Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2016 06:12:46 +0000
From: Michael Offutt <kavrik@hotmail.com>
Subject: Chapter 30-The Orb of Winter-Gay Science Fiction

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				   *****

			      Chapter Thirty

   In the morning, Alexi got up while Paul continued to snore. Making sure
to be as quiet as possible, he left the room where they'd slept for the
night and tiptoed back into the laboratory. He glanced at the blood-spotted
mattress where Mr. Hunter lay and saw that he'd moved some. The handsome
teenaged boy now faced the wall and buried his head in the blanket so that
only a tuft of his white-blond hair was visible. The glass of water was
completely drained; only crumbs and a drumstick bone remained on the plate.
   Alexi grabbed the pitcher and refilled Mr. Hunter's glass so he'd have
something to drink when he woke up. Then he went into the hall, which was
bitterly cold this morning. The planks of his makeshift bridge were covered
in an inch of new snow, and the remains of Dudley the ogre had frozen solid
and rimed over in ice.
   Alexi walked twenty paces down the open-roofed corridor to where he'd
set the wash tub, mirror, stool, and makeup desk that he'd stolen with
Ziggy and Dudley's help two nights ago. As he opened the door, a wave of
heat greeted him from the smokeless fire under the cauldron used to boil
water for the tub. The shadow drake that he called "Ziggy" raised its head
from the nest of sticks that Alexi had assembled for him and yawned,
rolling its tongue between its teeth.
   "Thanks, Ziggy, for warming the water for me. I was up late and we have
two guests," Alexi said.
   The shadow drake stretched its limbs and said, "It's not a problem. Are
you going to get the water from the well for me tonight?" Ziggy started to
wag his tail in expectation of a "yes."
   Alexi used a makeshift iron windlass to grab a hold of the cauldron and
swing it over the tub. Then he poured the boiling water into it by hooking
the lip of the huge pot with the curved end of an iron poker. There were
ten huge buckets of fresh water against one wall. Alexi struggled with one
and emptied it into the tub to cool things down. Then he added a second and
tested the steaming water with his fingers. Nice and warm, he thought. Then
he got ready for his bath.
   "Why do you want the water from the well so badly?" Alexi asked,
disrobing. He stepped into the water and started to soap up his naturally
tan skin.
   The shadow drake hopped to the edge of the tub and said, "The water is
necessary to protect a person from the harmful rays and effects of
Hurlothrumbo."
   Alexi paused in the midst of washing his hair. "You mean from the story
`The Locket' and what everyone says about the Dragon's Graveyard."
   "Yes," Ziggy said. "The Dragon's Graveyard is my home. The water is a
requirement to mix a salve that protects the wearer from Hurlothrumbo. If
you're to go there, you must fetch the water."
   "Well I'm not going there today," Alexi said. "Can't this wait?"
   "There are other ingredients to get," Ziggy said. "The water from the
well is the easiest. The second is from a flower that grows only in the
highland slopes of the Icewall Mountains. And the last ingredient is the
blood of an Anatomica of Chagidiel. That's a powerful demon, and I've no
idea where we'll find it or how we'll get it. But if you're to fulfill your
destiny, we should start being proactive about this."
   "All right," Alexi said. "I'll try to get on it as soon as possible." He
finished washing out his hair and then shaved his arms, legs, and armpits
with a straight razor. Then he took to denuding the skin around his nipples
and chest and even the black stubble that grew around his small penis. Once
he was satisfied he had no more body hair, he got out of the tub.
   "You want me to drain this?" Ziggy asked, perched near the
plug. Underneath the tub was a drain pipe that went all the way to the
lower level. As far as Alexi knew, it still worked.
   "No," Alexi said, sitting down to dry off. "I'm going to see if Paul
wants to use it."
   "You have an interesting guest," Ziggy said.
   "Paul? He's a necromancer like me and has finals this week. Call him
Paulina unless he says otherwise. He's transitioning to a woman soon and is
still getting used to the idea."
