Lotus

Chapter 18

"Kamala!" Sienna called out, waving me over. I smiled, grabbed a couple mangoes from the pile of fruit, and headed over to where she was sitting with Gemini and Kosan. Bemire, Khaki, and Cairo were there as well.

Several weeks had passed since I talked with Gemini in the library, and he seemed to be doing okay. Most dragons have been as bothersome as I expected, to say the least, but he's seemingly been able to handle it all pretty well.

"I saw your painting from a few weeks ago, Bemire," Khaki said. "The one of that huge rainstorm. It was really good."

Bemire just shrugged.

"Oh, come on," said Sienna. "Take the compliment!" She shoved him playfully. He scowled, then shoved her back. "You know it's true!"

I chuckled at this, along with everyone else, and took a large bite of one of the mangoes I was holding. After a few moments of chewing, I realized that it tasted a little odd. Bitter. Probably just a little under-ripe, I thought. Setting that one aside, I took a bite of the other mango. Bitter, again. I set that one aside as well, slightly annoyed. Oh, well.

I turned my attention back towards the conversation, the odd taste lingering in my mouth. I tried to follow along with what they were saying, but my mind was still focused on the taste. Something seemed familiar about it, but I couldn't quite figure out what. 

A few minutes passed by before I realized that the cave had started spinning. I frowned, then rubbed my eyes. It wasn't any better when I opened them. If anything, it was worse. Everything was blurry now. I tried to force my eyes to focus on something, anything, but no luck.

This is really weird.

Someone was shaking my shoulder. Gemini. Why was he...oh. I unclenched my talons from around my head, and slowly pushed myself up. 

Now he was saying something. His mouth was moving but I didn't hear any sound coming from it. What? His mouth started moving again, and I made my ears focus on what he was saying.

"Kamala, are you okay?"

I nodded, which was a bad idea. Colors whirled about me, blurring into nothing. I clenched my head again, slowing down the world. Is it just me, or is the world spinning?

Gemini's mouth moved noiselessly again, but not at me. I turned to see who it was moving at this time, but Sienna appeared right in front of me. Her mouth was moving as well, and I tried to figure out what she was saying.

Focus.

I blinked hard.

Focus.

Noise flooded my ears again. I looked back towards Sienna. She had draped my left wing over her back so I could lean on her for support. "What's going on?" I asked her.

"We're taking you to the healing center. You look pretty sick."

"Yeah…" My mind started turning back towards the spinning room, but I didn't let it. Focus. "I know this. Something about it seems familiar to me." We passed by the IceWings, for some reason looking vaguely smug. 

Somehow, we're at the healing center now. I take in the spinning, blurry cave, and notice we're not the only ones. There's a pale yellow one, a dark brown one, a blue one, as well as several pastel ones. Do they look sick, too?

Sienna nods. I hear someone say something about Marmoset, and the blue one is gone. Sienna appears in front of me again. Focus. "Kamala, I need you to help us. Puffin is going to find Marmoset, but I'm not sure when he'll get here. Do you have any idea what's going on here? You would know better than any of us."

Focus. "Symptoms?"

Dizziness. Headache. Blurry vision. Weakness of muscles. I let these swirl around my head, just like the cave was. Slowly first, then faster. I put all my energy into making them click somewhere.

Nothing. Nothing. 

Focus.

I look at one of the shelves of bottles. Something about it feels right. I move slowly towards it, then fumble around with its contents. Looking. For what, I'd know when I had seen it.

The labels are gibberish. Focus.

They morph into words with meaning. I process one at a time. Nothing.

Finally, I grasp it. It's empty. I pull it out, trying not to drop it. I hand it to Sienna.

Letalis oleander. One of the deadliest plants on Pyrrhia.