Dashyl's Quest

“Dashyl,” that voice again, calling his name, like a soft fabric rubbing on his ears. Again, “Dashyl, wake up.”

He did. His head was clear, his throat felt normal, but he was very tired. At his bedside stood a woman in yellow robes and a blue hood. She held a staff with symbols representing the moons of Rynaga. Dashyl had learned about the moons from his father, the chemist. On their research expeditions in the field, they would discuss the moons at night. The boy would dream about his father’s stories of a long lost race of inhabitants on Phaeton. Just as his father could use radia crystal technology to magnify very small things, so could Sarion zenyths use radia crystals and lenses to see things on the surface of the moons. In zenyth scholarly circles, it was a commonly held belief that Phaeton was once inhabited.

“You finally decided to drink the aegis elixir,” said the voice, breaking the boy’s reverie.

“Wasn’t that just water,” Dashyl asked?

“No, my dear. Aegis is a healing elixir, but it cannot be forcibly given, the recipient must drink it of their own free will for it to work.”

“Healing? What happened to me,” Dashyl inquired, realizing again that he could not remember anything.

“You were poisoned with nysik, a dreadfully strong toxin that wipes your memory clean and can kill you if you are exposed to it long enough. You are lucky you were found in such close vicinity to us here, most likely you would have died anywhere else on Veratar. The only ones knowledgeable and vile enough to use nysik are the Krill assassins. You must have had a run-in with one. Are you wanted by the Legion for some reason? You are Sarion, so I am surprised you would be the target of the Krill.”

A Krill assassin? Dashyl’s mind spun. Yes, he did have a run-in with one, but he was killed by Alerial, right? The last thing he could remember was running from Alerial’s place headed for Trader’s Haunt. Was he poisoned before Alerial sacrificed himself to take out the assassin? Or did the assassin survive and had hunted him down again? Or was there another assassin?

The lady in the blue hood reached out and stroked the boy’s forehead. “I can see my questions have troubled you. Forget that I asked. Please, just relax.” The woman rubbed his temples with her fingertips. “My name is Rathyra. I am a Sarajan curic from Sanctum.”

A Saraja? This was strange. Could he be in Sarajan lands? Generally, Saraja and Sarion were not friendly toward each other, but if this woman, and whatever this place was, were hostile to him, Dashyl figured they would have had plenty of opportunity to kill him before now, so he relaxed a little.

“I want you to drink this elixir, now.” The woman handed him a cup of a yellowish liquid. “It’s thistlewhip elixir, it won’t taste good but it will help you now that you are conscious.”

Dashyl must have made a face when he drank it because Rathyra laughed and patted him on the head. “Tomorrow you can have some sweeter medicine. Rest now.” The woman left the room but the bitter smell of the elixir lingered the entire day.