Living Hell

Chapter 17: The Sins: Gluttony Part 1

We were panting- no, gasping!- for air as we sat in a clearing that was devoid of creatures.

Here the river flowed again and here were more berries. Our tired 'team' needed water and food which they got. Laveda, however, didn't look good- the spindly poison matter was reaching up to her face and her breathing was labored.

After I filled the gourd and popped some berries into my mouth, I rushed over to her.

"Laveda?" I asked worried.

She groaned and tried to reach up to touch the her poison covered neck, but her hand flopped uselessly back to her side.

"Slick!" I yelled, my panic growing. "Do we have anything to treat poison?!"

Slick just chuckled wickedly. I took that as a no.

"Fuck," I breathed when something fuzzy hit my arm.

I glanced down to see Akyra holding a branch of herbs in her mouth. I smiled at her. She really was a bright one.

"What do I do with these though?" I wondered aloud. I knew they were to help Laveda, but how did I make the herbs do the trick and make them easier to eat err whatever I was suppose to do.

"Crush them and mix them with a bit of water. Make it into a paste. Then rub it onto her poisoned areas." Sagiv instructed.

After the long silence of him not talking to me, his voice nearly gave me a headache. I did what he ordered to do though.

"How do you know what to do?" I asked him, curious.

"While you played as a child, I strove to learn and protect you. I watched your parents.. They had this exact herb." He explained, reminiscing.

"Ahh..." I nodded with a little laugh, remembering how serious the little kitten Sagiv had been. "I miss those days..."

At my sad tone Sagiv padded up to me and nudged my arm softly with a purr.

"As do I, my friend."

I smiled as a couple of tears escaped my eyes. The tears stopped though as Slick's rough voice intruded.

"Are you almost finished? We have to get going!" He snapped.

"Yes, I'm just about done. Let me dab a bit of this on Laveda and then we can go in a few minutes. I want to make sure this works," I responded sharply.

Akyra huffed a little when I said to ' make sure this works' because she was the one who found the herbs, but otherwise let it slide.

Slick said nothing just grumbled to himself as he hobbled away.

I gently scooped out the paste and applied it to the bite mark, then where the poison had spread. Once I had completed that, I washed my hands in the river and watched Laveda as the purple-ish, black poison shrank back down to the bite mark, leaving her face clear.

There, the paste seemed to bubble up, in minutes it was oozing. The black poison pouring out of Laveda and spilling out onto the ground. I quickly wiped up some that was leaking down onto her bodice and noticed she was completely cured.

I smiled at Akyra.

"Thank you. Again," I murmured, hearing Slick's hooves crunch into the ground.

"Why are you taking so impossibly long?!" He snapped impatiently.

I ignored him and watched as Laveda's eyes fluttered open. They were far away and blurry at first, but when her eyes came into focus they widened in shock.