Kerrin

Kerrin nodded at her, now knowing her gender, “I shall be honored to. Though I cannot ensure results.” he replied as he took the disk.

Pouring Qi into the blood, he willed it to calm, to return to normal. And it worked. The Speaker let out an audible sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. A few seconds later, the boiling was back. Kerrin tried again, with similar results.

“Thank you, Kerrin, for attempting.” The Speaker said, holding her hand out. Kerrin returned the disc to her.

“Is there anyone in the Arch duchy who may know more about this condition?” she asked.

“The Archduchess might, but I doubt it.” Kerrin confessed. “The Elder of Healing perhaps, but I doubt he will act. The one that might work is Argus, the Elder’s disciple.”

The Speaker looked at him closely, assessing him. “Do you know how we became like this? I think not. The legend died long ago in the outside world. I shall tell you the short version.” she said suddenly.

“In a Land far away, there was a Spirit Tree who wanted an army. A very powerful one. The kind that could reach the Spirit Tree level. So she experimented. On humans, of course, she looked down on beasts.”

“And then the Typhoon sloths emerged, and she left to hunt them, and discover their secrets. The Typhoon sloths killed her instead. The labs erupted in chaos, the guards left, and we, her victims, escaped.”

“A year later we found this continent, the Land of Six Jewels, as you call it, and settled here. But the effect of her experiments did not end. The first generation were nearly entirely human.”

“The next was less. And so was each successive generation after that. The changes were considered helpful, encouraged even. The talent of each generation was certainly higher. But then it changed.”

“The changes became harmful. Just a little bit at first, but the number increased. And so did the lethality. In the end, you have my generation. I reached the Grand Tree stage at the mere age of twenty-three, becoming the seventh protector of the Gorge, while my sister will die at the age of ten. The very blood that flows through her veins kills her.” she turned towards the window, peering down at the Gorge.

“I have come to the realization that the Gorge cannot face this. Not alone. Call your Archduchess, Kerrin of Alvere, and tell her that if she can find a way to cure us of this, than she has her trade deal. The Gorge is willing to offer whatever it can, even if it just extends their life by a few years.”

“The eldest of the protectors, protector Portal, shall accompany my sister on this trip. I warn you, the consequences shall not be light should you harm her, the Elder of Frost may protect you, but we still wield a lot of influence on this continent.” The Speaker said, and then turned to leave.

“Why us?” Kerrin asked, “The Gorge has long-standing relations with the Empire, and I am sure there the other Jewels will happily give aid.”

“The only Jewels with this kind of medical capability is the Confederacy. The last time the Confederacy was here, they tried to abduct the children. I would rather trust you than them. At least your Archduchess is against slavery. The same cannot be said for everyone.” she replied as she left the room.

The Gorge people were strange, but he supposed they weren’t all that different after all.

Kerrin

Kerrin had called and received permission to come with the Gorge people, the Archduchess was ready. After calling Ido and informing him of this, he was led to the Grand hall and through the portal to the portal chamber he had seen before.

The old man looked at him intently as they waited for Aloha to arrive.

“So, what has a young genius like you coming to foreign territory as an envoy? Are ye somebody’s bastard?” The old man said, surprising Kerrin.

“Not at all. I volunteered for this task.” Kerrin replied, he took pride in the fact that the Archduchess would trust him with any task, no matter how important.

“And they let an eleven-year-old volunteer himself here? Well, I suppose with the Archduchess being eleven herself they consider ten the age of maturity or something. But why risk someone as talented as you? Did you not hear those stories about the monsters in the gorge?” the old man asked. What stories? Kerrin had never heard of them.

“I must confess, no, I have not heard of them.” Kerrin replied.

“Not of the monsters? The weird bird brains? The shape-shifters? Oh, come on! Are you telling me the world moved on from my favorite entertainment in the last few decades? And here I was getting excited about finally going out and hearing all those fancy rumors about us.” the old man said.

Kerrin looked at the old man warily, “I take it that you are this protector Portal?”

“Yes, and you can see why” the old man said, waving at the arches. “I built these portals, you know. And have been running them for over three hundred years. But the protectors and elders have decided that this will be my last portal. I would call them foolish, but my knees did start causing problems about seven years ago. Besides, now I get to spend my last few years doing something else. I learned a bit of healing back in the day, we all did, escape from that bloody lab. I could help them young ones in the hospital if your thing doesn't pan out.” the old man said.

