Page 45 of Shardless

If treated immediately, the symptoms will be mild to moderate and may consist of fever, vomiting, and muscle pain. If left untreated, symptoms will rapidly progress and include trouble breathing, chest pain, confusion or changes in cognition, extreme fatigue, and shaking chills. A rapid decrease in body temperature is the final symptom, followed quickly by death.

For Taly, time had ceased to exist. She floated in and out of consciousness, lost in a fog of pain. Every cell, every muscle, every part of her felt scorched and charred. Like someone had injected fire straight into her veins.

There were few waking moments that she could recall. She had the vague sense of being in a bed. Of people moving around her, prodding at her with gentle hands. She could never stay awake long enough to figure out who they belonged to.

At some point, voices started to invade her dreams, drifting across that diaphanous veil between wakefulness and sleep.

“What’s… her?” a woman said. Taly could barely make out the words.

“… blood loss… harpy venom.” A man’s voice this time. “… allergic... make her comfortable…”

“When… wake up?” The woman again. She seemed quite distressed.

Taly let out a feeble groan as she turned on her back, no longer able to ignore the building ache in her arm and shoulder. Her spine arched as a new flash of pain blossomed beneath her skin. Even though her wounds had closed, she could still feel the fiery sting of the harpy’s claws.

“Look! She’s waking up. Little one?” The worried face of Sarina gradually came into focus. “I’m here, my dear.” The frazzled noblewoman sat on the edge of the bed, gently stroking her hair. Taly tried to look beyond her, but there was a strange haze clouding her vision.

“We need to get her to drink some water.” Aiden walked into her line of sight. His face looked haggard and drawn in the dim light.

Carefully accepting the etched crystal glass that Aiden seemed to produce from nowhere, Sarina held it up to Taly’s lips as the healer moved to lift her into a sitting position. For Taly, everything felt muddled—from the wrenching pain in her neck as she shifted to the pull of skin on her back as Aiden held her up.

She took a tentative sip. The rim of the glass felt cool against her dry, cracked lips, and the heavenly liquid quickly soothed the dull ache that had settled at the back of her throat. Her hands curled around the cup as she started to gulp down the contents in earnest. She couldn’t remember ever being this thirsty.

Without warning, Taly jerked forward and promptly emptied the contents of her near-empty stomach onto the floor. Bile burned her throat, and tears sprang up as the pain erupted anew, clawing at her insides, wrapping around her body like a vice. The cup hit the carpet with a dull thud and rolled away.

“What’s happening?” Sarina snapped sharply at Aiden, holding back Taly’s hair as she continued to heave.

“Her stomach is probably a little sensitive right now. That’s all,” Aiden explained in a measured tone. He reached down to retrieve theglass and then walked out of Taly’s view. He reappeared a moment later. “Here,” he said, handing her a fresh cup of water. “I know you’re thirsty but try to drink more slowly this time.”

With great care, Taly took a small sip, but it made no difference. She immediately expelled the water in the same manner.

For the next few hours, Aiden and Sarina tried, again and again, to get her to eat or drink something, but she couldn’t manage to hold anything down. Her eyes and nose burned, and her muscles ached as her stomach continued to convulse long after it was empty. She could sense their growing confusion, but she couldn’t make her body obey her commands. Something inside her was on fire, poisoning her from the inside out.

Taly soon began to drift in and out of consciousness. Her dreams were vague and disjointed and left her gasping for air, but every time she came to, she could sense Sarina nearby, and some of the lingering fear would slip away. Skye was usually there too, and sometimes she would glimpse him and Ivain huddled over her worktable, whispering quietly.

It was dark outside the next time Taly managed to claw her way back to the waking world. She immediately felt… cold. The fire in her veins had been replaced with ice, and the chill weighed her down, made her limbs feel tight and rigid. Violent shivers racked her body, but she didn’t have the energy to pull at the quilt that covered her. She barely had the strength to crack open her eyes.

Sarina sat beside the bed in a plush wingback chair, looking faded and worn around the edges. Her usually immaculate hair was disheveled, andher eyes and nose were red.

“How much time do you think we have? Do you think that Skye and Ivain will be back before...” Sarina’s voice trailed off, and she brought her hands up to cover her face. “This can’t be happening,” she whimpered, a rough sob ripping from her throat. “We were supposed to have more time.”

Aiden sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t understand any of this. I’ve checked for every infection I know to check for. It had to be that metal rod that fell through from the mortal realm. Human diseases evolve so quickly… It must be something that’s developed since the last time the Aion Gate opened. Something that we just don’t know how to treat.”

“Skye and Ivain will never forgive me if they’re not here when it happens,” Sarina mumbled, her eyes vacant. Reaching over, she pulled the blanket up higher, tucking it around Taly’s chin. “Maybe I made a mistake sending them to Litor to get more blood wood. They’re supposed to be back tonight, but… Will they make it in time? How much longer does she have?”

“While I think it might be wise to start preparing ourselves for the worst,” Aiden said, studying the various herbs and crystals scattered across the table, “I’m not giving up. Not yet. I have an idea. It’s crazy.Reallycrazy. And I’m going to need to go to the clinic in Ryme to get supplies.”

“You think she can still get better?” Sarina asked, cautious but hopeful.

Aiden slammed his hands down on the table. “As long as she keeps fighting, then anything’s possible. Right? There’s one more thing I can try.It’s a last resort measure, but if she’s already… well, what have we got to lose? If Ivain and Skye get back before I do, keep them close by. This will be easier with a shadow mage. I’m going to need a lot of aether.”

Sarina placed a hand on Taly’s brow, her fingers trailing down to cup the girl’s cheek. “Please don’t let my baby die, Aiden.”

Aiden hesitated, swallowing thickly. “I’ll do my best.” He gave Sarina a curt nod before sweeping a pile of empty vials into a small bag and hastily exiting the room.

The next time Taly awoke, birds were chirping all-too-merrily outside her window. Each happy warble was like a dagger, piercing and razor-sharp to her overly sensitive ears. The scent of herbs and something faintly aseptic tickled at the blistered skin of her nose.

Groaning, she turned and buried her head in her pillow. Her very hard, lumpy pillow. She tried punching it, hoping that would make the traitorous sack of fluff fall back into line.

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