cascade | kotlc

23. To Bring Forth Change

 "Well, this is interesting," June murmured as they stomped down the hallway in their Exilium uniforms and iron boots that clanged too loudly for comfort. "Let's not get arrested on our way to the Healing Center. And we should take these masks off before something bad happens." She tore her mask off and Biana followed. Sophie and Fitz were too busy carrying the gnome.

"Of course you know the way so well," Biana teased as they rushed through the doors in record time, dashing into the Healing Center.

It was empty.

"Uh," Fitz said nervously. "Should I be slightly concerned?"

"We could find Magnate Leto," June suggested, her eyes implying slightly more. "Though that probably wouldn't be a great idea, to be honest. Yeah, let's not do that, that'd be horrible."

The slamming of the Healing Center's doors saved them from making a decision.

"This is why you're not supposed to catch more than one lightning bolt at a time," Elwin said, leading a familiar round-faced boy into the treatment area.

"I thought I found a way to do it," Jensi said, patting the ends of his brown hair, which was sticking out in every direction. Almost like he got electrocuted, which he probably did. Sophie did.

They both froze when they spotted them. It must've been a confusing sight, June and Biana standing there, two masked figures holding a sick gnome.

Sophie seemed to realize too. "It's okay!" she said, tossing back her hood and ripping off her mask. "It's us. He's sick."

Jensi and Elwin stumbled back. "Please explain," Elwin said, his eyebrows perpendicular. "Where was he found?"

They set the gnome on a cot as Elwin scrambled over, snapping on his iridescent spectacles and flashing a blue orb of light around the gnome. "Where did you find him?" he repeated.

"Bosk Gorge," Sophie said.

He frowned. "What, Bosk Gorge? That was on the safe list a couple of days ago. The plague spread- that's not good."

Biana cursed. "The Neverseen are accelerating their timeline, or whatever. Quick, get him settled."

"I'm not going to question that," Elwin said. "Tell me more about the plague. It doesn't make any sense."
"The whole place was overrun," June said. "As in, the entire place was dead. Completely withered. There wasn't a trace of life left. It was honestly somewhat depressing."

But the forest would grow back again. Biana wasn't sure the same could be said for the gnomes.

Stop it. We need to hope.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Elwin said, tearing his hands through his hair. "All our reports said the plague moves slowly, Wilwood took weeks to get overwhelmed." He switched to a red orb of light. "And he has injuries that aren't gnome related. Like these here?" He held up the gnome's limp hand, pointing to the blisters on the palms. "These are burns."

Biana cursed, the new array of possibilities flooding into her mind. Surely the Neverseen wouldn't actively attack the gnomes.

And perhaps the Neverseen could control the spread of the plague. Or, even worse, if they had contained the plague and were releasing it in sync with their timeline. She cursed again as she realized that was probably the goal of the force field protected tree.

Fuck. This isn't good.

We'll solve it.

Will we?

Yes, we will.

Elwin scratched his chin and flashed a few more colored orbs. "Well, I can treat the burns and get some fluids in him. But all the remedies are in Lumenaria."