Out front, one figure had broken ahead of the rest.
His dark vision allowed him to ignore the villagers and lock onto the lone figure running ahead, moving fast and hard.
System, is that Jo out front?
:: System: Affirmative.
Does it look like she is leading the mob or running from it?
:: System: Insufficient data to determine. She does appear to be in distress.
Harry’s jaw set.
If they’re trying to hurt her, I won’t let them.
He reached into his inventory and pulled out a spear, letting the familiar weight settle into his grip. Not raised. Not threatening. Just there. He started down the hill at a steady walk.
As he closed the distance, the crowd reacted. Shouts tapered off. Feet slowed. The rush collapsed into an uneven walk as people fanned out, uncertainty rippling through them. Jo did not slow. She kept sprinting until she was about twenty feet away, boots skidding to a halt in the dirt.
She stared at him, eyes wide, mouth open, chest heaving.
“Jo,” Harry said, voice steady. “What’s happening? Are you alright?”
She blinked at him, disbelief cutting through the panic. “Me? What happened to you?”
Harry glanced down.
His bracers were gone. So were his greaves. Wool trousers hung in ragged strips around his legs. His shirt sleeves were shredded nearly to the shoulder, threads dark and stiff. His chainmail was split in several places, rings torn open and bent, hanging loose against his ribs. Blood had soaked into everything. Dried and fresh. Red layered over brown, streaked across his chest, arms, and throat.
He took it in without much reaction. He slid the spear back into his inventory, lifted both hands, and patted himself down as if checking for missing pockets.
“Yeah,” he gave a small shrug. “I’m mostly okay.” He tipped his chin toward the villagers spreading out behind her. “What’s everyone doing?”
Jo glanced over her shoulder. “They were coming to help.” She turned back to him and took a step closer. The color drained from her face as the words caught up to her. “Harry, it’s Toby! He’s been bitten.”
“Dammit.” Harry was already moving. “Where is he?”
“In the hall…”
“Let’s go.” He cut her off and pushed into the crowd. “Excuse me. Excuse me.” People drew back at his approach, bodies shifting aside as eyes followed him, the path opening without argument.
The moment he cleared the other side of the villagers, he broke into a run, enhanced speed carrying him toward the hall. But he didn’t use vitae. He didn’t want to risk it.
He reached the hall at a dead run. Three soldiers and several farmers stood guard outside, weapons in hand. They took one look at him, stepped aside without a word, and hauled the door open.
Inside, Toby lay on the litter on the same table as before.
He had been stripped from the waist up. A ragged bite tore into the flesh high on his shoulder, close to the neck, edges dark and uneven. Deep scratches raked his arms and face. His skin had gone pale, lips tinged faintly blue, chest rising and falling in quick, shallow breaths.
Cedric and Stan stood nearby, holding people back. Only three women were allowed close. An older woman stood at Toby’s shoulder, gently wiping the bite with a wet cloth. A large iron pot sat beside her, steam rolling up in thick curls, carrying sharp, bitter herbal smells Harry didn’t recognize. The same two girls from earlier worked carefully along Toby’s arms and face, cleaning the gouges with trembling hands.
Dammit, dammit, dammit. Come on Harry, keep it together.
Cedric saw Harry first. “Sir Harold, you still have a cure disease potion, do you not?”
Harry pulled it from his inventory and had it in hand before he reached Toby. “What happened?”
Cedric’s jaw tightened. “His status screen alerted. He failed two saves.”
Toby turned his head slightly, his voice weak. “I’m sorry, sir.”
Harry uncorked the vial, slid a hand behind Toby’s head, and brought the glass to his lips. “Drink this.”
Toby obeyed, swallowing as Harry tipped the vial carefully. As he poured, Harry’s eyes dropped to Toby’s abdomen. Dark red had soaked through the bandage over the surgical wound, spreading slowly across the cloth.
“How long has it been?” Harry asked.
Stan answered without hesitation. “I reckon forty, maybe forty-five minutes.”
Harry’s shoulders sagged. “Alright. If this stuff works as advertised, we should be fine.”
