Note: Takes place before Advanced Dragon Slaying
Marrrrr brought the cool, damp cloth to Hector's face, patting away the sweat from the fever. He then placed it across her forever, reclaiming her hand with his now unoccupied ones.
"She's dying," Lavernica said on the other side of the room, keeping her voice low so as not to upset Marrrrr. "We have to do something."
"We don't even know what's wrong with her," Zippity-Do pointed out.
"She has a fever," Bing-Bong said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah, but we don't know why," Lavernica reminded him. "We need to figure out how she got sick."
Hector shivered. "Can't I have a blanket?" she asked weakly.
Marrrrr shook his head. "We have to keep your fever down."
"But I'm so cold…"
"I don't think she just caught something. If that was the case, one of us would probably be sick, too," Lavernica reasoned.
"You think someone did this to her?" Zippity-Do asked, her eyes growing wide and sad.
"I don't," the druid sighed. "I just know that this came on way too fast and way too powerful to just be some normal fever.
Marrrrr held Hector's hand tightly, watching her as she shivered uncontrollably. They had tried literally everything - every single healing potion and poison antidote that they had, and every single healing spell in Zippity-Do's book. Nothing had worked. There didn't seem to be a conventional cure. And if there was one, they were unlikely to be able to make it, considering their Alchemist was the one needing cured.
He knew it was bad. Really bad. The rest of the group would be whispering in an attempt not to upset him if it wasn't.
Marrrrr felt useless. He couldn't do anything to help her. He couldn't make a potion, he couldn't use magic. The only thing he knew how to do was charm and steal. He would steal anything if it would save Hector. But he had to know what to steal.
"Marrrrr…" Hector whimpered out, her voice growing weaker and weaker. He squeezed her hand to let her know he was there.
On the other side of the room, the rest of the group had formed a theory.
"I'm going to rip that troll's throat out with my teeth," Pierce Hawthorn practically growled.
"And then I'm gonna kick him in the balls!" Bing-Bong joined in.
"Look, there will be plenty of time for throat-ripping and ball-kicking," Lavernica said, trying to maintain a cool head. "First, we have to cure Hector."
"Yeah, but our Alchemist is the one who's almost dead."
"Look, I've been leveling up in Alchemy," Lavernica said. "Using Hector's book as a guide, I should be able to put the potion together."
"What do we need?" Zippity-Do wondered. "Holy water, amras petals, two swan feathers, a fire opal, dryad seeds and-"
"A dragon's eye." The small group jumped, surprised by Marrrrr's voice. "If we're gonna slay a dragon, we'd better leave now. She doesn't have much time."