Dmitri strolled over to where Claudia and Wayte were in deep conversation, “I’ve cured it,” he said casually. Claudia stopped mid-sentence and turned to stare at him, “You what?” she asked.
“I’ve cured the disease,” he repeated as calmly as before.
“What? How?” exclaimed Claudia.
Dmitri explained the process he had used. After he had finished, Claudia asked if that would actually cure someone.
“I believe so,” said Dmitri, “I’ll have to modify it somewhat because this will cure an existing affliction.”
Wayte interrupted them, “That’s great news Dmitri, but I have to go before I am missed. Call for someone when you are ready to announce your success to Draycott. I will leave the two of you to figure out the technical details.” He then left the room and locked the door behind him.
“What didn’t you want Wayte to hear?” asked Claudia after Wayte had left.
“How did you-“ he started, but cut off as he saw Claudia’s knowing expression, “Well yes I guess you do know me well enough. We are going to have to inflict someone with the disease; the mixture that produces the extended version.”
“But you have cured it haven’t you?” asked Claudia confused.
“Yes, but we need Uriel if we’re to have any chance to escape Draycott and defeat Akahaziel, so we need to summon him,” explained Dmitri.
“So we just send Wayte,” suggested Claudia, “I still don’t understand why you don’t want to tell him about Uriel.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“If Wayte knew that we could summon Uriel on holy ground, then Draycott would know.” Dmitri said, and then began to explain, “Not because Wayte would tell him, but because between Draycott and Arcaedus, they can read people. Draycott would use the knowledge and set a trap. I’m not sure what would happen in a battle between an angel and a demon, but I’d prefer to dictate the terms myself. I don’t think that Uriel would come for Wayte anyway, he would sense the residue of Draycott having controlled him and think it was a trap.”
“So what do we do?” asked Claudia.
“Well, as I said,” Started Dmitri, “we ask Draycott for a prisoner to test the disease on. He’ll send one down, find the disease perfect and then send the prisoner out to infect the French. The disease will abate and the prisoner will be fine. He’ll then go to some holy ground and summon Uriel for us.”
“It’s that simple?” asked Claudia.
“Well if everything goes according to plan anyway.” Replied Dmitri soberly, “Anything can go wrong. We need to be prepared for any eventuality.”
“So what do you need me to do?” asked Claudia.
“For now, make any potion that can be used as a weapon,” instructed Dmitri. “If it explodes or incapacitates, we want it. I’ll let you know if I need anything else.” He started towards his samples to continue working.
Claudia spoke up, “Dmitri, the last few days have been good to me. You have been good to me. I just want you to know that I am so much happier when I am with you. Once we’re out of here, I will go wherever you do.”
Dmitri had turned back to her as she had started to speak, and as she finished, he gathered her into an embrace and held her tightly. He took a step back, brushed a strand of her away from her face and planted a kiss on her lips. “It’s a deal,” he said softly and kissed her again.
Dmitri’s next task was to create a self-curing version of the disease, and with a limited number of rats, he had to work carefully. Keeping each rat in an individual enclosure, he exposed the first one to the disease. It immediately began to exhibit the black sores and wheezing that he and Claudia had seen in the rat earlier. Having already linked with Claudia, he drew the glyph for water around the rat and let it seep in.