Toby drained the vial, throat working, and let out a small breath. “Thank you.”
System, do you think I can use vitae again?
:: System: Unknown. You will have to test it.
Dammit. Alright, that will have to wait.
Harry eased Toby’s head back onto the folded blanket beneath it. “I can’t hypnotize you right now. Just rest, alright.”
Toby gave a small nod.
A loud bang slammed the door behind them. It flew open as Jo burst through, boots skidding, breath ragged. She hurried to the table. “Harry, is he going to be alright?”
Harry nodded. “I think so.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Jo rounded on Toby. “You idiot. What were you thinking?”
Toby’s mouth twitched into a weak smile. “They busted through… had to hold ’em back.”
She stepped closer and brushed his hair away from his face. “Idiot.”
One of the girls tending his arm edged in, shoulder pressing gently but firmly against Jo. She flicked Jo a brief sideways glance. “Pardon me, Ma'am.”
Jo stepped back without protest, giving her room.
Harry looked up at the older woman as she paused her work at Toby’s neck. “Thank you.”
“Of course, son,” she gave a sad nod. “There’s not a lot of hope if someone gets the Rot, but sometimes they come through.”
Harry moved to Toby’s other side and began loosening the bandages over the surgical wound. “Do people get bitten a lot?”
The woman gathered the damp cloths from the two girls and shooed them back a step. “No. Not a lot. But sometimes Lord Korven has someone punished.”
Harry peeled the bandages away carefully. A few stitches had pulled loose, and blood seeped slowly from the wound. He leaned closer, studying it. The smell of blood reached him, rich and familiar, and he pushed it aside without effort. He felt full in a way he hadn’t since arriving in this world. The deeper stitches still held. There was no pulse of blood, nothing bright or spurting.
Almost to himself, he said, “Well, Korven’s gone now, so you can forget about that.”
Tears welled in the woman’s eyes. She smiled through them. “Thank you.”
Harry glanced down and saw a neat stack of clean bandages at her elbow. “Should we get these wounds covered, Mrs…”
She smiled at him. “Call me Granny Maddie, or if you prefer, just Maddie.”
“Alright, Maddie. I’m Harold Blackstone, but call me Harry.”
Maddie bent closer to Toby, studying the bite at his neck. She leaned in and sniffed, brow creasing, then shifted her attention to the scratches on his arms. “We may as well cover them. We leave wounds exposed to see if Rot sets in. You can take off an arm, even both. But there’s nothing to be done about the neck.” She straightened a little. “If your Toby is like our young boys, he probably doesn’t use his head as often as he should, but he likely still needs it.”
From just out of the way, Jo said, “That’s still an open question.”
Harry let out a short grin and reached for the bandages, carefully covering the surgical wound.
System, how am I doing on experience? If I level up I can get healing, right?
:: Class: Vampire Level 2 (1601/4,000)
That’s it? He glanced down at himself again. Hardly feels like enough.
Maddie started working fresh bandages around the bite at Toby’s neck. “Sir Harry, that potion you gave him, it will cure the Rot?”
Harry looked Toby over. His breathing had slowed and deepened. Color had crept back into his face. Harry checked his pulse, steady, then laid a hand on his forehead. No heat. “Yes, Maddie. I think we got it in time.”
“That’s a blessing,” she said quietly. “I’d say I wish we had some of that, but Korven would’ve just taken it away.”
The two girls stepped forward, hands reaching for the bandages, but a glare from Maddie had them taking a step back.
Toby lifted his head a little, eyes moving between Harry, Jo, Cedric, and Stan. “I’m sorry.”
“Hush, boy,” Stan waved a hand. “You did right. If them creatures got in, it’d ‘ave been a slaughter.”
Cedric inclined his head. “Constantine is right. You saved many people today.”
Stan opened his mouth like he was about to argue the name, thought better of it, and gave a short nod instead.
Toby settled back onto the litter. Maddie patted him gently on the head. “You’re a hero, boy. We’ll look after you while your friends are gone.”
Toby’s eyes flew open. “Gone?”
