(Dyn)

  Meekan leaned across the table and poioward the exit, where the kitware tub and post box sat. “Over there!”

  Dyn turned, fighting to keep it all down. He aimed for the post box but only made it to the tub. It wasy—the spsh back was unavoidable as he lost the battle and his dinner.

  Nathan crouched beside him. Dyn was mid-hurl when he asked, “Are you allergic to anything?”

  “Yes,” Meekan said, ing around the table. Nathan shot her a curious look.

  Dyn took a shaky breath during a brief reprieve. “I’m not even sure what I ate.”

  Nathan started listing off possibilities. “Are you sensitive to lead, cobalt, copper, or mercury?”

  Dyn’s eyes went wide. “I’m deathly allergic to all of them.” He stumbled to the post box for the round of upheaval.

  “Perhaps Meekan was right. You should sider Prune Jui the future,” Nathan said.

  ‘How the hell is fruit juice supposed to help with heavy metal poisoning?!’ he wao ask, but he was too busy on his knees, emptying his stomato the post box. His vision blurred as the room spun, each pulse of his head like a hammer.

  Nathan slipped his arms under Dyn’s armpits and hoisted him up. “Grab his feet,” he said, but Charles was already moving. “The infirmary is this way.”

  Dyn winced as sharp pain radiated from his gut into his limbs. “I don’t want to die again,” he whispered to Nathan.

  “I know,” Nathan whispered back.

  Nathan and Charles carried Dyn down the hall, his limbs dead weight between them. Meekan sprinted ahead to get the door.

  Between spasms, Dyn thought, ‘If I die, I hope I reset to before the meal.’ He fought to stay scious, having already bcked out on the way.

  Nathaured with his oward a chair in the er. “Let’s get him there.” It wasn’t a hospital bed, but it would do.

  Charles lowered Dyn’s feet and grabbed one of his arms from Nathan. Together, they eased him into the chair. Nathan tilted the seat just enough to keep Dyn from falling forward, but not far enough to risk aspirating.

  Nathan poioward a et uhe sink. “Get him a bucket.”

  “Not the bucket again. I’ve got nothi.” Tears welled in his eyes, not just from being sick, but from the frustration of wasting such a good meal.

  Meekan rushed to grab the bucket from uhe sink and ha to Dyn. He sighed. “Thanks, but I—” Before he could finish, another wave of nausea had him burying his fa the bucket.

  “I’m going to use Triage,” Nathan said. His eyes shifted yellow as he read the results. “By the Mother, yoing into acute an failure.”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Dyn muttered into the bucket.

  Nathan’s voice wavered. “Yoing to die…”

  Dyn could feel it—some things inside him weren’t w anymore. His fingers were ice-cold, and his arms felt as if they didn’t belong to him. Every pulse in his head throbbed like a dull drumbeat, and his heart wasn’t quite keeping time. He tried to shift in the chair, but his legs were bricks, refusing to answer. Even blinki like an impossible task.

  Charles shot Nathan a hard look. “No.”

  Nathan blinked. “No?” he repeated, fused.

  The rugged elf stepped closer, jabbing Nathan’s chest with a finger. “You’re a mender, and we’re in a guild stronghold. Fix him or find someone who .” His body tensed in pain, a green stain spreading across his tunic, but his expression didn’t falter. Satisfied, Charles stepped bad pricked his finger with a needle.

  Meekan, trying to ease the tension, offered, “What about a healing potion?”

  “That’ll buy him some time.” Nathan rushed to a et, pulling out his League card as he spoke. “Meekan, see if anyone has a global se or poison se ability.” She nodded and sprinted out the door.

  Nathan tapped the er of his League card on the et. The lock clicked audibly, even from across the room. He swung the door open and sifted through the vials, searg for the right one.

  Grabbing a vial of green liquid, he hurried back to Dyn.

  Nathan popped the top off the vial. “Drink this.” He tilted Dyn’s with one hand and carefully poured the liquid into his mouth with the other.

  Dyn’s senses returned instantly, his mind clearing. But the steady approach of his mortality began anew as he tio deteriorate. He followed Nathan’s gaze to the wall, where a circur disk with strange symbols hung. ‘A clock?’ he wondered.

  Nathan sighed, frustratioched in every breath. “He’s absorbed too much—several poisons are ravaging him.” He crossed his arms, one hand drifting to his in thought.

  Charles jerked his head toward the hallway. “What about the other menders?”

  “I sent Meekan to check, but Nightshade barely has any menders. Everyone wants to be a fshy archetype with destructive abilities. Maybe three or four have the skills we need.”

  Charles pressed, his voice sharp. “The one of them.”

  “I ’t,” Nathan snapped. “Every team is desperate for a mender, so they share the few we have. They’re all out on tracts right now or at the hospital.”

  Charles frowned, frustration creeping into his voice. “Menders and scouts are aloached first. What about brute force? If we ’t stop the poison, we just keep healing him until it runs out.”

  “Maybe?” Nathan didn’t sound sure. “That’s a lot of healing, and I don’t think his body process the poison—it might op killing him.”

  “Are there any cure poison potions or something?” Dyn knew little about magic, but he’d pyed enough games to know ables usually solved status ailments.

  “We don’t have orong enough.” Nathan frowned. “You’d need eight to clear them all from your system.”

  “Okay, what’s the problem?” Dyn winced as the pain surged back to its previous levels.

  “There’s a potion cooldown,” Charles expined. “It doubles every time you take one, and you’d o wait a full day to reset it.”

  “How long’s the cooldown?” Dyn asked, already dreading the answer.

