Blue Dream

Sophia had never been outside the capital her entire life. And yet now it happened twice in less than a month. Kalendirn wasn’t a city that she was able to visit. It might have happened after the conclusion of the expedition, but the kidnapping soured it all. Now she was touring a town, but it was no longer a time of joy, not for her or anyone else.

Being so far from the capital, she had a whole contingent deployed with her. They were all royal knights with many familiar faces from the expedition. But closest to her were Tolen and Noan remaining as her personal guards. Two additional knights were directly assigned, being on the eastern borders of the kingdom. They were Baren and Heron who had fresher faces and maybe direct comrades to Tolen.

Their journey to the town of Galen was for the worst possible reason to be requested as the Saint, disease. It was reported to the capital only three days ago, but by Henri’s word it had been spreading for the whole month. Near every citizen had come down with the disease and it was only after deaths started to occur that they sent a messenger.

For many in the capital, this seemed like it might have been too late. But the Holy Radiant Church Priest Eledin made a plea to aid the people and send the Saint. Sophia saw it in Henri’s eyes that the kidnapping still left him with reservations. He second guessed everything, but she accepted.

Galen was in bad shape. She didn’t know if it always looked this way. But almost no one was out, being in bed with the disease. Livestock roamed almost completely free as though trying to replace the humans. And where the capital had mostly stone or brick structures there were only a few. Galen had more hybrids that had stone support, but wooden constructs or just all wooden. Dirt clung to everything giving a darkness to the poor town even in the afternoon light.

No one came to meet them as they marched in. ‘I read the report from Henri, but this is even worse than I imagined. How many have died? Please let me not be too late!’ She started to hurry off to the first building she saw hoping to find anyone. But a hand stopped her arm.

She saw that it was Noan. “A moment.” The knight turned to address all of the knights. “Reks and Kark watch the entrance, no one enters or leaves! Until we have word from the Saint, this town is under quarantine.” He then quickly gave out further orders. Dividing the men into pairs, he had two on patrol for any citizen in need of help with more to the other exits. And the rest would aid in the distribution of supplies and support of the town. “And remember as the most important responsibility! If you feel sick you are to report it immediately to Saint Sophia. No heroics, we are here to save the town, not spread disease beyond. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

Noan then turned to face Sophia once more. “We should seek out the Church or clinic first. They will likely have information on the disease and how it is being managed.”

“Thank you, Mister Noan. I was caught up in the panic.” But with the calming reassurance of Noan, she looked around the town once more. ‘The Church should be marked… How are they holding up?’ The Eye of Euthemia marked the Church much further back in the town almost to the edge. ‘Was that to keep the sick away? I need to hurry!’

With her guard, they hurried over to the wooden Church. It was far smaller than any she had seen in the capital, looking like it could barely even hold ten people. ‘Can anyone even fit in?’ She knocked on the almost broken wooden door. “Is there anyone inside? I’m Saint Sophia! I’ve come at request to heal those sick.”

Silence. She knocked again. There should have been a voice or any call in response. But there was nothing. ‘Is it empty? Or are they all dead?!’ What little had been reported about the disease was that it was a new plague spreading through the eastern lands. People started showing signs of fever and coughing within a day, but it remained weak for a while, appearing like a common cold. Yet dark blue marks would start to appear on the body after a week that caused muscle weakness and a racing heart. In two to three weeks they saw the first dead with their bodies nearly completely consumed by the blue marks until their body just gave up.

It didn’t seem to be a painful disease, but that only made it worse. Sneaking up on the patient until crippling them. And death so far seemed a high likelihood. No recoveries had been reported, but it could have been too early for those signs.

‘It’s too quiet!’ Immediately, she placed her hand on the door to push. It was barred. She could see the cross beam blocking it from the inside through the gaps. ‘I don’t have time!’ Focusing her mind, she directed her mana carefully. ‘No spell, just mana. I don’t need much.’ Thanks to Mister Jolsi’s extra lessons since Kalendirn, she gained a better control on channeling her mana. Her fear after that was how hard it was to hold back. She finally started to see results of her training when the request came in.

A strong gust blew alerting her knights, but they were too slow to react. Her refinement had improved greatly giving her a casting speed that produced results in only a few moments. Much like her test by Henri, she just forced through on raw power of her mana. But it was tightly focused, the smaller the line and thinner the circle the more it was narrowed and reduced in range. It would be enough to break the wood, but nothing more.

