Ray

"So, what happened?" Ray asked, sitting up.

"The Xnarthan poisoned Anita using Fae blood." the Dean said. Ray paused, that had to be a coincidence, right?

"Fae blood is one of the most poisonous substances I know of, so it's not too surprising that the Xnarthan used it, but it did raise my suspicions. " The Dean said.

"Wait, you thought that I poisoned Anita?" Ray asked, flabbergasted.

"I don't actually know you that well…and a secret agent would be capable of anything." the Dean said, shrugging.

"Why would I work with the Xnarthan? I would never work with them, they hate me with a passion." Ray said, what made him think that he would ever work with those xenophobic bastards.

"The Fae could be behind the Xnarthan, helping them conquer lands. Just because they are a different species doesn't mean that they couldn't also hate the Elves. Perhaps they thought the Xnarthan weren't a big enough threat to fear. After all, they once had an Empire quite like this." the Dean said.

Ray knew that it was technically a possibility, but the thought of his species supporting the Xnarhtan made him want to puke.

"The Emperor has suddenly conquered the Dwarven continent, it is suspicious that he was able to do it so fast. I would have thought that he would take longer to do it. The speed implies that he has a support of some kind. "

"Is Anita alright? “Ray remembered that there were some antidotes for Fae blood, Aunty Ariana should have gotten them for her by now.

"Not quite, the blood used was a Fae Duke's. The antidotes aren't powerful enough to stop it." the Dean said, seemingly reading Ray’s mind.

Ray spit out his water. A Fae Duke? The title seemed like something that belonged to a powerful person. How did the Xnarthan get the blood of a Fae that powerful?

"Is there really no antidote?" Ray asked.

"No, I haven't encountered such blood before, so I can't say, but the usual antidotes won't work. The Xnarthan have one, though, they're demanding that your Aunt become a slave to them to save your sister." the Dean said, his tone morose.

"I thought slavery was banned in the Empire!” Ray exclaimed, shocked at the news.

"Not any more, apparently. The Emperor wants the Marchioness as a slave, and he isn't going to let something as minor as a law stop him from getting what he wants."

"What can we- I mean, I, do? '' Ray asked, wondering if the Dean was still going to help after the-ugh- Fae thing.

"Do you think I still have a choice?" the Dean said, looking at him with a surprising amount of disappointment on his face.

"Yes?" Ray answered, not quite understanding what this was about.

"No, I don't. I chose my side when I took you in as a disciple, the Xnarthan won't let me be free for much longer. Why do you think I was so angry?"

"So…what are you going to do?" Ray asked, hoping the Dean had a solution.

"For now, I am going to teleport Anita to the Treasury and run some tests. The Fae illusion stone should be able to tell us more too." the Dean said, heading out. Ray followed, wincing as his thighs protested the movement. Why was his body aching too?

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The Dean walked to the gate of the Treasury a few meters away, making Ray wonder why he hadn't noticed the room before. The answer became clear when they entered the Treasury from a different location. The room was in another part of the building entirely.

The Dean tapped his staff, covering the weapons with pink mana from the Fae illusion stone, hiding them.

A vortex of purple mana appeared, starting to teleport Anita, only to be stopped by huge reddish-yellow lines appearing within it. The Dean reinforced his casting, fighting the reddish-yellow lines and teleporting a few people in.

Torrin, what looked to be a doctor, Uncle Trevor, Aunt Ariana and Anita. Ray rushed to Anita's side, trying to see what was wrong with her, as his mana vision returned.

A blood-red dot was sitting on her stomach, making it hard for her mana to travel and disrupting her entire system.

"Dean Ronne! Will you be aiding us in our effort?"the doctor said, his eyes practically gleaming at the prospect.

"Yes, it would appear so. What is her diagnosis?" the Dean asked, looking at Anita carefully.

"The Fae blood is blocking her mana from flowing, her body will shut down in weeks if she isn't cured." the doctor said, eager to show his expertise. Ray knew that the Dean, like most Alchemists, was also a doctor, but he didn’t know that he was good enough to get admiration like this.

"Not weeks, days." Ray said.

"What do you mean?" the doctor said, frowning.

"The Fae blood is resting in her stomach, it's affecting the flow in her appendages the most." Ray said.

"I don't know how you are able to claim to know the location of the blood, young man, but even if you are right, the arms and legs will go first. Anita's life should not be impacted by such a loss." the doctor said.

"The head is an appendage too. The arms and legs will go first, but the head will be soon after. Anita can't live without that." Ray said, observing the flow of mana closely. The body was forming mini circulations to provide mana, it was why she had days.

The mana ricocheted off the Fae blood and right back into the arm, forming an oval shape. The same was repeated in every appendage. But a little mana was lost every time a collision occurred. Anita would die in days.

"What do you see, Ray?" the Dean asked.

"The blood isn't normal, it's clotted on itself." Ray said.

"Yes, that is what blood does." the doctor said.

"Not Fae blood. Fae are creatures of mana, mana isn't nearly as adhesive as Human blood. Not to mention, it's too red. The mana isn't enough, either." Ray concentrated on the blood, trying to observe it. The process was slow, the blood seemed to actively shifting on itself…and ricocheting even less mana. "What is it, Ray?" the Dean asked, losing patience.

"The blood…it's mixed with Human blood. No, not Human, something else. Humanoid, but not Human or Fae. I haven't seen it before." Ray said.

"Why mix it?" Uncle Trevor asked, his confusion clear.

"To preserve it." Ray said, somewhat certain. "The Fae blood is even less than we thought, but it's actively fighting with the other blood, forcing it to be active longer. I suspect that ht Xnarthan have had this for years, they used this other blood to keep the Fae blood potent, and increase it's deadliness."

"Do you have any solution?" the Dean asked,

"No, I can't think of a single herb that can affect something so tiny. Not one that Anita can sustain." Ray said, desperately going through the list of herbs he knew in his head.

"What do you think we should do next?" the Dean asked. "Can you think of a combination, or something-"

"No, there is no time. The poison is even more deadly than I thought, it's changing position, rendering Anita's defenses moot. As it stands, she has less than 24 hours." Ray said as Torrin began sniffling. Wait, Torrin? Why was that guy the one crying out of all of them?

"What, I can feel sad, you know? Anita was nice to me!" Torrin said to the turned faces.

"Ray, come with me, we need to start comparing herbs, trying to see what might work-" the Dean began, but Ray cut him off

"No, we don't have time." Ray said.

"I presume you don't mean giving up." the Dean said.

"The Satyrs." Ray said.

"The city is on lockdown, even I would have a hard time teleporting you down to the Commoner's district. Not to mention you might not get through to a Satyr Elder fast enough, they are quite busy." the Dean said.

"I have a better idea." Ray said, removing a single golden flute.

"I can't sense that." Aunty Ariana said, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"The Satyr Elder gave me this to use in case I needed help." Ray said. "I can get through to the Satyrs."

"The Satyrs." Uncle Trevor said, his tone filled with anger, "Do you not think the Xnarthan will be even more furious on having their presence here? I am sure they have eyes here already."

"The Xnarthan won't know." the Dean said, letting the Fae stone's mana fluctuate, drawing the attention of the high Tiered people in the room.

"What place is this?" Uncle Trevor asked, on guard.

"The Treasury, a place where I keep things I don't want the Emperor to know about. To the Xnarthan, Anita disappeared from Afrieal a few minutes ago." the Dean said, letting the mana fade away to reveal the rows of weapons.