I didn't get around to the chapter fours for Alfyn and Olberic yet. Have a rejected chapter draft where Lucia had succeeded in her attempt to use the crystal on Cyrus. I'd kind of gone back and forth a long time ago on if Lucia's idea should have succeeded in that battle last chapter. Ultimately rejected this idea because I didn't like the idea of Cyrus suffering too much. I kind of like seeing cut content and beta versions of stuff so hope you guys like this. Have a happy holiday of choice! Mine's Christmas.

"Okay, so if the spot on the map doesn't have something, how long is it going to take for Primrose to learn the full exorcism spell?"

The group tried to avoid going through town, but they ran into someone out for an evening stroll. The whispered plans to try and figure out what to do all stopped and they all held their breath when they saw a man come from behind a tree. His mouth widened, as if to scream then he stopped.

The village headman was about to bolt for the hills before he saw the hunter striding alongside the frankly terrifying beast. The rest of the travelers with H'aanit looked considerably more nervous, but weren't fleeing nor were they being devoured. This was good enough for him. Heck, they looked more startled by him than the unsettlingly proportioned thing with the glowing eyes. The hair on the head made it look more like a mockery of a human.

"Uh... Is this the Redeye beast you were chasing?"

"No, um, it ist a beaste akin to it, but far more docile."

The Headman of Duskbarrow strained his neck to see the snow leopard draped across the back of the massive grayish monster. "I can see that." The cat, in contrast to the humans, looked completely comfortable with the situation. "Should have known a hunter of Swarkii would find something in those ruins. Color me impressed!"

"Aye, we did findst much."

Your reputation in Duskbarrow has not suffered.

The party nervously carried on their way to the shrine of the archmagus.

(One very long fight later)

"Unto thee who hast proven thy worth, I impart the lost secrets of the heavens."

Cyrus was not standing, he hadn't gotten the hang of movement yet. The rest of the team had mixed results on the upright thing as well, but they were all alive despite the repeated blasts of magic.

Alfyn asked, "Excuse me, your holiness, but can you help Cyrus? Beg your pardon, but, er, he can't exactly teach classes looking like this..."

"Patience." Dreisang said. (insert description here of magic)

When the light cleared, the party could see Cyrus back to normal proportions, lacking glowing red veins, and looking rather human. He'd even been provided new clothing to replace the robes he'd lost. Cyrus began asking an awful lot of questions about what Dreisang did and begging to learn more because that was amazing. He wasn't the only one ecstatic about the work of the god. Tressa couldn't help but notice the expensive and luxurious looking velvet on the black, green, and red sorcerer outfit.

Primrose noted there was still a red sheen to Cyrus' eyes.

Ophelia was feeling very blessed indeed to see this miracle right in front of her. "Oh, thank you, Archmagus Dreisang! This is wonderful! Cyrus, you aren't a demon anymore! You are most gracious, Knowledgeable Dreisang!"

Dreisang felt bad for breaking it to Ophelia. "He is still a demon. The transformation is merely complete. I accelerated the process and provided clothing."

The cheers of the people present stopped abruptly. Cyrus changed what nonstop questions he was asking.

"Come again?" asked Therion,

"He'll be perfectly all right. Just don't let him attend services in one of the cathedrals. Or be struck by light magic."

"Eh?" said a now pale Ophelia.

Linde took the opportunity to sniff at Cyrus' new outfit and take in the new scent. It was missing something. Instincts told her to rub her fur against the dark velvet. The fancy outfit didn't stand a chance against the oversized kitty rubbing fur all over it. Now the outfit was complete.

Dreisang looked at the cat and mentally asked why Draefendi made cats this way. He waved a hand and a bookmark appeared in the stack of forbidden books the group had brought from the Ruins of Eld. He needed to go answer Aelfric's summons. "I have other matters to attend to. You can return after your mission is complete." He didn't mention that he was going to be grounded for a while.

Cyrus didn't notice the cat fur. He went right to prodding his own arm after Dreisang left. "This bears so much study! This is completely unprecedented! Simply astounding! Dreisang's knowledge is on a completely different level! Primrose, may I borrow a mirror? I wonder if these clothes have special properties... Why did he have to leave, I need to ask the Archmagus so much!..." Cyrus kept talking nonstop.

Alfyn looked at his apothecary bag. "Is any of this going to work if he gets sick? "

Therion waved a hand in front of the shellshocked Ophelia. "You all right there? A god said he'd be fine. It's the professor. We just need to stop him from hurting himself more than anything."

(Insert description of Ophelia bluescreening)

Olberic facepalmed as Cyrus ran for his bag. "Oh for the love of Brand, Cyrus, what are you doing with that scalpel?!"

Primrose realized she would be saying a lot of sentences which were variations on 'Stop that,' to Cyrus in the near future. This... doesn't change that much with our group.

"Hey, Professor? We gotta break it to Ophelia." Alfyn said as he looked at the professor's arm. The hives on his skin were not pretty, and somewhat grayish in color.

"I do admit, the itching is quite distracting. At least the abrasion on my wrist is gone. Her work is as effective as ever." The allergy to divine healing magic was far more distracting than any burns, lacerations, and bites from the enemy.