Orc Wars 2 : Lazarus

Chapter 133 - Antidote

"Myu-uutt." The Bello's large luminous eyes watered. The human's desperate grip was strong and steel-like in his fevered throes.

After a few torturous minutes, Lazarus relaxed. "Aaaahhh ..." he sighed in relief at the brief respite.

Quickly Valentine ladled out a portion and poured it down the Assassin's throat.

"Gakk!!" Lazarus choked resisting the scalding hot soup. Luckily the Bello reacted quickly to block his flailing hands or the ladle would have been knocked away. When his body relaxed again, the hybrid loosely secured the human's hands, legs and propped his body in a relatively comfortable sitting position.

"Drink you idiot!! Drink or I'll kill you myself!"

"Gakk! Gaaahh!"

Valentine scoped another ladle-full forcing his friend to drink. He prayed silently to the gaming Gods for the brew to work.

"How much does he have to drink?"

"All of it my Lord. He musst drink every lasst drop of the Annazzzzossh's antidote."

"Everything? Seriously?" Valentine asked in surprise.

"Yesss Ghosst Lord. The antidote isss potent but sso isss the Annazzzzossh. It isss only half a pot. We musst enssure that the dark one isss fully cured. Thisss isss hisss only chance."

"Why is Laz's condition so much worse than that Vogeruk stallion? The unicorn did not deteriorate so fast."

"That iss becausse the Vogeruk isss mosstly bone. Alsso the nauk dzzi vrasss which the Annazzzzossh attacksss firsst isss only found in the Vogeruk'sss magical horn not itsss entire body, whereasss the dark one ..."

"I get it," Valentine sighed in comprehension. Poor Laz, his whole body was saturated with the Vogeruk's poison. No wonder he was getting it so bad.

"But in the end, it will all be the ssame. Thosse infussed with the Annazzzzossh die when their body isss gone. It isss a horrible way to die," she surmised.

"It sure is," muttered Valentine as he kept feeding his listless friend.

"Make ssure he drinksss it all before hisss next sseizzure or he will ssurely perissh."

"What? You mean there is a window for the cure too? What the hell? I don't think he can handle another one."

"Val?" Lazarus croaked.

"Drink. Don't talk. You have to drink everything before your next seizure or you'll die."

"Next seizure? Gods no," he said in denial. "I can't ..."

"Then finissh the brew dark one. You will be well again after it isss all gone."

Without another word Lazarus reached weakly for the brimming ladle. He did not want to endure another seizure, he could not. Valentine steadied Lazarus' faltering hand but did not let go of the ladle. He did not want to risk spilling any of the precious soup.

Lazarus drank slowly, swallowing painfully. Although the hot liquid burned his mouth, he did not stop. The antidote tasted like nothing he had ever drunk before. It had a strange syrupy taste, a mix of sickly sweet honey and ripe sour berries. Yet there was a tangy salty crunchy element in it. The crushed Lifestone, he thought. It probably helped thickened the brew making it almost a stew.

What made it hard to drink was the strong terrible aftertaste of rusted iron. The taste of vampires' blood filled his mouth. It made him think of the coagulated blood on Sharak's numerous dying experiments. Lazarus retched, squeezing his eyes shut. He tried hard to ignore the building nausea. Drink. Gotta drink. Do not throw up, he told himself sternly. It's all in my head. It's not real. This is it. I've got to beat this.

When he had consumed the pots contents, he heaved a sigh of relief. He had managed to keep it down. That was a feat in itself. After all the torture he had gone through, it better work. Lazarus collapsed back into the Bello's embrace. He was exhausted.

Valentine peered closely at Lazarus' face almost touching him.

"I don't see anything different."

The Thief noted that the Assassin's blotchy skin had darkened to an ugly purple and a thin milky film had covered his exotic silver irises making him almost blind. Lazarus looked scary, as scarily authentic as the zombies he had seen in numerous apocalyptic movies.

"Patience, fair one, patience."

Lazarus batted Valentine away. He didn't like the close scrutiny and invasion of personal space. "You're too close. B-back off ..."

"But I want to see ..."

Suddenly Lazarus belched heaving painfully, his skeletal hands clutched at his bony chest. Stinky bad zombie breath blasting out at Valentine. The Thief choked, covering his nose and mouth with his hands and backing away hastily.

"O'kay, o'kay! Don't have to throw up on me. Geez!"

"Bello," said the Boss pushing Lazarus gently to lean against her. She made shooing motions to the other human. "Bello, bello." She was not afraid of him anymore because he had calmed down. She realised that Ghost Lords were only dangerous when they were angry.

"Ahhhhh." Lazarus fell listlessly back into the monster's embrace and closed his eyes. He was so tired. So very tired. He did not notice when he passed out.

"Hey! What happened?" Valentine frowned worriedly at his unconscious friend. "Is this normal? Should I wake him up?"

"Let him resst, my Lord. I think the dark one deservesss it." Her gaze softened as she contemplated the quiet Assassin. "Jusst for a moment."

"Bello," the Bello agreed whole heartedly tightening her coils around her half-decayed human possessively.

"But ..."

"Sshhhhh Ghosst Lord ... ssee?"

Valentine blinked and rubbed his eyes. He could not believe what he was seeing.

Something was happening. A diffused white light with multi-coloured sparkly dust motes glowed from Lazarus. It started at the scar on his chest and spread slowly to cover his whole body. Valentine gasped. Yes! YES!! Now this is what I'm talking about!

The Assassin's discoloured torn skin mended, knitting together miraculously. His ugly wounds and gaping sores closed, forming thick scars which thinned and faded away. The numerous bruises disappeared rapidly allowing his mended skin to regain its healthy glow. Finally, Lazarus' skeletal frame fleshed out restoring his original lean muscled physique.

It was evident that the gate keeper was healing.

Valentine gulped emotionally when Lazarus inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. The Assassin opened his clear silver eyes to sit up on his own. He ran a hand through his long once-again shiny hair to get it out of his flawless face. Patting the Bello in an assuring manner, Lazarus turned to look alertly around him. He was greeted with the smiling faces of Valentine, the Witch, the Warlord and the Bello.

"Bello, bel-lo. Chu-uuu~" the Boss crooned in a soft sultry voice. The horrible Vogeruks stink was gone. "Chu-uuuu~"

Lazarus, Assassin, Level 90

Health 100 per cent, Energy 100 per cent

"Hey."

"Idiot," Valentine greeted his friend, his voice cracking. "Welcome back."

Lazarus replied with a crooked half smile. He sighed and stretched. Standing up effortlessly he assessed his avatar's body. He was in full control. Sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste everything was perfect. It had been a long time since he felt this good. He flexed his muscles experimentally and broke into a boyish grin.

"It's good to be back."