Kerrin got the feeling that he wasn’t really expecting a reply, or a conversation. But he was getting one any way, the old man wasn’t the only one bored.

“So, from one job to another? I don't suppose you considered taking a break?” Kerrin asked.

“Have you? A normal eleven-year-old would be playing ball or dreaming of killing monsters. Not sitting around chatting with an old man as a bloody Treeling. Oh, and lest we forget, waiting on a dying kid that's just a year younger than him. I say, how about you come here, eh?”

“I will make sure to pair you up with some good friends. I can’t really promise someone of your power, we have none of those, in your age group, but maybe someone your age.” the old man said, jokingly. Kerrin did not know how, but he knew that the offer was not serious, or rather, the old man never expected him to take him up on it.

“I have plenty of friends, thank you very much.” Kerrin replied as one of the portals came live.

“Oh, name one that's not on your Arch duchy’s head council. Actually, don’t bother, we both know that there isn’t one.” the old man said, getting up from his position, summoning a cane out of somewhere.

“Well, there is one. Elder Portal of the Gorge.” Kerrin said, also getting up.

The old man laughed, it was a hearty laugh, boisterous and a bit too loud. “Well, you got me there lad. I suppose we can be each other's friends that aren’t people we work with. Now come, you’ve made it that much harder for me to kill you lot if you harm us. So let's hope you haven’t got anything planned, for my sake.”

“I can’t promise that. The Archduchess has called the entire senior medical staff you know. I think she has something planned. A massive medical operation of some kind.” Kerrin said.

The old man looked at him sideways, shaking his head. “As long as it's the good type of planning.” A portal flickered open in front of them, presumably leading to the Arch duchy.

“After you, Kerrin of Alvere.'' the old man said, lifting a tiny, far too small for her age, red haired girl on his shoulders. Kerrin hadn't even noticed the girl before.

The portal did indeed lead to the Arch duchy, in fact it led straight to the medical Association’s headquarters. The second Kerrin stepped through, he was greeted by an unamused Archduchess staring at him.

“A portal in the middle of a hall? Do you know how many alerts you triggered, Kerrin?” she said.

“I hope they were enough to get you here. I didn’t really know where you were, you know.” the old man said, appearing behind him.

The Archduchess turned her attention to the old man, assessing him. “The envoy from the Gorge, I presume? I would like to welcome you and your ward to the Arch duchy.” she replied, smiling as she lowered her head in acknowledgment.

“I find myself welcome Archduchess. Now, can we get on with it?” the old man answered, returning the gesture.

“Yes, Argus and the rest have set up in the main operation theater. I am told there is enough room for all of us.” she answered as she led them towards a passage.

A few minutes later, they were all in a rather spacious hall that only had a single table in the center. A dozen odd men and women flanked the table, dressed in the Medical Association’s uniform. Kerrin recognized only Argus among them.

“The operation theater. The place where we conduct healing of a more delicate nature than we normally do.” the Archduchess said, “Please place the child on the table, so we can assess her.”

The old man complied, putting Aloha, who had yet to speak a word, on the table.

“Aloha is in great pain, Archduchess. The doctors have given her all the painkillers they can, but her condition literally burns them away.” the old man said.

“I assure you, we will take utmost care.” the Archduchess replied as she nodded towards Argus. Argus approached Aloha and removed a vial of Aloha’s blood by splitting the skin with magic. Argus floated the blood in the air.

“I presume you tried healing type Qi?” Argus asked the old man.

“Yes, it enhanced the disease.” the old man said.

Argus nodded. “Isolate the constituents, identify the cause.” Argus said, as the blood split into parts. A variety of objects now hovered in the air. “The Red cells, white cells and other constituents are normal. The only anomaly is the extra constituent, Fire Qi. The cause of its presence is unknown.”

Argus isolated and removed the Fire Qi, rejoining the blood sample. As before, the blood sample began boiling again in a few seconds. Argus repeated the separation, finding more Fire Qi.

“The Fire Qi is self replenishing. The diagnosis is anomalous production of Fire Qi within the body. A possible cure is removing whatever is causing the Fire Qi production.” Argus said.

“The problem is that there is no way to do that.” the old man said, sighing in sadness. “The doctors already tried.”