   "I wasn't talking about Paul. I meant the other one. I spoke with him
last night," Ziggy said. "He's quite friendly and nice, but he was very
tired and hungry."
   Alexi set down his brush and looked at the small shadow drake. It hopped
from the edge of his tub over to the desk where Alexi started to apply
makeup.
   "What did he say?" Alexi asked.
   "His name's Kian, and he kept saying he needed to find the thieves'
guild, but he was quite delirious. I think he may have recently suffered a
concussion, which explains the double vision and memory loss he's
experiencing. I convinced him to drink the water and eat the food you left
out for him. He was still in a lot of pain and is going through mild
withdrawals from the drug he's been taking. He'll be sick for at least
another day. The necromancy you performed on him last night had a side
effect in that it lessened the drug's hold on his system. If you hadn't
done that, he might not have woken up."
   "Did he say who he's looking for in the city?" Alexi asked. "Or anything
about why he needed to find the thieves' guild?"
   "No, but he's fascinated by both you and Paulina," Ziggy said. He
sniffed at your high heeled shoes you left at the door to your room. I
could feel his pulse quicken. That's when I started talking to him.
   Alexi arched an eyebrow and then stroked Ziggy under the chin. The
shadow drake smiled and rubbed its head in Alexi's palm like a cat.
   "Y-you shouldn't tell lies like that," Alexi said, voice cracking. "A
man as devastatingly good-looking as Mr. Hunter—I mean Kian—would
never be attracted to someone like me or Paul."
   "He would if he's a necrophile," Ziggy stated. "Which he is. I sensed
that in him. He's perfect, yes? That's because the power of Chagidiel was
used on him as an unborn fetus in his mother's womb, and it was probably
done to him in a temple to Eilustriel, goddess of beauty, or at least
supervised by one of the clerics of the Lady Dove."
   "Paul said something like that last night while he was reading from his
book," Alexi said. "He claimed that Kian was biologically engineered. But
it didn't say anything about him being a necrophile."
   The shadow drake shrugged. "I doubt the word even exists outside the
shadow drake language. Kian's bloodline is the rarest on Wynwrayth," Ziggy
said. "There's no one like him in the world, and there probably never will
be again. He's the end result of a breeding program in the Atlantean royal
line that went on for three-hundred generations. Their goal was to create
another god to replace Zakash, the god that died. They fell short, but only
because they didn't have time. They probably needed just a few more
generations."
   Alexi went over to a wardrobe where he kept dresses and other heeled
shoes. He wanted to look as attractive as possible today, so he selected a
gorgeous pair of stolen pumps with stiletto heels and an emerald dream
dress. The gown was long and slender, adorned with beautiful wide trim on
the sleeves and above the hem line. It also sported twisted gold and green
piping on a scooped neckline, shoulders, and sleeve ends. The lacing in the
back drew the bodice in for a perfect fit to accentuate his petite
waist. Before putting it on, he donned his corset, did his penis tuck, and
put on a fake bra to simulate "B" cup breasts.
   "So what's a necrophile?" Alexi asked, brushing his hair.
   "In short, it's a word that describes someone who lusts for
necromancy. For Kian, it means he can sense that thing inside you that you
call `Drago.' It calls to him like powerful pheromones. You using your
magic on him last night amplified the connection. He talked about you in
his sleep, tossing and turning, and even waking up asking about you—not
by name of course—but I knew it was you he was talking about."
   "When will it wear off?" Alexi asked. "Because this sounds too good to
be true."
   "I don't think it ever will," Ziggy replied. "He'll be drawn to your
magic and to a lesser extent, Paulina's magic, because she was with you as
you healed him last night. Your necromancy lessened the hold the drug had
on him by replacing that need with magic. His mind is now addicted to
necromancy, if that's a better way to explain it."
   Now dressed, Alexi put on his makeup. "I think you're being silly," he
said. "People don't fall in love with magic."
