Hey guys, I have chapter two finished so here it is. Enjoy!
Lenori sighed. She rubbed her hand over her temple, trying to concentrate on the book in front of her.
There were too many letters, and they were starting to blur. Lenori tilted her head back, looking up at the ceiling and closing her eyes briefly.
When she opened them again and looked down the letters on the page had disappeared. Instead there was a picture of a rose. A withering rose, petal after petal falling off. Into... a human? The petals landed on the skin, sinking into the body and gathering around the human. It was both a gruesome and beautiful sight.
As the petals spread, the human's skin became paler and paler until he suddenly jerked. And coughed up a handful of petals. Gorgeous, full petals but the human couldn't stop coughing up petals. Slowly he suffocated. And just as he was about to collapse Lenori felt an urge to cough. She couldn't stop herself, breaking into a vicious cough.
Olvan rubbed a hand over his forehead as he closed the library door. He hadn't been able to concentrate up in his study and he had found the library a secluded and calm place since he was a young Greencloak.
He wandered around, not going anywhere specific. Until a vicious sound caught his ears. Coughing. He frowned, and when the coughing didn't subdue he pushed on faster, towards the terrible sound.
He rounded around a corner and was met with a horrible sight. It was Lenori who had been coughing, she was struggling to breathe as she clutched the table in front of her.
Olvan hurried forward, pushing her up straight so she could get more air in her lungs. Her coughing immediately subdued, getting less vicious until it stopped. Olvan slowly let go of her. She coughed again, and again, then took in a deep breath. And another. All the while Olvan kept a careful eye on her.
'Are you okay?' He asked when she had calmed down again.
Lenori nodded, eyes closed. She opened them, looking up at him. 'Ye-' Her gaze caught something on the table and she froze.
Olvan glanced at the table too. A tiny little petal lay on the table, in a perfect shape. He wanted to ask how it got there but one look at Lenori's horrorstruck face was enough.
This was bad.
'Lenori?'
The dark skinned girl that approached the two older Greencloaks made them jump. They turned around, the uncertainty still visible on Olvan's face and the fear on Lenori's.
'Yes Abeke?' Lenori asked, trying to mask her fear.
The younger girl seemed hesitant to answer after what she had just witnessed but nonetheless spoke up. 'Lishay's skin colour is changing. It's becoming grey. Meilin says Jhi is acting strange too, we thought maybe you might know something.'
Lenori was silent for a moment, and just so long that Abeke wondered if there was perhaps something else than Lishay on her mind.
'I will come,' the woman said, standing up from her chair. She was a little wobbly on her feet but regained her balance quickly.
She strode past Abeke, Olvan following behind her. Abeke was about to turn around when she felt her gaze drawn to the table. Or better said, to a small, perfect, blood red petal that lay on the table.
A suffocating feeling came up in Abeke's throat and she rushed after Olvan and Lenori out of the library.
~ Short time skip ~
When the three of them reached the medical wing, Meilin was sitting on the bed next to Lishay, with Conor and Rollan around the table.
Meilin looked up when they entered, nodding. 'Her skin's still changing,' she announced. 'Did you find anything?' She immediately added in question to Lenori.
Lenori remained silent, kneeling next to Meilin and taking Lishay's hand in hers. She reached out, resting a hand into the curve of Lishay's neck. She shuddered.
'Yes,' she softly murmured.
Lenori got up, turning around and moving to sit at the table. 'Sit down,' she indicated to the rest.
Olvan quickly moved to claim the only seat next to her and Meilin and Abeke followed more slowly.
'I think I have found out what is wrong with her.' Lenori looked at her hands before continuing. 'I had a vision in the library. Of a human who suffocated on petals that fell from a withering rose inside his body.' She swallowed, as if reminded of more than just the vision. 'It would seem logical that what Lishay has is linked to the vision. It would perhaps explain her skin colour, as the human in my vision had an exactly similar change of skin colour.'
'What does that mean? Rollan asked. 'What will happen?'
Lenori met his gaze. 'If it is indeed like what I saw in the vision, it will likely mean she'll suffocate on something like petals inside her body.'
Everyone seemed shocked at that. They had seen much, from the war with the Conquerors and their Bile to the Wyrm infected people and animals but this was something they had never faced before. It was a threat from within. A threat that was invisible and untouchable. A threat that could not be fought the way most threats are fought.
It was, even though they didn't know that yet, a threat that was love and death at the same time.
~ Time skip ~
It had been a restless night. In the end, the Four had agreed to take the night shift watching over Lishay. Meilin went first, then Rollan and Conor was about done. It was Abeke's turn now.
She had tried to get some sleep but had mostly been tossing and turning with her head on the strange illness.
Half an hour before she had to get up she decided to just quit trying to sleep again. She had gotten up, showered and dressed.
Abeke reached out to a glass, filling it with water and taking a sip. Her throat was rather dry, which she didn't understand as she had been drinking what must have been over a litre of water throughout the night. She took another sip, washed it around in her mouth then spit it out.
She watched the water roll away and couldn't help but notice something off. It took her another sip and spitting out again to realise what it was. The water had a greenish tint.
Abeke took in a sharp breath, then spit out into the sink. Her spit had an undoubtedly green colour.
Abeke felt bile rise in her throat. The disease Lishay had. Her change of her skin colour. It was scarily much like the colour of her spit now.
What if... she had the disease too?
So, what do you think? Review to let me know. It would make me very happy!
