It was the first time they would be away from each other since their travel to Numara twenty years ago. Kaim finished tying his old boots and stood with a pack around his shoulder. Sarah was outside ahead of him, and he watched as she turned when she heard their door shut. She gave him a sad smile and he returned it. "I'm going to miss you."
Kaim held out his hand, and together they walked towards the edge of Tosca. They greeted villagers along the way, informing them that one half of the immortal pair was going on a journey.
"Not so sure when I'll be back," Kaim was saying to an elderly man. "You'll have to watch over Sarah for me."
The old man laughed, and he watched as Sarah's lips quirked up the tiniest of bits. He said his farewell to the mortal gentleman and they found themselves before the Black Cave. "Here we go," Kaim said, giving Sarah's fingers a soft squeeze.
Sarah turned and fidgeted with Kaim's collar, trying not to look at his face. After a minute more of silence, he tilted her chin up and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. When he pulled away, he made sure to wipe a tear away from her cheek. "I'll be fine."
"You always are," she agreed with a sigh. "It's just the first time you'll be leaving our home since you moved into it, and I think I'm going to miss your snoring." Kaim chuckled and that brought on a full smile from Sarah. "Just your snoring, though."
"Well, I shouldn't be gone long." He kissed her cheek. "I'll come back as soon as I am able."
"I know. Be safe. Write when you can." Sarah squeezed his hand before she let go. Kaim went to the gate that separated the cave from the mountain village. After opening it up, and walking a few steps in, he turned to watch as Sarah waved at him, and closed the gate after.
. . .
It had been two years since he had left Sarah, and life wasn't going great. He was somewhere in a heated jungle, a place he had somehow never visited in his seven-hundred and sixty years of life, and the bugs were eating him and his crew alive. He swatted at his neck for the dozenth time that morning and tried moving his shirt collar up closer to his neck. "Damned bugs are gonna kill us," he heard coming to his right. His second in command was moving a little slower than normal, though Kaim didn't blame him. Between the bug bites, the heat, and the vines, everyone was wearing themselves thin; the immortal included. "I swear as soon as we find this person, I'm gonna kill him myself."
Kaim hummed a little, then turned to refocus on the undergrowth in front of him. He and his group of ten men were to find the King's old army general in this jungle and bring him in for questioning. Apparently, someone was selling Uhran secrets, and their investigation led them south. The man in question was very close to the King before they had fallen out and the man went into hiding. Kaim used his sword to cut away at the overgrown vines, and his men went on. The sooner they found this man the better. Kaim was finding that this venture was fraying his nerves.
. . .
There was the coughing first. Then the fever. Then an agonizing pain in the gut. Kaim's men were falling around him, and it only took two days to realize that something was terribly wrong. Their captured prisoner seemed fine, almost immune to the sickness that was plaguing Kaim's small group, and it seemed to him that it was only a matter of time before he was free again.
Kaim chuckled darkly at the thought. There would be no escape if even one person lived. And one would. If only he knew.
The smug mood didn't last long. When his second in command finally started coughing, he knew it was only time before his mortal companion too would fall over.
They reached the end of the jungle, but with a two-week journey back to the Uhra, both men knew one wasn't going to make it. "Don't worry about me, sir."
"Well, I will." Kaim held onto the wanted man and tugged his comrade along.
By the end of the week, Kaim was the only one left.
By the time he reached Uhra, he felt a cough in his chest. Kaim hardly ever got sick. He could only think of a few times where the heat had given him a headache, or the first time he was on a boat and felt his stomach sour. So, he ignored the cough, choosing to get this over as quickly as possible. Besides if he died he didn't have much to worry about.
The King, overjoyed at the prisoner, but sullen at the lives lost, paid Kaim his due and he was on his way home. The sickness that washed over the small group usually lasted around three days. Kaim was on his fourth day when he felt his temperature rise. It would seem that the sickness was prolonged in his case, but he wasn't worried. He ate his words when a few days after his temperature had risen, he felt sick to his stomach. The clearing he decided to stop in would be the last time he moved in a long while. Every muscle ached, his stomach burned, and his body fever climbed. He lay moaning in the tall grass, wondering when his life would end and hoping some monster wouldn't grow curious at what was left behind.
Moments after his life did finally end, he awoke in a cold sweat. He felt an ache in his chest, and another day of traveling later, the cough started again.
