The book makes a light thump as it falls to the wooden table.
Delia, Thil, and Heswyn all gather around the table. Kagon can tell from the expression on Delia's face that she's anxious.
Kagon stands back, arms crossed. "There's your precious book Heswyn." He says with his lips curving into a teasing smirk.
Heswyn ignores the hero's remark and flips the book open to its index. Her pointer finger trails down the list until stopping at Life-leech, pg. 123-125. The librarian swiftly thumbs through the pages until she reaches the correct one.
I hope she finds something of use. Kagon thinks as he watches her scan the pages.
"Alright." Everyone looks up, intrigued. "I think I found a way to bring Kip out of his unconscious state."
"Get on with it." Kagon urges.
Heswyn rolls her eyes at his impatience, but continues nonetheless. "Well, the life-leech stole much of Kip's life force and there is hardly a way to completely restore that. The creature must of shaved off a couple of years of Kip's lifespan as well. However, there is a way to restore some of his energy. Right now Kip's whole body is in a slow state. He needs a," Heswyn struggles for words, "a kind of shock to get his body's mechanisms back up to speed."
"That makes sense." Thil says, bobbing his head in thought. "I've heard that electric shocks can revive people."
"I wouldn't go that far, nephew. Our Kip here isn't dead as of yet." Heswyn says. "But a shock of a smaller caliber will probably be needed in order to bring his body up to par."
"How will we manage that?" Delia questions.
Thil grins, pushing his wire glasses up his nose. "Leave that to me, friends. This kind of thing is what I specialize in."
Delia looks at the scientist suspiciously. "Kip is not a test subject, but a human being like the rest of us. Please remember that before carrying out any harebrained experiments."
Kagon can't help but feel proud of his scribe.
"Of course I will." Thil reassures. "You have nothing to worry about, Miss Delia."
"So, what are you thinking?" Heswyn asks.
"Put him out in a lightning storm and see what happens."
Delia's eyes become the size of the full moon and her rosy cheeks pale significantly. "Don't you dare!"
Thil chuckles. "It was only a joke."
Delia grumbles something under her breath that Kagon can't quite make out, causing him to smile.
"A stimulant could be used as well." Heswyn suggests. "There are plenty of plants that can be used to stimulate the body and quicken its systems."
Thil considers this. "I suppose..."
Kagon can't help but notice the man's dislike of the idea. Apparently shocking somebody appears less boring to the lad.
"It does sound less dangerous." Delia pipes up.
"It does." Thil relents, seeming a bit put-off by the prospect.
Heswyn rolls her eyes. "Don't be so childishly pouty, nephew. The safest way is obviously using a stimulant. We can search through the library's books on herbalism to find the correct plant."
"You must be jesting. I can't stand searching anymore." Kagon says. "I'd rather just shock the lad with lightning during a storm and be done with it."
"I completely agree." Thil grins, no longer pouty in the least.
Delia gasps. "What is both of your problems! It will kill Kip!
Kagon and Thil groan in unison. "Fine."
〰〰〰〰
Delia is one of the first ones to awaken the next morning. She and Kagon had been allowed to stay in the library alongside some of the most dedicated scholars that live there.
That includes Heswyn and Thil, of course.
As soon as she springs out of bed, Delia heads down to the library to search for any books on herbalism she can get her hands on.
The pads of Delia's fingers lightly touch the spines of the books. She pulls out every tome she can, looking at the cover to see if there is any pictures on the front that resemble plants. She finds none.
"You're looking in the wrong section." Delia startles at the voice, but settles once she sees that it is only Heswyn. "Each section has a label, you know."
Delia reddens. "I must not of noticed."
Heswyn shrugs and points to a lane of bookshelves farther down. "The herbalism books should be located around there."
"Thank you." Delia says.
Heswyn stops her by touching her shoulder before she is able to go. "Don't worry about Kip, we'll find a way to bring him back to consciousness."
