After the group traveled further along, they’d finally arrived at some sort of doorway down at the basement of the keep that led them to the outside. Surrounding the doorway was a room full of carts and carriages which contained chests and crates of various sizes, most of which had been smashed apart.

  “A service entrance. Of course,” Anne said.

  “A service entrance?” Miri asked.

  “Yes, this is where supplies are usually transported into a keep from the outside, delivered in bulk through carriages and such,” Anne explained. “An entrance away from the front gate, which was designed more for people to enter through.” She lowered her gaze to the ground to find fresh bloodstains and large claw marks. “Look, the blood is still fresh here. And the claw marks as well. The chimeragon must have chased Isaiah’s father through here. We must be getting close.”

  Exiting the service entrance had led the group to the outside of the keep and onto a dirt road that went along a steep chasm on an incline. They continued following the blood trail until it led them off the edge of the chasm. Looking over the edge, they could see a body lying on a rocky protrusion off the side of the chasm that acted as a sort of small, improvised platform.

  “Father!” Isaiah yelled, trying to call out to his father despite getting no response in return. From the looks of it, the man’s body remained motionless on that rocky platform, likely unconscious and heavily injured. If it wasn’t for the soultracker rune indicating that he’s still alive, one could reasonably assume that he’s dead.

  “Woah, that’s quite a ways down,” Miri commented as she looked over the precipice of the chasm. She wasn’t exactly afraid of heights per se, but even she couldn’t help but be a little nervous when looking down at such a height.

  “Miri, is there any way we can get down there to rescue him?” Anne asked.

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  “Hang on, I might just be able to teleport him out of there. Stand back,” Miri said.

  After Anne and Isaiah stood a good distance away from the edge, Miri casted Traversing Wind to teleport herself down onto the platform next to the man’s body—disappearing and reappearing with a whirling of glowing green wind. Then, after carefully picking up the body by his waist, Miri casted Traversing Wind again—teleporting both of them back to the ledge above.

  “Father!” Isaiah cried, quickly hurrying to his father's side as Miri gently placed the man onto the ground.

  Isaiah’s father, Hugo Victorstein, was a man in his mid-forties, dressed in a light but protective set of leather armor, one that’s quite similar to the one Isaiah wore. Despite having a skin tone that’s a far bit lighter than Isaiah’s olive-toned skin, the similar facial features they both shared had quelled all doubts that they were indeed father and son.

  As soon as the body was placed on the ground, Anne began performing her usual diagnostic procedure when checking the overall health condition of someone—checking their pulse, inspecting their pupils, examining their body for any external wounds.

  The body and clothing of this man was fairly torn and disheveled, though not to an extreme degree. Aside from several minor cuts and bruises throughout his body, one injury that stood out the most was some sort of bite mark on his left calf. The bite mark was comprised of two small red dots paired closely together, almost as if it was caused by a particularly large snake. In addition, severe discoloration started spreading outward from the bite mark itself.

  If Miri had remembered correctly, the chimeragon had a snake’s head at the end of its tail. That must have been how he got bitten.

  “He had sustained multiple injuries throughout the body, but the most concerning is the snake bite on his calf, which is slowly poisoning him,” Anne concluded after the diagnosis. “He’s thankfully still alive, though he wouldn’t have been for much longer. If we came here even an hour or so longer, he would most likely have died.”

  “Can you save him?” Isaiah asked, his face full of worry.

  “I can most certainly try, though I won’t guarantee anything,” Anne responded, feeling apprehensive. “Whether he’ll pull through this is entirely up to him.”

  Extending her hands outward, Anne casted the spells Vital Healing and Cleanse Poison—spells that surrounded the injured body with wisps of white and yellow light—in the hopes of saving the man in front of her.