   "I didn't say he was in love with magic," Ziggy said. "But the magic is
in your blood. If it makes any more sense, think of it this way. Pretend
Kian was a vampire and that you had the most special blood in all the
world. He can smell that in you, and there's nothing he can do to stop his
body from desiring it. And this is all your fault too. You have no one to
blame."
   "Because I healed him?"
   "Yup," the shadow drake said. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
   "Why are you telling me this?" Alexi asked. "You make it sound like this
is a bad thing."
   "Love can go bad," Ziggy replied. "The opposite of love is hate, and
that can happen too. How will he react when he finds out your secret? He
may not be able to contain the emotions he'll experience around you. If he
expects a woman and finds a man, there's no telling what he may do. I've
seen men kill for less."
   "I don't see how you could know all this in a single conversation,"
Alexi said.
   The shadow drake shrugged. "I could be wrong. I guess we'll see for
ourselves. But I'm telling you, he's a necrophile. That's the mark on his
ankle. It brands him as one just as surely as your Adam's apple brands you
as a boy."
   Alexi frowned and buttoned a lace collar around his neck and then
grabbed a jeweled choker to wear. "I'll see you in a while, Ziggy. Please
don't tell any of this to Paul. I want to know for sure what's going on
before we start talking about `necrophiles' and whatnot."
   "Fine," the shadow drake said, gliding back to its nest. "When you come
back, bring some apples please."
   When Alexi returned to his laboratory, he quietly set some more food out
on a plate for Mr. Hunter. He was deep asleep, eyes flicking rapidly under
closed lids. Then Alexi roused Paul. "I've drawn a hot bath just down the
hall. We've still got a few hours before dawn. After you're ready, let's go
to the academy library and study up."
   Paul wiped the sleep from his eyes and said, "All right. See you in a
few."
   While Paul bathed, Alexi put some more dried bones on the fire in the
hearth and then went to work on fixing a pair of glasses for Paul to
wear. Alexi decided to darken the lenses with a spell designed to siphon
light. This kind of necromancy was useful for increasing the intensity of
natural gloom so that a shadow demon could be comfortable in the home of a
Timeron knight. But it came-in useful for all sorts of applications from
making sunglasses to darkening the internal parts of a telescope so that
light coming in through a lens had no chance for refraction. The wing
devoted to astronomical science in the academy regularly used necromancers
for just such a thing, and the spell was learned about midway through the
third year.
   During all of this, Kian slept fitfully but never opened his eyes.
   At breakfast about two hours later, Daphne sat next to Paul and Alexi on
the table. She slammed down her books as if to make a point. "Where were
you last night?" she asked.
   Alexi looked up from his porridge and then across to Paul.
   "Studying for exams. We fell asleep in the library," Paul said.
   "Nice glasses," Daphne said. "Are you ready for the exam on Races of
Wynwrayth today?"
   "I think so," Alexi replied. "It shouldn't be too hard."
   "Well I'm not," she said, face looking downcast. Rather than sympathize
with her, however, Alexi stared at her lovely lipstick. It was kind of an
ivory pink color and contrasted with her brown skin. It also
sparkled. "What?" she asked. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
   Alexi shook his head. "Sorry, I was just admiring your lipstick."
   "Oh," she said. "I'll let you borrow some. It'd be gorgeous on you." She
paused a moment before saying, "I've never seen you wear anything but
modest outfits, Alexi. This is our last year. You could be a little more
risqué you know? Look at Paulina, she's finally showing some cleavage."
   As if to accentuate what she was saying, Daphne squeezed her tits
together for a moment and reapplied some perfume across the top. The dress
she wore was pretty low cut in front, and the white velvet brought out the
sparkles in her rouge and lipstick. Then she put a dab of the perfume under
Alexi's chin.
   "Thanks, Daph," he said with a smile.
   "Don't mention it. I love your shoes today," Daphne said. "They look
expensive. Are you trying to impress anyone?"
