Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Quest Reward
Nadia held the bottle in her hands like she’s embracing a baby. The clear orange liquid shimmered gently inside the glass. Its heat transferred to the glass, making the bottle warm to touch.
"Give it to Carsten now. The sooner he takes it, the better." Siderius said.
Nadia nodded then shouted to her men. "Quick! Bring Carsten outside!"
In the midst of battle, the older and weak miners had relocated Caraten to a far away hiding spot for safety.
They left him on a stretcher. A few male miners carried the stretcher outside and placed it next to Nadia.
She didn’t waste any time and lifted Carsten up and helped him drink the tonic.
Immediately, warmth returned to his body.
An orange hue lit up on his skin, starting from his throat then it went to his stomach. From the stomach, the orange hue spread to every spot of his cold petrified skin.
It was as if they could see where the tonic went.
And then a gasp of life. Carsten sat up in a sudden and breathed as much as he could.
The gray color on his skin dissipated and the dark red beating heart of his lowered back down.
The first thing Carsten felt was fire. Fire everywhere on his body. It was painful. But he’s alive. Even Carsten didn’t believe it himself.
"I’m... I’m alive?! How?"
Carsten grabbed Nadia’s arm. His skin was burning.
"You saved me?" He said.
Nadia shook her head.
"No. It was our friend, the healer." She pointed at Siderius.
Carsten widened his eyes. He recognized Siderius.
"Snow?! Is that you, buddy?"
"Do I know you?" Siderius was equally surprised as Carsten.
They had never met each other before according to Snow’s memories.
The last time Siderius visited the Rocky Pit, he had always had his scarf on to cover his face. He wasn’t hiding his identity at the moment, letting Carsten recognize him.
"Ah? You don’t remember me? Well, it was very long ago. I didn’t know you became a healer."
Despite his current state, Carsten’s usual cheerfulness returned and his laugh echoed throughout the mining.
He had the personality of a joyful puppy that could make anyone around him more positive. And this reflected in the expressions of the miners as well. Their weight was lifted off by a bit.
A tiny light of hope shone in the darkness.
Thin silver strands exuded from Carsten’s body and flowed toward Siderius. But it wasn’t only him. Nadia also let out some kind of silver strands that slowly made their way over to Siderius.
The miners did too. But the numbers of the strands were much less and they were thinner.
No one was able to see these strands. Only Siderius and Ashe could.
Ashe followed her gaze at this invisible energy. She saw Siderius secretly opened his palm and collected the strands.
A knowing look came from Siderius and he whispered. "I will explain later."
Ashe nodded.
Then the witch hunter turned toward Carsten. He smiled gently. "You don’t seem to be afraid of me. I am a murderer after all."
"Don’t kid me, Snow. Even I know that it is a lie. You love your mother more than anything."
"You are the second person that believes me. My apology for not remembering you. If we have time, maybe we can catch up and you can remind me how we met."
"Sure thing, Snow!"
Siderius turned to Nadia.
"The witch saw everything. She will come and you will suffer. All of you should get out of here if you value your lives."
Nadia scanned the faces of the miners. With Alex’s influence gone, she was the undisputed leader once again.
Now they looked at her and waited for her decision.
"We can’t go." Nadia said.
If it was a few people, they may be able to escape and start over somewhere else. But there were a lot of them. The chance of surviving was near to zero.
And Eldoria was not kind toward deserters.
"Some of us may have a chance. The children. The sick. The weak. You must run away from this place. I don’t know where you will go. You have to figure that out on your own."
The kind elderly woman that had helped Ashe spoke up. "But what will happen to you, Nadia? And the others?"
"The wrath of a high noble will be cruel. But there must be someone to take responsibility. I am the only one who worked with Snow.
There is no other way."
That was the best plan Nadia could come up with. Taking everything as her fault.
It was at that moment that Alex hopped out of a tent with a broken leg. "That won’t work."
"Of course you are the one to say that. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be facing this!"
"They wouldn’t have to die!"
"It was all your fault!"
The people needed someone to blame. Siderius was too strong for them to even consider that. He even fulfilled his part of the deal and saved Carsten.
The joyful boy of the mining camp also seemed to have a good opinion of Siderius. That turned the waves of their opinion.
If Alex didn’t betray Nadia and told the witch. If he hadn’t told the miners to attack Siderius. If he hadn’t been here.
Everything might have been different. It was all his fault. The miners thought.
Their thoughts became action and violent behaviors. They picked their tools and approached Alex. Their wrath must be answered.
After all, once Lyara came, no one knew what would happen.
"I can save this camp." Alex said.
This one simple sentence halted the rage of the people.
"How?" Nadia said.
"I have... connections. I can make sure that this camp will survive."
"Whatever it is, I hope it will work out for you." Siderius interrupted him. "My work here is done."
"Wait a minute, Snow." Nadia said. "I have something for you."
Nadia gestured to one of the miners. "Bring the horse to me."
"Yes, boss!"
The miner led out a strong young horse. Its smooth coat had a bright chestnut color. It was still young and its strong frame was still developing. Muscles roared under its skin and it had a thick and fine mane.
It seemed like Siderius wasn’t going to leave empty handed after everything he went through.