“What happened?” I ask Seir as I run a wet cloth over Wolf’s feverish head. Seir works quickly to grind up ingredients in a mortar for a healing potion. The Black Shrewk is currently sitting perched on the counter watching us work. It hasn’t flown away, to my surprise. Maybe it still doesn't know it's way back. Maybe I need to take it to the very edge of the forest for it to go in.

Or maybe, it was trapped in the forest like the rest of the creatures and it was enjoying its freedom.

Either way, I'm happy I thought to take it because it came in handy for that healing potion.

Wolf...

Every time I look at his still form I feel a little panicky. I've never seen Wolf like this before. I've never seen him unconscious either, except when asleep or dead.

Hopefully, he's not dead.

No, he can't be. Seir said he wasn't and besides, I can still see his chest rising weakly.

“We found his mother,” Seir says. “She’s being kept in a forest deep in the Midlands that we can only access through the portals. And the room is bound by the magic tower.”

“The magic tower?” I blink at him. “What do they have to do with this?”

"I’m not sure. Perhaps the King and the Raven’s contracted them.”

I suppose I can ask the Ravens when I see them. I would have asked them about Wolf's mother earlier if I knew this would be the result.

"Wolf tried to force his way through the magic barrier and it nearly killed him."

"It was that strong?"

"It's the strongest I've ever seen. It works by sucking out one's vitality and mana until they were merely a husk. I could see it weakening Wolf but he kept going, insisting he could break it." Seir shakes his head. "He would have killed himself eventually if he didn't stop."

“God.” I shudder.

“Luckily, I got him to stop by saying your name. I told him that you might be in danger. I read between the lines of what you asked the Raven Lord for and knew you were trying to sneak into the castle. Wolf knew it too, and I think that memory was what brought him back."

I glance at Wolf my heart melting and aching at the same time. He came back for me?

I debate whether or not to tell Seir that the King is dead but ultimately decide against it. The less he knows the better. That way he has plausible deniability and won't know anything in case the Farrow Witch looks into his mind.

“The Farrow Witch,” I ask him. “Has she ever tried to read your mind before?”

Seir looks taken aback by the question. “No. She’s not….she’s not what you think, you know?”

“I don’t think anything.”

“Yes, you do. I see the way you look at her like she’s a demon spawn. I know most people have these misconceptions about Farrow Witches, but she's not like that at all. She’s gruff and harsh but she has never once used her power to subjugate anyone even though I know she can. I think she has a moral principle against it."

“She does?” That works in my favor then.

"Yes. She avoids using her powers in general. She only heals with them sometimes and tries to use potions as much as possible.” he says. “And she's not too fond of the King. I’m pretty sure he keeps her bound here with some kind of magical contract she can’t escape.”

I nod. More good news. If the Farrow Witch disliked the King then she probably wound't be too motivated to look into his death. An even if she does, perhaps I can cut a deal with her. Maybe convince her that I have the gem her Empress wants so badly and I can show her where it is.

Until then, I need to focus on tying off the rest of the loose ends. No one but Caster saw me in the King's quarters, and Caster distracted the guards so I could sneak back into his room too.

Caster will act as my alibi and I'll be his. And the chiefs will close the case quickly once they see the King's state so as not to cause widespread chaos.

Still, it feels too easy getting away with this. I need to stay on alert.

“If she ever does try to read your mind,” I tell Seir. “There are ways to confuse her. Push irrelevant memories to the front of your mind and overwhelm her with them so she can't see what's deeper."

He smiles. “I’ll keep that in mind. But is there any reason you think the witch might search my memories?”

“Just a thought,” I say, and then I admit. "I think I have the ingredients for the cure."

I say it in such a casual tone that it takes Seir a couple of blinking seconds to realize. "What?"

"I..." I sigh. "I don't know how to explain it, but I think that Wolf and I are two of those ingredients. And the boar is the third."

"You mean the one the King caught?"

"Yes. It has gems for eyes and I believe that the Forest was using those gems to control and trap it."

"That's..." His words trail off as he stares into space. "That's plausible I suppose. But what is this about you and Wolf?"

I try to think of how to say it without sounding crazy and without revealing secrets.

