[Gift] Antivenom [Alchemy]

Antivenom

“Uncle Dhao, UNCLE DHAO!”

   The pleading squeaky voices outside definitely got Dhaoragan’s attention. He let the book drop on the table as he swiftly turned around and rushed to the bright cave entrance. Having reached outside on his doorstep, Dhao felt how two panting Puller pups crashed into his forelimbs, one to each. They were clearly anxious and in a hurry.

“Vericia, Eli? What’s the matter?”

   He had known those two rascals for a couple years now, so he could immediately tell from the pups’ faces that something rather serious had happened. The siblings simultaneously looked at him with watery eyes while still trying to catch their breaths, and the panic they were in definitely made it a bit difficult for Dhao to understand what they were rambling about.

“There was - stranger from - desert - big snake - scream - we ran - stranger - pretty scarf - HUGE SNAKE - attacked and - WENT STRAIGHT FOR - so we heard -”

“Okay, okay, calm down you two and one at a time. Veri, what happened?”

   Dhao placed his huge paws on the agitated kids’ shoulders while trying to make any sense of the scrambled eggs of an explanation. Veri took the deepest breath she could and then chattered the whole thing with a single breath while Eli nodded along or frowned at some of his sister’s comments about him.

“We were playing in the woods and suddenly we heard a scream so of course we ran to check it out and found a stranger who got bit by a snake a very big snake I saw it slither away but the stranger saw us and asked us to get help while he tries to hold off the poison from spreading so we ran here superfast I was faster than Eli because we knew you’re a smart uncle who can help the stranger and take away the poison so please uncle Dhao he needs your help!”

   Vericia gasped loudly as she had just about ran out of all the air her lungs could hold. This gave teary-eyed Eli an opportunity to speak up.

“You have to come quick, he seemed to be in pain.”

   And with that, Dhao indeed didn’t waste another second as he dashed back into his cave to swiftly gather the vials and ingredients he might need. As fate would have it, he happened to study the book of venoms and poisons today, so he knew perfectly well which materials and which book to grab along and stuff in his trusty satchel on his way past the shelves. Veri and Eli managed to jump up right before the towering Puller reappeared in front of them, gazing down at them with a determined face.

“Lead the way.”

   The siblings turned around without a word and as fast as their growing legs allowed, they took off towards the part of the woods where they encountered the stranger in need. Dhao stayed closely after them while he was feverishly thinking on whether he’ll manage to catch the snake to attempt making the antivenom or the Gods have other plans for today.

—

   Koru kept his focus on the two red dots on his forelimb, channeling his magic to try suppress the bitter venom from spreading further in his body. If he had known that the serene forests of Warrenfall held such dangers as big venomous snakes, he would’ve ignored the hazy yet strong glimpse of a vision he had of this place. But now, he was in this reality with the painfully throbbing limb, damp forest floor slightly soaking his golden fur on his belly as he was waiting for the two Vayron children to return with the help they had promised. He was pretty proficient with magic, but not enough to neutralize this freshly encountered type of poison pushing in his veins. He couldn’t focus on thinking of a back-up plan while he kept the venom at bay, but misfortune is often balanced by a speck of luck, and this time it was the rushed rustling approaching him soon enough.

   The bushes swayed and then revealed the two rascals, both stumbling on the branches and graciously face-planting to the ground. A split second later, Dhao’s massive figure appeared as he stepped out on the tiny clearing, eyes locked on Koru in front of him. This, of course, broke Koru’s concentration but the burning sensation starting to spread reminded him to keep some of his attention on the issue.

“Oh, good afternoon, kind stranger. I see the younglings succeeded with their mission. I am Koru and I’m extremely grateful for your assistance with this… unfortunate situation.”

“Don’t thank me yet, there’s work to do.”

   Dhao uttered in response as he took off his satchel to rummage around in it. Veri and Eli brushed the leaves, grass and mud off their snouts before they trotted to Dhao, standing in front of him with worried faces and waiting to see what he’ll do next. Koru decided to let the kind Puller to do his work, readying himself to answer questions he might get. Surely enough, there was one sent in his way right away.

“Koru, was it? Did you see what the snake looked like?”

   Koru sighed and shook his head in response while Dhao’s green eyes were fixed on him. Koru opened his mouth to explain further, but he was forced to close it as Dhao immediately addressed the young siblings.

“Veri, Eli, you saw it, right? What did it look like and where did it go?”

   Dhao’s question was eagerly answered with the chatter Veri and Eli simultaneously poured at him. This time he was actually able to recognize the potential species the two were describing with their rambles, so he picked up his book and shuffled through the pages when he found the potential suspect he was thinking of. He turned the book around to show the drawing to the kids, pointing at it with his claw for better guidance.

“This one?”

“YES.”

   The perfectly synchronized answer gave both Dhao and Koru some relieving hope.

“Are you sure? Not the one next to it?”

“No, that one with the white speckles. I saw them clearly on the snake’s tail.”

   Eli eagerly pointed at the same snake Dhao was suspecting, while Veri nodded along. Good thing that this specific variety was rather common in this region compared to the other one, which meant there was a good chance of Dhao finding it. Before he rushed off to his mission, he picked out some herbs from his pouch and handed them to Veri.

