Yugo jogged down the main street of Emelka, the handle of the bread basket slung over his shoulder as he made his way to Jason's bakery. For the first time in a long while he felt too tired to use his zaaps, it was only his third day of training and Qilby was already moving him to more advanced lessons. He couldn't help but feel proud when he thought of it; his abilities were rough around the edges but the core was there, Qilby had said. Today had been his first real attempt at Wakfu manipulation, and it had actually worked—true the flow had been altered only a little, but it still moved.
Soon Jason's bakery came into view, its owner standing at the half-door that led to his shop as he enjoyed the mild afternoon. "Well, if it isn't my best customer," Jason's rugged face broke into a happy grin upon seeing Yugo. "So I take it Alibert burned his bread again?" the smile took on a more apologetic tilt as he mentioned Alibert's unfortunate habit.
"No," Yugo shook his head, though he wished it was because of something so innocent. "Break-ins last night, dad's trying to help the merchants it happened to."
"Break-ins?" Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise and leaned a bit closer. "Just how many? I spoke with one today but I didn't realize there were others."
"Half a dozen when I left," Yugo replied. "Nothing was taken, but someone rifled through their stock."
"That's... Weird. What would they even be looking for?" Jason's eyebrows came together in a puzzled frown as he wondered what the item could be. "Anyway, I'll get that bread loaded up for you. Can't keep the guests waiting too long."
[Why was a Slabhide deployed? I was told this mission called for subtlety.]
{No such deployment was made. What evidence did you find of a Slabhide?}
[Discovered prints and tail marks. Identity is unmistakable. Even residents were able to notice its presence. Agent in question has not made contact.]
{The prince's oafs must have gotten involved. Do all you can to push subject toward Bonta as quickly as possible. They cannot be allowed to interfere.}
The door to Qilby's room slammed open as Yugo hurried in.
"Qilby," the young Eliatrope was still breathless from how fast he'd been running, and he held an envelope out to Qilby as he paused to catch his breath. "It's bad," he added as Qilby took it from him.
Yugo,
I am sorry to write that the shipment has somehow been destroyed during transport. I am returning to Bonta as soon as this letter is sent, but I fear the next journey will take much longer. Zaaps across the region have been malfunctioning, the authorities are closing them to use until they can be fixed.
It may sound far-fetched, but I believe someone might be trying to interfere with our mission. The equipment was intact and stored in a haven bag when I left Bonta, but somehow every single piece was broken when I checked it this morning.
Sincerely,
Master Joris
Qilby took in a deep breath through his nose as he tried to calm his anger. Delayed again thanks to this. His arm quivered slightly as he offered the letter back to Yugo. Angry words bubbled up from deep in his chest, curses and criticisms for Joris for being so careless, but he held them back in Yugo's presence. He knew that the boy had a soft spot for Master Joris and held him in very high regard, even during the few times he'd seen them together. Besides, this might not be Joris's fault, as suggested in the letter.
"Very unfortunate," Qilby managed as Yugo took the letter from him. He sighed and leaned an elbow on the desk, "This would be so much easier if I had the resources I needed."
To Qilby's surprise Yugo said nothing in reply and hurried out of the room without a word. He gave the door a long stare, then returned to his work.
Frustration began to make even thinking on the present task difficult. A polite knock on the door interrupted Qilby's brooding. He turned, expecting to find that Yugo had returned, but instead discovering that it was Dr. Pirwit who had come to call.
"Ah, master Qilby," Pirwit stepped into Qilby's room. "A thought has occurred to me on the subject of the Red Plague."
"Go on," Qilby turned sideways in his chair to get a better look at the doctor while he spoke.
"It is very frustrating that we have been so delayed by the destruction of our equipment, but things would be so much easier if we were located in Bonta while we did our research," he paused to think for a moment. "I understand that you cannot go there because your guardians will not leave the young boy and dragon behind, but... Perhaps this disease will not affect him, just as its supposed ancestor did not?"
