As They Bloom

14 - The Battalion

A voice calls out your name through a haze of pain.

You try to call back to it but manage little more than a groan. Your limbs feel as heavy as stone, the ash covered floor beneath you like quicksand. No matter how much you try to fight it, your body seems to keep sinking into it, unable to find any grip among the slick, slippery powder.

Morning slowly breaks, the first streaks of light piercing the shadowy veil of night. Across from you, illuminated by the breaking dawn, is Yue. His glassy eyes stare back at you, unmoving. If you weren't suffering because of him, perhaps you'd feel a little sorry. But the coursing pain and knowledge that he's cursed you drives you half mad. Your frustration escapes you in a snarl. A snarl that settles into a quiet seething, before finally crumbling away into a soft, quiet guilt.

Someone calls out your name once more, giving you a moment of clarity.

Your eyes flicker in the direction of the voice, and you manage a slightly louder groan.

"Over here! I heard something!"

Relief washes through you as Bo stumbles into the cottage and onto you. A large bruise covers the side of his face, his eye nearly swollen shut. It seems you were not the only one Yue was looking to punish.

He rushes to your side. His eyes flicker over Yue as he does so, swallowing back the bile in his throat. When he nears enough to touch you, he recoils in horror. Your eyes flicker up to him in a silent plea for help, but he does little more that stare, unsure of how to proceed.

"I... I must get the swordsman," he stammers. You try to speak, to beg him not to leave you. But before you can so much as get a word out, he disappears back into the crumbling rubble of the village, leaving you alone with naught but the howling wind for company.

Minutes pass, though they feel like hours, until he returns once more with Yone by his side. A soft gasp escapes him as he kneels beside you. His hands hover above your arm, but he seems too afraid to touch.

"Ichor..." he whispers, his one visible eye wide with horror. "Did he make you drink it?"

Your words are a garbled affirmation.

He curses, slamming his fist into the ground. His eyes, wide and enraged, turn to Bo. "Is this permanent? Are they going to spend the rest of their life befouled by shadow magic?"

"N-No," stammers Bo. "The ichor is strong, but its effects are temporary."

A sigh of relief escapes Yone. You feel your own heart lighten at his words. As agonising as this is, knowing that it will eventually end brings you immense relief.

Bo squirms, biting his lower lip as though holding back a secret.

"Speak." Commands Yone, his eyes flickering up to him. There are no secrets that can be hidden from an Azakana's mask. "What else do you know?"

"It doesn't affect everyone the same," breathes Bo. "Some take to it like a fish to water. Others... well, others lose themselves to the shadows."

"And how do you know which it will be?"

"You cannot." His eyes lock firmly on the ground. "You simply wait and see."

By noon, you can sit up, though the pain makes it impossible to walk. They construct a makeshift litter out of two long sticks and a scrap of fabric. Though it's embarrassing to be carried by them, you can't deny the relief of knowing you need not walk for a while.

The pain ebbs by afternoon, instead replaced by fever. There is little more you can do but lie there, watching the landscape slowly change before your eyes. Farms melt to plains melt to more farms, until you eventually re-enter the familiarity of the forest. It's hard to concentrate, the world feeling strange and warped through the veil of your sickness.