Part Two - New World - Chapter [040]

Even though I had made the circle larger, enough for the two of us to fit tightly.

Arslan hadn't let go of me. It was like we were under a tight umbrella only the two of us could fit. The physical touch was exhilarating, and we knew so much about each other. Physically I mean. That I didn't mind just how easy it was for him. I appreciated it. It made things easier on my end. That didn't stop me from shaking a little bit though. He noticed and just pushed me harder against his body - our steps synchronized and we walked shoulder to shoulder. I managed to calm down a little bit - he knew how to help me - I was an open book.

Something was starting to mark me amiss, things had been very easy up until now. Apart from that last fiend, we encountered just a couple of steps back, nothing else had jumped at us. The atmosphere was oppressive, and things looked bad. Like a category 5 hurricane had ravaged the land and uplifted the soil.

Death and decay were all around. The stench was starting to get to me like every breath made me tear up. I could barely keep a straight face. The circle around us did some to keep the stench away, but overall that was the one thing that was making me sick to my stomach. 

But I persevered if anything for Arslan, as he was also showing no disrespect to the death. 

Suddenly as we turned a corner, a large figure appeared, all dark and towering even bigger than Arslan. And he was already a tower himself. 

"Who goes there!" Arslan shouted, drawing his sword, taking a stance to fight, finally breaking his warmth from my skin. Pushing me behind him. 

The figure was cloaked in dark clothes from head to toe. Or more like it was some type of exo-suite. As he turned towards us. I noticed. He had a plague mask. And his clothes were scrubs that covered his whole body like an astronaut. He had bags and pouches hanging at his side. 

As he locked eyes with Arslan, he started speaking. It was cliche - we've seen it a thousand times. But now that I thought about it. It was natural for someone like him to be in a scene like this.

He was a plague doctor through and through.

"Warrior Arslan! And the Shepard. Please I mean you no harm, my purpose here is purely scientific," it seemed like that was enough for Arslan to lower and sheath his sword back into its container. 

"State you're name doctor, and you're guild -" Arslan started. 

"Right - where are my manners - my name is Doctor Don Cuez - I am from the Wolf of the Moonlight Bane," stated the plague doctor, under his mask, it was a little hard to understand him. But Arslan managed. Or so it seemed.

"Shit-" Arslan moaned under his breath. The doctor caught his reaction. But pretended not to notice. 

Arslan shuffled his feet for a moment, with his hands at his waist. 

"Fine - you know what - get inside the circle - what the hell right!?" I noticed how his demeanor changed like he hated the doctor all of a sudden. What had the doctor done to deserve such hate from Arslan? There was some type of animosity between these two guilds. 

"May I?" The doctor seemed surprised at the invitation. He said that like he was addressing me. Arslan also looked back at me and raised an eyebrow. I could tell he was so fed up with this guy. 

"Oh - yes - of course - please!" I motioned, I pulled up my staff and with a single motion, the circle got bigger around us. I had to stay still otherwise the spell wouldn't work.

The doctor walked towards us and entered the circle. Sighing in relief as he did so. 

"A circle of purification, I feel so honored to be inside one -" he said genuinely.

Arslan rolled his eyes. 

"Don't get used to it buddy - " Seeing Arslan act so sassy like this was kinda cute.

At least I was getting a kick out of it. 

The doctor seemed to get comfortable enough, because he removed his face mask. Twisting a couple of nobs at the side until the mask came off. The mask had to guard him against the miasma. 

"Finally I can breathe!" Said Doctor Don Cuez with a sigh of relief. 

The guy was kinda cute in a normal-looking way, he had short hair and a bit of a stubble for a beard. He looked young, except for the bags under his eyes. 

"So, Dr. Don, can you tell us what happened here?" Arslan took a sit, crossing both his legs. He patted his back, and turned around to me. Huffing at me.

I had no choice but to turn around and lower as gently as I could, my back against his. It was nice having some lumbar support. He pushed against my spine as well.

We created tension like this. 

"Is there a reason the Shepard will not face me?" Said Don, with the cutest childlike voice ever. It broke my heart. 

I turned my head to look at him. 

"Sorry!" I shouted. 

"No reason - " Arslan said, with a tinge of jealousy.

"The circle would break otherwise. If the Shepard moved that is." Arslan explained. 

"Ah, I see, then - I shall sit as well, my legs are sore from today," said Don, slowly reaching for the floor. 

There was a beat. 

"So can you explain what is the Moonlight Bane doing here, and what happened to this town?"

"As you know, the Wolfs of Moonlight Bane have a pact with the elves, we collect teardrop crystals from the elder mana tree, once every blue moon." Started Don.

"Yes - I was aware," Arslan explained. 

"So this cycle was only yesterday when we noticed mana spewing from under the elder tree." 

"Huh," said Arslan. 

"We tried to warn everyone, but by the time we managed to come down to the village, the sea of miasma had already fallen through the fog, we underestimated how much miasma was underneath our feet, and we couldn't contain it, it exploded and rushed down the mountain, we've never seen anything like it," Don explained with great uproar. 

"That does make sense, the way the miasma ravaged the village - it's not natural - not for miasma anyway."

"Right - so decease carried across the air, and the elf's magic all turned rotten, turning them into fiends." 

Another beat. 

"We had no choice but to get rid of them." Explained Don. 

That's why we hadn't found any other friends. They were all gone!

"You've left The Red Lions with no job, and the Shepard what is he supposed to do?!" Arslan quipped. 

"We were hoping you'd show up eventually," explained Don. 

"If we are truly to get rid of the miasma, the Shepard must go down the elder tree itself and face the evil creating the miasma," Don said like it was scripted. But he was right, that was our job right now. That's why we had come here in the first place. 

I took a moment to look down at the mountain, all the way we had come up, our journey so far. Fear filled my stomach, at the things that we might find in the dark. 

"How much longer until the miasma reaches ground level?" Arslan responded. 

"Not long - I'd say about a day or two, if we get healers even remote ones, we'd be able to maybe stop it for another day," 

"Once it reaches ground level - there's no stopping it, it'll flood the grasslands and the cities with no remorse," Arslan said. 

"That's right - time is of the essence," explained Don. I didn't know what to say. 

Except that maybe we should hurry. 

It seemed like that was enough of a break - Arslan stood up and helped me up.

It seems as long as I don't move from the position of casting the circle wont break.

"I best be off as well," said Don.

The doctor placed his mask again and turned on all of the nobs and screws until it was tightly secured.

Then he started heading off towards the bottom of the mountain.

He exited the circle and I instantly made it smaller just for the two of us. 

Arslan placed his hand on my shoulder. I could tell he was scared. 

I could move again. I started rubbing his back. His hand was shaking on my shoulder. 

"Why do you hate the moonlight's bane so much?' I asked. 

"I don't hate them -" he started.

"I just thought the situation was less dire - their presence here means someone already knew this massacre was going to take place," he explained like it made sense, but it didn't. 

"Sorry - I don't get it," I said childlike. 

"The Wolf's Bane studies the miasma, like clouds, rain, and sunshine, the movement of planets across the night sky, or how the moon revolves around Eldoren. Miasma can be predicted through patterns. They must seen a small fluctuation and decided to investigate - the situation must have gotten out of control as the miasma hit the above-ground, and probably revealed it's true power - that's why no one had time to prepare. They had less than 15 minutes as that miasma came crashing down from the summit," Arslan reminisced. 

We turned around towards the summit. 

"We need to get up there, and something is waiting for us, something evil, pure and utter darkness." 

"We'll get through this, you and I - that's the only way." Arslan nodded.

With newfound determination - we took a step heading towards the summit.