"Well—" Qilby was about to tell Pirwit that this was a silly suggestion when he finally made the connection. It was true, the flow disruption disease that Qilby believed to be the Red Plague's predecessor had no effect on the Six, and if the mechanisms of the two were still similar... "I'll consider it," Qilby finished, already turning back to his desk.
[I have made contact with the other agents. We can carry out extraction tonight if need be.]
{Transport not available for such an operation. Get them to Bonta, extraction can take place there should your suspicions prove correct.}
It felt as though Yugo had just managed to drift off when someone started shaking him awake. "Bwuuh?" Yugo mumbled as he struggled to open his eyes past the sleep that weighed on them. "Whuzzit?"
A mop of white hair covered by a dark brown hat bobbed up and down at the edge of his bed. "Yugooo," Chibi whined, small fists still clenched tight on the sleeve of Yugo's pajamas. "There's a monster in my closet," this time the whine drifted dangerously close to a sob, and tears began to pool at the corners of Chibi's eyes.
Yugo took a deep breath through his nose as he pushed himself up on his elbows and started to struggle out of the sheets. "Alright Chibi," he said, stifling a yawn as he shook off the last blanket. "I'll make it go away."
"What's the problem?" Adamaï's large eyes blinked at them from the partial darkness as Yugo shuffled past with Chibi in hand.
"Closet monster," Yugo replied with a yawn. Monsters in the closet were about as universal for small children as was their love of sweets and getting accidentally filthy, and Chibi was no exception. Yugo could even recall times when he'd done the same thing to Alibert, so it was the least he could do to save his father the sleep.
Adamaï nodded, and his head dropped back to the pillow as he closed his eyes again.
Drowsiness hung over Yugo like a small cloud as he and Chibi walked down the hall, the younger boy lagging slightly behind as he clung to Yugo's hand. Grougal was waiting in the hall when they reached the room shared by the two, blinking owlishly at them in the semi-darkness but calm and unalarmed.
"Alright Chibi," Yugo entered the room and found nothing amiss. He then walked over to the closet, just across from the twins' beds, with the two following close behind. "Let's see this monster."
The closet door creaked as Yugo opened it. Something pale and pointed loomed out of the darkness at him. The illumination from the room's single night light shone off a curved length of beak...
Yugo's heart jumped into his throat as he stared at the horrifying face that now peered out at him from the depths of the closet, his limbs temporarily frozen in shock. His eyes rapidly took in the skull-like details behind the beak, the draping crimson robes visible even in the dim light. All traces of sleep now swept away on the wave of raw adrenaline, Yugo jumped back and slammed the door shut again, snatching up Chibi and Grougal as he sprinted out of the room.
Chibi was sobbing in abject terror by the time Yugo skidded to a halt farther down the hall, and Grougal's claws were sunk deep into the arm that held him.
Numb shock settled over Yugo's body as the fear began to ebb. Did he really just see that? Maybe it was just a result of drowsiness combined with Chibi's insistence that there was something there...
As if to answer the thought, the sound of the closet door creaking open echoed down the hallway. Floorboards creaked as something crossed the length of the twins' room, followed by the bone-white beak as the cultist reached the doorway.
A ragged cough fought its way out of Yugo's throat as he struggled past the fear. "Adamaï!" his voice cracked as he screamed, and he flinched as the cultist's head snapped around to look at him.
Adamaï almost fell into the hall moments later, stumbling as he disentangled himself from the sheets that even now dragged behind him. "What is it?" he paused, taking in the fear-stricken faces of his three brothers, then looked down the hall to find the source. "Stand back!" Adamaï shoved past Yugo and shifted to his true form, blocking access to the hallway behind him. A low growl rumbled deep within Adamaï's chest as he lunged forward, teeth bared and ready to bite.
