Another long day’s march came to an end. The soldiers and civilians had begun to set up camp as the world of mist began to fall dark. I had a big smile as I walked back towards our family’s wagon. Donte was limping from the lesson I had given him throughout the day, and many of the nearby soldiers were grinning at him as we passed.

Back at our wagon, I saw the familiar figures of my dad and Charly, as well as the overweight Doctor Volnus, shaking his head. My words were caught in my throat as I got closer and could hear the doctor speaking to my dad.

“I am sorry Renald, I do not know what is wrong. She should have recovered from my healing by now. I can only guess she caught something. For now, just let her rest, and inform me immediately if there are any changes in her symptoms.”

I felt a piercing pain in my chest as I realized the full weight of Doctor Volnus’s words. I felt like I was going to be sick as I dashed the rest of the way to the wagon.

Completely ignoring my dad and Charly, I threw open the door to see my mom still lying in bed, with Nox sleeping by her side. She looked even paler than she had yesterday. Her face had practically become a sheet of white. My dad had placed a wet cloth on her head, and she was covered in multiple layers of blankets that she had pulled all the way up to her chin.

My mom smiled weakly. Her voice was barely a whisper as she spoke. “I am fine Wren. It is just a common cold. I will recover in a few days.”

I did not respond as a walked towards my mom. My legs shook with each step. Before she could even protest, I grabbed my mom’s blanket and drew it back. My mom was too weak to stop me as I pulled the collar of her shirt down. I nearly collapsed as I saw the deep black veins that covered her neck.

I felt the tears well in my eyes as I stared at the familiar signs of corruption. “Why… why did you not tell us you were infected?”

My mom would not meet my gaze as she stared down at the foot of the bed. “I did not want all of you to worry. We are almost out of the mist. Once we are, I can be cured just like everyone else. Until then, all we can do is wait.”

My dad was nearly as pale as my mom as he took her hand. “You should have told us. We are all in this together, for better or for worse.”

My mom shook her head. “I know how you are. You will never be able to rest knowing that I am in trouble. All that telling you would have accomplished is making you panic and lose sleep. There are more important things for us to worry about than me.”

“There is nothing more important,” my dad said softly as he wrapped his arms around her.

I felt like the entire world was falling apart as I looked at my mom.

There was no guarantee that she would be able to last long enough to get treatment. Some people could go weeks without showing any signs of mutating, but some only survived days. If my mom was already so sick now, would she be able to make it the rest of the journey?

I started hyperventilating as I imagined the worst. Images of the man I killed a while back flashed through my mind. The grotesque form he took as he turned into a Demonkin., and the pain he suffered as his humanity was erased. I could not let that happen to her! I clenched my fists as fire ignited in my chest. I would not let that happen to my mom.

Nox mewled at me as I wiped away the tears forming in my eyes as I turned to walk out of the wagon. Charly stood there, looking at our mom in silence. His eyes were wide as tears ran freely down his face. His gaze locked with mine as I tried to leave.

“Wren, where are you going?”

“To find a cure obviously,” I growled as I pushed my way past him. "The plants required can be found in mutated areas of the blood mist."

My dad jumped up, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You cannot go out there. Irene’s undead are still watching us.”

I pushed my dad’s hand away as I ignored his protests. “I will crush Irene’s fake toys just as I crushed the Demon. I am not afraid of them.”

My dad moved in front of me, blocking my path. “Wren, calm down. Nobody wants to help Tia more than me, but we cannot just run off into the mist and hope to stumble upon everything we need for a cure. We are only two days from the edge of the mist at most. General Arthur already has people from the church waiting there with treatment for all the infected. I can take one of the stallions and ride overnight. I can get everything we need and be back before tomorrow afternoon.”

I paused, knowing my dad was right. The raging fire inside of me petered down until it was nothing more than a small flicker. I collapsed against the side of the wagon as the tears returned. “I do not know what I would do if anything happens to mom… please hurry Dad.”

My dad nodded as he ran out of the wagon, moving to unhook one of the stallions.

“Take Mitis,” I said, pushing back the tears. “He is faster.”

The stallion Mordere neighed angrily as he pulled against his reigns, but we ignored him as my dad unhooked Mitis from the wagon. “Go tell General Arthur where I am going. He should be able to relay a message to the church and let them prepare for my arrival. I do not want to waste time trying to convince the church to hand over their supplies.”

“What about the corpses watching us?” Charly asked, looking out into the mist with trepidation.

“Irene’s corpses are focused on Wren, not me, but even if they try and stop me, I am strong enough to fight them off,” my dad replied without looking up as he saddled Mitis. “Even if they were after me, I would still go. Nothing will stop me from helping Tia.”

Charly nodded as he handed Dad the book of glyphs they had prepared. “Can I come with you?”

My dad shook his head. “You are not familiar with riding horseback. Stay here and look after your mom. I will be back before you know it.” With those parting words, my dad leapt onto the stallions back in one smooth movement. Mitis neighed as my dad rode off into the fading light.

Charly was silent for a long time as he watched the disappearing figure of my dad. It was only once he was completely out of sight that Charly turned to me. Tears ran freely down his face as he struggled to speak. “Do… do you think mom will be alright?”

I hugged Charly, burying my face into his chest. “She will be fine. It is only half a day. When Dad gets back with the treatment, she will be all cured up and chastising us for worrying so much.”

Charly nodded and the two of us walked back towards the wagon. My mom scowled at us as we entered. “I told you I am fine. This is why I did not want to tell all of you I was infected. I can survive two more days. When your father gets back, I am going to beat his head in for running off.”

