A little cough pt. 2
Cedric hovered somewhere in that grey area of semi-consciousness, where he was sort of aware of what was going on around him but as soon as it processed, it slipped into the voids of the darkness, where it would be unrecoverable.
He tried to fight through the fog, but it took far too much energy to even flicker his eyes behind his burning eyelids.
Voices moved around him, floating in and out of his consciousness. He was far from being self-aware, except for the fact that his body weighed down like lead.
The only voices that pulled at his recognition were two that stayed by his side the most.
What's wrong with him?
I fear that it's the Sorcerer's Flu.
The flu?!
Not just any flu, my dear princess. The Sorcerer's Flu eats away at a sorcerer's essence. It's critical that those who use magic not even pick up a wand or potion when they caught this, because it can be deadly.
There was a pause.
I hope he's going to be okay.
He will, princess. I promise.
The voices remained quiet. Cedric allowed himself to fall back into the darkness of unconsciousness for the time being. He didn't know how long he was under, but he knew that at one point, dreams of the most horrific things he could think of started to play behind his mind's eye.
The King, also a giant illuminated by a low, ominous light, loomed over him, called him stupid and incompetent as a court sorcerer.
His apprentice, a giant that loomed ominously over her, drenched in shadows, laughed at him, disowning him as her friend, saying that he would never change.
His father appeared, declaring that he would never be a good sorcerer and was a failure of a son, a disgrace to the family name.
Cedric shook from fear as the dreams continued, denouncing the claims as they appeared. But they swirled forward like a vortex, dragging him downwards. He tried to push forward, but he was only dragged deeper and deeper into the nightmare. It suddenly became hard to breath and every breath he took was ragged and rattled his lungs. And despite himself, Cedric found himself sobbing in his sleep.
Shhh, Cedric.
The voice was back, this person sounding…...older than he was, and comforting. Definitely a woman, though through the feverish haze, he couldn't tell who it was exactly. Though it was comforting to feel cold hands gently stroke his burning forehead and damp hair. He leaned into it heavily.
Everything is going to be alright. I promise. Mummy is here, baby.
How did he not recognize the sounds of his own mother's voice?! Cedric thought in an almost crazed way. He hacked for a couple more minutes, unable to get air into his lungs. His mother whispered something and suddenly, he could breathe with relative ease.
Cedric floated in-between that grey-area once more before returning to the sweet, blissful unfeeling darkness.
The next time he regained only a shred of consciousness, he heard a whispered conversation, the voices sounding worried, hurried.
His fever's gotten worse!
I know, Princess. I'm trying my best, but blast it all, nothing's working, His mother sounded like she was on the verge of crying.
Mummy, what's wrong? Cedric wanted to ask. He didn't like it when his mother was upset.
Is there anything we can do?
Oh I don't know! There was silence, but not true silence. The sound of pages being rustled, flipped through with frantic speed. What was Cedric doing before he collapsed?
He did a couple of party tricks, uh….. The younger voice rattled off a list of spells that Cedric didn't seem to catch. It was all too far away.
Simple party tricks indeed, His mother all but spat. Was he showing any signs earlier?
I don't know! I mean, he did look a little ill before he started the tricks. I don't know how he was feeling before. I was busy. There was the sound of sobbing. I should've been paying better attention! Oh this is all my fault!
Oh, Sofia. It's not your fault. His mother sounded as though she was comforting the owner of the young-sounding voice, which sounded like she was crying. It's not Cedric's fault either. Only his stubbornness, which I'm afraid he inherited from his father and I. We'll find out how to fix him. I promise. Now, I need your help.
Cedric floated for the longest time, feeling worse than he had ever did in the past however-long-had-passed. His breathing was slowing down drastically. Cedric tried to keep getting air into his lungs, mentally telling himself 'In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out.' But it continued to become harder and harder.
The voices couldn't be heard anymore, but he could hear the briefest sound of rustling papers and someone rushing through his tower. There was the sound of someone grinding something and the warmth of someone boiling something over a fire. He could feel someone place a cloth, soaked with cold water, on his forehead and a poultice under his pillow that eased the complications on his breathing, only just a bit though.
Just hang in there, Ceddy. The motherly voice soothed, gently but barely holding back tears. Sofia will be back in half a tick. Just hang in there.
Much too tired to hang on, and feeling himself slipping further and further from even the barest hint of consciousness, Cedric let go. He sunk further into the unfeeling darkness.
He didn't know if he would have the strength to resurface again or ever wake up.
X
Winifred the Wise woke the next morning when she felt something wet smack her arms.
She stirred, her eyes blinking open blearily. The elder sorceress sat up, stretching the kinks out of her back that had accumulated over the few days that she had slept near her son, through fear that he would pass during the night. He had been so feverish and at one point, Winifred the Wise prepared herself to wake up to find her son to not breathing and all too still.
This was the first night that she had slept through the entirety, mostly because the exhaustion and emotional turmoil was far too much for the old woman to handle. As she woke slowly, fear coiled in her stomach. Winifred had dozed off while her son was suffering from a very high fever, and the possibility of him dying was still very, very high.
Winifred's heart all but stopped in her chest as her eyes immediately zeroed in on Cedric. A small wave of relief had her sagging a bit when she realized that her son was breathing still, a little easier upon a closer look too. The woman placed her hand over his son's forehead, a sob escaping her as Winifred that his fever had finally broken.
The herbs that Sofia had brought back had worked.
For the first time in days, Winifred stood, her bone protesting loudly at the action, and quickly made her way towards the sleeping princess. The brunette ran herself into the ground trying to research the herbs and going to get them from a distant land that was, at best, a three-week journey.
Somehow, someway, the young princess had been gone all of two days, with enough of the herbs needed to get the fever down to last them for the next few months if they were ever needed.
"Sofia." Winifred whispered, gently shaking the princess awake. It took her a couple times, but the young princess eventually blinked her big blue eyes opened. Upon seeing Winifred standing over her, she shot up straight with worry.
"Is Mr. Cedric…..?" she asked, trailing off and unable to finish.
"No dear." Winifred stated gently, relief and tears gleaming in her eyes. "He's perfectly fine. His fever has finally broke."
Sofia's eyes glittered with happiness tears as she embraced the older sorceress with a tight hug. The two of them had been basically on edge for the two weeks that Cedric had been incapacitated with the Sorcerer's Flu, a disease that from the research the two had done had a very high mortality rate. The fear that they felt as they did everything within their power to keep Sofia's mentor and Winifred's son alive was absolutely crippling.
Though the relief that the two had felt at that moment helped them to breath just a little bit better.
"What do we do know? Will he wake up soon?" the young princess asked in rapid succession. Winifred gently shushed the young girl to make sure she didn't accidentally wake Cedric up, knowing that now with his fever broken, he would sleep easier.
"He'll wake up when he's ready, princess." Winifred whispered to the young girl. "But he'll wake up. Cedric will have a long recovery ahead of him, but I know that you'll be there for him."
Sofia smiled up at the older sorceress. Yes, she would be there for her friend.