   Alexi looked down at the new pumps he'd stolen from Gabriella Finch's
room. They had delicate square scales of mother-of-pearl layered next to
each other. The purpose was to create a kind of mosaic effect on the band
that fastened about the ankle and arched over the toes. Alexi loved how the
shoe showed his newly painted red toenails in glorious shiny color, even if
walking on the four inch stiletto heels was challenging. The fact that he
felt taller made it all seem worth it.
   Next to him, Paul giggled.
   "What?" Alexi asked.
   "Just...you look pretty great today," Paul said. "Given the context, it
can't be a coincidence."
   "What are you two going on about?" Daphne said, picking up a strawberry
and taking a bite. The intensity of her eyes made Alexi a bit warm under
the collar.
   "Just...it's the last week of school, and I wanted to dress nicer is
all," Alexi replied.
   Daphne pursed her lips and then primped the fabric roses on her
dress. "So are you going to ask me or are you a complete narcissist?"
   Alexi's mouth fell open, and he looked to Paul for help. "Am I missing
something here?"
   "Aren't you going to ask me why I'm not ready for the exam today?"
Daphne asked. Then she rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll just pretend you
already asked me. Like you, I was going to study for it. But the streets
outside the dormitories were blocked, which you would have known if you'd
been in your bed last night. So I stayed up most of the night listening and
watching all the ruckus."
   "Blocked? Why?" Paul asked.
   "There's a mass murderer on the loose," Daphne replied. "Apparently he's
some kind of Valion terrorist and made personal threats to the Dreaded
Irtemara herself. In an interview with the Zandan Bugle this morning she
said, `I don't feel safe as long as this assassin is at large.' Timeron
knights are going door-to-door, searching everywhere for the killer. So far
the searches are limited to Slippery Squib, but there's talk of them
expanding further."
   "But that doesn't explain why the roads were blocked last night," Paul
said.
   "Oh...well there's been riots. People have been up in arms at the
illegal searches being conducted by the Timeron knights. There were some
clashes with them in the streets last night and our avenue was blockaded to
keep them away from the academy. But that didn't stop protestors from our
academy sneaking out with signs demanding that the Blades Acuuarum be put
in charge of the searches and not some occupying force from
Noremost. There's also another sect that wants to throw all immigrants out
of the country, including Timeron knights. There's supposed to be a bigger
march tonight, led by Dudley of all people. Supposedly, he's going to
demand from Skellhaundar Romax that the Blades be put in charge for finding
this terrorist."
   "Demand from Skellhaundar? Really?" Alexi asked, almost laughing. "He's
going to end up dead. No one demands anything from the general of Taleta's
armies unless they desire suicide by knight."
   Daphne chewed on her lower lip. "I think it's brave. Maybe Ser Romax
will respect Dudley. Wouldn't that be something? It'd certainly bring a
little honor to all the Blades Acuuarum soldiers and maybe put an end to
that rumor that Blades is where you go when you can't be a knight."
   "But it's exactly where you go if you can't cut it," Paul said.
   Daphne frowned. "Anyway, I was wondering if you could walk me back from
class. They say this terrorist destroyed `Omar's Imports' and killed a
number of spectators down there. He blew up several store fronts, the
damage is estimated to be almost a hundred thousand gold pieces. He's also
so hideously scarred that he never shows his face, just hides behind jet
black armor. And supposedly, his favorite past time is raping
girls. Because we're a girl's school, we've been told to buddy up and to
not hesitate to call upon our strongest necromantic spells the moment we
see someone that matches his description."
   "A man wearing black armor and a helmet?" Alexi asked. "That's all we've
got to go on?"
   Daphne said, "They said he's tall too. So yeah...that's it."
   Alexi rolled his eyes. "That description matches the entirety of the
occupying military in this city."
   "Well obviously it's not meant for Timeron knight soldiers," Daphne
said.
   "I don't believe that's what happened at Omar's Imports. I was there."
Too late Alexi realized his mistake.
   Daphne looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean you were there?"
