Cloak & Dagger: Book II of The Dragon Mage Trilogy by Carey Scheppner

Author:Carey Scheppner
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781496914637
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Published: 2014-05-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Malachi eyed the jug on the table doubtfully. “You say this stuff rejuvenated your mother?”

“Yes!” said Jim Farnsworth excitedly. “It made her strong enough to get out of bed! I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it!”

“Is she cured?” asked Malachi.

“Well, not exactly,” admitted Jim. “The effect only lasts for several hours.”

“Then what?” asked Malachi.

“Then she reverts to her original condition. When she starts to become weak, I offer her more of the ale and in an hour or so she’s up and at it again.”

Malachi looked over at General Larsen, who sat at the table with them. “What do you think about this?”

“At first I was skeptical too,” said Larsen. “Lieutenant Farnsworth convinced me to let him give some to one of my ill soldiers. That particular soldier was bed-ridden for nearly a week, but this ale gave him the energy to get out of bed and perform some menial tasks. He was as drunk as a sailor, but the very fact that he was out of bed tells me to give that concoction some consideration.”

“What is it made of, Lieutenant?” asked Malachi.

“According to my father, it contains fermented wildhorn leaves. A dwarven friend of his made it from an ancient recipe.”

“Wildhorn leaves, eh?” said Malachi thoughtfully. “We have some of those leaves in our inventory and have tried them for healing this illness, without success. We never tried them when they were fermented, though.”

“Fermented in dwarven spirits,” reminded Jim.

“Yes,” said Malachi, nodding thoughtfully.

“A partial cure is better than no cure at all,” said Larsen.

“I agree,” said Malachi, “but I have a problem with a bunch of intoxicated people running around.”

“I would sooner be drunk than dead,” said Larsen.

“We don’t know if it prevents anyone from dying,” argued Malachi.

“It doesn’t help to reduce abdominal pain either,” said Jim. “My mother said the pain was still present even though she could walk around. She did say that the more ale she drank, the less she noticed the pain, however.”

“Undoubtedly,” said Malachi sternly. After a moment, he said, “Is this all you have of this ale?”

“Yes,” said Jim. “The dwarf who made it is making more for my father.”

“See if you can get him to produce this ale on a larger scale,” said Malachi. “It may be the beginning of a cure, but I’ll need a lot more for study.”

“He’ll want compensation,” warned Jim. “He is a dwarf, after all.”

“Give him what he wants,” said Malachi. “We have money, if that’s what it takes. The money by itself is not much use for healing, but it may buy us the ingredients we need to cure thousands of afflicted people.”

“Yes, Sir,” said Jim.

He looked at General Larsen, who nodded. “Make haste, Lieutenant. Lives hang in the balance.”

“Yes, Sir!” said Jim again, saluting.

After the lieutenant departed, General Larsen asked, “What are your plans, Malachi?”

Malachi sat back and sighed. “I’m hoping to find a cure from that dwarven ale. I never thought I’d see the day that dwarven ale would be used for healing, but I’m all out of ideas.

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