  “Five minutes,” Nathan answered grimly.

  “What happens if I take them without waiting for the cooldown?” Dyn figured it probably wasn’t good.

  “You’ll die,” Charles said ftly.

  “Taking a potion during the cooldes your health—it’s not like the gummies. The damage scales with the timer. By the sed, maybe third potion, you’d be dead,” Nathan curred with Charles.

  “Gummies?” Charles narrowed his eyes at Nathan.

  “Gummies!” Nathan excimed, his eyes fshing green for a moment before shifting back to blue. He turo Charles. “You’ve got a teleport, right?”

  Charles nodded slowly. “Why?”

  “I don’t know if there’s enough time, but it’s all I’ve got. I need you to get to the hospital and grab a jar filled with colored dies and bring it back as fast as you ,” Nathan said.

  Without hesitation, Charles pressed a hand to the wall beside Dyn’s chair. A glowing runic circle appeared with a sizzle as Nathan described where to find his offi the hospital.

  Meekan slipped back through the door, shaking her head. “I couldn’t find anyone,” she said, frustration flickering in her voice.

  Charles sprinted past her. “Nathan’s got a pn,” he called over his shoulder.

  “Where’s he going?” Meekan pointed after the rugged elf. “And what’s the pn?”

  Nathan expined his pn to Meekan while she wet a small cloth and pced it on Dyn’s forehead. Bottles and vials ked as Nathan sifted through the et, searg for another potion.

  “What are you looking for?” Meekan asked softly, dabbing the cool cloth across Dyn’s brow.

  “Deyed-release healing potions,” Nathan muttered, shifting to the shelf. “Thank the Mother.” He grabbed a vial of slightly different green liquid and walked over to Dyn, gng at the clo the wall.

  Nathan tucked the vial into Dyn’s hand, folding his fingers over it. “We o time this perfectly. I’ll t to five o’s been five mihen you drink this.” In Nathan’s other hand otion of darker green liquid.

  “What’s that one for?” Meekan oward the sed potion.

  “I think there are only seven poison se gummies left. If that’s all we’ve got, he’ll his potion too.” Nathan’s bled through, despite his efforts to mask it.

  Dyn realized Meekan was holding his hand again. When he looked up, she gave him a gentle squeeze.

  “I’ll need Zepperlin, Ramone, and Le’pard,” Nathan said urgently. “Hurry.”

  Meekan pressed the cloth into Dyn’s hand before dashing out of the room.

  The darkness crept ba, and Dyn fought to stay scious. His head throbbed, the pain sharpest behind his eyes. He squinted against the harsh lights overhead, closing them for just a moment.

  “…Four, five—take it now! Dyn? Dyn!” Nathan shook him, panic rising in his voice.

  Dyn’s eyes finally opened, and he wished all the Nathans would stop floating around.

  “Take the potion,” Nathan said, his voice sharp with urgency. He guided Dyn’s hand to his mouth, tilting his head back.

  Dyn’s throat, focused only ohing, wasn’t ready for the liquid sliding down. He sputtered and coughed, but Nathan cmped both hands over his mouth and nose.

  ‘I ’t breathe.’ Dyn thought in paniable to speak. Nathan pushed down with his weight. ‘He’s trying to kill me!’

  “Dyn!” Nathan yelled, his eyes shifting to bck. “I’m sorry. I know it feels like drowning.”

  ‘Goddamnit Nathan!’ Dyn’s hand flew up, delivering a sharp sp to Nathan’s face. He kicked and filed, desperate to break free.

  Nathan held firm. “The potion still works in your lungs.”

  This was worse thaabbing. Dyn tried coughing, but his air couldn’t get past Nathan’s sm hold on him. He tried to bite but found no purchase. Desperately, he bucked beh Nathan, but the elf was to, and he was too weak.

  “You’ve already lost some, and you need every drop.” Nathan pressed harder to keep Dyn from coughing.

  ‘Everything’s tingling. Why does everything tingle?’ Dyn wondered. A strange dissonance spread through him—his body starved for oxygen, just as the healing potion began w. The effects kept him from slipping into unsciousness while leaving him with enough awareo keep panig—it was torture.

  Tears streaked down both their faces as Nathan smothered him. “I’m sorry. Just a little loo make sure you’ve absorbed it all.”

  After a few more seds, Nathan released him. Dyn rolled away, gasping for air. Deep, rattling coughs wracked him, cutting off every breath. He slid off the chair, his numb legs refusing to hold him.

  Nathan rushed over, pulling Dyn into a tight hug. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he whispered over and over. He eased Dyn bato the chair, then stepped away to give him space, hesitant to speak again while Dyn recovered.

  “Dyn, I’m really sorry, but you were about to cough up the potion,” Nathan said, as muself as to Dyn.

  Dyn raised a shaky hand, testing a shallow breath. “I know,” he rasped. After a bout of coughing, he added, “It’s okay.”

  Nathan’s eyes shifted from bck back to their usual blue. “This potion won’t feel as good as the st—it gives the same healing, but spread out over time. I boost the effect with my ability,” he said, casting a spell over Dyn.

  Warmth spread through him as the trickle of health surged into a river of life, chasing away the numbness. His heartbeat smoothed, steady and sure. Evehrobbing in his head shrank to a dull murmur. For a sed, he just sat there, sav the sensation of not dying. 'This is nice,' he thought, exhaling slowly.

  “I don’t know how long the potion will hold, but it’ll buy us time,” Nathan said with a weak smile. They turned as Meekan and a tan-scaled drai appeared in the doorway.