It wasn't much, but Gus's body showed slight improvement from the doctor's injection. A few shades of color returned to the young man's skin, and the reddening of his eyelids began to subside. The acidic substance that was in process of dissolving the areas around his wound had halted its spread. Whatever the doctor had done, it was working.
Gus was still in an unresponsive state, and no movement came from him besides the slow rising and falling of his chest. This toxin that the woman jabbed Gus with had been some serious stuff – it had rendered a hardy, fully healthy man to this state in less than half an hour. It was now apparent to Marin that if he hadn't treated the situation the way he did, Gus wouldn't have made it out alive.
He also had to give it to the doctor who was in the basement below – the man was crazy in Marin's eyes, but he was smart, and had concocted a solution to buy him time from scratch. Marin knew he had to thank the man – repay him in some generous way – but that wasn't the highest topic in his thoughts right now.
What was, is the action he had seen the man do just minutes ago. Marin had never seen manipulation of blood like that before. The way he pulled the red liquid from Gus's side – it was almost like he treated blood as an element. That was impossible though.
Blood was not an element. Even if he was a water elemental, only pure water could be manipulated. A skilled water elemental could extract all the water from blood – or any other liquid with water as its base – but not manipulate the entire liquid itself.
This was indeed puzzling to Marin, a wizard graduate of Arkana who had a solid grasp of every elemental medium – even the ones not of his own mastery. He began to think about any other ways of trickery the doctor could've pulled off the stunt, but none came to mind.
He was not sure if he had the slightest idea of who he was dealing with. He began thinking about Marge, his librarian back at Nocturne. She was a reasonably skilled water elemental. Perhaps she would have some idea of this doctor's stunt.
The doctor turned the corner in the kitchen. He was back with medical supplies. The situation with Gus was no longer of dire urgency, so he hobbled at a slow pace. In his arms were white linen bandages, a few bottles of chemicals, and an adherence solution.
The doctor sighed as he approached Gus, getting on his knees again. Now that he didn't have to move at a life-saving speed, he took his time and operated at a comfortable speed.
Marin sat in a dusty chair off in a corner, watching the doctor treat the wound. He started by cleaning it, using swabs to absorb the bodily discharges, and pouring a few chemicals that Marin guessed were disinfectant in nature.
"You both didn't have much time. You were down to mere minutes of me saving him. It was destiny, I guess," the doctor mentioned.
"You have my gratitude," Marin responded. "You not only saved his life, but someone who I deeply care about."
The doctor began to cover the wound in gauze. Marin watched as he worked professionally.
"I never got your name," the doctor said.
"Marin. Sullivan Marin."
"I am Edward Eisen. Doctor Eisen, most called me."
"Thank you, doctor."
Eisen worked in silence until the wound was fully treated. Gus had his entire side wrapped securely, and the doctor placed the caps back onto his bottles. He stood up, and faced Marin.
"I have some questions I need to ask," Eisen stated.
Marin arose from the chair in a quick motion. "Of course, anything."
YOU ARE READING
The Dead King
FantasyA powerful ice wizard awakens in his abandoned castle after being dead for a few hundred years. His kingdom and everyone who was a part of it has vanished. Having almost all his memory wiped, he tries to repair the castle, return to normal life, and...
