Chapter 9 Part 2

Heddwyn and the twins set up the three bedrolls at the back of the tent and put the chairs near the centre in a circle. There is plenty of room for other furniture, like a table for eating.

"dad, is Sister Helga gonna to ok??" Heather asks.

Heddwyn doesn't talk. He gestures to the chairs they just placed. As they all sit, he speaks. "do you two want the truth?"

Hesitantly, Heather and Haider look at each other and agree on a decision to hear what he has to say. "how do I begin? After examining Hilda for a while, I have determined she is beyond saving. Even with the Radiance spell, Hilda will unfortunately pass away in the next week." Heddwyn says.

"what about the holy cure potion?" Haider asks.

"it would get rid of the TB, but not the physical damage. She would suffer if we did that. The damage to her body is irreversible. She is struggling to breathe, covered in bruises, and she's lost a ton of weight." Heddwyn replies.

The twins look at each other. "what will happen to her when she dies?" Heather asks, her eyes staring intensely at Heddwyn for an answer.

"no one really knows. Have you been taught about the five gods?" Heddwyn says.

"no, only the mother and father." Heather says.

"there are three others, one is the god of Hel. Her name is Uffern Dduw. She is solely responsible for every soul's afterlife. Some live in paradise, some live in torture, and some are reincarnated." Heddwyn explained.

"do you think Helga is going to suffer in the afterlife?" Haider said timidly.

"I highly doubt she will. She will have her healthy body when she ascends. She has been such a loyal Sister of the Mother and Father, by making sure the demon god causes as little suffering to Dungannon as possible. It's just unfortunate that one of the demon god's greatest creations TB got her." Heddwyn says.

"I don't like that demon god. Why cause so much death?" Haider asks.

"no one knows her intentions. She keeps coming back with new and more dangerous demons, with new abilities and weapons."

"do we have any of their weapons from the last demon war?" Haider asks.

"here in Stocaea? No. the demons never make it this far, but their plagues do. It's the unseeable enemies of Uffern that are her most formidable assets." Heddwyn says.

A few hours later, the sound of trotting horses, accompanied by the sound of a carriage, can be heard from outside. Heddwyn hears several people landing their feet on the ground, followed by footsteps towards the door of the church.

"stay here, cubs. I hear people outside." Heddwyn says.

(narrator) it can't be Engilram, there are way too many people.

As Heddwyn turns the corner, we come to hear a woman's voice. "beware, quarantined?"

(narrator) is that Kate? Wait, no! that's Thordis' voice!

"hello? Can I help you?" Heddwyn asks.

"oh my god Heddwyn, thank god you're ok. Why does the church have a quarantine sign on it?" Engilram asks in reply.

"oh, welcome back Engilram. I think it's better if I explain somewhere else." Heddwyn says.

"I can't believe that Heddwyn lives around here!" Thordis whispers.

"I know! We got to meet him in person too. What an honour." Mizubi answered.

"who tall cat?" Krenn yelled.

Heddwyn's ears flicker. "excuse me, what did you just say?" Heddwyn towered over Krenn, there being three inches between the two. With height being an intimidation tactic in Lizardmen tribes, Krenn becomes full of fear for the first time.

"Krenn sorry." Krenn cowers behind Mizubi, lifting him up to hide.

"urrg! Krenn put me down you brute!" Mizubi grunted and squirmed.

Heddwyn snatches Mizubi from Krenn's hands. "you didn't need to disrespect your elf friend like that. Say sorry to him and we're good. For future reference, I'm a Nekojin, not a cat. Just the same as you're not a lizard." Heddwyn scolds.

"Sorry Mizubi." Krenn takes a deep breath as Heddwyn puts Mizubi down.

"how did you know we elves hate being picked up? That's the kind of thing we keep to ourselves." Mizubi asks.

Heddwyn says nothing as he pulls out his gold adventurer plate. "I have moderate level clearance to the adventurer guild's information here in Stocaea." He states.

"I didn't know people could access that kind of stuff." Thordis says.

"if I didn't retire when I did, I would have a platinum plate. Making the clearance level I could access high." Heddwyn brags.

"wait, so why did you retire?" Thordis asks.

"I wanted something different from life. I moved to Dungannon about half a year ago. I haven't looked back since. My life is just as fruitful as it was while I was an adventurer. Or at least it was." Heddwyn answers, a mild frown forming upon his face.

Engilram notices this and speaks up. "what's wrong Heddwyn?"

"I will tell you what happened while you were gone once we get inside the tent." Heddwyn says.