"Well, Wolf has a link to both alchemy and magic, as though he's part of both worlds. And I..." I shrug. "Let's just say I have it on good authority that my body makes a good conduit."

"What authority?"

"It's hard to explain. Can we just try?"

He nods slowly. "Back in the forest, when Wolf was trying to break through the barrier, there was a split second when his face changed. It looked like he was turning into...something."

I nod, somehow not surprised. It's actually more astonishing that it took me this long to realize. I mean I had my suspicions about Wolf but nothing like this.

No wonder he kept an eye out for the full moon.

Seir watches me carefully. "What is he exactly?"

I smile weakly. "You can ask him when he wakes up."

Seir sighs, looking back down to his mortar. "I feel like my world has gotten crazier since I met you."

"Sorry," I say automatically.

He grins wryly. "Don't be. I never said crazy was bad. And to answer your question, yes, I suppose we can experiment with the boar, your blood, and Wolf's. It will only take a moment for us to know if it creates the potion or not."

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

I nod.

The bird lets out a chirp of warning before vanishing into dust. I run over to grab its stone, tucking it away a second before the door bursts open.

Seir and I both jerk as four Elite Soldiers fill the doorway ;

“What is the meaning of this?” I ask as they start moving through the cottage throwing open doors and upending furniture.

The white-haired one from before is amongst them and he gets in my face.

“Where were you?” he says.

“What do you mean?”

“Search everywhere. Leave no stone unturned.” He tells his fellow soldiers and then turns back to me. “Now tell me where you were?”

"I was with the prince until recently,” I announce. "You can ask him if you don’t believe me.”

“And what were you doing with the Prince?"

“I don’t believe that’s any of your business.”

He grabs me by the front of my tunic.

"Hey," Seir calls out in protest.

"Be quiet, healer."

"What do you want from me?" I ask steadily. "My discussion with the Prince is private but if you are that desperate to know you can ask him."Try harassing Prince Caster and see what happens.

His lips tighten. "The Prince raised the alarm. The King is dead."

I feign shock. “What?”

“Yes. According to guards who were supposed to keep watch, the King sensed an intruder and sent them to find him. By the time they returned, the intruder had already killed the King and fled into the night."

“That’s horrible.” I slap my hand over my mouth and turn to Seir. I'm glad I didn't tell him about the King's death. His shock is real. His eyes hold mine wide with horror and I look away. “But I fail to see why you're searching my home. Surely, you don’t think I killed the king.”

He analyzes me. “Perhaps not. But maybe you colluded with the intruder. We know you’ve been to visit the Ravens several times and it's said the intruder might have used some special magical tools to get in."

"Special magical tools? I don't know what that is, and furthermore, I came to the castle today to warn the prince about an intruder. I had a vision about it. Why would I do that if I were working with the intruder?"

"But you don't deny your relationship with the Ravens."

"Whatever relationship we had was contrived by the King himself. He wanted me to act as a spy. If you think the Ravens had a hand in this then go question them. Why would I kill the King when I recently received an offer to become his advisor?"

"You lie." Vincent appears aghast.

I roll my eyes. "Ask Sir Tyne if you don't believe me."

His eyes blaze. "It’s suspicious that you were on the Castle the same day the king was killed.”

“Yes, but I’ve been at the Castle many times and the King has not died any of those times."

“Regardless. You’ll come with us for questioning.”

"No, I won't," I say firmly. "My friend is wounded and I can't leave him now."

His eyes finally leave me to find Wolf on the bed.

"How did he get like that?" he asks suspiciously.

"Who knows? Perhaps it's the same intruder who killed the King."

Vincent's face tightens in anger and I continue, "You can't arrest me without a reason. I may be a muzungu but I know my rights. Ask Prince Caster and he'll be able to vouch for me. And if you do somehow have evidence that I committed this heinous crime, only then can you come for me."

He glares down at me, but I don't back down. And I know I'm right when he doesn't make any further move to arrest me.

The clamoring has stopped which means that the men have finished their search for the intruder and found nothing.

Vincent throws me away from him but I maintain my balance, regarding him coolly as he turns around and walks out.

The other three soldiers follow him.

I turn to stare at Seir who is breathing harshly.

“Do you want an explanation?” I ask calmly.

