Taking the earthen bowl I had noticed earlier from the altar, the priest walked over to the person furthest to the left of the room and held the bowl out in front of him. The individual, a thin, pale man wearing the clothes of the kitchen staff, held out his finger and used the needle in front of him to make a small puncture in the skin. The man let a few droplets of blood drip from the wound into the bowl before pulling his finger back. The priest moved onto the next person on the table, and the same ritual happened, and the woman added her own blood to the bowl. This went on for several minutes, and by the time the last person had finished, the bowl was 1/4th full.

The priest placed the bowl in front of the statue, and pulled out a red candle from his pocket. He placed the candle inside the bowl of blood before lighting it, and left the bowl in front of the hole in the window behind the altar. The candle fluttered in the gentle breeze, but it didn’t go out.

The ceremony went on for another half an hour, with the priest talking to each person about their supposed blessing and hardships. He would give advice to every person in regards to their issue with enthusiasm and sympathy. After talking to the last person, the ceremony ended, and people slowly began to disperse.

I walked over to Venari, who was still standing in front of one of the tables, looking at the candle in the earthen bowl of blood.

“Well, that was definitely interesting,” I commented.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” she replied with a wry smile.

“So what was all the blood and candle for?”

“The clay bowl, red candle, blood, and breeze represent the four most common earthly laws in the world,” she explained. “We also attend The Reference at dusk, when light and dark are equal.”

“What about all the other laws, like the Universal Laws?”

“The Universal Laws are already present all around us, so there is no need to represent them.”

I nodded in understanding. “And what was the whole ‘sacrifica matris honorama’ thing about?”

“That simply means ‘we honor the mother’s sacrifice’ in ancient Pithan. We say it before offering our sacrifices to her.”

“Eve, you getting all this?”

“[Yes. I am recording all the information you have gathered.]”

I chatted with Venari for a while longer. I learned that the words she had said before entering the room meant ‘enter and be blessed,’ in the same ancient language. Apparently, it was customary to say the phrase before entering any religious area.

Suddenly, Eve brought an alert from one of the Predators to my attention.

“[Alert. Patient Nicodemus Marsus has gone into tachycardia. Cardiac arrest is expected within 1 minute.]”

“Shit!” I yelled aloud, startling Venari.

“Is something wrong?” she asked worriedly, but I couldn’t afford to waste time answering her. I sprinted out of the room, pushing some of the lingering people aside.

“MOVE!” I shouted, trying to clear the hallway. The servants looked at me oddly, but they moved immediately when they heard Venari shout, “Listen to him!” from behind me.

“Eve, help me retrace my steps!”

“Calculating route…turn left and go down the stairs in 18 meters.”

With Eve’s help, I was able to make my way back towards Nicodemus's room without Venari. I could hear her chasing after me, but I was slowly drawing further and further away from her. I occasionally had to dodge around people, including the butler I had seen earlier and a red-faced and sweaty servant, but luckily they barely slowed me down.

When I got to the room, I burst through the door, looking around wildly. The Predators were clustered around Nicodemus, administering various medications. All of a sudden, the monitor showed a flatline and let out a long drawn out beep.

“Out of the way!” I shouted. The Predators reacted to my orders instantly, making room for me to rush to Nicodemus’s site. I immediately tore off the blankets and started CPR while yelling, “Get the epinephrine and defibrillator!”

“[Are you sure you should use epinephrine? He may be allergic to it.]”

“WELL I THINK HE HAS A BIGGER ALLERGY TO FUCKING DEATH, OK?!?”

Behind me, Venari leaned on the doorframe, panting slightly. She looked confusedly at the monitor that was still emitting the flatline tone, before her eyes widened in horror. “I can’t sense his vitae…” she said in a small voice. “WHY CAN’T I SENSE HIS VITAE?!?” she screamed.

“FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHUT UP! I’M TRYING TO BRING HIM BACK HERE!” I roared back.

My robotic assistants had grabbed the syringe of epinephrine and jabbed it into his thigh. Another one placed the defibrillator electrodes on his chest and handed me the paddles. Grabbing them, I yelled, “Clear!” before administering the shock. I looked at the monitor but saw no change in his pulse. “Clear!” I said again and gave him a second shock.

“Shit shit shit, still no change!”

“CLEAR!” I shouted for the third time. Nicodemus arched slightly, and I finally heard the beautiful sound of his heartbeat on the monitor. I let out a big sigh of relief, and let the Predators take care of the rest. I sat down on a nearby chair and went limp, completely drained by the stressful situation.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“What happened, Eve? I thought he was stable? He should have been fine…”

“[You are correct. There was nothing to indicate the possibility of sudden cardiac arrest.]”

I was startled out of my thoughts by Venari grabbing my shoulder from behind. “What happened?!?” she demanded. “Is he ok?!?”

I exhaled tiredly. “Yeah. He should be all right now. But this shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

“What do you mean?”

