It had been almost half an hour since the two children had left the safety of their cabin to head to Honey loaf. When they first started out it was a bright and sunny day. Now that they have doubled in the city it is almost getting dark, and Arjana started to get worried.

“Izzimar, it’s getting late, can you still see where we’re going?”, she asks worriedly.

“I can’t see anything, Arjana, I’m blind.”, he teases as he stops and sniffs the air again. After sniffing for a minute, he pulls them past the fallen log from earlier. 

“How can you wander the forest without being able to see?”, she chides.

“I can smell and feel around Arjana, It’s not difficult for me. Besides, I’ve walked this path before a hundred times at least.”

“.......Even when it’s pitch black?”

“Even when it’s pitch black.” he repeats before stopping them in their tracks. He holds his finger to his mouth, signaling for her to be quiet. At first, Arjana looks at him confused before noticing a large moose pass by with two calves alongside her. She gasps at how close they are before Izzimar stops her by covering her mouth.

“I know this moose. This is her second pair of babies, her previous calves died last year from hunters.”, he whispers to her as he guides her away from the proximity of the moose. “She’s extra grumpy this year, so be very quiet.” he adds before they get back on the trail. This leaves Arjana stunned in amazement, as Izzimar had detected a threat that she didn’t notice. She always wondered how blind people fared in life, back home they were often being taken care of by someone else. Unlike them, Izzimar was entirely independent. 

“Izzimar, you really are… amazing.”, she says as they continue along. Izzimar stops to quiver, before he pauses and looks away. “Are you okay?” she asks, trying to see his face while he pulls away. 

Suddenly, as if she were hit by lightning, Arjana freezes ,before collapsing over in pain. She screams and cries as her body is hit with a searing burning sensation throughout her.

“Arjana!? Are you okay!?”, Izzimar cried out before kneeling over to feel for her head. As she screams, Izzimar quickly lifts her over his shoulder, and grabs their bag before quickly walking on the trail. “You’re going to be okay, we’re almost there!”, he says, hiding his panic as he picks up the pace. Arjana couldn’t take the pain anymore, it was spreading throughout her whole body, slowly, she began to lose consciousness.

—--

Back at the cabin, Birger had just woken up to a quiet home. Thinking that Izzimar had settled in, he decided to head to their room to give him his daily chores for the evening. After a long stretch, Birger gets up and makes his way to their room before noticing the door open. Quickly, he darts in and to his horror, Arjana is missing. He goes to the window and curses as he realizes that it is night out.

“That foolish boy!”, he growls as he quickly goes to his room to grab his cloak and boots. “Why in all of the light would he bring her outside!?”, Birger yells to himself as he angrily gets dressed to quickly pursue them. His anger is replaced with shock when he hears a frantic knock at the door. Kicking his boots away, he goes to the door and almost rips it off its hinges when he is greeted by a heartbreaking sight. Izzimar is carrying Arjana, who is pale as death, over his shoulder. Blood is slowly trickling out of her eyes and nose as she lays limp over his shoulder.

“Dammit boy, give her here!”, Birger yells as he snatches her away and frantically goes to Izzimar’s bedroom.

“By the gods, why would you take her out!?”, he yells in a panic as he lays her down on the bed and goes to his room for components.

“I didn't think we would be gone that long!”, Izzimar whined as he accompanied Birger to grab materials. In his room, he grabs a yellow paste and another gauze before returning to Arjana’s bedside. Working fast, he removes the old bandages she had on to examine the damage and finds that her wounds have gotten worse. From her neck and thigh wound, a black substance can be seen pumping through her veins and spreading throughout her body. Using the paste, he applies it on top of the veins, stopping the spread.

“Damn it all…It’s gotten bad…very bad.”, Birger breathes out before darting over to the workbench and quickly moving aside bottles and jars of components.

“Leeches blood, Mandrake root, Sprite tears…” he lists off the components as he gathers them for the potion. “Izzimar, get me the wolfsbane bud!”, Birger yells as he readies his equipment.

“Eldur!”, he shouts, lighting the basin and the beaker before getting to work. First, he uses the pestle to grind up the mandrake root before mixing it with the sprite tears. After heating up the leeches blood, Izzimar hands him the wolfsbane bud so that he could add it to the water basin. The water in the basin turns a dark purple and fills the room with a noxious odor.

“How is she, Izzimar?”, Birger asks as begins adding the mixtures to the basin. Izzimar quickly heads over to Arjana’s side and feels for a pulse. “She’s not breathing!”, he yells in a panic before returning to Birger. Birger grunts in frustration, the mixture isn't ready yet, and things aren’t looking good. Thinking quickly, he looks into a way to stall for time, “Izzimar, go to my room, grab the amulet of the sun and say,”Kynda”. Okay?”, he asks as calmly as he can. “It’s hanging up by my room door.”, he adds as Izzimar leaves out the door to grab it. While Izzimar grabs the amulet,Birger steps away from the bench to examine her closely, and confirms that Arjana isn’t breathing. 

“Lumineon, if you can hear me, please do not let this child fall to the dark. May your light heal her, and purge the darkness within her veins.”, he mumbles a prayer as Izzimar enters the room with the amulet. 

“I’m here, how is she?”, he asks.

“Just do like I asked of you!” Birger commanded before returning to the potion. Izzimar, worried and unsure, shakily holds the amulet up to her chest. 

“Kynda…Kynda…”, he whimpers. 

Birger barks, “Say it with conviction or it won't work!”, as he pours the potion into a bottle. 

“Kynda!”, Izzimar yells, causing the amulet to glow faintly but it was just enough to get a breath to escape Arjana’s lips. 

Shocked and relieved, Izzimar was beside himself,” She gasped! She gasped!” ,he shouted as Birger approached her with the potion.

Carefully, he lifts her head to make her ingest the potion. With the potion in her system, Birger sighs in relief before returning to the bench to grab some herbs and roots. Izzimar stays by Arjana’s side while Birger grounds up the items to make a topical ointment. He moves the young boy out of the way as he gently rubs the ointment over her body. 

The room is silent as Birger proceeds to work on Arjana while Izzimar sits on in guilt. Over the next few hours, Birger would go back and forth between the workbench and Arjana’s bedside with different remedies he would use. Whether or not they are working is unknown unless Arjana wakes up.