Dragon Heart: Dragon Rider Academy Episode 4 by Michael James Ploof

Author:Michael James Ploof [Ploof, Michael James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Traveling Bard Publishing
Published: 2020-02-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

“Let me through!” Min yelled, and she had the urge to Burst against the force of the guards holding her back. She finally pushed past them and trotted alongside the stretcher, opposite Vhalaralia.

“She’s with me,” the elven healer told the guards when they went after Min.

They grudgingly released her, and she caught up again and took Fizziwig’s hand. It was hot and clammy.

“Take your hand off him!” Vhalaralia said sternly. “Rub this on your hands.”

She took the offered jar and cleansed her hands with the tincture inside. “What happened?”

“He was poisoned,” said Vhalaralia. “An envelope was found next to him, and in it was a white powdery substance.”

“That’s dreadful. Where did the letter come from?”

“Dragon Key.”

“Someone here did this?”

Vhalaralia nodded gravely.

“Will he live?”

“I don’t know yet. I need to determine what the powder is before I can help him.”

They rushed Fizziwig to the House of Healing. His condition had visibly deteriorated by that time. Vhalaralia calmly but firmly commanded her team in elven. Min knew nothing about elven medicine, so she stayed back and let the fair folk do their work.

Who could have poisoned the headmaster? The why part of the question was easy; he wasn’t Kruthian, and he’d stuck up for Min more than once, even sentencing Smyth to prison for his crimes against her. His judgment had been just, but it had angered the more devout families of the initiates, not to mention the wealthy. But the poisoner wasn’t someone from the outside, that much Vhalaralia seemed sure of.

Her mind drifted back to her first Poisons & Potions class, and Morgotti explaining to them the effects of one poison in particular. As she thought about it, she realized she hadn’t seen the professor with the others outside Fizziwig’s tower. His knowledge was needed now more than ever, so why wasn’t he there?

His words echoed in her mind. “Had we mixed that plant with Red Devil Fern and a few other ingredients, it would have created a poison called Widow’s Bane that would kill you in hours. First you would be rendered unconscious, then a fever would set in, and your face, hands, and feet would swell.”

Min rushed into Fizziwig’s room and drew back the curtain. Two startled elves glanced at her, but Min wasn’t looking at them, she was looking at the headmaster’s hands. They were twice normal the size, as was his face.

“He’s been poisoned with Widow’s Bane!” said Min, and she ran to find Vhalaralia.

They almost collided when she turned the corner. “It’s Widow’s Bane,” she said breathlessly. “I’m certain of it. Professor Morgotti spoke if it yesterday in class.”

“Calm down,” said Vhalaralia.

“You have to give him the antidote, if there is one. Please say there is.”

“There is, and I will.” Vhalaralia guided her to a chair. “Please wait here while I look into it.”

Min waited for an hour outside the headmaster’s room. Healers came and went. For a while things were hectic, but then the traffic died down, and the room became quiet.

When Vhalaralia finally emerged, she was smiling.

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