“I checked everything before we left. He was stable. Even if I don’t know what’s wrong with him, I could at least treat the symptoms. I don’t understand how his heart just stopped out of the blue…”

“Hold on. Did you say his heart stopped?!?”

“Oh, yeah,” I waved her off, “I fixed it.”

“But…I didn’t sense you use the Law of Life or the Law of Undeath or anything like that…”

“Ha!” I barked out a short laugh, “Nope, none of that fancy magic shit. Just good ol’ fashioned drugs and science.”

“That’s impossible though,” Venari muttered under her breath. “Even if you were an undeath or life mage, you still can’t bring someone who was dead back to life. At best, you could have turned him into a wraith or revenant.”

“What are wraiths and revenants?”

“The highest level undead. They retain their memories and personality, but still have to deal with the ravenous hunger that all undead have. I know for certain I wouldn’t stand a chance against one of them. But the fact that I can’t feel the Law of Undeath coming from him rules out that possibility.”

“Huh. That’s pretty cool actually.”

Venari stared at me with a strange look. “Just who are you?”

I shrugged. “I’m just me. That’s all there is to it.”

“[The test results are ready. There are high levels of Aconitine in his body. Aconitine poisoning would cause the tingling in his mouth, vomiting, and abdominal pain.]”

“How the hell would he get aconitine poisoning?”

“[Aconitine can primarily be found in various plant species of the Aconitum genus, such as wolfsbane.]”

“Wolfsbane? Does that mean…”

I looked around the room more closely. Everything looked just as it had when I left, except for one thing. A nearly empty bowl of still-warm stew sat on a table in the corner. Walking over, I used the spoon that was next to the bowl to push the stew around. Spotting something, I pulled out a small root that had been added in.

“So does that mean this is…”

“[Yes.]”

“Predators,” I asked out of the blue. “Who has been in this room since I left?”

“Accessing recording…sending memory files…” each one said simultaneously.

I felt a stream of data enter my mind, and using my connection to the machines, I opened the data files. I abruptly started seeing the room from one of the Predator’s points of view, about 15 minutes ago.This particular one had been standing next to the bed, keeping a constant watch on Nicodemus. The others were busy overseeing the tests or setting up various machines when someone knocked on the door. Every robot in the room turned their heads to look at the source of the noise.

“Identify yourself and state your purpose,” the closest Predator ordered.

“Er, my name is Hayek. I’m here to deliver food to Sir Marsus…” a nasally voice said from behind the door. The Predators all looked at each other as if trying to gauge the threat level this person presented.

“You are free to enter,” the robot finally said.

A small click was heard as the door handle was pulled, revealing a servant who was sweating profusely.

I frowned mentally, feeling as though I had seen him before.

“Any idea where he’s from?”

“[You ran past him when you were running back to this room.]”

A memory flashed in my mind of the red-faced and sweaty servant I had dodged past in the hallway.

“Venari,” I said, exiting out of the data file, “do you have a servant named Hayek?”

“Yes?” she replied confusedly. “He works with the kitchen I believe, and he’s been part of the household for several years now.”

“Is he always the one who brings Nicodemus his food?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?

“He’s a traitor.”

I held up a hand to stifle her next words. “Hold on, let me explain. This,” I said, holding up the root, “is the root of the wolfsbane plant. It is filled with a poison called aconitine. Boiling it reduces its toxicity, so unless a chef somehow managed to add this in before sending it off with nobody else in the kitchen noticing, especially considering this has been going on for over a month, then Hayek is the main suspect.”

Venari digested my words for a few moments. “Cella!” she called out. The butler came within moments, bowing slightly when he entered the room.

“You called, my lady?”

“Go find Hayek and bring him here. Also, have all the kitchen staff assemble in the main hall. I wish to talk to them.”

“Very well my lady.”

The butler left to fulfill his orders, and Venari turned to me. “What does this wolfsbane plant look like?”

“Eve?”

After hearing Eve’s answer, I responded, “It’s a purple flower with stalks about a meter long. The flowers themselves are sort of helmet shaped, which is also why some people call it monkshood or devil’s helmet.”

“Purple flowers like helmets…” Venari muttered. She seemed absorbed in her own thoughts, so I didn’t speak. “The only plant I know that matches that description is one known as royal helms,” she said slowly, “and their poison and effects match Nicodemus’s symptoms. But it can only be found in the Thenian mountains, with the Yanwu. Acquiring them isn’t easy.”

“I guess Nicodemus has some enemies then,” I shrugged.

I worked to treat Nicodemus for a while longer. Even though I couldn’t directly cure the aconitine poison, I could at least treat the effects. And although it was a bit gross, I did have to perform a stomach pump on him to get whatever other wolfsbane roots he had ingested out of his system. Luckily, Venari didn’t impale me this time.

As soon as I finished, the butler returned. “My lady, Hayek is not in the mansion.”

I noticed Venari clench her fist in anger. “Have any of the guards seen him?”

“The guards at the front said he left to run a few errands and has not yet returned. Also, the kitchen staff are waiting as you commanded.”

“Very well. Evan, come with me,” she said while standing up.