A few minutes later.
Terros and Veronica stared at each other.
"How much is enough? I mean how many dosages are needed to treat him? Or how many bottles of elixir we have to keep feeding Graven with?" Terros asked.
Veronica scratched her head. "Um... I dunno... I mean it's the first time we had administered the elixir on someone, so, I have no idea what is the right dosage..." she gave an honest answer.
Terros sighed. "I just hope that the roots of Oakenblossom Tree have no side effects, or else we already put Graven in a much worst situation," he said.
Verona took a deep breath. "Oh my... this is one thing that I failed to think about. We were so excited with the result of the experiment that we forgot to think about the side effect!"
"Yeah..." Terros said and stopped feeding more elixir into Graven's mouth. "I already emptied two small bottles of elixir in his mouth. Let's wait for the result..." he said. "How's his pulse?"
"Right now it's stabilizing... earlier... I can't detect it," Veronica replied.
"Good! It seemed the elixir has some positive effects on his body. Let's just observed him first," Terros said. He rose to his feet. "Watched him for me, I'll just need to drink water from the kitchen," he said trying to calm his nerves.
Hours went by.
Graven was unconscious the whole afternoon. His breathing is normal and his pulse is okay.
Evening comes.
Terros and Veronica didn't sleep.
Terros keep vigil beside Graven. His breathing and pulse seemed to be okay. But the thing that bothered him the most is that he's still unconscious.
Veronica entered the room holding a cup of coffee in her hand, she looked at Terros sitting on the chair beside the bed. "You can rest for a while, I'll watch Graven for you," she offered.
"Are you sure?" he asked as his eyelids were dropping fast.
"Yeah... I already sleep for three hours, it's now your turn," she replied.
"Okay, I'll just lie down here in the corner. Wake me up if something bad happens to Graven," he said.
"Okay," Veronica replied and sat on the chair facing Graven while sipping her coffee. She looked at Terros sleeping soundly in the corner. 'Poor old man!' she murmured to herself.
She looked at the candle burning brightly on the table near the bed. Her veil was in another chair within her grasp, just in case Graven will wake up she can grab it quickly to hide her ugly face, her deformities might shock him. From where she was sitting, she can see Graven's handsome face. She's looking for a telltale sign of his skin and his face that would alert her that his condition is worsening.
It's strange that Graven still not waking up. She was bothered by Terros statement earlier. What if the Oakenblossom has a side effect? The truth is, she just stole the roots from Elva Sunbelles's storage room where she kept her endless supply of herbs. Elva told her once that the roots are from the thousand-year-old Oakenblossom Tree and it has a powerful medicinal property. She failed to ask what is the side effect of the roots if ingested as a medicine.
She and Terros thought that once the elixir is ingested by Graven, it will freeze the black liquid inside his body to prevent it from attacking his other vital organs.
They hoped so. It seemed to be working as intended. But Graven is not completely out of danger because until now he has not awakened yet since she found him outside the house.
pαпdα`noνɐ1`сoМ She released a deep sigh.
After she finished her coffee, she exited the room and went to the kitchen to put her cup in the sink. She returned to the room to continue watching Graven.
She plopped on the chair and feel Graven's pulse... she was surprised because she can't feel his pulse! And when she looked at his face, the skin around his mouth had already darkened. Oh, no!
Panicking, she went to Terros side and wake him up. "Terros wake up! Something wrong is going on with Graven!" she shouted.
Terros stared at her for a few seconds in a daze. "Calm down...what's wrong?" he asked in bewilderment.
"Graven is dying!" Veronica screamed.
Terros rushed to Graven's side and looked at his darkening face and quickly inspected his feet, they're starting to blacken. "Holy shiit! It's a sign of being poisoned!" he said and sprang on his feet. He went to the cupboard and grabbed the bottle containing an elixir left to him by his deceased master. It's the only one left of its kind.
He immediately went back to the bed and looked at Veronica. "I need a glass filled with water and spoon!" he barked his order.
"Ok!" Veronica dashed outside the door and ran to the kitchen to get some water.
When she returned a minute later, Terros immediately put ten drops of the elixir into the glass and mixed it thoroughly using the spoon. Then he began feeding the liquid on Graven's mouth until the last drop.
Veronica took the empty glass.
"Can you please bring a basin here..." he requested.
"Okay," Veronica said and went to the kitchen. She grabbed the basin made of clay and brought it to the room and put it on the floor. "Anything else?" she asked.
"Help me with Graven, let's put him in a sitting position while I'll support his body behind his back," he said.
The two of them managed to put Graven in a sitting position, Terros supporting his back.
