are wringing at the edge of her shirt, crumpling the material, her big brown eyes full of worry. "Because of my curse?"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Don't fret." Kryst regards Cinnamon with an unusually compassionate look. "The corruption had already taken root in her. She was going to turn no matter what. The outpouring of Mana from each of us simply sped up the process. In fact, we probably saved her a lot of time in pain-and-suffering. I don't imagine it was a very pleasant experience for her."

I step over to Cinnamon and give her a reassuring hug. Squeezing her tight. We don't linger long and pull back and indicate her side trying to move the subject along.

"How is your side? I saw that it scratched you."

"It stings but it doesn't hurt too much." Lifting her shirt slightly over her hip she winces then spreads that same salve she had used on my hands back at the lift onto the dark bruise where the Blyght tagged her.

The small catlike scratches quickly disappear, however, the dark veining stays. Cinnamon pouts and dives into her bag again. Retrieving her leather arm and leg guards she pulls a few small potion bottles free from the various loop holders.

Glancing over Kryst does an immediate double-take as her eyes lock onto one of the glass tubes in particular.

"Carrots? Is that a Mana potion?"

"Yes." Cinnamon nods. "Sometimes I need to use them as ingredients for--"

"Girl, I will suck your clit for that thing."

Cinnamon's ears stiffen and her eyes go so wide I'm surprised they don't pop out of her head. "That's not… you don't have to…" The bunny girl ducks her head glancing my way. Cheeks and ears tinged with a fierce blush she passes me the indicated vial, the contents glowing red. "You can have it. I am afraid it's not a very strong one."

"I will take what I can get." Kryst is already waving her hands at me in a 'give it here' motion. I uncork test tube size bottle with a thumb and hold it steady for the Gleam who drinks it down like a person dying of thirst. Color flushes her hair immediately, her limp crinkled wings, curled at the edges straighten and begin to unfurl. A bit of that beautiful rainbow sheen returning.

"Oh damn. That's good Mana." Kryst leans back against the side of my cheek a bit out of breath, wiping the back of her wrist over her mouth. When she sits forward and her eyes open, sure enough, a touch of that molten fire has returned.

"Feeling better?" I ask.

"Much." Kryst shrugs off her blanket and flicks her wings. "If I hadn't been so weakened already I could put up more of a fight, but dealing with that thing with so little oil in the lamp really knocked the ship out of my sails-- what are you doing?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure." Leaning over I inspect the body of the Blyght. It's all but gone now, leaving a foul ooze and a cloying sulfurous smell to the air. Using the flat of my dagger I scrape the remaining condensed sludge from the now brown stained tile into the empty vial. A drop of the red Mana potion clinging to the inside of the tube bubbles and smokes briefly as the viscous fluid touches it.

I re-cork the vial and give it a quick Analysis

Vial of Blyght Blood: Magical Component

This foul substance contains concentrated Void energy and might be useful in spells and rituals that require necromantic components or in crafting items with magically disruptive properties.

"I'm not trying to be disrespectful or anything, but we have no idea what's going on. Maybe this could be evidence or perhaps could come in handy down the line. Either way, I don't want to just leave it here."

"I suppose you have a point." Kryst says, "Wouldn't do to have anybody stepping in it. I seriously doubt that it would brighten their day." Climbing to her feet she glances down at my arms. "Speaking of looking under the weather, how are you doing, Too Tall."

Following Kryst's indicated gaze I glance down to where the Blyght had touched me. My forearms and fingers actually look thinner, the once deep midnight indigo skin is tight and ashen. The white and purple spider web of veins around my hands and wrists have faded a little, I think, but the entire area is still painfully tender.

"Hey, Kryst? That thing wasn't poisonous, right?"

"I have antitoxin!" Cinnamon immediately holds up a couple of bottles.

Kryst shakes her head. "Don't waste them. There is no venom or anything which needs to be neutralized in the wounds."

That was good news at least, but I feel so weak and feeble. Physically drained. My skin is clammy. I cough and manage to push down the sneeze tickling at the back of my sinus cavity. Groaning as my nostrils clog with mucus. Then a horrible thought crosses my mind. "Did you say that these things spread sickness? It didn't have... I dunno, the plague or something, did it?"

"Nah." The Gleam shakes her head. "Along with sucking away Mana their touch is more of a vitality leeching. Which means you would be more susceptible to external stimuli like poisons, contracting a disease or wound infections; but we should be fine."

A Constitution drain?! No wonder I feel so friggin sickly. If this world operated like most role-playing games did and your main core stats were ever reduced to zero that usually meant straight up death. If so, these little monsters were super dangerous.

"If we'd encountered this thing out the wild there would probably have been other nasty creatures drawn to the corrupted environment around it. Plague Rats, Undead, Rotyughls and Filth Feeders. Things which could exist in a twisted sort of symbiosis with it."

I take it back. Having one creature lower your stats and another follow-up with disease-transmitting attacks or special abilities that requires some sort of Constitution saving throw to negate? Talk about bolstering a challenge rating. Dangerous definitely wasn't the right term, downright deadly is more like it.

"The life-draining effects of a Blyght are temporary. Still, it's a good thing we put it out of its misery when we did. If that scuffle had continued much longer…" Kryst's eyes dart toward the brittle, dried up plants in the corners of the room.

"Most of the supplies that I have on hand are only good for simple herbal remedies. But I may have something that can help with raising our vitality." Opening a pouch the Lepuri girl shows off what appears to be a couple of dry, rust-colored, garlic bulbs.

"These are usually used to increase one's resistance to poison for a short time by bolstering a person's fortitude. You just grind them up and sprinkle a bit into food or drink. Based on what you are describing Kryst they should help us recover faster." Cinnamon dips her head. "It does cause a mild sense of… intoxication though."

Passive Insight vs Cinnamon Butter: Fail!

"Carrots." Kryst grins. "You are fast becoming my favorite person. That's perfect. In fact, that's exactly what we need." Flicking the tip of my ear to get my attention Kryst points down the hallway. "Too Tall? I saw a couple of bottles of wine on the snack trays out there. Why don't you go grab 'em. We have some drinking to do."