The cultist stood stockstill as Adamaï charged, the black holes of its eyes staring the dragon down as it waited. At the last moment, just before Adamaï was within range to clamp his jaws on the cultist's shoulder, it slid down and forward, catching the dragon by his left horn as it moved. Yugo and his brothers watched in dumb amazement as Adamaï flipped forward, his own momentum and the cultist's maneuver carrying through to slam him down on his back further down the hall. The entire inn seemed to shake with the resounding thwump of the dragon's impact, and a loud flurry of movement on the floor just above pounded through the ceiling in reply.
Blind fury broke through the shock as Yugo watched Adamaï fall. Grougal dropped to the floor as Yugo released him, Wakfu surging to the Eliatrope's hand as he raised it. Yugo fired a blast of pure Wakfu as his hand drew level with the cultist's head, lighting up the hall in brilliant blue light.
The cultist moved in a blur, ducking just in time to avoid the blast. It slowly straightened again once the danger had passed, vacant black eyes fixed on Yugo's face as it moved.
One of Adamaï's foreclaws twitched. The dragon coughed once and began trying to right himself, a futile task given how close the fit was in the hall. Relief flooded through Yugo regardless at seeing that his brother was still alive—for a moment he'd feared the worst.
Movement farther down the hall caught Yugo's eye. He looked up as another cultist shambled around the corner and fixated on the little group at the far end of the hall. Yugo set Chibi down on the floor and pushed the twins further behind himself where they would be out of the way and beyond the cultists' reach, then widened his stance for the fight that was sure to come. He would have to be careful indoors like this, it would've been cramped enough even without Adamaï blocking the hall and he'd already managed to burn a hole in one of the walls. Avoiding collateral damage was going to be difficult, especially since Alibert would probably be arriving soon as well—Yugo couldn't afford to hit his father by accident.
A small breeze kicked up as Adamaï shifted abruptly to his human form again, the air sweeping in to fill the space that was once filled by his larger body. "What do you want?" Adamaï managed before he had to cough again. He pulled himself to his feet and put his back to one of the walls, eying each cultist in turn.
Rather than answering Adamaï's question the nearest cultist snapped its head to the side, peering through the doorway that it now stood just beyond. Their movements were quick, twitching, bird-like to match their masks. A sound came from the cultist as it peered through the doorway, a sickly rattling wheeze that echoed from behind the mask as something got its attention.
Qilby's room! The cultist darted inside just as the realization hit Yugo. He threw open a zaap and jumped through without hesitation, landing on the rug of Qilby's room barely a moment later.
There were two cultists in here now. The window had been forced from its frame and now rested behind the desk, allowing the light of the half-moon that hung in the sky beyond to enter along with the intruder. Qilby himself had already been cornered by the bed as the cultists advanced on him.
The cultists let out rattling sighs as one of them drew something from a voluminous sleeve. Polished metal flashed the moonlight as the cultist adjusted its grip on the dagger, ready to plunge it into Qilby's chest.
Yugo conjured another zaap, its twin appearing just behind Qilby. He reached through and grabbed a handful of the old Eliatrope's nightshirt, then yanked Qilby through just as the cultist took a swing at him.
Qilby landed hard on the floor and started struggling to his feet as soon as he stopped moving. His face was pale, and Yugo could feel him shaking as he helped him stand.
In unison the cultists turned to face them, the second drawing a dagger as they slowly advanced.
A commotion kicked up in the hallway as Yugo conjured another pair of zaaps, taking himself and Qilby into the yard outside the window. "Come on," the boy hissed as he took Qilby's arm and started to pull him away.
To his surprise, Qilby yelped as Yugo's fingers closed around his arm and jerked back. He raised the arm once Yugo released him, revealing that the cultist had managed to slice along his forearm with the dagger. Qilby grimaced as he examined the extent of the damage, his long legs allowing him to easily keep pace with Yugo as the young Eliatrope led him away from the window. "Nothing that makes a sound like that should be able to move that fast," he said to himself.
