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Decades ago, a young doctor on a journey...

Chapter 24 – Special chapter: Origin of the firefly stone.

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Decades ago, a young man walked along a snowy mountain looking for new herbs while using a map and compass to get to the next town.

The reason for finding himself in a place so far from his home was due to family tradition which consisted of the fact that descendants made this journey once in their lives in search of improving knowledge through practice along with seeking new medicinal herbs, something that would be impossible to acquire just by attending the renowned Imperial Academy of Doctors.

As he walked deeper into the forest, he was surprised by the abnormal silence that reigned in that place and even though he was afraid, the young man gathered his meager courage and entered the place, being moved by the curiosity inherent in humans.

Each step was heavy and although the fear of the unknown dominated him, his curiosity managed to make him move his legs, leading him through the soft snow that made him sink at the same time that his heart wanted to come out of his mouth as he clearly heard his voices heartbeat that was the only sound in that environment except for the howl of the wind that started to blow at that moment.

After several minutes that seemed like endless hours, he arrived at a huge clearing with broken trees, pieces of rocks, as well as rubble and marks from a violent fight.

It was also visible the immense and equally frightening amount of viscous crimson liquid that dyed the snow and that made him feel chills, making him imagine a thousand things, including what could do so much damage in such an immense area and as it continued with extreme caution, the only thought that came to him and that prevailed at that moment was that this destruction and blood was caused by a fight involving demons and as he thought about it, he prayed to the Gods so that any demons that were still in that area would realize that it was not a threat.

Of course, it was a fervent mental prayer and an impossible wish to fulfill as he recalled what he heard about demons. They were beasts incapable of human speech and who only learned to speak after being tamed and living with humans, making them abandon their feral identity by making them domesticated.

For the young doctor, this was a logical conception because the true forms of demons were similar to those of animals while at the same time they had large sizes and other characteristics that made them distinguishable from a simple animal.

So, when he decides to return because he found no one in danger of death while he feared being killed by some remaining demon, he hears dying moans that highlighted the pain that the owner of that voice was feeling at that moment.

Closing his eyes momentarily, the human takes a deep breath and gathering the little strength he still had in his legs, he returns to walking towards the source of the faint sounds while showing surprise on his face at the fact that there were survivors because that moan was from a human, making the doctor assume that this victim ended up injured after being involved in a fight between two or more demons.

In fact, the young man believed that this survivor was probably a demon master, thus justifying the fact that he was still alive in such a devastated scenario.

After several minutes of expectation and fear, he discovers, in the center of an immense shallow crater, a large white doe and a young stag that showed the first signs of antlers, thus highlighting the fact that he was a male. Their immense size compared to that of an animal highlighted the fact that they were demons.

After all, the female was the size of an elephant and the calf was the size of a horse, but visibly young, while the coat of both was white and blended into the snow that had piled up on the ground at the same time as the fur of both was full of wounds and dyed crimson.

Furthermore, the fact that it was a doe and a young stag highlighted the fact that they were probably mother and son.

While trying to identify the origin of the human groan while preparing the necessary material to treat all the injured, including the demons because he knew that when they died they disappeared in the form of a cloud of dust, he was shocked to see that the groan was coming from of the young deer, making him question how it was possible that that moan, which resembled that of a human, came from demons.

As he approached both of them, he knew the dangers of approaching that race, but, he could not turn his back and leave them in such a dying state.

Therefore, gathering his meager courage and his duty towards life, the young doctor first began to treat the calf who was in the most serious condition and after finishing, he began to treat his mother after preparing new plasters and medicine liquid when uncovering the pots that contained medicines while he had obtained large remaining leaves from the place at the same time as he mentally prayed to the Gods so that the mother and her son would not be hostile to humans and that they would understand their actions because he had never been close to one of that race, limited to only hearing about them from the mouths of others, in addition to the fact that he stoically sought to ignore the sharp fangs in his jaws when he opened them to pour the medicine into their mouths.

