26: Centuries of failure.
**The healer pov**
The beast sat cross-legged on the ground a few feet away. I was grateful he sat aside, not right next to me, because the stench of rotten flesh was really starting to get to me. Aife sat next to him, her hand holding the claw, refusing to let go.
I had no idea how she could do it, the stench alone was nearly unbearable and the looks.. yeah, I was glad I wasn’t stuck in her position.
“Are you sure about this?” Aife suddenly asked.
I looked up from the table and realized she was talking to the beast, since her eyes didn’t leave him, so I reminded myself to focus on work instead.
“I’m sure,” the beast muttered soon after. His voice was rough, hard to listen to as he glanced at me and growled, “do what you must, healer, but hurry. My best friend’s life is on the line here.”
I grunted and set the first vial in front of me. “I need to figure out precise measurements. A little too much of this, and we might worsen the venom’s effects, but if it’s too little it won’t even touch it.”
Aife nodded at my explanation and tilted her head, “how does it work, exactly?”
The beast snorted out a laugh next to her, “do you really want him to explain that? It’s not exactly bedtime story material, my love.”
As soon as he addressed her as his love, I could see Aife’s features soften as she leaned closer to him and whispered, “try me.”
Before they could carry on with their weird flirting thing, I cleared my throat and grabbed a small scoop of powder. “The venom he carries is very unusual. You see, most toxins are either chemical or biological, but this one is both. I like to think it’s a hybrid of sorts. Saliva alone does nothing, the same as canine extract alone. However, once it combines, it reacts to each other.”
As I spoke I added the canine sample to the powder, stirred them gently, and then, added a few drops of the saliva. A few seconds later, a faint fume rose from the mixture.
I kept looking at the reaction, hummed and added a different herb to the mix, narrating everything I did for the two of them. “This herb should slow the venom. Combined with the powdered bone, it might neutralize it for good.”
“You think it’ll work?” Aife asked.
“It’s an experiment,” I admitted. “I won’t know until I test it. On a live subject, it would be suicidal. On you,” I pointed at the beast, “not possible.”
Suddenly, the beast shot up, pulling Aife with him. “Test on me. You see me, how I am now, you saw what I did to Zion. We must save him!”
Aife looked at him in horror, clearly terrified of what could happen to him if the experiment went wrong. Before she could argue, I spoke up. “Fine, but I need you to listen to what I tell you. No sudden movements or interruptions.”
The beast nodded so I took a deep breath and picked up the test tube. Inside, I added a drop of saliva, then a tiny bit of canine extract and stirred it gently. The liquid inside the vial began to darken, shifting colors rapidly - green to brown, brown to black.
“Interesting,” I muttered under my breath. “This confirms my suspicions and also explains why Zion’s system didn’t react the way a normal shifter would.”
Next, as they watched me, I poured another combination into a small dish and observed the reaction. Fizzing, faint smoke, nothing violent. “This herb combination reduces the venom’s effect by almost half. If I add this specific mineral extract, we could see a near-complete suppression of the venom’s effects.”
The beast sat back down and huffed, “you are too obsessed with technicalities. For once, I was hoping someone would figure a way to stop this madness without me dying in the process.”
In an instant, Aife reached up and touched his face. “We’ll find a way.”
The beast looked down at her, and I swear, his eyes softened. “Maybe,” he whispered.
I cleared my throat again and stepped closer, “hold still, this combination might sting you.”
He tensed, just slightly, but didn’t move as I dripped a tiny amount onto his flesh, where it still slightly bled, watching for the reaction. He hissed faintly, but a moment later, the reaction faded just as quickly as it stated.
“Yes!” I whisper hissed and rushed to make some notes, mumbling under my breath. “This is promising, really. The reaction confirms that the suppression works. If I can scale this, I could protect anyone who’s been exposed to the venom.”
Aife instantly breathed out a sigh of relief, “that’s incredible.”
The beast only huffed, “incredible, yes, but Zion is still fighting for his life. We need results, not theories.”
I nodded and wiped the nervous sweat off my palms against my pants. “Agreed.”
“And what if this experiment of yours fails?” The beast suddenly asked.
“It won’t!” Aife interjected before I could answer. “We will make it work.”
I watched the beast carefully as he muttered under his breath something that sounded suspiciously like “centuries of failure”, but I didn’t bring it up and neither did Aife.
Instead, I focused on what mattered and set up another series of tests, mixing precise amounts of saliva and canine extract, adding herbal and mineral combinations. Every change produced subtle shifts in color and every reaction gave me more hope.
The beast sat aside and watched my every move, occasionally muttering something under his breath while Aife stayed close to him, holding his claw at all times.
Every time a new combination failed, the beast muttered a curse and every time it succeeded, Aife let out a quiet, hopeful breath.
Finally, I straightened up and groaned at the strain in my back from hovering over the table for too long. “Okay, I believe I have enough to create the first test tube. I can’t promise it will be perfect and work long term, but it should neutralize the venom’s most aggressive effects long enough for your best friend to survive until a more permanent solution is found.”
The smile that spread across Aife’s face was blinding and it really contradicted the shocked and a little sour look on the beast’s face.
Honestly, I felt victorious, too good to be true, after finding at least something that worked. I stood aside and watched how Aife hugged the beast tightly and the creature started grinning - a scary sight for me, but I suppose it was heartfelt for him.
Just as I opened my mouth to urge them to not celebrate before we made sure the friend was safe, one of the guards stepped into my tent and announced, “the wolf boy is awake.”
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