   "I-I was there just the day before," I meant to say, "and I saw how big
the place was and how everything's made of stone. There's no way one person
could cause the damage they're describing."
   Daphne's eyes narrowed. "Alexi VanBuren are you lying to me?"
   "No," he said. "Cross my heart."
   "I'll see you after exams. Remember, you promised to walk me back to the
dormitory tonight." Then Daphne left for the study hall.
   Alexi sighed and looked at Paul, who shrugged helplessly. After they
made sure no one in particular watched their activities, they stuffed food
into Alexi's school pack. When that was done, they switched to Paul's
haversack and managed to get twice as much into his as they could fit into
Alexi's. Then they each went off to their classes and the beginning of
their final examinations.
   After his last final for the day, Alexi went immediately to the
arboretum and through the iron door that led back into the academy
ruins. He moved quickly, wanting to get back to his lab and see if Kian was
awake yet. The zombies in the hallway moved to the side to allow him to
pass, and Alexi made sure to command them to allow Paul safe passage as
well. Then he crossed over the chasm using his homemade bridge and opened
the door.
   The warmth in the room washed over him. Kian was in a semi-sitting
position on the mattress with his back to the wall and his mouth open but
his eyes closed. As Alexi walked in and shut the door, Kian slowly cracked
his eyelids and observed Alexi through white blond bangs hanging both
tousled and messy in front of his peepers. He had his hands resting on his
knees; the bandages were in need of changing. Kian closed his mouth and
swallowed; the long stare Kian handed Alexi filled the necromancer's
stomach with butterflies. Alexi noted that Kian had eaten half the food and
drained his glass of water. A bucket near the door held some piss, a brown
turd, and a soiled rag; not its intended use but Alexi would clear up where
the bathroom was soon enough.
   "Good morning," Alexi said.
   Kian cleared his throat and said, "Thank you, miss—"
   "—Alexi. Just `Alexi' is fine."
   Kian blinked and said, "Thanks for saving my life, Alexi."
   The boy's voice—a gravelly baritone—was accented at just the right
parts to want Alexi to hang on his every word.
   Kian struggled to get up but only managed to drop his blanket, revealing
a chest with freakishly shredded muscles and perfect white skin, all of it
aglow in fresh sweat. "Sorry, I-I'm kind of feeling nauseous." He sat back
down, tapping the back of his head against the wall and flexed his long,
bony fingers. The veins in his arm gleamed in the firelight.
   Alexi added a few more bones to the hearth; he felt rather than saw
Kian's eyes follow him about the room.
   "Have I seen you before?" Kian asked. "Y-you kind of look familiar." He
coughed into his fist.
   "No," Alexi lied.
   Kian just blinked and nodded. "I wish I had. Tethyr's teeth you're
pretty," he whispered, words a little slurred. "I mean that. Your husband
must be very proud."
   Alexi blushed and walked over to him. Even unwashed, Kian smelt
heavenly. Alexi grabbed his doctor's bag and then knelt next to the
Atlantean teenager. "I'm not married. A-are you married?"
   Kian stared at him with a totally blank expression. "I-I don't think
so. I think I'm single, but I honestly couldn't tell you right now. I see
faces and names and they don't match up. My head hurts, and I'm seeing
double." Kian closed his eyes and took a few slow breaths. Meanwhile, Alexi
pulled out a clean change of bandages.
   "I need to dress your wounds," Alexi said.
   Kian opened his eyes again and nodded. "Thank you."
   The wounds looked much improved from last night, and the redness around
his neck was about half gone. Another day was probably just what the doctor
ordered.
   "I think you've got a concussion," Alexi said. "I'll fix you a potion
that I think might help, but it'll make you tired. Is that okay?"
   Kian grinned and the appearance of those super white teeth sent shivers
down Alexi's spine. "Yes," he said. "I'd like that."
   Alexi took out the jar of Quarinel ointment and reapplied it to the red
patches on Kian's wrist. He used a bit of necromancy to charge the healing
properties within the ointment by uttering the words, "perfectum cutis." A
flash of white light was the only visible effect, but Kian looked down at
his wounds in surprise. "The pain's gone," he whispered. "And it feels
warm."