After setting up a bunch more chairs for everyone to sit on, Heddwyn asks that the twins be present for the conversation. Engilram gets down to business immediately and asks Heddwyn what happened once again.

"alright then, let's just begin this discussion with what happened after you left for the capital. About three days ago, Christopher started getting sick. We soon realised this morning that he was coughing up blood. I did a quick examination and his lungs had taken on damage. I examined and sterilised the rest of us and made a ward in Hilda's room. Ive been caring for them both since then. This tent was built by Heather and Haider. Ive been wearing a mask and gloves while inside the church to prevent the spread further." Heddwyn's frown deepens as he finished speaking.

"so, the poor lad got sick? That's horrible. I wish I could have gotten another potion." Engilram says.

"I'm sorry, a potion?" Heddwyn asks.

Engilram pulls out the holy grade cure potion from his bag and lays it down in front of the group. "is that why you went to the capital?" Heddwyn asks.

Engilram nods. "some stranger left this on my window the evening before I left."

"we need to give this to Christopher right now." Heddwyn says.

"hold on a minute! This potion is for Hilda, you can't just decide something like that." Engilram says.

"I'm with Engilram on this one. He went out of his way to give this to Hilda; it should go to her." Thordis says.

"who even are you guys? This has nothing to do with you. You shouldn't even have a say in this. I'm going to save my baby boy and there is nothing you can do to stop me from doing so." Heddwyn yells.

"there is no reason to attack them like that Heddwyn. They have the right to voice their opinion on the matter. I'm giving it to Hilda and that's final." Engilram says.

"hold on, where is the bottle?" Mizubi says.

"the kids are gone too." Thordis says.

"wait, how did those little shits take my cloth masks?" Heddwyn said.

"why would they need your masks?" Engilram said.

(narrator) those clever little tots!

It suddenly dawns on everyone exactly what they are attempting to do, and they run to catch them. Heddwyn pulls out masks from his bag and throws them to everyone. Engilram swings open the front door and Heddwyn charges to Hilda's room. Heddwyn catches the two right before they were trying to enter the room.

"are you two crazy! What were you thinking by coming in here! And give me that, the decision is for grown-ups!" Heddwyn snatches the potion off Heather and forces them back outside, placing a cleansing parchment on them and telling them to go back to the tent.

Heddwyn passes the potion back to Engilram and says, "now, before you make a choice. You need to see Hilda's condition; I will explain everything that's happening to her once you sit down."

Heddwyn guides the group into the room and closes it behind them. As they look upon Hilda's corpse like state, tears start to flow down his face. Engilram looks at Heddwyn and buckles at his knees.

"can we save her?" Engilram asks.

"if we used the potion on her, she would most likely still die from organ failure. In my opinion, she won't be able to live happily. She will be in constant pain for two months before she would finally pass away." Heddwyn explains.

"are you sure there isn't anything we can do? Anything at all?" Thordis says.

"look, I'm quite familiar with this disease. I know how this ends. If there was a way of saving someone this far gone, I would have found it a decade ago. She has two months to live, no matter how you try to look at it." Heddwyn says.

"I'm so sorry Engilram." Mizubi says.

Anger seemed to brew within Engilram as he spoke. "all this time. she spent all this time masking her illness and now she's gonna leave me here alone, forever." Engilram starts to yell, his tears becoming more like faucets, sobbing in between each sentence. "why! Why would you do this! Answer me Hilda! You can't leave me here! What would I do without you! Is this your last punishment for me! Answer me!" his sobs soften.

"why did it have to be you! Why did the gods let you suffer in silence for so long?" Engilram hunches over and places the potion on the floor in front of him. "give it to the boy. But take him out of here. When he is well enough, tell him about Helga. If we wait too long, it could become disastrous." Engilram crawls over to the stool next to Hilda and silently stews in his grief.

Heddwyn takes the potion and meanders over to Christopher as the young adventurers go to comfort Engilram. "hay my cub. How are you feeling?" Christopher doesn't have the energy to speak, he musters as much strength as he could to convey his feelings in his eyes. "yeah I'm ok, just allergies, my boy. I have a drink for you. Try your best to drink it all, ok?"

Heddwyn opens the bottle and slowly pours the contents into Christopher's mouth. upon drinking the potion, Christopher passes out from over exhaustion. Heddwyn moves his hand along Christopher's face, caressing his cheek. With his other hand, he wipes the sides of Christopher's mouth with a tissue.

"there we go, you're safe now my cub." Heddwyn says.

Heddwyn gets up and leaves the others to mourn. Before closing the door, he says, "I will set up a new tent for the rest of you. I will also leave a set cleansing parchment by the front door. Take as long as you need."