Charly forced a weak laugh in response as he sat down at the edge of the bed. He grabbed her hand, an image of when dad did the same. “Can you blame us? We have seen what happens to the infected. I do not know if we could handle it if that happened to you.”

I nodded as I sat next to Charly and hugged my mom silently for a long time. I did not want to let her go. I could not stand just sitting here, watching her like this, but I knew that Dad was the best one to get the cure. If I had been the one to go, Irene would have acted to stop me. While I was not afraid of anything she tried, a delay like that could be fatal for Mom. That was something I would never forgive.

My only comfort was that I could connect with Mitis and sense where they were. Dad had already galloped out of the encampment and was moving swiftly as the mist fell dark. A dull silver light was all he had to see the way forward.

Charly and I spent the entire night curled up by our mom’s side. I only stepped away once so that I could inform General Arthur of what was happening. Thanks to my connection with Mitis, I knew that Dad had made it safely to the edge of the mist. Irene’s minions had done nothing to try and stop him. I could only guess she had not yet figured out how deep a connection I had with my family. Otherwise, she would have never let him move about so uncontested.

The night seemed to drag on forever. Each second felt like an eternity of waiting. I knew there was nothing we could do for my mom that my dad was not already doing, but I did not want to leave her for even a second.

I stared at my mom’s pale skin in the dim silver light that poured in through the wagon’s window. I watched the slow rise of her breathing as she slept. I could see the dark veins spreading across her neck. She would cry out in pain from time to time in her sleep. My mom was much worse off than she was willing to admit. I could not stand to see her suffering like this.

I grabbed Nox, holding the small kitten close to my chest as I cried silently. I hated this feeling of being so powerless to help her. For all of Aurielle’s strength, she was absolutely useless when someone I loved was in danger. All the power in the world, but she could not save a single person when it mattered the most.

Nox meowed as he struggled free from my grip. He leapt to the floor, looking at me for a long time with those big cyan eyes. His gaze then shifted to my mom for a moment. He meowed softly, then closed his eyes.

Before I could figure out what the small kitten was doing, an invisible weight crashed down on my shoulders. The weight forced me down as if a mountain was suddenly on my shoulders. I could not move a single muscle. I could barely even breathe. All I could do was watch.

The temperature in the room started to rise as Nox opened his eyes. Two bright golden eyes glowed in the dark of the wagon. Nox started to grow in size, returning to the majestic form I had not seen in so long. I felt my connection with the collar around his neck shatter as the green was overwhelmed by a golden flame. The soft mewl of the kitten disappeared into a fierce roar that shook the air and rattled my bones.

My mom awoke to see the mighty lion standing over her. His black fur was illuminated by the golden flame of his mane. “Wren… what is happening? Is that Nox?”

I struggled to force myself up as the invisible weight continued to crash down on me. My arms and legs shook from the strain, and I collapsed helplessly, unable to move at all. Nearby, I could see Charly struggling the same as me, desperately holding Mom’s hand as he tried to move in front of her.

“Nox, what are you doing?” I shouted desperately. I tried reaching out with my talent to control him, but any energy I sent towards him was simply devoured by the golden flame.

The lion looked at me for a moment with those big golden eyes. It felt like… he was smiling as his gaze shifted to my mom again. Nox’s massive form completely filled the small space now. If he grew any bigger, he would splinter the wagon into a thousand pieces.

Nox closed his eyes again as he lowered his head, bringing his brow to rest against my mom’s. I felt my blood freeze as I realized what Nox was trying to do. I shouted at him to stop, but there was nothing I could do when I could not even move.

My breath caught in my throat as a small golden flame passed between the Nox and my mom. The flame instantly engulfed my mom’s body as if she were made of dry kindling. I screamed in panic, but surprisingly, my mom did not cry out in pain as I expected. In fact, the flame did not seem to be hurting her at all. My mom even let out a moan of pleasure as the fire burned all around her.

My eyes wide, I watched in amazement and disbelief as the deep black veins on my mom’s neck returned to normal. Her skin regained its flushed color and even seemed to glow with a healthier light than before she had been injured. Her muscles even seemed more defined as they were bathed in the fire. All the signs of sickness had completely disappeared.

My mom reached out with one hand, petting Nox’s soft fur as she smiled. A tear ran down her face as she spoke, “Thank you Nox. That was beautiful.”

The golden flames began to flicker as the pressure that had been forcing me down disappeared. I jumped up as Nox began to shrink, returning to his diminutive size. The small kitten wobbled unsteadily as he collapsed to the ground. His eyes were fluttered closed as he meowed weakly.

I reached over, picking up the small kitten and holding him in my arms. The green collar I used to control him had completely disappeared, replaced by a ring of golden fur. I looked over at my mom as she sat up, moving for the first time in days.

“How do you feel mom? Don’t get up. you were just on fire,” Charly said as he tried and failed to make her lay back down.

My mom stood up, stretching her back as she did. “I feel great! Better than great, I feel amazing! This is incredible. It is like I am twenty years younger. What did Nox do to me exactly?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered, looking down at the unconscious kitten in my arms, “But whatever it was, he healed you, didn’t he?”

My mom nodded as she reached out to pet the small kitten. “I do not feel any of the corruption anymore. I am still tired, but my body feels like it was completely purified. I do not think there is anything wrong with me anymore.”

I stared down at Nox in amazement, wondering how the kitten had done something like this. Whatever it was, Nox had sacrificed his energy to help my mom. He looked even weaker now than when I had drained all the flames from him before. That sacrifice was something I would not soon forget. I laid the small kitten on the bed and covered him with a blanket.

“When we get out of here, I am going to get you more food than you can ever eat.”