243 Not On My Watch

When he tried to take a step closer to them, Aether glared at him. In a split second, the winged serpent was coiled around the frost elf, hissing at him. 

-What do you think you're doing?- Aether hissed. 

"I… I don't mean any harm!" he tried to proclaim his innocence. 

"You tried to kill me with arrows!" Lycster huffed as he folded his arms, "I trusted you!" 

Shin bit his lip. He knew how the situation looked. After all, he was an accomplice to the glacier scorpions and their ploy. But did he have any other choice?

"Please, you have to believe me!" Shin pleaded. 

"Believe you?" Vy asked. 

Aether turned back to her and suggested. - Don't waste time on this fool. I'll make quick work of him and we can be on our way.- 

Aether unhinged his jaw, threatening to eat the frost elf. But before he swallowed the elf whole, he realised something was not right. He turned back to look at Vy and noticed that her wounds were not healing as they should. 

The wounds on her back had begun to bleed. Her eyes were flickering, Vy was losing consciousness. 

"Vy!" Aether called out. 

He released the frost elf from his grasp and took to his human form. He caught her just as she leaned to the side in his arms. Vy's body was heating up. Aether placed his hand on her forehead. 

She was running a fever. 

Seeing the situation unfold, Shin bit his lip. He wanted to make amends for the harm he had caused these people. If they were going to kill him afterwards, it would be the last good thing he could do to right the wrong. 

"I can help you," Shin spoke up. 

Aether and Lycster turned to meet his eyes. 

He swallowed his saliva before continuing, "I can help her. I know what I did was wrong, I am sorry for that. But I know things that can help her now."

Lyscter looked back at his sister. He could see her eyes darting beneath her closed eyelids. If his sister's wounds do not heal but worsen, would she be able to survive? The boy looked back at Aether. 

"If you don't want her to die-"

"She won't die! Not on my watch!" Aether hissed at the frost elf with fury. 

Shin bit his lip. He knew that would strike a chord in the Familiar.

"You don't have to trust me," Shin chose his words carefully, "If you want her to live, you just have to listen to me."

Aether hesitated. But there was no time for hesitation! They had to act fast. Lycster placed his hand on Aether's shoulder, giving him a reassuring look. 

"If Shin can help, we should give it a try. If he's lying…" Lycster looked at the frost elf, then back at Aether, "I am sure you'll make sure he suffers."

The frost elf explained that the hot spring pools indeed had healing properties. They were just told to use the wrong ones. Incense had also been used in the area, which caused Vy and Lycster to lose consciousness. But now, the incense had long been blown out and would no longer harm them. 

"The medicine I gave you to feed your sister, is also not the right medicine. You can throw that out." Shin explained carefully. 

He judged the expressions of the wing serpent and boy to ensure that he treaded lightly with his words. He wanted to remain alive for as long as he could. Shin expected to smell the sulphur from the hot springs as they got nearer. But what all of them smelled instead was a strong order of blood and death. 

When they got nearer to the hot spring pools, they realised all of the pools had been contaminated with corpses and blood of the glacier scorpions. In the distance, they could hear the squawk of a bird. But none of them paid it any attention as they were too engrossed in looking for a solution. 

Shin shook his head, "The pools won't be usable in this state, not until the waters return to its original state."

"What?! Then what are we going to do?" Lycster exclaimed anxiously. 

They were counting on the healing effects of the hot spring pool to heal Vy's wounds, or at the very least speed up her healing process. But now, their hopes were dashed. 

"I can give you the right medicine that would counter the effects of the one I gave you previously, that should help to alleviate the symptoms. But you will need to find another way to heal her wounds," Shin said with a sigh. 

Lycster looked over at the corpses that were strewn across the snow. Some of it was steaming in the hot spring pools, changing the colour of the water. The pool of bright red water caught his eye. 

"What about that one?" he asked as he pointed at it, "What about that red one?"

Shin shook his head, "No, it won't work. Not in this current state. Not alone." 

Lycster sighed as he continued to wreck his brains. Aether too wondered what would work. 

"The moon," Aether remembered, "We just need to wait for the moon to come out tonight. Just like what we did the other day. That should help heal some of her wounds."

They looked up into the sky. But the sky today was vastly different from the other night. There were too many clouds, too many for Aether to clear. It would have been an endless feat that would not yield them any results. 

Aether and Lycster continued to wreck their brains to find a suitable solution. But none of them could concentrate for long. The squawking bird was just a few metres away from them perched on a tree. 

Amongst the sound of bubbling water from the hot spring and the soft whistle of the wind, the squawk of the bird stood out. 

"Argh! I can't concentrate with that squawking bird!" Lycster said as he pointed at the offending bird. 

Aether turned to look at it. As soon as he saw it, he took to his winged serpent form and flew up to the tree branch that the bird was perched on. Upon closer inspection, he realised that this was not a regular bird. 

-This is a mechanical bird.-