Vorin led half of the party through the streets of Northern Slate with his plague doctor mask equipped. Dingy, dark mana swirled around half the citizens of the town indicating that they had a plague of some kind.

  A guard was their escort showing them where the central building was which was where their city officials would be at the particular time of day.

  “How long has the plague been circulating in your town?”

  The guard turned and looked at Vorin with confusion written on his face as if he had spoken a completely different language. It took a few minutes for him to answer.

  “What plague? Everyone is healthy.”

  That put Vorin on the backfoot causing him to stop momentarily.

  “My class is specialized on the matter of plagues. Half your town is infected from what I have seen so far. You haven’t noticed any symptoms?”

  Their group started to move through the small crowd again while the guard thought for a moment.

  “Everyone I know had a cough for a few hours if that and then they were fine. Could that be a plague?”

  “An odd one, yes. How mysterious. Maybe your officials will know more.”

  As they moved through the streets, Synexus and Yu were keeping watch for anything suspicious. Nothing they spotted rang any bells. However, there was a foul stench in the air that spoke a different story.

  Neither of them wanted to offend the guard or any passersby, so it was left unspoken. Every now and then they did share a glance when the breeze picked up. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the nest of the Deep Skinwalkers, but it wasn’t pleasant by any means.

  Minutes later they stopped in front of a circular building made of white wood.

  The guard led them through the double doors explaining that it was where the officials of the town discussed important matters and given the time, they would be in session.

  Inside they found a large open room with benches where the townspeople could sit during important meetings. On the wall opposite the door were five people sitting in much nicer chairs quietly discussing amongst themselves. Their heads snapped towards the group as soon as the door shut behind them.

  It was the man in the middle of the group that broke the silence.

  “Guard Shinso, was it? Who are these people, they are not citizens of our town.”

  “No, Mayor. These people have come down from the mountain and carry news about those guarding the top. I believe it’s urgent.”

  “Very well. Thank you, you may get back to your post.”

  The mayor whispered to the other four sitting with him. When he was done, they spread out and stared at Vorin.

  “Mayor of Northern Slate, I apologize for interrupting your meeting, but I’ve come to inform you that an illness has taken the lives of all your guards atop the mountain.”

  Looks of disbelief oozed across the faces of the five town officials.

  “Are you sure all of them are dead?” One of the men on the right side of the mayor asked before anyone else could.

  “Yes, and unfortunately, they had been dead for a few days at least. The snow and ice have preserved their bodies if you’d like to retrieve them for a funeral.”

  “Thank you. We will send a squad to retrieve their bodies at the earliest possible time. If I may ask, were the soldiers of our southern counterparts still up there?”

  “All dead as well. The disease appears to have jumped to all the soldiers.”

  “At least something good has come out of this somber news.”

  That comment made the whole party wince, and it was clearly obvious.

  “What? Do you think me cruel for wishing misfortune on our enemies?”

  “We are not here to judge. We have no idea of the history between the two towns. Our duty as class chosen was to bring the news of their demise. To me it was just hard to see the bodies of forty young men lying dead in the snow.”

  The mayor gave a nod.

  “I suppose you’re right. No life should be cut short. You’ve done your duty as class chosen. Do you wish to stay in our town for the night?”

  “Well, at first our duty was solely to deliver the unfortunate news, however, that has changed.”

  “How so?”

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  “My class revolves around plagues. It seems that half your town is infected. I wish to be pointed towards your medical center, so I can begin ridding the town of the affliction.”

  Silence filled the room before one of the other men spoke.

  “I’m the head of the healers in the town. I’m not sure how you came across this information, but I can assure you there is no plague. No one has come in with any symptoms.”

  “Your guard said that most people have come down with a suspicious cough that only lasted for a few hours at most before disappearing.”

  The man let out a bit of a chuckle.

  “Sir, I don’t know where you were trained or what class you possess, but a cough is a far cry from a plague. You are not a citizen of this town, and I do not feel comfortable allowing you to use unknown skills on the fine people of Northern Slate under false pretenses.”

  “I must concur with the head healer.” The mayor chimed in. “Your party can stay the night in the inn that is near the gate. Tomorrow morning, I expect you to leave peacefully.”

  “We don’t intend to cause any problems. However, I must insist that you investigate the possibility of a plague running rampant. My ability to see plague is even informing me that all of you are currently infected.”

  Fear briefly flashed over the officials as they shared panicked looks before it faded and was replaced by anger.

  “Leave, please. Your room is on the town tonight. You will leave the town tomorrow morning at first light.”

  Guards flooded in to direct them towards the inn. Once safely inside their room, the discussion started.