“Please put them on Koru’s bite marks, just like I showed you how to treat a bruise, remember?”

   Vericia perked up, grabbed the medicine and with a couple comical leaps he was at Koru’s side, looking for the designated spot. Koru pointed it out, and while Vericia applied the pain-relieving herbs with the utmost care and competence she had, Dhao gave Eli his task.

“You, my boy, can help me by finding this plant. See? Exactly this one right here.”

   Eli locked his eyes at the detailed drawing Dhao was showing to him from the book. He nodded vigorously and turned around to take off at the speed of light, but Dhao managed to stop him.

“Woah, just a second! I’ll leave the book here so you can compare the plant with the picture right away, yeah? And please watch out for the snakes yourself, don’t try to catch one, call for me instead. I know exactly what I need from it. Understood?”

   Eli gave Dhao another swift nod before dashing in the greenery, which left only Dhao to get on with his quest. He grabbed his satchel and while putting it on, gave some advice to Koru and Veri.

“If you feel light-headed, ask Veri to bring you some water from the stream right over there. If you feel nauseous, nibble on the leaves on your wrist, they also help against that. I hope to be back as soon as possible, so just hold on, yea?”

   Koru was moved by this guy’s hospitality, so he smiled politely in response.

“I will, thank you.”

   And with that, the large Puller slipped away in the depths of the greenery to hunt down the snake, leaving Koru in the care of the kids and in the mercy of time.

—

   The younglings were also extremely caring and helpful towards Koru while they waited. In addition to that, they were also really curious little buggers, so Koru was telling them stories and answering their questions about Thedale, Koru’s travels here and what a good fire mage he was. This helped them all to calm down from the initial shock, but this also meant Koru couldn’t fully focus on keeping the venom at bay, which meant it managed to spread further into his body before Dhaoragan returned.

“Did you get it?”

   Veri excitedly jumped up once she noticed Dhao, while Koru and Eli also turned their focus on him.

“Yeah, got one. How we doing?”

   Dhao was panting as he had run all the way back since successfully catching the correct snake in one of his glass jars. He took off the satchel once more and started to prepare the area in front of him to mix the antivenom while semi-listening to the kids ramble about everything - how Koru was doing, how good care they’ve taken of him and the wonderful stories he shared with the younglings. Dropping just some hums in response, Dhao’s paws moved swiftly, and since Koru was already feeling light-headed he was forced to keep his whole attention on magically suppressing the venom from reaching his head. 

   When the set-up was complete, Dhao found a good pile of the plant Eli was tasked to retrieve right next to the open book on the ground. He took the book to study the formula closer, but he couldn’t fully focus thanks to the kids.

“Hey, awesome work you two, truly. But I need to focus now, yea?”

   Good thing Veri and Eli were good-mannered kids, so without arguing they shut up, sat down and simply observed what Dhao was doing next.

   First, he tackled the easy part of making the base from a small health potion. He then crushed up the leaves Eli had gathered and added them to the mix, after which he remembered to glance towards Koru. Seeing how he wasn’t doing too well, Dhao nervously sighed and forced himself to simply focus on preparing the remedy. Veri and Eli also glanced behind them towards Koru, both feeling anxiety swelling in their chests when they saw Koru already slightly struggling. Koru had descended into a meditative state to keep the venom away from his mind, but this also caused feverish visions to flash by his eyes, which definitely weren’t helping him with the cause. The figures, familiar and unfamiliar faces distorting all around him, voices calling his name or whispering secrets in ancient languages pulled Koru down into the endless abyss of the mind, where the veils of past, present and the future trapped his entire essence somewhere in the middle of everything and nothing at once. This bizarre trip ended when Koru lost consciousness.

—

   Koru gasped as he opened his eyes, the bright sunlight blinding and hurting his sensitive eyes. As he slowly came back to his senses, he realized that there’s three figures hunching over him, who soon started gaining more details. Koru realized this wasn’t a vision anymore as he started to remember where he was, what had happened and who were behind the worried faces watching him wake up.

“It worked! He’s gonna be okay!”

   Veri cheered and beamed up with a wide smile, just like Eli did. While the siblings were doing something which can be considered a celebratory dance, Dhao gave Koru a relieved smile and placed his big paw on his chest as Koru tried to get up.

“Not yet, you need to rest for a little while, let the antivenom do its work.”

   Koru felt a sense of relief and serenity wash over him. The cheerful laughter and celebration by Veri and Eli caressed his ears, even though it sounded distant to him. He now knew he was safe, but most importantly, why this vision had led him right here. The unexpected experience felt like a trial he had passed, which taught him a valuable lesson regarding his seer abilities. But before pushing his already worn mind further in the matter, he weakly looked at Dhao.

“I am forever grateful to you for your help. May I also ask the name of my savior?”

   Dhao’s eyes widened as the ‘oh crap’ expression on his face clearly showed how rudely he had forgotten to introduce himself. He cleared his throat and grinned awkwardly.

“Oh, right. I am Dhaoragan, but you may call me Dhao.”