. . .
It was the winter season, and Sarah thought to herself that she missed Kaim horribly. His letters stopped five months ago, though he said he was on his way back to Tosca. They had captured the wanted man, and even though the mission was fraught with tragedy, he had received his pay and was coming home.
Except that it didn't take five months to get from Uhra to Tosca. A month or two, maybe, but even that was a little slow for Kaim. Sarah looked out the small window that sat next to her door, sighing as there was no sign of the love of her unending life on the horizon.
A few more days went like this before a rush of knocking came at her door. She could hear faintly, "Miss Sarah! Miss Sarah!"
She pulled it open and a neighbor, the granddaughter of that elderly man who had just passed on a year before, stood worrying her lip. "It's Kaim. He's collapsed at the Black Cave gate!"
Sarah rushed to pull on her boots and grabbed her staff, and the woman lead her away from the house. "He doesn't look good, Miss Sarah. He looks…well…he just doesn't look good."
"It's bad?" Sarah felt herself stomp along the snow a little faster.
"I know you can't die and all, but it looks like he's at death's door."
Sarah quickened her pace even more, rushing without sliding on the snow and ice to get to the cave entrance. She saw him leaning against the gate, and her blood grew cold. She couldn't believe what she saw, that she even knew the man who sat in front of her. Sarah fell onto her knees on the ground beside him. Kaim's hair was knotted and twisted like he hadn't brushed it in months, and a dark beard was fashioned onto his face. His cheeks were sullen, and skin was pale. It was like the life was just sucked right out of him. Underneath his tattered clothing—where is his pack? she thought to herself. I know he packed more clothes than this! —he was hot to the touch. Despite the freezing temperature, his fever burned on; and his dry lips indicated dehydration. There were several nicks and bruises formed on his skin, and one shoulder looked a little out of place. He was fighting, trying to survive in this condition, she realized. Zephyr might not be enough to get him to stand and walk, but it was the only thing she could think to offer him now. Sarah was just about to cast her spell when he suddenly fell over.
"Kaim!" Sarah pushed hair out of his face. There was no movement, no life, in his eyes. "Kaim?" He wasn't breathing either. She scrambled to pull apart his coat sleeve to find his wrist and found that his pulse had stopped.
The woman next to her gasped. "I thought! I thought!"
"No, he'll be okay." Sarah knew she said the words aloud but wasn't exactly sure she believed them totally herself. "Um, Cate, I need you to find Trever, please!" Sarah looked up at Cate. "He'll be able to carry him. I'm not sure we can when he's…not alive."
Cate nodded and rushed back towards the village. Sarah looked at her watch and waited. Three minutes passed and still no heartbeat. There wasn't a sound or twitch coming from the immortal mercenary laying in the snow. "Kaim?" She felt his forehead and was surprised at how clammy and cold he was getting. Kaim never stayed gone for long, though it didn't look like his body was trying to come back at all. It was another ten minutes before the young woman had come back with Trever, and Sarah didn't know she was crying until she tried to speak. "He…he usually wakes up faster...I mean. Please, just…carry him to our home."
Trever silently lifted Kaim from the ground. He didn't move, his heart still lay still in his chest. Cate had squeezed Sarah's shoulder before the group moved back towards her home.
When—twenty-five minutes after his death—Trever lay him down in their bed, Kaim finally gasped back to life. His eyes didn't open but he moaned in the morning air. Sarah smiled, but it was soon wiped off her face after she realized he wasn't acting normal. There was usually more movement, Kaim could run laps moments after death, but here he was barely able to lift an eyelid. Maybe it's because of the starvation? I need to get him something to eat, she told herself. Sarah thanked her two helpers and saw them to the door before going to the kitchen. She brought back with her a glass of water. Kaim still hadn't moved.
She lifted his head and he managed to drink the water. "Please say something."
"I'm," he cleared his throat and looked up at her. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize." Sarah carefully lay his head down on a pillow. He closed his eyes and Sarah set a hand to his wrist. She counted his heartbeats and frowned at the numbers. He was still alive, though it looked like barely. "Kaim what happened to you?"
An hour later he was sitting up in bed, but still looked worse for wear. Sarah steadily pumped him zephyr along with other mixes of curative spells, until he finally shook her hand off his shoulder. He rubbed his chest but still didn't say anything. She handed him more water and he smiled and carefully took the glass from her. "Thanks."