  ***

  Zuls and her merry band of class chosen made their way freely through the town of Southern Slate. People didn’t even send a look their way. Most were looking half dead and worry started to spread over the party.

  It took nearly half an hour for them to find a larger stone building with smoke coming from the chimney. A guard sitting by the door verified it was the correct building, and they walked inside without even being checked.

  A fire was cracking in the stone fireplace in the back right corner. A few torches on the wall were also burning, producing the only light in the whole building.

  There was a long wood desk sitting across from the door with one man tirelessly looking over multiple documents. He didn’t even look up as he spoke.

  “Sit in any of the chairs. I’ll be with you momentarily.”

  Everyone looked at Zuls. She shrugged and they sat in the chairs closest to the desk to wait. Forty minutes passed before the man stamped a page and shuffled them into a pile.

  “Alright. I’m Albert, Mayor of Southern Slate. What can I do for you?”

  “Right, sorry for the intrusion, but we were walking across the mountain pass when we came across the twenty guards you have posted for security along the pass. We have come to inform you that they are all dead. Some kind of plague took them.”

  Albert sighed. “It’s never-ending. Thank you for informing me I will have a new unit up there to remove the bodies and take their place. Is there anything else?”

  “We have someone in our party who can cure plagues. It seems you have a problem with one in your town.”

  “There is no plague here. Everyone seems healthy.”

  Kumo laughed. “Have you been outside lately?”

  Zuls turned and stared daggers at her.

  “I have young lady and there didn’t seem to be a problem.”

  “With all due respect, Mayor Albert, on our way in we spotted nearly every citizen coughing or walking along like they were barely able to stand.”

  “That’s normal for the early winter. We haven’t had a death from plague in nearly 50 years.”

  “Technically, you had twenty deaths from a plague a few days ago.”

  Albert sighed deeper. “Look, if it will clear you conscious, I will talk to the healer of the town and have her check out the citizens, but I assure you this is normal for our town.”

  “Can you point us in her direction? We will gladly deliver the message ourselves since you’re busy.”

  “Fine, young lady. She will be at our medical building two blocks south of this one. It will have a cross painted on the front. She will probably be even busier than I am.”

  He didn’t dismiss them or tell them to have a good day. He just grabbed more papers from a stack and started to look over them. Zuls, Prith, Kumo, and Shell got up and left.

  Ten minutes later they found the medical building. Albert had not been wrong. There was a line running out of the door. Instead of waiting in line, Zuls went in alone after ignoring people telling her that she had to wait her turn.

  A woman with long golden hair was applying a soothing glow to a man’s back and making small talk as she did it. Zuls simply walked into the room and waited for her to be done.

  The man stared at Zuls awkwardly before putting his shirt back on and making a flirty goodbye with the woman. Once he left, the woman finally made eye contact with Zuls.

  “That was incredibly rude. Do you not have lines where you come from?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude, but this is important. My name is Zullany and my party came across your twenty guards atop the mountain. They all have died from a plague. We believe the town is infected. Mayor Albert claims there is no blight even though there is clear evidence of a plague on the streets of your town.”

  The healer’s face scrunched up.

  “Two of my best friends were up on that mountain.”

  Zuls recoiled a bit, realizing how insensitive she had been.

  “I’m so sorry. I spoke without thinking.”

  The healer waved her off even though an immense sadness clearly was weighing on her shoulders.

  “Um. Right. The plague. I looked into the people showing minor symptoms and from all my knowledge, it is only a cough going around.”

  “We believe that there is more to it. We have a class chosen with us that can cure plagues as well as see plagues. Would you be comfortable with meeting with him to look over some patients just to be sure?”

  “Better safe than sorry. It sounds like it could be more serious since twenty of our finest have already succumbed to it.”

  “Excellent. We will send word to him then and he will be here probably tomorrow and hopefully we cannot prevent any more deaths.”

  “Thank you. My name is Claya by the way. Um, can you tell the next patient on your way out that I need a few minutes.”

  Zuls nodded and went to the door. Before she even walked out, she could hear Claya trying to silently cry.

  Outside there was a soothing song being played by Shell on her ocarina. The line of patients were all amazed at how their injuries were slowly disappearing.

  Zuls turned to the first patient in line and told him that the healer needed a few minutes. Surprisingly, his attention was solely on the music, and he barely registered Zuls’ words.

  Kumo, Prith, and Zuls kept their eyes on the people walking by to look for anything suspicious as Shell’s song of healing came to an end. The line of people cheered before the man in front walked into the building.

  “Alright, let’s go find an inn. I’m going to send Gliya to find Vorin and deliver a message that the healer here has agreed to him healing the plague ridden.”