   "I can't take credit for any of that. It's the Quarinel liniment from
Merenzar. After one application has had time to absorb into the damaged
tissue, you can give a boost to its healing properties through necromancy,"
Alexi said. Then he finished bandaging up Kian's wrists and started to
unwind the linen around Kian's Adam's apple. "Necromancy is more than just
`death magic.' It has a lot to do with life too. Have you ever read, The
Ballad of Gil-Galad?"
   Kian shook his head no.
   Alexi sucked on his lower lip. "How about The Song of Simon?"
   Again Kian shook his head.
   "The Tome Druidica? How about The Shadow Demon and the Six Dwarves? Gone
with the Air Elemental? Oh come on! That was a best seller."
   Kian blurted out, "I haven't read anything."
   "Outside of school you mean," Alexi said. "Even Dudley's read one book,
and he's stupid."
   Kian swallowed and his Adam's apple looked especially pronounced. Alexi
instantly knew he'd hurt Kian's feelings. That and Kian's eyes started to
look especially glassy. Much too late, Alexi realized those were
tears. They never spilled over to roll down Kian's cheeks, but he'd wounded
this gorgeous boy in a way that a sword never could. It led to a long
uncomfortable silence.
   "I'm sorry," Alexi said at last. "I-I didn't mean that."
   Kian blinked and looked at his hands. The skin on his face flushed with
color. "It's all right. I know I'm not smart. If I was, I'd know all the
books you mentioned. I knew a smart girl once, and she was beautiful like
you. She just had these things in her head that I couldn' explain. Her hair
was long and dark like yours. She called herself a witch, and I've no idea
if that's the same as a necromancer. I'm suspecting that it's not."
   "It's not," Alexi said. "I can do things that she'll never be able to
do. For example, I can make a war ghul."
   "A war ghul?" Kian said, with a bit of surprise. "I fought one of those
once. Well, to be fair, it wasn't really a fight. But I ran from one."
   "The fact you got away tells me you're not stupid. War ghuls can
decimate armies."
   Kian smirked. "Thanks for saying that, but I can't take all the
credit. We escaped with her help." He paused and stretched out one of his
legs and then pulled the blanket up around him to ward off the chill in the
room. "If you can make a war ghul, you're bloody powerful, aren't you?"
   Alexi paused and thought about what he was going to say. He didn't want
to come across as arrogant, but he did want to point out how rare his
abilities were. "Yes, I'm powerful, not to toot my own horn. A war ghul
usually requires the combined powers of ten necromancers. But I think I can
make one by myself."
   Kian whistled. "I sensed that about you. I'm not sure why, but I think I
can feel it kinda like static on my skin. It pours off you kinda like your
regality."
   "Is that even a word?"
   "If it's not, it is one now," Kian said with a giggle. "You're titled,
aren't you? You're a lady, right? I've a title now too. I serve Tethyr, and
he made me Black Dragon of the Silver Rose. I'm a disciple, but I honestly
don't know if that means if I have any kind of stately rank or if it's just
a religion thing. Don't get me wrong because I'm proud of it, but I get a
feeling that followers of other gods might not respect it the same as those
in my church."
   "Probably not," Alexi said. He delicately put his fingers on Kian's chin
to get him to look forward (and secretly hoped the boy would notice his
beautiful nails). "Stare at the work bench for a moment while I clean
this," he said. Then Alexi started reapplying the magical healing salve to
the red spots on Kian's neck. However, Kian turned his head to look at him
again. Alexi sighed and said, "Stop that. You don't listen well do you? I
said straight ahead," and then he corrected Kian's chin one more time. This
time, Kian just angled his eyes sideways and the intensity of that look
made Alexi's heart go pitter patter.
   As he finished up, Kian's petite nostrils flared ever so subtly.
   "What?" Alexi asked, sitting back.