"What's going on, Kaim? You said you'd be back months ago, but I didn't hear another word."
Kaim drank the last bit of water and wiped away the dribble that fell into his beard. "I'm sick, Sarah."
"Sick?" Sarah almost laughed, but he looked so defeated. So tired. So…gruesome. "Sick?" she said again, quietly.
Kaim nodded. "Something…something got to me. I never thought I could get like this." He looked from the empty cup to her face. "In a day, I'll start coughing."
Kaim took a deep breath in and Sarah could already hear the congestion building up already. It was a deep but wet and shaky breath. "After a few days I'll get a fever that won't drop. Then I'll get sick to my stomach, muscle aches, and then finally I die."
Kaim looked down at the empty cup again. "It's happened a little over a dozen times."
Sarah gasped. With how bad and weak he looked when she first saw him, no wonder it took five months to get back to Tosca. To die every week or so would hold anyone up. There would not have been any way for him to concentrate on keeping himself fit when the cycle continued and continued. What could have caused this? How could she get him back on his feet? This couldn't be permanent. She got up, went to her desk and grabbed a pen and paper. She raced back over to his side and asked him to start from the beginning.
"I have a feeling it started with the bugs." He began to tell her all about his journey through the faraway jungle and his mission back. Sarah wrote down everything that seemed important and asked as many questions as she could.
.
After she wrote down all she could manage on the paper and got Kaim to eat some broth Cate brought over for them, she managed to convince him to take a bath. He seemed reluctant and embarrassed that she had to help him undress and walk to the bath, but did confide in her that he felt better after.
"Kaim, I don't think I can save you hair," Sarah said with a sigh, as she tried to untwist and tug away any knots. It just wasn't coming undone.
With a weak shrug, Kaim said, "It'll grow back."
If Sarah couldn't recognize him with his matted hair before, she wouldn't be able to spot him in a crowd with his newly short hair and beard. Sarah sadly swept away the knots with a broom, teasing him that she couldn't bear to look at his hair. He granted her a weak smile. It only made her feel worse.
"Let's get you to bed."
It was evening before Kaim finally fell into an uneven sleep. Sarah bit her lip and lit an oil lamp. At her desk, she pulled out a new piece of paper and got her pen out again.
She scribbled and scratched out a long message. She tried to write calmly but she could feel the dire situation deep in her gut, and it only made her more harried. When all was said and done with her letter, Sarah stuffed it into an envelope and sealed the back of it. She stood up, pulling a shawl onto her shoulders and went to her window. A cold breeze greeted her in the winter night and she pulled her clothing tighter. She placed a hand over her heart and focused on the moon in the night sky. Under her hand she collected a little ball of light and carefully held it out before her. The little ball was warm and didn't seem to be affected by the cold weather outside at all. It slowly collected more energy from her palm, and it grew warmer until she almost couldn't stand the heat. Satisfied, Sarah tossed it into the air and watched as it hovered above the snow.
"O one from the White-Winged Clan, please hear my message! I need to see you."
She flinched away as a bright white light burst from the ball, temporarily casting everything in a heated glow. She looked back towards it when she heard a soft crunch in the snow. There stood Aneira, golden wings folded around himself, though seemingly unbothered by the snow beneath his feet. He was taller than she remembered in their brief meeting in the past, but just as bright and regal as she could recall. His mouth did not open, but Sarah heard a very clear voice ask why he was summoned. "I'm sorry! I've never done this before, though Seth gave me that spell, so we could find her quickly enough. I guess this was the first time I thought to use it! I normally send out letters. And I don't know why I wasn't expecting to see such a beautiful…uh wonderful, creature! Person! I mean. Um. How are you?"
Aneira gave her a little irritated hum, and Sarah could have sworn he stomped his foot in the snow. "Right, sorry. Um." Sarah held out the letter, the winged person making no move to take it. "I need this letter to go out to Seth. There's an emergency and I'd really like her help on this."
He took the letter, and Sarah bowed low. With a more pleased hum, Aneira lifted off into the night sky. Sarah watched him disappear into the dark for a moment, before shivering and closing the window.
. . .