"Go back to your room. I'll ask for your assistance later," he told her.
Veronica shook her head. "I won't leave you to deal with this problem alone," she said.
"Alright, just stay near the door," he ordered.
Veronica grabbed the chair and stationed it near the door. She sank into the wooden chair looking at Graven.
Then suddenly... Graven's eyes opened and he began vomiting black liquid into the basin.
"Son, common... flushed it all out!" Terros said, encouraging him while rubbing his back.
Veronica had to cover her nose with her fingers because the vomit smells like a rotten fish!
Graven continue vomiting black liquid into the basin, a few minutes later, he finally stopped. "W...water! I'm so t..thirsty! P...please g...give me w...water," he requested.
Veronica rushed outside and went to the kitchen. She grabbed the jar filled with water and grabbed the glass, she hurriedly went back to the room.
She poured water into the glass and put the glass into Graven's mouth.
Graven drinks the water hungrily. "More please..." he said.
Veronica poured water into the glass and brought it to Graven's lips.
Graven drank a total of five glasses of water.
Terros slowly placed Graven into the bed.
Veronica saw the vomit on the basin and the floor, she needs to do some cleaning!
She picked up the basin and carefully exited the room careful not to drop the contents or else the foul-smelling vomit would spill into the floor and her work will add up. She managed to get out of the house and threw the vomit into the vacant area away from the plants. She put the basin on the ground to be cleaned later.
She went back to the house, proceed to the kitchen, get some water and rags, then entered Terros's room. She starts cleaning the vomit that got spilled on the floor.
The old man was also busy cleaning Graven's vomit on the bed.
A few minutes later, they finished cleaning the vomit and the foul smell was gone from the room.
Terros looked at Graven. "How are you feeling, son?"
Graven looked at Terros. "I'm not okay, old man. I'm dying...my insides are painful. I think I'm going to die today..." he said, his eyes devoid of life.
"No! You won't die today!" Terros said, teary-eyed.
Graven smiled a little. "The black liquid is eating my inside...so damn painful!" he groaned in pain.
"Okay, stop talking now. Try to rest. I'll try to find something to remedy your pain," Terros said. "Are you hungry? Do you want to eat? I'll have Rebecca make you an egg soup," he said.
"Yes...please..." Graven said and closed his eyes.
Veronica exited the room and went to the kitchen to start cooking the egg soup. She opened the window and saw the dawn breaking on the horizon. She released a deep sigh and starts chopping the veggies and herbs for the egg soup.
A few minutes later, she's done cooking and transferred the soup into the bowl, she fanned it for a few seconds because it's too hot... then she brought the soup inside Terros room. "Delicious egg soup is ready!" she announced and put the bowl in the bed.
Terros began feeding Graven with the soup.
A few minutes later.
Terros was done feeding Graven with the egg soup.
Veronica brought the empty bowl into the kitchen and returned to the room. "How is he?" she asked.
"Sleeping..." Terros replied. He looked at the window. "It's already morning..." he said with a gloomy sigh. "Can you watch over him for a minute I'm going to the bathroom to pee," he said.
"Sure!" Veronica said.
Terros left the room and exited the house. He went down the stairs and went in the direction of the bathroom.
He exited the bathroom a few minutes later.
He was about to climb the stairs when a messenger bird landed on his shoulder. He took the piece of paper from the bird's feet and read it.... 'Granpha, were outside your place...30 of our comrades are dying... please help us...give us medicine!' signed by Horace.
Terros groaned.... things are getting worst!
He immediately vanished... he reappeared in the clearing outside his place...and saw 30 men lying on the ground dying... barely breathing... 33 men are standing nearby...they all looked at Terros with tears of desperation in their eyes.
"Grandpa! Please give us medicine!" Horace begged.
Terros addressed them. "Guys...listen carefully...I tried everything to help Graven...he is inside my room right now...also dying..." he said sadly.
The men were devastated.
"Grandpa, please help our friends!" they all begged the old man in chorus.
"All you need to do now is bring your friends to the abandoned castle because the cursed King has the antidote. It's the only option left to save them. I will bring Graven myself to that crumbling castle! Do it now before it's too late!" he barked his order.
The men looked at each other and nodded their heads.
The men picked up their fallen comrades and teleport into the crumbling castle in the remote part of Wimborne Village.
Terros went back to his place.
He climbed the stairs in a hurry.
Veronica emerged from the door sporting a distressed look on her face, she looked at him. "Graven is no longer breathing! He's dead!" Veronica said sadly.
"Nooooooo!" Terros ran upstairs like a crazy man and rushed to his room.
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