Blood in the Deser

by Sophia Schmidt

  "Finally, some human language." Varegrave commented reading the scroll.

  "The spell is mine, and I'd like to keep it that way." Lith ignored the remark.

  "Don't worry. If it proves to be useful for the cure, you'll be properly compensated. Otherwise, I'll make sure your work does not get plagiarized."

  Lith had no idea how Varegrave could be so confident about it. A non-disclosure agreement was just a piece of paper, an ambitious magician would ignore it and claim Lith's detoxifying spell to be of his own creation.

  "Either he plans to employ his most loyal followers or to just kill them to keep the secret, is none of my business. Right now, we have more important things to worry about." ¨C

  That evening, Lith dined alone, revising with Solus the procedure he had devised. First, they worked on all its aspects, improving the chances of success. After that, they tried to anticipate everything that could go wrong, preparing contingency plans for all eventualities.

  The Moon was high in the sky when they finished. Lith was very tired, so he decided to sleep instead of using Invigoration.

  "Seems all the recent events are taking a toll on me. Compared to yesterday, today was pretty quiet, yet I feel beat up."

  "I think it's because of the Small World." Solus pondered, recalling the intricate network of runes that manifested when Varegrave activated the artifact.

  "Fake mage's mana is still, so they are not affected by it, unless they try to conjure magic. In our case, mana constantly flows inside our body, even when we do nothing. Being inside the array, is like carrying weights under the clothes.

  Also, animating so many zombies at once didn't help. Remember what Kalla said? They feed on your life force." ¨C

  Lith had barely the time to agree with her analysis, falling asleep as soon his head met the pillow.

  The next day, Lith met his medical team. They were already wearing a full body scrub when he arrived, leaving only the plague mask partially exposed. He could infer their gender and age only by the voice.

  Lith explained them what the spell he had imparted would do, and what was their role during the procedure.

  "That's it? That's your brilliant idea?" Said with a scoff a female voice.

  "This is the most basic plan one could think of. What makes you believe you can pull it off?"

  "Mostly the fact that before my arrival, you couldn't distinguish the head of the illness from it's a*s. Not to mention that you dare call it simple only because of my spell." Lith's voice oozed contempt.

  "I'm explaining all this only because I need your help, not your permission."

  "Indeed." Colonel Varegrave was going to spectate. He wanted to make personally sure that nothing went wrong.

  "Feel free to leave, Mage Utika. But beware, because your military rank, noble title and all the funds the Crown granted you will remain here, with or without you."

  Utika folded her arms, but said nothing more.

  Then, Lith went to the patient, explaining all the risks and making sure she understood the consequences.

  She was an old woman, thin as a twig, with unkempt white hair drenched in sweat. Her left arm was asunder, barely kept together by stiches and bandages. Her wrinkly face was stretched from the pain.

  "Don't worry for this old bat, kid." Recognizing his young age, she forced herself to smile.

  "I've lived my life, had a good husband, good kids and lived long enough to see my grandkids turn into fine adults. I don't want to spend the rest of my days suffering like a dog. If you succeed, I'll be healed. If you fail, this pain will stop. It's a win-win for me."

  After putting her to sleep, Lith's experiment began.

  Like Mage Utika had previously stated, it wasn't complicated.

  By using Lith's detoxifying spell, the three mages were extracting the toxins that made healing impossible, storing them in magic vials that were promptly sent to the alchemic labs.

  Lith was following their progress with Invigoration, waiting for the right moment. The creatures were rejuvenated by all that mana, but as he predicted, they could not excrete toxins as fast as they removed them.

  When the arm was almost cleansed, Lith sent tendrils of darkness magic, enveloping the worms with surgical precision before crushing them all at once. Alas, in death they released a substance that seeped into the flesh and bone, making the arm rot at a speed visible at the naked eye.

  Even the darkness cocoon enveloping the worms was not enough to stop the process. But now the arm was free from the worms and the toxins, allowing Lith to use light magic at his fullest, making it whole and healthy again.

  While all the others were celebrating, he angrily took off his scrubs.

  "I'm sorry Colonel. It's been an utter failure."

  Chapter 151 An Unexpected Threa

  "What do you mean, an utter failure?" Varegrave wasn't jumping out of joy like the others, yet couldn't understand why Lith was being so negative. It was the first time since the plague's breakout that a patient had been cured.

  "I saved her arm, yes, and maybe even her life, but only in the short term. It will just take a while for the parasites to invade the healthy arm, and then she will be back at square one.

  My experiment had many goals, but I reached only one. I wanted to remove the worms safely, and it failed. And so did my attempt to collect the substance they release upon death, and even to nullify its effects.

  It all happened too fast, I was able to save the arm only because it has no vital organ. Had the wound been in the chest or head, the patient would be dead. The only things I managed to accomplish was to collect the toxins, and I could have done that anyway, anytime, and restore the arm.

  But as I said, all in all is a hollow victory. I need time to think."

  Despite every success Lith achieved brought him closer to gallows, Varegrave didn't share his pessimism. Lith himself had predicted the experiment to be a failure, giving it a low chance of success.

