Heaven's Darkness (Book 2)

Chapter 2 - Jeriah

"No word from Master, Virdigo?"

"No, sorry, I'm afraid he hasn't returned yet."

"How about the dragon hunting team? Any information on their current situation?"

Virdigo's face paled at my next question. The only time she looked this uncomfortable was whenever the Heaven's Light Massacre was brought up, and that involved many deaths.

I felt rigid in my barstool. "Virdigo, what happened?"

She adjusted her light blue dress and focused on fulfilling Drake's order, who sat right next to me, skillfully avoiding the question.

I slammed my fist into the bar counter, splashing beer all over Drake. "What the hell happened to them? Tell me, Virdigo! Tell me, now!"

She turned away from me and stared at the dining plates piled up on the shelves. She had been closed off for a while now, throughout this entire raid. Even still, she never paled at a situation other than the massacre, even if there was a deadly battle between two wizards, both of them near death. The fact that she was even uncomfortable was enough to foreshadow the severity of what happened to them.

I was speechless. What could it possibly be that was so horrible? All I could think of was their deaths, but I knew that Virdigo would be crying if that were the case. What the hell was it?

If it truly was a death, I could only think Ashura would be the one to die. She left with so many injuries still recovering, she was bound to have difficulties on the trip. I just hoped that her special mark would be able to amplify her magic enough to protect her and the others. I was pretty sure it could not be too burdensome, considering all it did was improve her magic.

Suddenly, I heard Virdigo speak in a quiet, trembling voice. "I received a message from Sano, our fellow guild member and healing wizard. She said that Quint arrived at her temporary house near the Ruins of Boreas with Ashura. Apparently, she was screaming in pain from the mark on her arm."

My eyes widened. No, it wasn't even an injury from the Greenwood incident. It was entirely different. It was the mark that boosted her power, the flaming, crimson, phoenix mark that she was given without a choice. I didn't even suspect that would affect the mission so greatly that Quint would have to snuff out Sano's whereabouts.

Sano was incredibly skilled, though, so Ashura should be fine, right? She had to be.

"Sano said that the mark on her arm was a curse from the dragon, Incidius, created to gradually destroy the victim, resulting in a painful death. She compared the curse to a type of disease she was familiar with treating, a disease which slowly eats away at a wizard's supernatural defense barrier, making them as weak as a regular human. If the curse continued to eat away at her, it had the capability of completely rendering her defenseless and fragile as a flower."

I felt a nervous drop of sweat trickle down my neck, fearful of the answer to my next question. "So, what did Sano do to help her?"

Virdigo ducked her head closer to the shelf of dishes, her voice detached and whispery. "Since the curse was concentrated in her left arm, she cut it off."

I froze. "What did you just say?"

Virdigo shrunk under my scrutiny. "Ashura's arm was cut off."

I jumped to my feet so suddenly, I knocked my bar stool over, clattering it to the ground. My voice raged. "Doesn't Sano know that a wizard without one arm is basically useless? That's like taking away a wizard's life! Even if a wizard doesn't show it, it takes two hands to cast magical spells on people. Without one of those hands, the magic is completely unstable and weak, like a prick on the finger. What was Sano thinking?"