The mysterious ones
I was walking through the forest near my house, looking for a certain herb for a potion of possibility. I heard some the rustle of leaves, though it was too much to be a normal animal. Curiosity got the better of me and hiding behind some bushes I looked towards the noise. Expecting to find a deer, or maybe even a griffin, I was incredibly surprised when I found a beautiful woman with white hair, palid skin, and a green robe, but most importantly, arrows piercing her back, as she was bleeding.
“Oh!”
I jumped out of my hiding spot and rushed to her. She was breathing heavily. When she spotted me she took a step back, seemingly scared.
“Hi! Don’t worry, not here to harm you, here to help.”
She seemed confused, but didn’t run so I assumed that it was okay for me to come closer. Checking the potions I had and thinking on a plan of action I pulled out a bottle with a spray cap.
“Sorry for this, but don’t worry, you’re gonna be okay.”
Covering my nose and mouth with my cape I sprayed the potion on her face, and she seemed to lose her balance slowly, and after a few seconds started falling, so I catched her to stop her from hitting the floor and being in an even worse state. I then laid her face down on the floor, and with a few seconds of hesitation, I started pulling the arrows from her body, one by one. I felt her body shudder with each one. After I pulled out every single one and making sure she didn’t have any remains inside, I pulled out a healing potion and moved her tunic so that her back was exposed. I then poured the potion on the wounds, making them coagulate quickly. I drank a potion of speed and after saving the bottles, I picked the girl up, running towards my home.
When I arrived at my home I layed the girl on my bed, removing the clothes on her torso and starting to treat her wounds with care. I wrapped her wounds in bandages and the covered her with her tunic and some bedsheets.
I managed to look at her appearance more clearly, she had delicate features, pointy ears, a singular horn on the right side of her head, and golden eyes. I had to admit, she appeared to be the most beautiful person I ever saw, though that was not that high of a bar with how little people I saw.
I sat next to her reading a book, and after a few hours, she woke up with a loud and sudden gasp. She at first tried to get up, but the pain from the wounds stopped her.
“You’re gonna get better soon, I treated the wounds, so the worst part is over.”
The girl looked at me with a bit of surprise and spoke with a shaky voice, all while trying to find a position where the wounds wouldn’t hurt as much.
“Who are you? I remember seeing you and falling unconscious.”
“Yeah, my fault, I didn’t have a sedative so I had to knock you out with a potion of sleep. It would have been torture had I pulled the arrows while you were conscious. Anyways, the name’s Emile, I’m a witch, I brew potions and stuff. Right now I’ve brought you to my little cabin, you’ll be safe here.”
“Tha- thank you. But why?”
“Why did I help you? Well I wasn’t gonna leave you to die in front of my eyes! There’s not much more to it.”
“You’re not gonna ask a favor of me? Or demand answers?”
“Why would I? You mean like one of those stories of creatures owing debts? Come on, that’s horrible, I’m just gonna ask that you rest. Those arrows were unusual, I would say they were loaded with poison but there wasn’t any. Do you have any clue what it might have been?”
The woman shook her head, and tried to leave the bed, yet it seemed physically painful for her.
“No, you stay in bed” I quickly stopped her and got up, blocking her from leaving the bed. “Those wounds are severe, you leaving would be suicide.”
“But if I’m gonna be a burden…”
“No one said that you were. You can stay here while you heal. Now get comfortable, I’m gonna make food; I hope you like cannelloni.” The girl moved a bit and after a few second of contemplating, she nodded. “Great. If you need something just give me a shout.”
I left to make dinner. It had been a long day, with all the shock and the tending to the wounds of the girl, and even then I didn’t manage to find the herbs I was looking for. After making the food and eating with the girl, I asked her.
“How do you feel?” I tried hard to make my tone of voice as calm and not worried as possible.
“My whole back hurts… it burns. I think I’m getting accustomed to the pain, but it hurts so much…”
“So there was definitely something in those arrows… if you don’t mind me experimenting a bit to cure your condition, I will do all I can to heal you to a perfect state.”
“If you would be so kind… please, do it.”
“Wonderful! I’ll leave tomorrow to collect some herbs to make antidotes, and when you feel better, I’ll extract some blood.” The girl nodded, looking at me with worry. “Well, for now rest. I’ll sleep on a sofa, after all I already do it a lot. Goodnight.”
I got up, ready to leave, but the woman stopped me.
“Nikaya… my name is Nikaya.”
I looked back at her and nodded with a smile. Feeling very tired I headed to my study, to sleep till the next day.