Delia nods and tries to continue, but Heswyn still holds her back. "Wait a moment, Delia. I would like to quickly discuss something with you. I read more into the life-leech last night and found that only those that are claimed by Gahenna are visited by life-leeches. This is so that the life-leeches can retrieve the person's life force and deliver it to Gahenna. That would mean your friend is in grave danger." Heswyn warns. "Once he wakes he'll have a lot of explaining to do if he expects any help from us. We need to know the how, when, and why he was claimed."
Delia's mind whirls. Kagon had said something about life-leech's coming only for those that are Gahenna's, but Delia had brushed it off at the time. It was something she hadn't wanted to worry about. Now it seems that she has no choice.
Kip claimed by Gahenna? What exactly does that mean for him, for us all?
Certainly nothing good.
"I understand the gravity of the situation." Delia says. "It just means we're going to have to work even harder to find a plant that can help him."
Heswyn tucks an unruly chunk of curly red-grey behind her ear. "Precisely. That is all I had to say. Let's go to the herbalism section. I'll help you search."
Kagon and Thil wake up sometime later. Both men grudgingly help search. Every once and awhile Delia hears them muttering about shocking Kip instead of boringly searching. Neither Delia nor Heswyn pay them any mind even when the two whisper crude jokes to pass the time.
Scientist or hero, men will be men.
After a long search with Delia and Kagon grabbing any book with a plant on the cover and Thil and Heswyn flipping through the books they gathered, they finally find something that can help.
"It's called True Love's Kiss." Thil reads.
Kagon interrupts, sending Delia a cocky grin. "I told you that he needed true love's kiss!"
Delia scowls at the hero, but no clever retort finds its way to her tongue so she simply rolls her eyes.
Thil clears his throat and continues. "Apparently it's what actually woke up all those Princess's from the fairytales. Huh, I never knew that. They must of said it was an actual kiss to romanticize it. That just shows that science prevails!"
Heswyn sighs at her nephew's antics and takes over explaining the plant and its properties. "The plant is actually a berry that grows similar to grapes. They come in a cluster like grapes do and appear to be pink hearts attached to a purple vine. Its properties can be activated by crushing the heart berries and feeding a person its juices. The berry is supposed to act similar to love, quickening the person's heart beat, brain activity, and renewing energy. It should then work to wake Kip as well. However, the seeds within are sensitive and can easily burst. They are highly poisonous, so the juice will need to be extracted very carefully."
"I can manage that, easy." Thil says happily.
Delia can't fight the grin that pulls at her lips. "It sounds perfect! Where can it be found?"
Heswyn bites her lip, seeming bothered by something. "Paridia."
Kagon blanches.
"What? Where is that?"
"It's a heart shaped island south of Lithko, it really isn't too terribly far off. Perhaps two or maybe three days at the most. You'll have to take a ship out there." Thil explains.
"What's wrong then?" Delia asks, looking at Kagon's pale face and Heswyn's nervous expression.
"I prefer land over sea any day." Kagon says, pulling on a smile that wavers.
Delia remembers his tale of retrieving the sword from the elf Azuel and how one of his trials was thinking that he was sunk at the bottom of the ocean. He had refused to tell her any details or what the purpose of the trial was. She also remembers his hateful expression when he saw Lividia ocean before they entered the library.
Realization rushes over Delia like a mighty wave. Kagon of Pik, hero of all the lands, is terrified of the ocean!"
It takes all of Delia's willpower to not ask him about it. So, instead she turns and asks Heswyn a question. "Why are you worried, Heswyn?"
"The women that thrive in Paridia are what we call Amazons. They're a group of female warriors that kill any foreign man that steps on to their island."
"Are there no men on their island at all?" Kagon asks, baffled.
"No, they have husbands, fathers, grandfathers, and sons." Heswyn says. "It is just men outside of the island that they do not allow to visit. They kill every man that tries. Society is much different in Paridia then in our continent. Pik is restrictive to women, Lithko is more open minded, in Lanthos women and men are equals, and I'm unsure of how the women across Gahenna in the Shadowland are treated. But in Paridia it is a complete matriarchy, women are the heads of the household and the warriors. End of story."
Kagon's jaw drops. "Women as heads of the household?!"
Delia giggles at the hero's expression.
This trip will be very interesting.