Three days later, Seth Balmore was at her doorstep. She was covered in furs and pelts and seemed to dislike the cold just as much as a pirate used to the warm seas should. Sarah could barely get out a word before she was stepping inside the place. "Sarah, you need to clean."
Seth turned on her heels, hands on her hips, face scowling. "I hope that's not the emergency."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "No, of course not. It's Ka—" And there came a series of deep coughs coming from their bedroom. Seth jumped at the sound, hand on her sword hilt, and Sarah sighed. "It's Kaim."
Seth made her way over to the doorway and paused at the sight of the sick man in bed. Sarah nudged her way past her, feet hurrying to him. Kaim was coughing still, eyes closed tight. His chest made deep rumbles as he gasped for air, and to her it sounded painful. Sarah laid a hand on his chest, the zephyr working almost immediately to calm him down. "You're getting warmer."
"It's not contagious?"
Sarah shook her head. Seth moved in a little closer. Sarah watched as her pirate friend looked him up and down. Seth gently laid a hand on Kaim's forehead and clicked her tongue. Kaim opened one eye and seemed to smile a tiny bit as he realized just who stood above him. "I wasn't expecting company."
"Oh, I'm not here for a visit, you sick bastard." Seth winked at him, and Kaim's laugh turned into a wheeze. "I know this illness."
"You do?" Sarah's eyes looked up, feeling hopeful. "You've seen it before?"
Seth nodded, but the frown on her face did nothing to alleviate Sarah's nerves. "About three centuries ago I sent a few men into this place, the jungle you described in your letter. Only one came back and soon perished after. You get a cough, you get a fever, your guts burn and then you keel over." Seth put a finger to her chin. "Not contagious, but terminal. No one has found a cure. You'd think we'd be immune to it."
"Well, in Kaim's case it just takes longer to do its job, and then seems to stay. I'm at a loss for why it stays in his body even after death."
The room grew quiet. Kaim had closed his eyes once again; his gentle snores the only thing to break the silence. Sarah lifted her hand off him, allowing the magic connection to dissipate. She combed her fingers through his shortened hair, sighing.
"Pack your bags." Sarah snapped her head up at the captain. Her arms were crossed over her furred chest. "Pack up! The sooner we get to this place the better it'll be for mister wheezy over here."
"But…aren't you afraid?"
"Well, we can't die. Obviously." Seth nodded her head towards the sleeping Kaim. "And what better way to find exactly what we are looking for than to go to the source?"
Sarah couldn't disagree but was still wary. "And if we contract the disease?"
"Well then, hopefully you can find a cure." Seth turned towards the door. "You're the smartest person I know. I'm sure you'll figure it out."
Sarah looked towards Kaim. While he was gaining a little bit of color back into his sunken cheeks, she was sure as soon as the fever and stomach pain set in he'd go back to looking like death. She couldn't just sit here and watch him die repeatedly. There had to be something she could do. She nodded finally agreeing with the plan. "Let me make some arrangements," she said. Seth made her way out the bedroom door, as Sarah gently nudged Kaim awake.
. . .
"Now, if he gets to coughing a lot, and it'll happen as the days go on, give him a spoonful of this." Sarah pointed to the labeled glass bottle in front of Trever and Cate. "It should sooth him and keep him from coughing up for a few hours."
Sarah looked up at the two people in front of her. "You might think it a little frightening when he finally does die, and he will die. I want to warn you. When he does finally let go, it won't be scary. Kaim is used to death, so it shouldn't be anything else but him looking like he's fallen asleep. You'll know when he's back alive when you see him move again or make a few sounds."
Sarah turned to her bedroom door, her boyfriend currently shut in behind it. "Kaim has already agreed and will warn you when the stomach pains come. He says they start soon after the fever and last for about three to four days. During those days you do not need to give him anything. No food or medicine, though water helps with the cramping a little. It would be wasteful to give him anything else. He may moan a little and clutch his stomach, but don't worry about him."
Cate blanched. Sarah smiled kindly to the young woman. "I know. You don't have to come here on those days. I'm sure Trever can handle it?" The burly man beside her nodded. "I promise Kaim isn't the one to scream out in death. No thrashing, just a quiet let go." Cate nodded, and Sarah bowed her head. "You are doing me the greatest of favors. I'll try to get back to Tosca as soon as I can."
