“Auntie! What happened?!” Chamo burst into the barrier of the Bud of Eternity. When she found no one there, she headed to the cave.
“Stay away, Chamo!” Mora yelled.
Chamo stopped at the cave entrance. “What’s wrong, Auntie? Why’s it all dark in there?”
“Don’t come in. And no lights. No lights.”
“What happened?”
Mora didn’t reply. Right now, she was playing for time. Chamo hadn’t noticed that Mora had scattered a certain drug around the dark cave, a drug she’d had Torleau, Saint of Medicine, make for her. Ostensibly, the medicine was for pain and to prevent infection. Technically, it could be used as medicine; Mora had used it earlier to treat Adlet’s wounds after Nashetania had cut him. When Mora had ordered Torleau to make large quantities of this medicine, the doctor had been puzzled. This medicine was potent—too potent, in fact. A solution of half a drop dissolved in water was sufficient. The undiluted solution, when applied directly, would inevitably be harmful. The drug relaxed the body, making the affected person feel intoxicated, as if drunk. It was so potent, a mere sniff would cause a person to stagger. Mora had told Torleau that while the medicine was good, it was not something she could take with her to the Howling Vilelands—but in truth, she had secretly filled a metal tube with the dangerous undiluted solution and carried it with her.
“What do you mean, no lights?” asked Chamo.
“Don’t come in. You can do nothing for me.”
“That’s why I’m asking! What happened?!”
Mora was being deliberately vague in order to make Chamo stay where she was and inhale the powerful drug. Mora had used the medicine herself many times, building up her resistance to it in order to avoid intoxicating herself—all for this moment. She had done it in preparation for killing a Brave of the Six Flowers.
“I’ll keep it under control, so stay away.”
“Sorry, Auntie, but Chamo can’t just do nothing,” Chamo said, slowly entering the cave. Mora was crouched in the back of the cave, watching the other Saint from the darkness. “Keep what under control? Where did Fremy go?”
“Fremy…ran away.”
Then Chamo stopped. She looked at Mora. “Hey…you’re acting kinda weird, Auntie.” She’d figured it out, but it was too late. Mora surged to her feet and savagely rushed Chamo. The younger Brave tried to dodge, but she stumbled and fell over.
“!” The slave-fiends descended upon Mora. The slug spat acid, while the protozoan shot a tentacle at her. Body burning and one arm bound, Mora grabbed Chamo by the neck.
There were two reasons Mora had been lying in wait inside this cave. First, to ensure the drug would be as effective as possible, and second, to prevent the slave-fiends from attacking all at once.
Mora wrapped her fingers over Chamo’s carotid artery and squeezed, just enough to avoid crushing it. It was only moments before the drugged girl passed out. When she lost consciousness, the fiends were sucked back into her mouth.
“Ugh…” Mora groaned. She, too, had been quite affected by the drug. But this was only the middle stage of the battle, and the real fight—the plan to kill one of the Braves of the Six Flowers—was yet to come.
Still searching the hill, Rolonia lifted her head. Her neck and eyes must have been tired. The four have them had been searching for the evidence for a long time. “I just can’t find it, Addy,” she said tiredly.
Adlet put a hand on a hand on his forehead, thinking. Perhaps Tgurneu had already destroyed what they were looking for. Maybe it would be better to give up on trying to find it and withdraw. Most of their allotted time was gone.
“Can I go back neow?” Hans was lying in a sprawl, scratching his butt.
“Please,” said Rolonia, “um…please put a little more effort into it.”
“I might put in a li’l effort—if ya pay me fer it, meow. In advance.”
“I’m sorry. I…don’t have any money at all.”
Adlet looked toward the mountain, where the Bud of Eternity lay. There had been no contact from Mora. In this case, was no news good news, or did it mean disaster had come to pass?
That was when Goldof reached out toward Hans’s feet. He picked up something stuck in the ground and showed it to the leader of the party. “Is this it?”
Adlet examined the dirt-covered thing, then pulled out the solution that reacted to fiend traces and sprayed the item. He watched it turn orange and gulped.
“Does this thing…tell you…something?” asked Goldof.
“Meow? Did ya find somethin’?” Hans finally sat up.
Adlet didn’t even hear the two men speak. Elation welled up from deep in his stomach, making him tremble. “I’ve caught it,” he said. “I’ve finally caught Tgurneu.” Adlet tucked the thing away at his waist and prompted Hans to stand. “We’re going back,” he said before dashing off. The other three, flustered, followed after him.
“I’ve figured out what Tgurneu really is. Now we just have to come up with a way to kill it,” Adlet said, gloating. “Listen up. Tgurneu is actually—”
“Wait.” Rolonia cut off his explanation as they ran.
“…ISHED…”
Adlet had been so excited that he hadn’t noticed the voice. From the direction of the mountain, he could hear something—Mora’s mountain echo. When Adlet heard her voice, in a flash, the glee in his heart turned to ice.
“I guess we’re goin’ to have to wait to hear what Tgurneu really is, meow,” said Hans, and he drew his swords.
Mora forced Fremy and Chamo, both still unconscious, to swallow the sedative. They wouldn’t awaken for a while now.
She left the cave and sat down on a rock, covering her face as she curled up. She did so not out of exhaustion or dizziness. “You still hesitate?” she said to herself. Pathetic, came the self-loathing whisper. Mora had thought she’d already made up her mind