After sighing with relief when he saw that they were both better, he wiped the sweat from his forehead because despite it being cold, the young doctor was too tired from treating such big demons.

Then, the human felt eyes on him and when he turned his face, he saw the calf with black eyes looking intently at him while maintaining an attentive posture, but without showing any indication that he was going to attack him despite framing him fixedly in his arms onyx orbs.

The young doctor raised his arms in surrender and said that he was just treating them because he was a doctor, and then was surprised to hear the young stag's gentle voice, "No need to be afraid. I understand that he is an ordinary human because he has no powers. I can also smell the strong smell of herbs on you and that is only acquired because of the constant handling of medicinal herbs, thus demonstrating the fact that you are a doctor. Furthermore, both my mother and I have been treated and so, you have my deepest gratitude. I also know that there are no other humans in the vicinity. Or, at least, nothing that I cannot pick up through my heightened senses. Furthermore, considering the scent of fear emanating from you and the fact that being just a simple human, why did you treat our injuries?" He spoke calmly and eloquently while his voice was masculine and gentle in tone.

The young white stag, who still had a small antler in proportion to his size, finished the question by turning his head to the side, thus seeing the human who was in a stupor while moving his mouth despite no sound leaves your lips.

"Are you well?" He asks with concern.

"You talk! Does your mother talk too? She's your mother, right?"

The young man is surprised and clears his throat, placing one of his paws in front of his mouth, still lying face down in the snow and comments, "Yes. We spoke. I believe this is the first time he has had contact with someone of my race."

"Yes. I apologize for my reaction. It's just that I hear many compare you to animals because of your true forms."

The young deer huffs in annoyance and mutters to himself, "Why am I not surprised."

"What did you say?" The human asks with visible curiosity on his face as the fear he had felt previously was gradually dissipated.

"Nothing. As for my previous question. Why did you save us?"

"I'm a doctor and I took an oath to save lives, regardless of who they are. Even if it's a demon, I'll save them. I couldn't turn my back on you."

"You need to be careful. Not everyone will appreciate your intervention."

"Well, this can happen to any race in my view. It doesn't matter if it's demon or human. I must follow my heart and oath at the same time as I must bear the consequences of my decision. So, if I happen to die , I will have no regrets."

The young man shows surprise and the human hears a female voice, making him look at his mother, who comments, "You are a different human. Very different in your opinions and completely different from what you said before about comparing us, demons, with beasts or animals, something that we consider very offensive. I believe that this speech comes from other humans. Or, better said, master of demons, right?"

"Yes." He speaks while feeling embarrassed about his previous erroneous opinion about demons just because of their true forms.

"They like to consider themselves superior to us. They love to defame us and compare us to animals or beasts. Don't be like that. It's not your fault. That's what you learned from the bastards" She elegantly lowers her head with her son following the gesture from the mother, "We thank you for treating us."

"I'm glad to see they're recovering."

Over the next few days, he continued taking care of both of them and when they regained their strength, they said goodbye, but not before the young deer looked at his mother who consented while smiling at the human, becoming curious about their gesture.

The youngest approaches and bows his head to the human who sees a bright blue stone appearing between the young man's small antlers on a golden necklace that makes him fascinated.

"Take that rock."

He picks it up and the deer says, "Because of my lineage I was able to conjure this stone. It's called the firefly stone. It's a gift for taking care of me and my mother. It's not only beautiful, it will also serve to identify any eventual descendant of yours. This stone will only accept your descendants. No other person will be able to carry this stone and even if they manage to place it somewhere, it will lose its shine and become a simple stone. Furthermore, if the bearer's life is in danger , he will have her protection in the form of a massive shock wave that will render a human unconscious and depending on the demon will disorient him for several hours, thus giving the bearer the chance to flee the scene."

"Thank you very much."

"It's the least we can do for you to repay you for your kindness."

Then, mother and son say goodbye, and then walk towards the frozen forest and as they move away, an intense blizzard appears that does not hit the doctor, but makes them both disappear within the intense and equally violent blizzard that, when it abruptly stops, reveals the anything.