Golden Orchids

Chapter 17

Ye Hua had called out, "I don't know when I'm able to come back. Take her to-" 

Then he disappeared in a puff of white cloud, leaving Yan Zhi alone with Su Su in distress. Where he had wanted her to take her? 

Home? 

The doctor? No mortal doctor could help her. 

The Nine Heavens? Unless she wanted Su Su to be executed.

"Ye Hua…" Su Su croaked out. Yan Zhi turned her attention back to Su Su. Her skin turned feverishly hot. The white of her eyes was gone, as her pupils turned into slits.

Yan Zhi steeled her nerves, this is a problem she needed to solve on her own. She had practiced healing spells before she could do this. First, she needed to take her somewhere safe. She concentrated and transported her back home. 

Yan Zhi laid Su Su down to bed. She summoned cold water to bring down her fever. When she peeled off Su Su's outer layer to help her cool off, Yan Zhi screamed. 

White fur started protruding out of every pore on her skin. It grew thicker and thicker by the minute. Yan Zhi's face turned pale as she watched Su Su's hands shrunk to a shape of a paw. Her nails harden into claws.

She's transforming into an animal. But which one?

A type of canine perhaps?

Wolf?

Dog?

No, the more important question right now is why? What caused this transformation? And how does she stop it? 

Was it something she ate?

Drank?

Had that stupid dragon did anything to her?

Yan Zhi froze, her mind recalling spell she had tried to strike the Crown Prince long ago. The spell that Su Su had taken for her snake. 

But that's impossible. Su Su was just a mortal. There wasn't a single immortal breath in her. She had no true form. 

Yan Zhi performed a soul searching spell on her. Before she got a single read on her, a force pushed her and she bounced back to reality. Yan Zhi coughed out blood. There's demon magic surrounding her alright, hers and someone else. It was very powerful, Yan Zhi was pushed back before she got a chance to carefully study it. 

Whatever it was, it was fighting against the curse Yan Zhi had accidentally cast on Su Su. Two powerful spells together were pulling her apart like a tug of war. There's only one way to stop it, one must overpower another.

Logically, Yan Zhi needed to break her own curse first. Then she can deal with the other one later. There's just one problem: Her curse was irreversible. 
There was no way to break it. She would need to let it run its course. The best Yan Zhi could do now was to lessen her suffering.  

"Su Su, " Yan Zhi called out. "Hang in there, "

Yan Zhi tried to cast a simple spell on her to lessen her pain. Su Su's struggling lessened, her heartbeat slowly steadied. But Yan Zhi could still see the anguish on her face. 

This is my fault.

All my fault.

Tears stream down Yan Zhi's face as she concentrated all her powers to Su Su. She had let her disdain for the snake overpowered her. Yan Zhi knew Su Su loved her pet snake. If she was able to control her anger back then. If she was more in control of her powers. This wouldn't have happened. She was exactly like her father, hurting everyone around her, ruining everything she touched. Su Su got was in pain because of her. Yan Zhi's family broke apart because of her...