The next day I woke up a bit late. I made myself a cup of coffee and when I went to check on Nikaya, she was asleep. I left a jar of water in case she got thirsty, some food for if she was hungry, and I left to gather plants.
The next few days were like that, each day I would wake up a bit earlier and came back in the afternoon. I would spend the rest of the day readying some potions for consumption, and if Nikaya was awake, I would chat with her. Day by day she came more and more out of her bubble.
She didn’t tell me much about her past. She just said she was running away when she got attacked and by a stroke of luck, found me. I did learn a few more things about her. She had a very refined sense of taste, so she wasn’t that fond of my mediocre cooking skills. Except for the times I made her soup; she said that was my strong suit. In addition, I also learned she liked meat a lot.
She also didn’t seem to be very familiar with the different plants I used, despite looking like a forest spirit. I could only wonder where she came from.
She also worried me, as she was constantly warm to the touch, which made me believe she had a fever, despite her assuring me her body always had a higher temperature than average.
After about five days, she could finally get up, and I decided it was time to extract a bit of blood to analyze
“Does it hurt?” I asked while inserting the syringe in her arm.
“I barely feel it.”
“That’s good… I think.”
After I had extracted and stored the blood in a container, I started getting changed, readying to leave.
“I’m going to the town, I might not be back from dinner. Can you cook something?”
“Yes! I’ll manage on my own.”
“Wonderful.”
That day I left for the nearby village. I bought some things that I couldn’t get on my own that easily, like good meat, or certain vegetables I was too lazy to grow. I also visited an alchemist, who helped me ready the blood test to detect poison. I also set some blood to the side to investigate Nikaya’s ascendency.
When I got back it was already dark, but the lights of the cabin in the woods were still on. When I entered, I found a sleepy Nikaya sitting on a table, with two plates of cooked chicken and mashed potatoes
“Oh!” She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes. Smiled and gestured to the chair. “I was waiting for you.”
“You… you shouldn’t have.” I let out a small cackle and started setting down the bags on the counter.
“But thank you.” I sat down at the table and started eating while chatting with her. After we finished I asked her the question once again. “How do you feel?”
“I… my insides still burn, but I’ve gotten more used to the pain. I trust your testing will help, but this… it feels like it’s burning in my soul.”
“I see… the poison test should be done by tomorrow. We’ll discover what’s going on, no doubt.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem” I felt a sense of urgency. A bit of a nervousness one might say. But I had to find the cure.
The next day the poison test came back negative, no poison, nothing, and that worried me. Despite that, I started getting ready different types of antidotes, and I had Nikaya try each one of them. A few days later her condition was worse: she looked paler, thinner, and even her horn looked smaller.
I was getting desperate. I started trying different potions of healing, but always slightly holding back, not to intoxicate her. But that didn’t work either.
Being scared, one day I left for the town, to meet my alchemist friend who helped me with the tests.
“You might have to use your little gift of magic.” They told me. “I really don’t know what it could be either.”
“It’s just… these symptoms… it’s like something is burning her, consuming her from the inside.”
“Well, I got the results that you asked me for, they might help.”
“What are the percentages?”
“About 50 percent Fae bloodline, and about 50 percent demonic.”
“Demonic? That’s unusual, but… wait…” The pieces started to fall into place. Persecuted; not a poison; demonic. “Oh… oh no… is there a cure for holy water?”
“I… I don’t think so.”
“I’ve gotta run.” My heart was racing, I ran as fast as I could to my house. There, I found Nikaya kneeling outside, she was probably waiting for me. “Nik! Nik! I’m here!” I ran to her and kneeled down, she was breathing heavily and her skin was pinkish. “Lay down, lay down please.”
I pulled out some potions out of my belt, and started pouring them on her body, but nothing seemed to happen. “Nonono” was all my mind could think. I laid my hands on her and tried to focus. Her body shone green, but nothing seemed to change. I focused my power again, I was inexperienced in that type of magic, but I was desperate. I tried it once, twice, five times, maybe more, but the weak voice of the girl stopped me.
“Thank you… Emi… It was wonderful being with you…”
“No, please, no. Don’t leave me. I promised I would help you, I promised!”
But no answer was heard. The girl closed her eyes, with a peaceful smile. The surroundings were covered with flowers and plants that grew due to the excess of magic.
Rumors tell of the body of a beautiful woman laying in the middle of the forest, with vegetation that refuses to die. Blessed by devils, protected by gods, and eternally undecaying by the magic of the heart.