   "Nothin'," Kian replied. "I-I just like your perfume. It smells nice."
   "Thanks," Alexi said. "You smell pretty good yourself."
   Alexi moved to the floor and asked Kian to extend his legs. He pushed up
the blanket and started changing the bandages around his ankles. He noticed
Kian had removed his strange looking sabatons, and of course his feet were
as perfect as the rest of him. He had no toenail paint, and clear trimmed
nails. The second toe was slightly longer than the big-toe, and there was
only a mild smell that was more of a turn-on than anything else. Still, he
breathed deeply and hoped Kian wouldn't notice.
   Alexi had only seen arches like Kian possessed on sprinters, and Kian's
feet differed from those athletes in the length and narrowness of the
overall shape. Merenzaran elves had this kind of footprint, and it
distributed weight so perfectly that they could pass without a trace in all
the forests of the world. Just like most of Kian's body, his feet had many
visible veins extending from the lateral malleolus bone on his ankle down
to his long bony toes. And of course the skin was white, smooth, and
hairless, even across the tops of his toes.
   When he finished, Alexi covered Kian's feet back up with the blanket and
said, "I've got some more things to tend to today. If you need to use the
bathroom or wash up, just go out that door and down the hall about twenty
paces. You'll see Ziggy in there and he usually keeps the place warm. If
you get to a room that looks like a library, you've gone too far."
   "That's your shadow drake?" Kian asked.
   "Yeah. He said you talked to him last night."
   "I-I thought it was a dream," Kian said. "I was in pretty bad shape last
night but thanks to you, I'm feeling better by the minute." He poked at
some of the stitches. "You do great work."
   Alexi went over to the bench and started prepping a potion for Kian's
concussion. He selected some herbs from several stolen jars, ground those
with a mortar and pestle, and added warm water. Then he extended his hand
over the bowl and uttered, "herba restitui." There was a flash of green
light and the potion steamed and turned a bright fluorescent yellow
color. Alexi added a pinch of willow bark and then strained it through a
cheesecloth. Once that was done, he poured it into a glass and brought it
to Kian who had this darling wide-eyed expression on his face.
   "It'll make you sleepy, but when you wake up, your vision should be back
to normal and whatever damage has been done to your brain should be well on
its way to getting healed," Alexi said.
   "You think I have brain damage?" Kian asked, taking the potion in shaky
fingers.
   Alexi nodded and said, "I've cut open enough corpses in my time to know
that the brain kind of rests in a sac in your skull. If you've been jostled
around violently, which you have, then that can cause your brain to slam
around in there. The damage isn't visible, but seeing double is a good
indication that something bad's happened. This potion is pretty powerful,
and we use it to restore week-old brains to a fresh state before slicing
them open to study. Doctors discovered it could help with all kinds of
memory issues and brain trauma in the living. So drink it down, and you'll
be right as rain."
   Kian took the glass and drained the contents in one go.
   When he finished, he wiped his mouth on the blanket. "It's a bit
bitter."
   Then Kian started blinking his eyes, as if trying to stay awake. Alexi
moved quickly to put a pillow down for him to lie upon and then wished
silently that he'd flipped the mattress over. By now, the blood spots on
the mattress had dried, but Alexi still didn't want Kian sleeping on
them. He made a mental note to make him a proper bed sometime tonight when
he woke up.
   "I can't stay awake," Kian said, eyelids closing. Alexi grabbed the cup
before he dropped it and then helped the assassin to lie down. In a minute,
Kian was sleeping peacefully and his breath hardly made a sound at all.

				   *****

The complete novel is now available to read at
http://slckismet.blogspot.com/p/discussion-board-for.html under the label
"The Orb of Winter" if you care to read ahead.

Are there any artists out there willing to draw some pics for my story? If
so, please email me. There is an "Orb of Winter" map now in both the NEWS
section of my website and in the FORUMS of my website.

If you go to my website directly from this posting, you will want to begin
with "CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO."