Chapter 27 - Dragon Mallow
Oliver leaned down to gently stroke Amelie's hair and whispered in her ear, too low for me to hear his words. Amelie didn't respond. He lifted his head, defeated and murmured, "Do it."
Myrnin nodded and left to collect Gwion. I stood uncomfortably, averting my eyes blatantly away from Oliver. Thankfully Myrnin reappeared quickly with Gwion right behind him.
Gwion reached his hand slowly and brushed Amelie's hair gently away from her neck. I was surprised at the tenderness of his touch. Oliver stiffened and looked like he would rather sever Gwion's hand from his body. Gwion leaned down and touched his lips to Amelie's neck. He murmured, "It won't be long now, love," right before he slid his teeth into her flesh.
Nobody moved.
The atmosphere felt tangible, as if even time realized the magnitude of the situation and waited; each second drawn out five beats longer than it should have been. My chest ached and I realized I was holding my breath. I slowly drew in air to replenish my wanting lungs, careful not to make any sound.
As the seconds ground unhurriedly by, I was surprised at the length of time Gwion remained attached. I had assumed he would make his bite quick, to reduce his exposure to the toxin, but he lingered, caressing her veins with his tongue. The embrace almost felt passionate and I shifted uncomfortably in place. The longer Gwion held, the more Oliver's body vibrated in fury.
Suddenly, Amelie's chest rose and fell. Her fingers twitched. Oliver hissed angrily, "What are you doing to her?" But I could see excitement behind his eyes at her slight signs of life.
Gwion withdrew his fangs carefully, and licked the remainder of Amelie's blood from his lips. I shivered, knowing that her blood was tainted with the deadly poison. His expression remained unaffected as he replied, "After I took the necessary sample, I infused her body with an anesthetic. The effect should last a few hours." He turned toward Myrnin and said, "I need access to a lab."
"Of course," Myrnin nodded.
Gwion suddenly looked up at me and murmured, "You were not far off, little minx."
I inhaled sharply. What did he mean by that?
My thirst for knowledge flared shockingly strong, fueled by my excitement to watch Gwion work. He smirked when he felt the radical acceleration of my emotions, and my eagerness to be near him. I blushed fiercely and blocked my emotions. He smiled to let me know my defensive positioning was a little too late; he already knew how I felt.
It did not take us long to get back to the lab. It felt like an eternity since I had last been there, when really, only a few days had transpired. So much had radically changed in my life. I smiled softly, warmth running through me from my head to tingling toes as my gaze rested on Myrnin, shocked again that he was mine.
Myrnin quickly gathered and arranged varied equipment on one lab table, before drawing a secondary lab table near. He lifted and set me on the adjoining table, so that I would have a bird's eye view of their work. Without my needing to ask, he then gathered up the journal we shared for our projects and tucked it into my hands, so that I could take notes. My eyes were riveted to every movement Gwion made. And as he worked, he murmured a steady stream of instruction and education. It was glorious.
Quite quickly, they had potions bubbling and machines whirring. I madly scribbled notes, afraid that I would miss something, but I knew that my brain was subconsciously cataloging and sorting the data for future use.
"The unidentified elements were Ocluron and Dragon Mallow. More precisely, the Ocluron camouflaged the Dragon Mallow. Had there been either one or the other element, modern means would have identified it. However, in combination, Ocluron masks the Dragon Mallow markers," Gwion explained.
"I've heard of Ocluron," I murmured, "It's an easily malleable metal; almost pure white in its appearance."
"Yes. It is the closest element to silver and actually quite rare, only found in the Carpathian Mountains. But, even rarer still, is the Dragon Mallow. I was not aware any still existed in the world. A Dragon Mallow is a highly reactive, exotic and quite deadly flower. Its cobalt blue petals can be ground into a powder and combined with virtually anything for potentially stunning results. In this case, it created a silver-like poison."
"The difficulty arises in unraveling the bond between them inside of a body. Because the Dragon Mallow is so reactive and so changeable, it quite literally becomes a different element, making it almost impossible to break the bond."
I sucked in a deep breath, "But you can do it, right?"
He gave me a confident smirk, "I can do it. But we are going to take a page from your playbook – electricity – because it will force the decomposition faster than a traditional method. Once they are successfully un-bonded, the vampire's body will automatically heal from each. Separated, they hold no danger. It is only when they combine, that the outcome becomes volatile."
"Oh," I breathed, realizing how close I had come, indeed. However, without knowing the two elusive elements, I wouldn't have known which counterpart elements to introduce.
"We will definitely employ Cerulean as the last bond. However, little minx, which element do you recommend for our first step?"
I sat there stunned for a moment, trying to understand if he was really going to let me just pick one and go with it. "Silenium," I thought out loud, remembering our second challenge and his mention that Silenium had semi-conducting properties. From the information he provided about the Dragon Mallow flowers, it sounded like we were going to need as much power as possible to decomposition the poison.
It took another two hours for all of the components to be ready. My hands trembled as we made our way through the portal, back to Amelie's home.
When we reached her suite, we found Oliver prowling in circles, restlessly pacing awaiting our return. His head snapped up as we breached the doorway.
"We're ready," Myrnin told him, as he began to set up the equipment next to her bedside.
"Wait!" Oliver hissed. All eyes turned on him. "Test the cure on another vampire... First," Oliver insisted forcibly.
Myrnin looked at him pointedly and asked, "Are there any other survivors?"
"One," Oliver whispered. He reached for a phone in his pocket and spoke swiftly. Within minutes, the other vampire was brought in and laid on the couch. We shifted all of our gear over to him.
Myrnin prepared the IVs and told Oliver, "Get something to strap him down."
Oliver looked at him in confusion and replied, "He's in a coma. How far do you think he is going to get?"
Myrnin gritted his teeth. Gwion answered for him, "We intend to run an electrical current through their bodies to force the elements to separate. It will not be easy," he stated simply.
Oliver nodded his understanding grimly, and fished out his small black cell phone again. He barked out new orders. Just as before, his instructions were carried out within minutes. Two guards arrived with strap restraints, wrapping the vampire's wrists securely to his sides. A third strap was quickly employed, hog-tying his ankles together within seconds. I shuddered with the knowledge that they just happened to have these types of restraints, lying around – for whenever the mood struck them. I just wasn't sure what kind of mood that meant.
Myrnin began the silenium drip through the IV. It would take about 15 minutes for the element to disperse completely into the vampire's blood stream.
As we waited, Myrnin walked through the steps with Oliver, "First, we will infuse their bodies with silenium. The silenium has two purposes. It will act as an accelerant for the electricity, heightening the effect. And once broken apart, will act as a 'neutral', keeping the elements stable in preparation for the last step.
"Electricity?" Oliver murmured, staring intently at the comatose vampire.
"Yes, once the electrical current surges through their body, it will force the atoms of the Ocluron and Dragon Mallow away from each other. This part of the process is the most critical and the most difficult to achieve."
"And the third step?" Oliver asked quietly.
"We will introduce cerulean, which will act like a magnet to the Dragon Mallow flower. This flower is not stable on its own; its atoms remain in a frenzied panic without a substance to bind with. The Dragon Mallow combined with Ocluron metal, is lethal. However, when torn apart, the vampires body will heal from both. Given the length of time they have suffered, the recovery rate is unknown at this point."
Oliver's eyes narrowed, "What does that mean exactly?"
Myrnin sighed, "It means that it may take weeks for their bodies to fully cover, and we cannot rule out the potential for irreversible injury."
"We're ready," Gwion interjected, as he finished applying the electrical hardware to the vampire's skull and also his ankle, creating a closed circuit.
I desperately wished that I could run out of the room instead of having to witness a vampire being electrocuted, but as I took in the rigid shoulders and clenched jaw in Myrnin's features, I knew I couldn't leave him alone.
"Now," Myrnin said quietly.
Gwion flipped the switch releasing the first surge of power.
I had hoped that maybe it wouldn't hurt the vampire too much, since they were already unconscious. I realized with sickening certainty, that I had been vastly wrong.
The vampire screeched in pain; his back arching violently as his chest rose up from the couch and crashed back again with a thud; only to do it again and again as Gwion released the five hits we anticipated it would require to force the decomposition.
Oliver and I stood with equal masks of horror on our faces. Mine due to the sheer level of astounding pain that was being inflicted. Oliver's was due to the knowledge that Amelie would be next.
Immediately following the fifth pulse of electricity from Gwion, Myrnin released the cerulean into the IV at the fastest speed possible. We needed it to penetrate quickly because the Dragon Mallow flower would re-bond again within seconds.
Shockingly within five minutes following completion of the treatment, the vampire's eyes shot open and he groaned loudly. My breath flowed out in a whoosh. Hearing his cry of pain was both horrible and beautiful at the same time. Tears sprung to my eyes. I brushed them away quickly with the back of my hand, but I thought Gwion was watching me in his peripheral vision. I turned my body slightly away from him, so that he wouldn't see any weakness in me.
As if reading my thoughts, Gwion murmured softly, "Compassion is not a weakness."
I turned back toward him, but he said no more. Instead, he – and to my utter amazement, with Oliver's assistance – moved equipment over to set up next to Amelie's bed.
Myrnin had already placed the IVs and was flushing the lines with saline in preparation for the chemicals.
The process began exactly as before. I gritted my teeth and clench my fists when Gwion's thumb pressed on the lever, electrocuting her in five separate intervals. While her body convulsed and rose from the bed, she did not utter a sound – always the composed Queen. I was at awe.
The instant Gwion released the last bolt of electricity, Myrnin turned her cerulean IV wide open.
We waited.
And then we saw it. Amelie's eyes opened, wildly rolling for a moment as she sucked in raspy breaths. Oliver was on his knees instantly next to her, murmuring in her ear and stroking her hair.
As Amelie's awareness steadied, her gaze went past Oliver and searched the room, until finally resting intently on Gwion.
"Welcome back, beautiful..." Gwion purred.
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It's late, so no mindless chatter tonight, but remember to Review to your hearts content below. Much love-