Crimson and Gold

The morning after the fateful encounter with a Husk that nearly ended Eris’ life, Saria had to explain the events of the night more times than she wished to.

First, she had to face Aide, who was pacing around the back entrance to ‘Charybdis’. She knew from Eris that her sister had a special penchant for clairvoyance, which was relatively rare, even among the Oracles.

Since she never continued the training, her abilities never fully developed. That being said, she still had premonitory visions from time to time. They weren’t set in stone, and there were many accounts when the outcome was vastly different from what she saw.

But that only meant that seeing in the middle of the night that her sister had just narrowly escaped death was even more terrifying.

By the time they reached ‘Charybdis’, Eris was already awake, so she took it upon herself to calm her sister, while Saria had to explain what went down that night.

Fate had it that Mormo was away on business for the past couple of days and only returned when Saria finished telling the story for the first time, so she had no choice but to repeat everything again.

She talked so much that her throat was getting hoarse at the end of it.

She was far from done, however, because the moment she entered the Palace grounds, she had to face her worried-sick lover.

Having not heard even a word from Saria despite her night shift being long over, Lysandra naturally started to worry that something had happened.

She sent out one of the servants to ask around the city about incidents, but the young man only found out that someone had been murdered in the leather workshop in the artisan district.

When she heard that the body was turned into an unrecognizable mass and the only thing that remained was a piece of black cloth adorned with golden and crimson patterns, the Princess fainted on the spot.

Fortunately, Drusus had just come on a visit and with his own piece of rumor. As it turned out, there was a second story circulating in town, about two thugs who terrorized the artisan district’s healer. They apparently broke in in the middle of the night, violently threatened the owner, and then left without paying even a single piece of silver.

Coincidentally, the description of said thug that Drusus procured perfectly fitted that of a certain crimson-eyed assassin.

Overall, once Saria finally appeared in the Palace, Lysandra forced her to stay put for one day, during which she never left her side even for a moment.

Fortunately, the Princess managed to calm down on the second day after the incident, and agreed for Saria to return to her usual business. Naturally, not without demanding a full list of promises that she will be very careful from now on.

***

In the succeeding days, the shadow of the incident slowly dissipated, and the life in the Palace and in ‘Charybdis’ returned to their routine.

Eris recovered within two days, so she was able to return to the night patrols in the city very quickly.

Lysandra was also full of newfound determination to discover some kind of cure or countermeasure to the drug, so she buried herself in work.

In the meantime, Saria continued patrolling the city day and night.

Fortunately, the situation was slowly stabilizing. Having more people to weed out the Husks’ nests started giving results.

Days passed with nothing out of the ordinary happening until one morning, as Saria was preparing to leave the Palace with the guards, a message arrived.

One of the citizens requested them to deal with his daughter, who succumbed to the drug.

It was the first time someone asked for an intervention. Most people who had someone in the family become a Husk were determined to either pretend nothing was happening or they quickly cut ties and buried all evidence they were ever related to them.

Having someone openly admit their family member turned was a new experience.

The man who summoned them turned out to be a retired alchemist who used to run an apothecary. He lived in a small house at the outer edges of the artisan district, with only his daughter.

His wife passed away during childbirth, and ever since, the man has been raising their only child on his own. Because of that, once he realized that she had become afflicted with the foul disease, the man locked the girl in their home and began feeding her various potions.

After days with no results, the man made a soul-crushing decision to notify the authorities and let the girl pass away with dignity.

“You said that how long had she been like this?” Saria asked after hearing his story.

In the small, albeit neat room, where the girl was being held, there was currently only she and the man, not counting the daughter chained to the wall with two thick, haphazardly attached chains.

It was obvious that it wasn’t a part of the regular decor, so Saria breathed a sigh of relief at least on that front.

“Two weeks, short of two days,” the man answered. His chin, covered in a white beard, quivered, while his bright eyes filled with tears. His face, marked with wrinkles, looked very old. “It’s time for my little Bice to rest. My little girl had suffered enough…” The final part of the sentence was barely audible, swallowed by the father’s silent sobs.

Saria looked at the girl again.

Her bloodshot eyes were full of fury, the hint of blackened veins under her unnaturally pale skin.

Her hollowed cheeks and nails were cracked and broken from all of her escape attempts.

The girl looked just like the other Husks Saria had seen so far. She was halfway to turning into the same kind of monstrosity as the one that almost killed Eris.

Just that thought alone made her clench her fists in anger. After what had happened, Saria began feeling strong resentment towards those creatures.

At a glance, it was obvious that the girl—Beatrice—was gone.

She was tossing and twisting by the wall, wailing and growling, her mind seemed to be fully controlled by the drug. It was a miracle her father was able to keep her alive until now.

And yet, despite all the obvious signs, despite the resentment, Saria couldn’t bring herself to end the girl’s life.

While on the surface everything pointed to the fact that she was a lost cause, there was something deeper within her that caught Saria’s attention.

A secret hidden within the girl’s blood, visible only to someone who could hear its calling.

The poison didn’t consume the girl completely, not yet. After ingesting the drug, it released some kind of vile substance—a venom, one could say—that immediately started clinging to the host’s cells and reshaping them, while simultaneously using them for nourishment.

How fast the process progressed depended entirely on the amount of the drug ingested. If the host couldn’t get any more of it, the uncontrollable hunger made the Husks go into frenzy.

Once the seed was planted, the host was entirely controlled by the hunger. And once the venom consumed enough of their body, a new creature was born.

A beast made out of hatred and hunger, controlled entirely by Darkness.

Beatrice was still a major part human. The spread of the venom was halted at a relatively early stage, most likely due to the potions and the withdrawal from the drug.

There was still a chance to save her, and Saria had an idea how to do this.

She went back to the troops waiting outside the house and found the group’s leader, Centurion Drakimus.

“So? How is it looking?” the heavily armed man asked, his breathing appeared slightly labored.

After all, he and his men were waiting outside the house for quite some time, and the Aelian heat was about to enter its most intense phase.

Saria let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. “Not good. The child is gone.”

“Alright. Then let’s do it quickly. I’m starting to melt.” The man took a step towards the door, but was immediately stopped by Saria.

She looked over her shoulder at the father, then turned back to the Leader. “It’s better if I do this alone,” she said in a hushed voice. “The man is about to lose his only child, his only family left. There’s no need to make it even more traumatic.”

The Leader scrutinized her for a moment, then glanced at the shaken man. “Are you sure you can do this alone?” he asked, scratching the stubble on his chin.

“She’s already restrained. Needs only a quick cut with a blade. One person is more than enough,” Saria assured, keeping her voice low but full of confidence.

The Leader hesitated for a moment, then wiped the sweat dripping from his temples. “Alright. Even better for me.”

As if afraid that Saria is going to change her mind and have him stay, the man whistled at his men, rounding them up and hastily giving the order to march out.

Saria waited until they were far enough, then went back to the father.

“Why are they leaving? What about my daughter?” he asked, confused.

Saria looked him in the eye, full of determination.

“Your daughter isn’t gone just yet, and I might have a way to save her, but I’m going to need your cooperation.”

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