After some extensive healing by Anne, Isaiah’s father—Hugo Victorstein—had mostly recovered. While his body was still relatively weak, he won’t be in any immediate danger, either by his injuries or by the poison. However, performing this much healing magic in such a short amount of time can be quite draining to the body, leaving the spellcaster exhausted. Miri could already tell how much it had worn Anne out, seeing beads of sweat dripping down from her forehead as her breaths became more labored.
“Anne, you alright?” Miri asked with tender concern as she handed the cleric a mana potion.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just a little exhausted, that’s all,” Anne replied with an assured smile, accepting the mage’s mana potion and downing it in several small gulps.
Meanwhile, Isaiah began feeding water into his father’s mouth from a waterskin, hoping to restore his fluids in order to help him regain his strength. After a short while, Hugo’s eyes started opening before surveying the surrounding area around him with a hint of confusion.
“What…huh…how am I still alive?” Hugo muttered, his hazy and delirious mind gradually regaining its focus.
“It’s all thanks to these two women over here, father,” Isaiah explained, pointing at Miri and Anne. “They are the ones who saved us.”
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Afterwards, Miri, Anne, and Isaiah began explaining their whole story to Hugo—of how Miri and Anne had arrived at this keep to try to find the precious runes that were rumored to be here, of how they nearly died facing off against the chimeragon, of how they happened upon Isaiah and healing his injuries—leaving as little detail out as possible. Once they were done telling the story, Hugo took a moment to process it all.
“So, you two are after the runes as well, huh?” Hugo asked.
“Yep, pretty much. Oh, and did we mention that we’re also the ones who saved both you and your son’s lives? You’re welcome, by the way,” Miri said, feeling slightly proud of herself. “So, now that we have the key rune in our possession, we should be able to open the door to the ritual room and snag those runes. After that, it should be smooth-sailing from now on, assuming we don’t encounter the chimeragon a second time as we make our escape.” She turned to Anne. “Hey, Anne. You think Daddy Victorstein over here is in any condition to walk?”
“His condition should be fairly stable by now,” Anne replied. “Though he is currently in a slightly weakened state, one that can only be remedied by a few days of rest, he shouldn’t be too much of a burden if he chooses to accompany us to the runes.”
“Oh, good. Cuz I’d hate to have this rune hunt turn into an escort mission,” Miri said.
While Miri and Anne were busy discussing the group’s plan to reach the ritual room, Hugo gazed at the two of them with a suspicious and paranoid gaze. Wild, feral thoughts started flooding his mind with each passing second, forcing him to come to a ruthless decision. Then, all of a sudden, he did something that none of the people around had ever anticipated—not Anne, not Miri, not even Isaiah.
Hugo rushed towards Anne and forcibly pushed her off the edge of the chasm.
