What happened to you, Baltazar? Thought Marcos in horror when he saw his ex-friend prostrate in the large double bed in the main bedroom of the property. The magician had not seen Baltazar Hathaway in decades, but he was sure that time was not responsible for the deplorable appearance of the clan leader.

Baltazar always had fair skin, but now he was almost translucent and opaque. The man lying on the bed looked to be over a hundred years old. His body seemed so fragile that it would break for appearing to be so thin. His blond hair had turned pale and almost completely white. Despite all the resentment and hurt that Marcos carried in his chest, no part of him, not even the stingiest, could be happy to see Baltazar like that.

What most caught the attention of the healer magician were the hands of his ex-friend. They were blackened, with a darker and more intense color in the fingers, and, as it went up to his arms, the black spots were losing their intensity a little. Marcos was now fully aware of what was happening. Baltazar Hathaway's greed was taking its toll, but it was too high.

Marcos knew that those stains on Baltazar's arm meant intense poisoning with what was commonly known as black finger mushroom (such name was precise because the victim's hands turned black, looking like gangrene). If the stain reached the heart, it would certainly mean his death.

Marcos knew that this poison was the hallmark of the self-proclaimed Resistance group, which uses this fungus to attack their enemies. It was certain that Baltazar's greed for more land and power brought, as a consequence, this poisoning in retaliation from his opponents.

Out of the corner of his eye, the magician noticed Diana's pale face, she must have been in shock with the situation, even Marcos himself was a little surprised. He had read about the effect of this mushroom, but he had never personally seen a victim of its poison.

"How many days ago did he lose consciousness?" Marcos's voice broke the heavy silence in the room.

“Approximately two days ago,” said Lucian, “Is the situation reversible? Can you save him? ”

"I think I can save him" replied Marcos after long silence "But there is always the possibility of failure" he warned.

“I'm sorry but there is no room for failure here, mage” Lucian Hathaway's voice was calm, however, the threat was clear to everyone.