The Princess and The Bandit

FORTY SEVEN

"D-dinah . . ."

"I'll get to her now, just chug a good mouthful first. Don't mind the taste, this will stop the effects of the poison on your body,"

More centaurs combat Alejandro as most Astorians have been either disarmed and restrained or killed already. The rest of the serpentina bandits have been killed, mostly because majority of them never yielded; few coward ones fled the scene the first chance they got but caught death anyway by angry imperial troops. Jelena was the only serpentina who made it out, but she isn't much of a threat especially when she has finally had enough of taking shit from her boss.

However, Alejandro's grip on the rod of Asclepius is tight and unyielding as well, therefore its curse is still very much in effect.

While he is currently occupied fighting off mighty strong centaurs and Shawn, Simona then rushes to Dinah.

"Get rid of her armor now,"

Hailee does as the old woman says very fast. Dinah's armor is shed, ripped clothing reveals an open gash on her abdomen. It was an ugly wound, deep and about ten inches long, dark infected blood flows out of it profusely. Pulsing, root-like veins bulging and spread out through her pale, almost colorless skin. Her breathing was close to nonexistent, her eyes are empty.

Time has run out for the half-faerie.

But Simona will never give up. Hailee will never give up. If its family at risk, they will never give up.

The old woman pours a good amount of her special whiskey on Dinah's open wound, and the effect was instantaneous. It bubbled up and there was an acrid odor to it.

"Cover it up, quick! Let the antivenin work directly on the stab wound and don't let it seep out!"

Hailee kept on fumbling as she put pressure on Dinah's bleeding wound. But Normani crawls her way to them with a big enough linen tunic in her grasp, barely regaining her strength back. Nobody really saw where she got that piece of cloth on her hand, but Ally was only in her camisole a few feet away, slightly struggling with putting her armor back on her own.

It was clear that Simona's special whiskey is as effective as she hopes it to be. Both Normani and Ally's cuts were shallow, but the actual danger lies on the poison. Simona felt hope spark inside her knowing that the same effect will happen to Dinah.

But the half-faerie was stabbed through. Her wound alone in itself is fatal.

As the old woman forces her antivenin brew packed in an old whiskey bottle right through Dinah's mouth, Normani secures the open wound, making sure that the liquid poured in it remains bubbling inside, to effectively put a stop to the bleeding. The ebony girl still feels significantly weak but she doesn't feel like darkness is about to take all the life out of her anymore.

But if she loses Dinah, she might as well succumb to her own end . . .

* * *

Meanwhile, Camila and Lauren are still going at each other. The bandit charging like a mindless madwoman, the empress trying her best to get Camila out of whatever curse Alejandro put her through.

However, Lauren figures that her attempts are futile, unless she breaks the rod of Asclepius in half. But it was obvious that nobody can match Camila except her.

To break all this mind controlling curse plaguing her love and her people, the source must be broken. She can almost see now how terrible Camila would feel the moment she comes out of it and realizes she attacked Lauren. The bandit already doubts herself at times, Lauren doesn't want her to fall much deeper on the depths of self-deprecation, especially when none of this was her fault.