The wood snapped and splintered pushing it inward. Noan stepped forward, slowing her advance. “I wish you warned us, Saint Sophia. That could have been dangerous.”

“Sorry, but we needed to hurry.” They both started to look around the interior of the darkened building. There was no light but that of the windows and the newly broken door. No candles or fire to be found. It felt cold.

Only three steps into the building and it became clear. Sophia covered her mouth. Ust. Hui. ‘No! No…’ Two blue robed clergy laid against the back wall completely blue and lifeless. To the sides she saw a pile of at least ten bodies, men, women, even children. The disease spared no one. “They were trying to keep the dead away from everyone. Are we too late?”

“We should look around the town before assuming.”

“Y-Yes, you’re right.”

Her heart was already beating faster. ‘Please someone. Anyone! I don’t want to fail again…’ Across from the church was a smaller home that was all closed up. She tentatively approached, bracing herself for a bad outcome. “Hello? I’m Saint Sophia. Is there anyone home?” As she knocked on the door, there were a couple of rough sounds from the house. She couldn’t quite make it out, but it gave her hope. ‘Someone’s alive!’

She started to try the door, when it opened and a deeply worn bearded man appeared. “Did you say you were the Saint? Then the rumors are true?”

‘Did the news not make it out here? But they sent a message? Not everyone knows?’ Before she could do more to answer his questions, the glowing rainbow Veil around her made it all clear to the man. He started kneeing before and grasping at her hand.

“Please save my daughter! She can hardly breathe!” The man was almost in tears as his voice shook in pleas.

“Please show me to her, sir.” He scrambled to his feet, almost tripping. Through the holes in his clothes she could see blue marks on him. ‘He’s barely holding himself together. I need to hurry. How many are this close?’ She helped him to his feet and let him guide her deeper into the house.

In a back room, there were three blankets and two bodies. She saw the daughter looking pale and barely even acknowledging them. And the other, a woman not moving at all. Sophia wanted to look closer, but she had to hurry. “Please save her. Meena is all I have…”

“I promise, sir. Just give me some time.” She let Tolen and Noan help the father over to his blanket to rest. Sophia looked down at the child no more than six. ‘She’s still fighting. Holding in against it. Don’t give up! Fight!’ Kneeling before the girl, she began to focus her mana as the Veil radiated stronger filling the room.

Disease was different to tend to than a wound. As Mister Jolsi explained to her, mending flesh mostly all had the same need and so the formula could be the same. But diseases affected the body in different ways. A specialized formula could be made for a disease making it faster and more mana efficient. But when knowledge was lacking, a general cure-all was still possible, but it was a brute force method of treating the whole body. Mana was easily expended for a normal mage making it impractical as a means of curing a whole town. But the Saint was different, they had the mana to spare. It would still be exhausting to do. Her only hope was taking each examination and feeling how the mana touched their body she would learn what needed to be fixed. She could find a better way, but it wouldn’t be soon.

‘Control. Not too much mana. Keep it spread evenly.’ Sophia remembered her lessons that healing could still make things worse. She might have had practice healing the sick and injured already. But such focused healing for a deadly disease was new territory for her. She started to sweat as she monitored the flow.

A silver light surrounded the girl and for a moment nothing happened. The father looked on while the Tolen held him from approaching. He was crying and pleading. But Sophia's focus remained on the girl. Then the blue marks on her skin started to shrink from her face. Quickly, warmth returned to her body and she coughed deeply finally able to breath.

“Meena!” He broke free from Tolen in his flailing to grab up his daughter. “Meena! Meena! Thank Euthemia! Praise be to Euthemia!”

Sophia leaned back feeling the burden of the spell. It wasn’t draining, but the focus racked her mind. It was like cramming for a test. She wiped away the sweat. Seeing the daughter better gave her a smile, but then she saw the father loosen his grip on her. The life in his eyes had already started to go. “No!” Quickly she began the process again without any recovery. ‘His body is so weak! Even worse than her. Please don’t, not again…’

It took her longer with an adult body, but she focused on keeping his heart strong. The disease had made everything weak. ‘Live, please, live!’ There was no change in his body. His body was almost completely still.

“Meena…” A cough, and then another. It was heartier, the marks retreated. She finally felt it working. Sophia pushed until it was finished.

A family reunited.