He shakes his head vigorously. “No. Don’t tell me anything. Just…let’s just do what we need to do.”

***

The next day, news of the King's death reaches far and wide. The Ravens had reportedly left town early that morning and to some, that was a sign they were somehow responsible for this crime. Unfortunately, it was difficult to pin the blame on them seeing as they were having a meeting with the Chiefs and Halo at the time. The King was supposed to be at that meeting but he had acted erratically and left, returning to his room unexpectedly.

That move only increased the Chief's suspicions that the King was losing his mind.

The King’s death is eventually ruled as an assassination by an unknown intruder, and his private guards are punished for not fulfilling their role. But many are not satisfied. Many want a more thorough investigation of what happened, on how this intruder could have killed the mighty King Drogo, the Protector of the North who had survived many wars with the Pangeans. It was inconceivable that he would die just like that and a huge shock reverberated through the nation.

And soon there'll be further political consequences when our enemies discover what happened.

The citizens of Accacia want blood.

They want someone to read the memory of every soldier who had been on duty that night to see how any of them had been part of this conspiracy.

Unfortunately, the Farrow Witch was still away on her private business and who knew when she would be back. Hopefully, by that time I will have figured out how to work the memory stone.

I resolve to ask the Raven Lord about it when we go to meet them. Before they left, I was able to slip them a note through Seir, telling them that we were in the process of making the potion. The Raven Lord then gave Seir a mini-portal that would transport us directly to him when we were ready.

Then we set about making the Cure for all Ills.

Wolf woke up the morning after his accident, looking exhausted. The healing elixir was not matured but he took it anyway against Seir's advice. According to Sier, it would still work, but it would be a much more unpleasant experience.

As Wolf healed, we told him about our plan to use his blood and mine to create the Cure for All Ills. Seir warned that it might not be as potent as a Cure made with the True Heart Gem's creature, but it might work since Pearl wasn't too far into the final stages of the Stiffening.

I tell Wolf all this, asking permission to draw his blood.

I can see he's unsettled by this, but eventually, he sighs, resigned.

"Do what you need to do."

I share a look with Seir. It's a less enthusiastic response than I would like but I don't have time to work through his feelings.

Seir draws the necessary runes and places them inside a bowl. Then he slices each of us on the finger, deep enough that we bleed a fair amount to fill at least halfway up the bowl before stitching us up.

And then he drops the boar's gem inside it.

The mixture instantly started sizzling in the clay pot, the heated liquid melting the boar. It swirls on its own, the bowl shaking with the effervescence and then the mixture suddenly turns clear.

It whizzes and releases fumes into the air, leaving behind just a few drops of liquid sticking to the sides of the bowl.

Seir carefully extracts those drops into a vial.

"That's it?" I ask and he nods.

"Yeah. To make a bigger portion, I would need a lot more blood than the two of you can part with. But this should be enough to wake her up." He swallows, looking nervous. "If it will work that is."

"It will," I assure him and he smiles.

Once we're done, we transport to the Raven's Lords' inn in the Midlands. They have a private cottage inn on the Western border, surrounded by miles of greenery.

We appear right into the room where the Raven Knights are seated.

"My Lord," one of them calls and the Raven Lord comes out from what I assume is his study.

Questions reflect in his gaze but he doesn't seem to have the words to voice them. Perhaps he's scared to hope.

Seir brings out the vial from his pocket holding it up. "May I?"

Lord Raven swallows and nods.

Seir and I are taken into Pearl's bedroom and walk to her side, where her dutiful Knight keeps watch. The Knight eyes us doubtfully and says to the Raven Lord, "Your Highness we don’t know her or what she’s concocted. It could be a poison..."

"There would be no need to poison her." The Raven Lord says soberly. "My daughter is already doomed if I don't try."

That's probably what he said in my past life when the King offered him a cure. He was probably very grateful when it appeared to work.

Only for it to turn out that he was duped and his daughter cursed to an even worse fate.

No wonder he lost his mind and destroyed the North for good.

I walk to Pearl watching her pale face as Seir gently works her jaw open.

Seir and I meet each other’s eyes for a second before he tips the vial into her mouth.

We wait for a few, heart-wrenching seconds.

And then slowly but surely, the lady's eyes flutter open.