Yugo tried to ignore the stickiness that coated his left hand as he conjured another set of zaaps to take them around the other side of the inn; maybe he could hide Qilby somewhere—but what if the cultists managed to find him there? It wouldn't be surprising to find that there were more than just the three they saw.
The yard around this corner of the inn was empty as well, and Yugo had managed to get them within a dozen feet of the nearest door. He sprinted over to it, Qilby following at a more subdued pace.
Something slammed against the other side of the door as Yugo skidded to a halt in front of it, followed by a second thud that also caused the thick wood to shake. Yugo drew his hand back from the doorknob when he realized that the door wouldn't be strong enough to hold and jumped back just as it gave way.
Two cultists tumbled out into the yard, a temporary tangle of limbs and flowing red fabric before they sorted themselves and leaped up. One focused on the shadow of the doorway while the other scanned the yard, spotting Qilby and Yugo almost immediately. It stalked toward them as another two cultists were thrown out onto the grass.
A pale shadow loomed out of the doorway and advanced on the cultists, followed by a man with round glasses and a mop of blue hair. Adamaï walked with a slight stoop, clearly in pain, but his eyes were sharp and focused as he sidestepped toward his brother. Fennius had fared better than Adamaï in the fight, though the sleeve of his nightshirt had been ripped by something and his hair was a bit messier than usual.
"Where are Chibi and Grougal?" Yugo called as he fell in beside his brother. Any relief that may have come at being able to help his brother again was quashed by the fact that Adamaï was in so much pain. They had to find a way to end the battle quickly so his brother could be tended to.
Adamaï winced as he nodded his head. "Alibert and the Feca came to help after you left, they're with him now," he tried to take a deep breath and grimaced when it became too painful. Adamaï shifted back to his dragon form, snapping at any cultists that got too close to his head or threatening to clobber them with his thick tail. Despite the strength of his natural shape his movements were halting and slower than usual, easy for the cultists to avoid while still presenting enough of a defense to keep them at bay.
Yugo conjured a zaap in front of one of the cultists as it lunged at them, its twin appearing in the air at the level of the second floor.
The cultist fell through the air, temporarily stunned by the sudden change in scenery. Then, to Yugo's amazement, it spun and righted itself mid-fall to land neatly on its feet just a few paces away. After only a brief pause it straightened and started to creep around them to get at Qilby, only to be blocked by Fennius.
Now that they were out in the open there was no more risk of destroying the inside of the inn. Yugo fired a few more Wakfu blasts at the cultists, but as before they were able to dodge his attacks and keep coming; it was only when they were nearly within point blank range that he came closest to hitting them.
Adamaï staggered as another wave of pain hit him, and only just managed to drive off another cultist as it tried to get past him. The dragon spread his wings and pushed off the ground with his massive legs, kicking up a storm of dust and leaves on the downbeat.
Yugo watched his brother rise for a moment, then caught the arm of a cultist as it tried to slash at him with a dagger. "Adamaï!" he called as he kicked the cultist away before it could draw another dagger on him. Just what was Adamaï thinking? He was going to hurt himself further at this rate. The strain in Adamaï's wingbeats was painfully obvious to Yugo as he glanced up at his brother between blocking and attacking. Even as he hovered, Adamaï was steadily losing height as the wing strokes became weaker and less coordinated.
The cultists were gathered in a line now and attacking them rapidly in unison, giving Yugo and Fennius barely a moment to attack in return as they blocked and dodged.
Adamaï's wings lifted for another beat, folding in rather than coming down as his mouth opened wide to take a deep breath. He descended feet-first, aimed at the spot where two of the cultists stood.
They managed to get out of the way as Adamaï landed, mouth still open as if he were about to unload a blast of fire on Yugo and the others.
Yugo didn't know what to expect. There was only enough time for him to raise his arms and turn his face away as Adamaï's head came down.
