Surgery

One week.

Emile, Willow, and Roy continued to search the Dead Tree's forest. They stayed close, narrowing their search around the open field in the center.

For days, they dug through the dry dirt in search of seeds or nuts. They climbed trees, plucked weeds, and cut trees all in the hopes of finding something with life.

One seed, a little bit of sap, and an inch of viable root was the entirety of their haul. But with that, the alchemists could work.

Two weeks.

Blood's symptoms have worsened. The parasites grew larger as Blood's temperature grew hotter.

In order to prevent the frying of his brain, Emile had to stay by his side; healing him every few minutes, cooling his body and replenishing his blood.

Even though Emile couldn't adventure, however, it didn't mean Willow couldn't. She continued the search for water and without Emile and Roy with her, she was able to travel much deeper and much faster.

Three weeks.

Willow returned with water, giving a needed boost to the alchemist's research. They say water connects all things, within the water Willow found the alchemists found the remnants of the past.

Uninfected, non-rotten bacteria and a slew of larvae. It was a breakthrough, the Dead Tree couldn't invade water.

So what did it do, it killed all the trees and all the plants that contributed to the atmosphere, that generated rain clouds.

It thrived in the dryness. It thrives off the blood of living things, things like plants are akin to rocks to the mysterious creature.

Four weeks.

The first meeting with the council, a month has passed. Francis joined Emile and Blood in the medical hut. He closed his eyes and entered a meditation, presumably communicating with the council.

He repeated Emile's words and accurately reported the progress made. The wall around the camp was complete.

The necessary buildings and lodgings were complete. Plants and water were found and provided to the alchemists.

And lastly, the existence of the parasitical spider; trapped and encaged by the forest itself, left to rot for eternity.

Five weeks.

Emile couldn't babysit Blood any longer. Time was of the essence, he needed to advance along with Roy. That was the only way they could breach the thicker miasma deeper in the forest.

Emile spent the last two weeks running the scenarios in his head, his plan should work; after all, in some capacity he was a walking, modern-day medical machine.

He was going to cut the parasites out of Blood.

Roy would be his eyes and if anything went wrong, if he nicked an important organ or he thought there was too much bleeding he would stop and heal him. 'Reset' the operation until he got it right.

He wasn't sure if it would work, but he'd run the necessary tests. He's cut Blood and healed him, flesh wounds continue to react the same.

The only question was what the parasites would do if they felt threatened. Would they run rampage, obliterating Blood's insides beyond repair?

Hopefully not.

Emile prepped for everything he could. He had the craftsmen forge modern day scalpels to the best of his memory.

He burned them to sterilize them and then let them cool before operating. Using Roy's vision, he tried to map out where in Blood's body the parasites were located.

He believes they're tucked between the stomach and the small intestine, but Roy's vision is purely heat reliant. He can't differentiate any of the organs, he can't see anything inside of people.

The two parasites are just hotter than Blood and squirm semi-regularly making them stand out.

With a scalpel in hand and twenty rags beside him, Roy standing across the table Blood was laid on, and Willow standing at the door, it was time.

Emile went for a lower abdomen incision, cutting across the bottom of Blood's stomach, a few inches below his belly button.

Blood tensed instinctively, but Emile asked Jazz to concoct a potion that would knock him out and they slowly fed it down his throat prior.

Blood poured out of Blood. Emile used some of his rags to soak up the immediate burst and after a while, the overflow subsided.

He made two more cuts, widening the hole on each side so he could pull the skin back far enough to where it didn't flop back over.

But Emile made a mistake. He forgot about the muscle. He had the skin pulled back and wide open, but he was staring at another wall.

He didn't think he should restart. He applied more pressure on the blade and cut through the muscle. Even more blood squirted out, some of it pooling beneath the layer of the skin but above the muscle.

'That's probably not good'

He continued nonetheless.

He pulled the muscle back just like the skin, performing the same cuts and the same movements.

Finally, he saw the intestines. He delicately moved them around, tugging gently and pushing them out of the way.

Encased in the center, wrapped by the intestines, the two parasites thrived. Emile dug out a small opening, revealing a clear path towards the parasites.

'Is the stomach higher?'

'I really should have paid attention more'

The two parasites, a light, chalky brown. They were about four inches long and an inch wide.

Small, but rambunctious, thin hairs protruded out of their sides. They wiggled and squirmed, almost swimming through Blood's organs.

Taking a closer look, the two parasites' mouths were clamped shut on Blood's intestines. They were attached.

Emile stopped. He didn't know what to do.

If he pulls them out, he risks ripping Blood's intestines, but how does he remove them? He has to cut the intestines regardless, right?

Can you do that? Is that safe? Emile doesn't know.

Cutting a hole in a waste tube inside the body seems like a crazy thing to do, but what else can he do?

He could snip the parasite, cut them in half hoping it kills them, but he has a sneaking suspicion parasites work like lizards: they'll survive with their tail cut off.

Can he take the intestines themselves out? So that when he cuts them and they inevitably burst, none of the waste or bacteria infects the rest of Blood's body.

But what if moving the parasites causes a flare and they tear the intestines regardless, before they've even made it out?

Emile remained frozen. He really didn't know what to do.

'F***'