While the people of the city stayed within their walls, the ones who lived in the village made effort to search the land. Herbs; mushrooms; any sort of plant were to be brought back to be made into medicine. The bedridden remained in their huts with at least a companion to care for them.

It had begun in the first month of the year. That was when the plague hit, and it was when it hit the hardest. Bleeding from the nose led to a slow-rising fever that quickly dehydrated the body. Sore throats then came about which made the intake of water more difficult than it should be. It wasn't clear what about the plague that killed a person, but once someone was affected, death was close by. No cure or remedy was up to the task of combating this mysterious sickness.

What made things worse was that the countries neighboring Brymlight erected blockades and stationed soldiers at their borders, preventing entry from the region. The sick could not leave to seek treatment elsewhere and had to remain in Brymlight where they would eventually succumb to the illness. Such was the fate of the Brymlightians.

It was now the fourth month of the year. The disease had slowed its pace but the death count was still rising.

Many villagers were so taken by grief that they had abandoned all hope; returning home to spend time with their loved ones in their final moments. Only a handful now were adamant enough to maintain search for a cure. Due to their dwindling numbers, more work was to be done to cover entire sections of Brymlight.

Nikolai and Lana had volunteered to examine the northern parts of the forest just beyond the village.

Days had past since they went home, and both were becoming increasingly irritable during the expedition. After some long hard searching, they came up with --

"Nothing..." Lana muttered.

The young woman let out a frustrated sigh as she tossed aside the long thick branch she had been using to poke around at the bushes. Lana adjusted the bow slung across her body so its upper limb sat between her breasts. The shoes she wore and the hem of her grey tunic robe stained with dried mud splatters and leaf fragments. A typical imagery of a village huntress -- though there weren't that many to make it a common enough look among the women.

Nikolai let fall the branch he held. He patted his trousers to rid the dirt off his hands as he gazed out at the lake's clear water surface shimmering in the daylight sun.

"It's not from the crops," he said, frowning. He tapped his finger on the butt of his machete's handle. "It's not from the livestock. Not from the river. Not from here either..."

"Maybe something drowned out there?" Lana suggested, nodding towards the huge pool.

Nikolai paused. "The current would carry the carcass here," he said, pointing at where a river formed at the lake's edge.

"Maybe it got bloated and sank?"

Nikolai turned and pointed at something over Lana's shoulder. Both of them watched as a doe stepped to the edge of the water to hydrate itself. Two of its young splashed into the water without hesitation, much like little children.

"Animals won't drink from poisoned waterholes," Nikolai said.

"What if," said Lana, looking a little annoyed, "it's only affecting us?"

"Then this whole 'find the source' thing is useless and we should all just wait at home to die," he snapped, turning to leave. "It's not here."

"Can we at least check?"

Nikolai raised a hand and gestured towards the water. "You wanna dive into a place you just said is maybe making us sick?"

Lana folded her arms. "You have a better idea?"

"Yes," Nikolai replied. "We go somewhere else."

"Well, I think we should look here."

"You can't even swim!"

Lana folded her arms. "But YOU can..."