  The patient wasn't dead, on the contrary, her conditions had improved. It was a small step, but a step forward nonetheless. After dismissing the medical team, reminding them to not use the new detoxifying spell without Lith's permission, he went back to his tent to inform the Crown of the latest news.

  ***

  Sylpha, Queen of the Griffon Kingdom, listened to Varegrave's report with ambivalent feelings. She was pleased hearing so many good news, after over a month spent stumbling in the dark.

  First, a proper diagnosis for the plague had been found, and thanks to that, healers and alchemists were busy looking for a cure instead of trying to minimise the body count. Two days after that, the conditions of an infected had been stabilized.

  Yet she was bewildered by how things were moving fast. It was completely out of her predictions. When Sylpha had forced Linjos to send help, threatening his life, it had been a punishment for his incompetence in handling Manohar.

  Every time the runaway genius disappeared, she could only pray for nothing bad to happen. And when her pleas fell on deaf ears, she would inevitably let down the Crown's most loyal supporters, undermining her prestige and authority.

  This time it was even worse, thousands of lives were at stake, an entire region was about to be burned to the ground. She had just wanted to teach him a lesson, showing how heavy were the consequences of letting one of their most prized assets slip away.

  The recent events were a pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. Sylpha needed answers, and she knew who could provide them.

  Right after hanging the call with Varegrave, she called the Royal Captain, the commanding officer of all the Queen's corps units.

  "Your Majesty, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

  "Cut the cr*p, Mirim, I'm not in the mood."

  "You are never in the mood, Sylpha." Marchioness Distar was at her work desk, as usual, swamped in paperwork.

  "We know from over thirty years, so I'm asking you as your friend, not as your Queen. Why did you lie to me?"

&n
bsp; Mirim was flabbergasted by the allegation, her eyes wide open from the surprise.

  "I have no idea what you are talking about."

  "All these years, you have marked Lith from Lutia as a rank B asset, that's why the Mage Association never paid him any attention."

  "And that's exactly the value he holds for the Kingdom." Mirim rebuked.

  "Yet, once he entered the White Griffon academy per your recommendation, he proved to be a rank A talent. Then, he brought you the box and the coded letter, and now is providing invaluable help against the plague. Do you deny it?"

  Sylpha's eyes were reduced to fiery slits, overloaded with mana.

  "No. But I never lied to you. I gave the Association a complete file, and they agreed with my evaluation. Being a talented mage and a valuable asset are two different things."

  "Please, elaborate." Realizing her temper may have rushed her judgment, Sylpha calmed down.

  "When I first met him, he was just eight years old, but you could already see how dangerous he was. Beyond his smiles and niceties, there was nothing but a caged beast. Being able to create such a complex game like chess and being good at it, only made him more unreliable in my eyes.

  You know as well as I do that power and brilliance are a hard mix to control. And that is what the Mage Association ultimately wants from its members, control. And when four years later he was a bounty hunter with more than thirty confirmed kills, I knew I had been right all along."

  Sylpha nodded. The reason why Miriam Distar had reached her rank in the corps wasn't only because of her talent for magic and loyalty, but because she had proved countless times to have an outstanding skill in evaluating people.

  "When Count Lark started pestering us all, my intention was to mind my own business. I knew that with his talent, sooner or later Lith would have joined the Mage Association, and I needed more time to assess what kind of threat he could pose to the Kingdom."

  "Then what made you change your mind? Why did you help him?"

  "Because in my time of need, you let me down. And he saved my daughter." Mirim's eyes were brimming with determination.

  "In that moment, I understood that he could be a second rate asset for the Crown, but an invaluable tool for me. I know that officially I'm just a middle-level noble, and that there's a limit to what you can do for me without blowing my cover¡"

  Sylpha inwardly cursed Linjos and Manohar again. It was all their fault if back at the time Mirim had been pushed in a corner. The Corpse existence was a secret that had to be kept at all costs.

  The Queen would not use them to help a friend, nor to save her own children. If miracles started to happen whenever the Crown or one of their most loyal retainers where in danger, the rumors about them would turn into a certainty.

  That was the reason why they had made Manohar the Royal Healer, why he was so important.

  "¡but if even after everything I have sacrificed for the Kingdom, you can't even guarantee the safety of my husband and daughter, then you can take back my rank and status, and shove them up your as*!"

  Sylpha let her old friend rant slide. As a mother, she could understand her feelings.

  "What level of threat are we talking about?"

  Talking about her job, Mirim regained her cool.

  "I estimate him as a Rank A mage, and a Rank S threat for the Kingdom."

  "What? Why?" The shock was so big Sylpha could not go past monosyllables.

  "Because he isn't like Manohar, that you can bribe with expensive equipment and new puzzles, nor is like Hatorne, that would do anything for money. Lith has his own rules and agenda, but only the gods know what it is.

  If you, or anyone else for that matter, try to force him to do anything, he'll bend to your will, bid his time, and then when you least expect it, unleash something that will make this plague seem the common cold.

  It's not his talent that makes him dangerous, it's his patience and ability to manipulate others. That's why I'm using the kite strategy, and advise you to do the same."