Two waves of heat blew past him with a sound similar to the roar of a blacksmith's furnace, making him uncomfortably warm but leaving him unburned. Yugo opened his eyes as the twin jets of fire began to fade; Adamaï had managed to direct the blast by shaping his lips appropriately, engulfing the cultists in fire while keeping his allies safe.
The cultists were retreating even now, some trailing smoke and flame as they hurried away into the forest. Two were only lost from view once the flames on their robes went out.
Adamaï glared after the cultists until they were out of sight, then staggered and allowed himself to fall on his side once the danger had passed. "I—" he interrupted himself with a flurry of small, shallow breaths as the pain overwhelmed him. "Can't breathe."
Yugo rushed to his brother's side, trying to find the source of his pain. The dragon's hide was untouched, so obviously none of the cultists' daggers had been able to put a scratch on it... "Where does it hurt?" he asked, still frantically trying to find the source of pain on his brother.
"That was very reckless, Adamaï," Qilby remarked as he passed Yugo and walked around to the dragon's back.
"Sh-shut up," Adamaï snapped, barely able to raise his head off the ground as he tried to look at Qilby. "Ingrate," he allowed his head to fall again, having lost the energy to keep it up.
Blood dripped from the cut on Qilby's arm as he ran fingers along the dragon's spine, staining the white top of Adamaï's left wing with dark crimson. The old Eliatrope's hand came to a stop just behind the point where Adamaï's wings sprouted from his shoulders, and he looked up. "Yugo," he said, beckoning for the boy to come around with a nod of his head. "I need your help."
Yugo got to his feet and hurried over, skirting carefully around Adamaï's outstretched wing to join Qilby at the dragon's back.
"Take the heel of your hand and press here as hard as you can," Qilby said, curling his fingers so that only his thumb was pressed against Adamaï's spine.
"But what—"
Qibly cut him off. "Adamaï has hurt his back and I need you to help me fix it," he said, his voice kept carefully flat.
"Oh," Yugo looked down at his hand, his frantic mind trying to recall what the heel of the hand was supposed to be. He curled his fingers up and away from his palm and reached out to the place Qilby was indicating.
The old Eliatrope moved his thumb once Yugo's hand was pressed against Adamaï's back and checked to make sure that he was in the right place, his hand sticky from the blood flowing from the cut on his arm. "Now, give it a quick, firm press," he instructed as he removed his hand.
Yugo put his other hand over the spot pushed his weight against it; there was a dull pop and a small yelp of surprise from Adamaï, his body twitching at the odd sensation.
"Better, Adamaï?" Qilby allowed himself to fall backward into a sitting position, obviously tired from all the excitement.
Adamaï took a few long breaths. "It doesn't hurt to breathe anymore," he said with a sigh of relief.
"Good. Don't shapeshift again for a few days," Qilby adjusted his arm as he spoke, trying to find a comfortable position for it. "Shapeshifting with a back injury is dangerous, especially for a dragon your age."
"Fine," Adamaï grumbled, too weary to bother with a retort. His tail slapped the ground as he started to turn himself over.
"Yugo, help your brother get up so he doesn't hurt himself again," Qilby said as Adamaï's wing began to slide past him. He reacted to slow to dodge the wingtip as it swatted him on the ear.
"Right," Yugo hurried to Adamaï's shoulder and slid his arms under it, bracing against the grass with his feet as he tried to push the dragon up. He stopped to catch his breath after a few unsuccessful tries, his arms and shoulders burning from the exertion they'd already experienced that night.
"You there, Feca," Qilby pointed at Fennius, who looked over his shoulder before turning back to Qilby. "Yes you," the old Eliatrope snapped, true annoyance starting to edge into his voice. "Give the dragon a hand, Yugo can't help him up by himself."
Fennius hurried over and knelt beside Yugo. Together they were able to help Adamaï to his feet, with a lot of grunting and heaving as they pushed the dragon up.