Harry rested a hand lightly on Toby’s chest. “Maddie’s right. You’re going to have to wait here. You’re in no condition to keep going.”
He straightened and looked at the others. “I understand if any of you want to stay with Toby. But I need to keep going.”
Cedric answered at once. “I have sworn to stand by you.”
Stan scratched at his chin. “I’ll keep on. Olly always said I weren’t too smart.”
Jo stayed quiet, standing just off to the side.
Harry looked between them. “What’s the word on your classes? We completed the quest, right?”
System, did we complete the quest?
:: System: Affirmative.
Their faces lit up at once, the tension in the room breaking like a snapped cord.
“We did,” Jo’s hands fluttered around, unsure where to land. “Nema says the Aspect is compiling class options for us to choose from.” She glanced around at the others, catching their nods, and her grin spread wide, teeth showing. She bounced on her toes. “We’re going to get to choose.”
Harry blinked. “That’s not normal?”
“It happens,” Cedric said, smiling, “but it is very rare.”
Toby pushed himself up a little on his elbows. “Go on, Jojo. You have to go with them. They’ll need your help, and you can get some levels.”
Jo’s smile vanished. She fixed him with a hard look.
“I mean Jo,” Toby said quickly.
The smile came right back. “You can call me Jojo.”
Toby grinned ear to ear. “You have to go Jojo. They’ll need your bow. And what’s the worst that can… mmph…”
He cut off as Jo stepped in and slapped her hand over his mouth. “Stop.”
Stan immediately slapped his own hand across his face as well.
“No,” Jo said. “Do not say it. I’ve warned you what I’ll do.”
Stan pulled his dagger from his belt and held it out toward her, hilt first. “Use mine. Yours is too sharp. Won’t hurt enough.”
The two girls gasped and surged forward, squeezing themselves between Jo and Toby and forcing her back a step. They squared their shoulders, hands up, glaring at everyone like they were daring the world to try something.
Harry laughed softly and rested a hand on one of their arms. “Don’t worry. They won’t hurt Toby. And I’m glad you’ll be here to watch over him.”
“Thank you, Sir Harold,” the first girl said at once. “We will. We’ll make real sure Toby’s taken care of.”
“That’s right,” the other added. She turned back to Toby, tugged a blanket up from his feet, and tucked it in tight under his chin. “Are you alright, Toby? Did the mean old lady hurt you? Do you need anything?”
“Old?” Jo looked down at her hands, glanced at Stan and Cedric. They both shrugged.
Maddie stepped in before it could go any further. “Cecily Rose, Joan, everyone’s moving back out. Help get the cows to their homes.”
The girls both pouted, feet dragging as they hesitated.
“Go on now,” Maddie said. “There’ll be plenty of time to baby young Master Toby.”
They each leaned in one last time, adjusting his blankets, promising soup later, then finally turned and walked off slow, throwing pointed looks back at Jo the whole way.
Jo waited until the girls were gone before turning back. “He doesn’t need babying.”
Maddie stepped closer and took Jo’s hand. “Don’t worry, honey. I’ll watch over ’em. He won’t be gettin’ married while you’re gone.”
“What?” Jo said.
“Married?” Toby croaked.
Maddie patted Jo’s hand. “I’ll keep the flies away. You go on now.”
“He can marry anyone he wants,” Jo snapped.
“But I didn’t… I don’t…” Toby started.
Jo yanked her hand free, turned stiffly, and walked out the door, slamming it again on her way out.
Harry watched her go. He looked back at Maddie, and the two of them shared a quick grin.
System, if we leave Toby, he’ll be sent out of the dungeon when it closes, right?
:: System: Normally, yes. However, this dungeon has proved to be unpredictable.
What am I doing here?
Nick and Jack stepped in from where they’d been watching along the wall, Herb and Bart close behind them.
“You’ll be moving on then?” Jack asked.
“Yes,” Harry nodded. “If you can help us with some supplies, we’ll be leaving as soon as we can.”
“Of course,” Jack said without hesitation. “You’re welcome to anything we have. What do you need?”
***
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