Sarah gave them the key to her house, hugged Cate goodbye, pulled her hood up, and set out from her home.
Seth waited at the edge of Tosca, rubbing her arms for warmth. Sarah chucked at her friend, the blue-haired pirate scoffing. "It's damned cold, woman! Let's leave!"
.
It took a few hours to get to the docks where Seth's massive ship awaited. Once aboard, Seth laid out their plans for their adventure. "To get to our destination it will take a week. After we dock, it'll be another day's walk and then we should start to see the trees." Seth looked Sarah up and down. "It's going to be warm, and I hope you packed more than just dresses."
"I know, and yes I packed some trousers." Sarah watched her mountain home quickly slip away into the horizon. It was always a little sad to see it go away, even more so without Kaim at her side. As another wave was split by the hull of the ship, Sarah remembered to hold on tightly to the railings. "I didn't realize your ship was this fast!" she exclaimed to Seth.
"Best tech on the sea!" Seth replied with a wink. "There's nothing you can't do when you're running on magic engines! Rest up! It's going to be quite the journey."
The week flew by quickly, and soon enough they were in warmer waters. Sarah and Seth talked about strategy. Aneira was going to stay on the ship in case anything was to surprise them in the jungle and they would need a quick way out. "He'll watch over the crew while I'm gone. If we need to send a message you know how!" Sarah nodded.
"Next, these bugs hate fire."
"Fire?" Sarah looked up from the map Seth had loaned her. "It will keep them away?"
Seth nodded, adding, "and the lantana leaf. We'll chew on the leaf at least twice a day and we'll need to bring torches. That fire must be kept going. Luckily you're a witch!" she teased.
Sarah ignored the comment. "How do you know so much?"
The pirate captain shrugged. "You hear things about that place all the time. What works, what doesn't, though no one has successfully not got bitten. All info is deadly info."
Sarah gnawed the inside of her cheek.
. . .
They reached the edge of the jungle. The walk from the ship to the tree was very uneventful, but Sarah couldn't help but to notice the quiet. No animals or any signs of life greeted them on the trail, and she wondered if that had to do with the jungle itself. Life seemed to be sucked away and she couldn't help but to think of Kaim sick on their bed. Seth practically shoved a piece of lantana leaf into Sarah's mouth. She chewed on it, disgusted with the bitter taste. "This tastes terrible."
"Well, they are poisonous to mortals, so what do you expect?"
Sarah immediately spit the leaf out, wiping the excess spit that clung to her lip. Seth shrugged and kept on chewing. Before she took another step closer, Sarah stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. Seth turned around, eyebrow raised. "I've been thinking," she started, holding up her staff.
She closed her eyes. After a minute she waved her staff in the air, releasing a long breath. When she opened them, Seth was poking her arm with her fingers. Sarah could feel the buzz reaching out from her limbs. "What did you do?"
"It's a barrier constructed to every inch of your body." Sarah smiled. "Along with the fire, the bugs shouldn't be able to touch us. Actually, we'll be able to block out almost everything! Except this humidity."
"I wouldn't have ever thought of anything like this!" Seth exclaimed, a friendly and hard pat on the back following after. Sarah had learned her lesson from many times before and held onto her glasses tightly. "We may be the first to get through this without any casualties!"
The jungle was fraught with wild things. Beasts that attacked without warning. The vines that seemed to trip you if you weren't looking. The sticky mud that clung to your boots with every step. Sarah, after about fifteen minutes into the first day of their trip, decided she was never going to leave her home again. She hated everything about the trip, but most of all that her hair was sticking to her neck and also rising because of the moisture in the air. The only positive thing was that the bugs were nowhere to be seen.
Seth was having an easier go at getting through the thick foliage. Sarah was left to pick herself up after her. "Just lift your feet!"
"I'm trying!" Sarah wiped the sweat away from her forehead and held her torch up higher. Her boots were stuck into the wet earth for the fourth time that day, and she was exhausted. "It's hard!"
"You need to get out more!" Sarah could hear her friend's laughter in her voice. With a sigh, she unstuck her boot from the mud with a wet smack.
What seemed like a full week of walking just put into three days, came to a quiet end. The trees were thinning out to a rocky path before them. Seth kept her hand close to her sword as Sarah kept the grip on her staff tight. They had no idea what was ahead, and if what was to meet them would be friendly or not.