"We need to find Korden and Pirwit, too," Qilby added, accepting the hand that Yugo offered him and wincing when it jostled his injury. "They'll be able to see to my arm."
Together they escorted Adamaï to the family room, watching the dragon carefully for any further signs of trouble. They entered the cozy room to find that Chibi and Grougal were there waiting for them.
Chibi's face was pale and his cheeks red from crying when he looked up at the group. Without a word he threw himself into Yugo's arms, burying his face in the older boy's nightshirt and sobbing something unintelligible into the fabric as Yugo wrapped his arms around him.
"It's okay, Chibi," he soothed, stepping out of the way so Adamaï and Qilby could get through the doorway. "I gotta go find the doctors so they can help Qilby," he looked around the family room, searching for Alibert. "Where did dad go?"
"Upstairs," Grougal hopped down from the back of a couch and came to sit beside Yugo, his eyes wide and worried. "Had to check the guests."
"Alright, I'll be right back," Yugo bent his knees and set Chibi's feet on the floor. "Now Chibi," he gently pushed his little brother away so they could look each other in the eye and took his hands in his own. "I want you to go and keep Adamaï company right now, okay?" Yugo paused to dab at the fresh tears on Chibi's face with a long nightshirt sleeve. "This is very important, so I need you to be brave."
Chibi sniffled again, but the tears stopped. He nodded, trying to put on a brave face but still reluctant to leave his older brother. Some confidence was regained when Grougal stood on his hind legs and took his brother's hand in one of his claws, and finally Chibi found the strength to walk over to where Adamaï stood.
Yugo hurried out to the common room, through it and to the stairs beyond, using a few well-placed zaaps to shave off time. He arrived on the second floor to find Alibert in the process of prying one of the rooms' doors open.
"Oh, good!" Alibert said with a relieved grunt as he backed away from the door. "Yugo, I need you to go in there and get Dr. Korden out. Someone ruined the lock and she's stuck in there. I won't be able to get it open without the smith's help."
As if to punctuate Alibert's request someone banged a fist on the other side of the door. The lock was, as Alibert mentioned, ruined as the result of something pointed and hefty being forced through it, destroying the mechanism while leaving the bolt in the doorjam. A quick look down the hall revealed that the lock on the next door had received the same treatment, and that one of the doors farther down had been completely destroyed by someone barrelling through it from the inside.
After taking a moment to sense where he wanted to go Yugo conjured a zaap and hopped through, touching down on the floor of Korden's room.
The doctor herself was still facing the door, her nightgown covered by an outdoor coat and her hair still mussed from sleep. She jumped and let out a small yelp at the sound of Yugo landing behind her, whirling so quickly that he could've sworn she managed to do it mid-air. "Oh, Yugo," Korden leaned forward slightly as she caught her breath from the fright, the relief at seeing someone friendly plain on her face. "What happened? I heard crashes and yelling and someone jammed my door while I was asleep."
"Everyone made it through, but Qilby needs to be stitched up," Yugo replied, offering a hand. "I can take you down there right now."
Qilby checked the stitch work on his arm and gave it a tired nod of approval. "This is good work, Dr. Korden. Very neat and even."
"Thank you," Korden's face flushed light pink, and she gave him a sincere smile as she dabbed her fingers in a jar of ointment and carefully ran them over the length of the wound. "It was such a clean cut it wasn't too hard to stitch up," she placed a length of gauze over the stitches and set to work bandaging it. "There, that should make things a little more comfortable."
"Where's Pirwit gone off to, by the way?" Qilby settled his arm across his lap. It was nice not having to mind where it was constantly, and getting the bleeding to stop took a weight off his mind. Dr. Korden really did do excellent work.
"I was about to go check on him, actually," Korden admitted as she packed her equipment away. "Nothing seemed seriously amiss but I'm worried that something else might be wrong. It's just not like him to be so clumsy." She got to her feet, medical bag in hand, and turned to leave.