  Mirim was referring to an ancient tactic the Griffon Kingdom used when handling dangerous individuals. Just like a kite, you would not let them fly freely, while at the same time keeping them far enough to be safe and give them the impression of being unchecked.

  Chapter 152 An Unexpected Threat 2

  "Lith's greatest virtue is that he has no ambition. He never asked me for titles or power, nor has he tried to turn his village into his own small kingdom, like many mages of humble origins do, intoxicated by their new abilities.

  It implies that whenever you require his services, he'll never try to harm the Kingdom, since your goals are unlikely to clash with his."

  Sylpha thought back at her husband words during their last quarrel. Maybe he was right wanting to arrange Lith's reward as soon as possible.

  "I still think that your evaluation is too exaggerated. He is still just a kid, even if he becomes as powerful as Marth, he is still far from a level S threat."

  Mirim shook her head, sighing.

  "You are thinking too straightforward. He is not going to raise an undead army like the god of death, or unleash a plague like Hatorne. He may not be capable of such feats, but that doesn't make him less dangerous.

  What makes you underestimate Lith, is that so far he abides to the law, but that's because it suits him. If there is one thing I understood about him, is that he wants to be left alone.

  Think about his past. When his brothers started to antagonize him, one was disowned and the other left of his own choice. When a noble family messed with him, it was wiped out, because after killing several adults without shedding a tear, he had the presence of spirit of bringing proof of their contractor.

  And he was respectively five and six years old at the time. Each of his achievements, taken separately is remarkable. But when you assemble all the pieces of the puzzle you get a kid that lacks any conscience, patient, manipulative, unscrupulous towards his own kin, let alone strangers.

  And you are letting such a person near the most dangerous disease the Griffon Kingdom has ever faced. Think about it. He accepted to help you because he was promised a reward of his own choice, Lith couldn't care less about the infected.

  If he manages to cure it, you'll have to take into account that he probably is capable or replicating it, or even make it worse. If angered, there is no telling how far Lith is willing to go for revenge, and I am not willing to learn it the hard way.

  That's why I always bound him only through gratitude, helping him when he needed. Consider him a freelance to call I the times of need, but always remember to pay his due.

  Force him to live under your roof, and he'll burn the house down after boarding up doors and windows."

  Sylpha mulled those words for a few seconds, drumming her fingers on the armrest.

  "I see your point with the kite strategy. Too dangerous to bring him close, too valuable to kill. Good thinking, without him, we would still be in hot waters with the plague. Any idea about how to reward him?"

  "It's still too early to tell. Give him something precious, but not too much, otherwise he will not need us anymore."

  Sylpha nodded.

  "What about the box? Any news?"

  "No, the lock is really complicated, and we have only one shot at it. Same for the former Headmistress Linnea and Hatorne. I don't think we have to worry about Hatorne, though.

  She has left the Kingdom the same day the lab exploded, and that was a big mistake on her side. Here she could still rely on her contractor, but once the other countries learn what she did, they'll kill her in our stead.

  The Blood Desert tribes value honour above everything else, and what she did is the highest form of cowardice, killing hundreds of innocents for money. As for the Gorgon Empire, the Magic Empress would never employ someone that didn't hesitate betraying her own country."

  "Agreed. If I had ever suspected she was capable of doing such a thing, I would have killed her years ago."

  "Geniuse
s are erratic." Mirim sighed. "That's why they are so precious yet so dangerous. And that's why I prefer people like Lith or Marth, they are predictable."

  The two women kept talking for hours discussing the future of the mages of the whole country.

  ***

  In the following days, Lith kept searching for a cure, but to no avail. Even after Professor Marth's arrival, the situation remained dire. Lith started to work with the healers from the White Griffon academy, sharing with them over time everything he had learned about the parasites.

  Solus racked Lith's brain non stop, looking through all his memories about Earth technology and medicine, searching for a clue. But there were still too many things they ignored about magic; science seemed to have nothing to offer against those monstrosities.

  Both of them were at their wits end, feeling their sanity slipping away. Lith was sick and tired of the life at the military camp, with most of his abilities sealed, always looking his back against traitors.

  He hated being forced to spend his days with people he didn't like, working on something that had no interest for him, with no privacy at all except during the sleeping hours.

  If it wasn't for Solus' constant support and care, he would have gone on rampage, rising from the dead every single corpse available and exploiting the ensuing chaos to run away from that prison.

  As for Solus, she was experiencing what Marth feared would happen to Quylla if she took part in the research project. For the first time in her existence, she was facing the darkest side of humans, against which Lith had warned her over and over.

  During their work, she had to witness death, misery and pain, knowing it was no accident or natural catastrophe, but the result of the constant war than men waged against other men for the sake of power.

  Until that moment, she had always lived surrounded by the love of Lith's family and friends, allowing herself to believe that the world wasn't as dark as Lith painted it, and that he had been scarred by the unfortunate events in his first life.

  The plague didn't discriminate between young and old, good and bad people. Every death they were powerless to prevent, left a scar in her heart. Her only solace was Lith's constant nagging about the food, their living quarters, the mask that made him sweat bullets, everything.