"You've certainly made yourself useful, Qilby," Adamaï remarked from the special "bed" they'd made for him, one eye on Qilby while he rested. The bed was a hasty construction made up of chairs, stools, blankets, and pillows created under Qilby's instruction, shaped as a slope to support Adamaï's torso without putting strain on his legs. All other furniture had been pushed to the walls to make room for the dragon, including the couch that Qilby was now seated on and the one opposite that Chibi and Grougal were occupying as they dozed.
"Well I can see you're feeling better," Qilby replied, only just managing to stop himself rolling his eyes at Adamaï. "And why should you be so surprised? My survival depends on your success."
"Survival?" the rest of Adamaï's question was interrupted when Yugo walked into the room.
"Got the towels," the young Eliatrope paused by Adamaï and lifted the stack for all to see.
"Make sure they're damp before you use them," Qilby reminded him.
Adamaï watched as Yugo knelt by the roaring hearth fire and began to wet each towel in a bucket of water, then continued. "Why should you care about staying alive, anyway? Wouldn't you be better off going to be with Shinonome?" his eye flicked to Qilby again. "You'd be rid of having to deal with us at least, I'm sure you'd like that."
Qilby looked away, unsure how to answer such an accusation after the night he'd had. He was still feeling unnerved from the ordeal earlier... Maybe a distraction would get him to stop asking about it. "That was a good use of lip-shaping earlier, Adamaï. A bisected lateral blast, I'm impressed you were able to think of it on the spot like that."
"Don't try to change the subject," Adamaï's eye glanced away for a moment, the dragon obviously a bit flustered by the unexpected compliment. "I'm right, aren't I?" his gaze remained fixed on Qilby as he spoke.
The old Eliatrope turned back to Adamaï and tried to put the anxiety he'd felt earlier into words. That sensation of stepping toward solid ground and finding only a yawning abyss instead... He would have to start slowly. "Have you ever tried sensing for your Dofus, Adamaï?" he asked, his voice a careful monotone.
"How does that—"
"Over the many thousands of years I have lived I have developed the habit of sensing for my Dofus if I feel I am close to death. It helps ease my anxiety to know where I'm going if it happens," Qilby continued, ignoring Adamaï's interruption. He brushed his hand along the top of his right thigh, sweeping an imaginary piece of dirt off his pant leg. "You can imagine that as I was cornered and waiting helplessly to be butchered by those cultists I reached out instinctively for my Dofus..." the tremor that shuddered through his body was unexpected thanks to the surprised numbness that had settled over him, but it easily expressed the horror of that moment. "I couldn't sense it," a chill ran down the length of his spine, leaving his skin clammy and tight. "as if it didn't exist."
"But your Dofus is just in Emrub, it still exists," Yugo watched them from over his shoulder, a still-dripping towel in his hands.
"Emrub is a dimension that is located beyond time," Qilby sighed inwardly at having to explain. Of course neither of them could grasp the full gravity of the situation, they never remembered beyond a single lifetime. "And as I mentioned before it requires the Eliacube in order to cross the various dimensions between without getting lost."
Adamaï reached the conclusion first. "You think you won't be able to get back to your Dofus if you die," the eye that Qilby could see widened at the realization.
Qilby remained silent as thoughts driven by fear and anxiety flitted through his mind. All those years spent wishing he could truly die and now that the potentiality was staring him in the face, it was terrifying. It wasn't just death that scared him, it was the uncertainty. What would happen to his soul if it got lost trying to find his Dofus? Would it dissipate with no body or Dofus to protect it? Would it forever wander the Krosmoz, an entity with no body to enact its will on the world around it? Qilby shuddered again; that sounded like the misery he'd experienced in the Blank Dimension, and to think he could face an entire eternity of that if...
Now he deeply regretted telling the two about the possibility at all. What if they decided to kill him off rather than send him back in the end? What if they decided it was the easier way out?
"That's why I never—recommended we—" each word became a struggle as fear constricted his chest. "—keep them in Emrub. Too much risk—"
Finally the fear overwhelmed him, cutting off the rest of his explanation. Qilby rested his forehead in his hand and braced the elbow on his knee, staring wide-eyed at the rug beyond his feet. Each breath dragged into his lungs felt dry and harsh, and his heart thudded painfully against his ribcage. Damn that Baltazar! He must have known about this when he allowed me to return! And he could have died tonight, he was mere inches away from actual oblivion.
Somewhere beyond the fear he felt a hand rest on his left shoulder. The blue hat-tail with its cream colored tuft swung into view, followed by Yugo's face. "Qilby?" the boy's voice sounded muffled, as if Qilby were hearing him through a wall.
"Just... Need some time," Qilby tried to wave Yugo away, his arm sluggish and shaking; the veil of anxiety that hung over him dulled his senses and made movement difficult. He tried to get to his feet so he could leave the room, be away from the two if he really broke down, but his legs failed to move.
Thankfully Yugo understood and backed off as Qilby's mind began to run wild with the possibilities. The great gaping unknown opened before him, with no sure way to navigate it other than theories and suppositions. There was no knowing what would happen, but even so he didn't want to risk ending up with an eternity of lonely torment.
I don't want to disappear! I want to exist!
Time passed. How much, Qilby didn't yet know—it would be written into his memory later, but for now the patch was blank. His body still didn't want to move. The numbness gradually ebbed away, leaving exhaustion in its wake. His legs felt weak and shaky, and his fingertips buzzed and tingled as if they were filled with millions of tiny writhing organisms, each made from a small pinprick of fire.
A finger twitched, followed by a shift in the muscles of his wrist. Finally moving again. He slowly looked up and found that Yugo had seated himself beside Adamaï. The two must've been talking, because Yugo's head was turned upward toward his brother, and he looked back to Qilby once the old Eliatrope started moving again.
Adamaï sighed, his gaze shifting to the hearth and the heat stones that had been laid in it. "This really complicates things," he grumbled. "Now we have to keep an even closer eye on him with these cultists around."
"I think we can handle it," Yugo added. There was that obnoxious confidence again, even when the boy wasn't sure he could even live up to that expectation.
"We'll have to go to Bonta, the sooner the better. Joris will be able to help out with security," Adamaï's frown deepened as he spoke. "I don't know how Alibert's gonna be able to handle Grougal, but if the plague will be here soon as well..." he trailed off as he thought over the possibilities. "Might be better to just take them with us at this point."
Qilby took a deep, shuddering breath in an attempt to calm himself. It worked for the most part, though the anxiety still lingered at the edges of his awareness. "It's possible that the plague will have no effect on Chibi or Grougaloragran," he said. "The disease that it originated from never made any member of the Council ill, even when we were directly exposed to it."
"I hope you're right," Adamaï shifted his wings to make himself more comfortable under the cold packs that rested on his back. "A bit late at this point, though."
Relief managed to struggle through the exhaustion. They would be going to Bonta, and Qilby would have access to all the resources he needed once they got there. It was a good turn, but still not enough to balance the discovery he'd made that night. Qilby cut the thought off before it had the chance to continue. No need to sink into another episode right now, there was still a lot to be done.
"Is everything ready, Yugo?" Qilby asked, turning to the young Eliatrope.
"Yeah," Yugo nodded.
"Since your town's Eniripsa has yet to appear I can only assume that they haven't found her yet," Qilby noted with a glance at the doorway. The Eniripsa had been discovered as missing when Alibert sent for her, and various townsfolk were probably still out looking. "We need to get Adamaï in as good a shape as possible if we're going to leave anytime soon, so we might as well begin."
A/N: A quick shout-out to wishingstarinajar and discopolice for helping with the editing and making sure I stay sane. This fic wouldn't be anywhere near as good without their help!