"Oh, thank the gods!" Mezur cried. "I was beginning to fear something had gone wrong."

"I assure you, madam, it did," Janus chimed in.

It was well after midnight by the time the party arrived back in Aramore, and they were all feeling the aches and pains of such a frenzied journey. Escaping into the forest and out of the clutches of the murderous goblins had been the easy part. What had reduced their journey to a crawl had been navigating over the twisted roots and tangles of thorns and brambles that had been treacherous enough during the day. To Bella and Carnate's eyes, they may have well have been in a cave.

Even with the night vision of the others, it had still been dangerous. One of the horses, Janus and Alicia's palomino, had jarred its foot into a den of some kind, snapping its leg like a branch. It was only with Carnate's and Hel's knowledge of magic that they managed to get it standing again. However, the animal was still left jumpy. The only experienced horsewoman, Bella, was forced to tie its reins to her saddle.

At that moment, Aldrich suggested that maybe they stop and try to rest for the night to continue the journey when they could actually see where they were going. "If this keeps up, it won't just be an animal that gets injured," he'd argued when his pocket watch clearly indicated it was now midnight. But he quickly back-peddled on his sentiment when the first howls rang through the still night air.

"The wolves we found were infected" was all Alicia needed to say for the group to come to a silent agreement to keep pushing forward.

Dawn was just about breaking by the time the walls of Aramore came into view, and there were more than a few noises of relief amongst the number. Most were dreaming of a soft bed and a warm, hearty breakfast as far from the bumpy, uncomfortable saddles as humanly possible, but that would have to wait a few hours.

After leaving the horses with their owner and informing him of the palominos injury, they snaked through the ramshackle streets towards the Mez's shop. Despite being sore and cold, they all found some form of amusement at the sight of a bleary-eyed Mezur opening the front door in her nightwear, long nightgown, quilted robe and rabbit fur slippers and all. Hel even took a moment to compliment her pale pink nightcap.

"Why, thank you, my dear, but we will have to talk about fashion later. From the looks on your faces, I believe you have something."

"One deer, one goblin and two flayed corpses if you're in the market for that kind of thing," Carnate said, shaking the bag of holding at her. The skins were long gone, most likely already in the Beast Master's store cupboard.

"I think I'll pass on that...delightful offer for now. Now come inside; we don't have time to waste."

Once inside the blessedly warm shop, Mez ushered them not down to the freezing ice room but to a small curtained area beyond the kitchen. She led them past where she and Hel had their fraught conversation and to a secluded spot no bigger than a six-by-six cell. All that was there was a metal table, a drain in the floor and a rack of blades, hammers and other tools Janus had only seen in the sawbones' office of the Colosseum.

The half-orc quickly and methodically removed her plush robe in favour of a more suitable leather apron and set out her tools on a small wheeled cart. "I don't dare wait for them to rot, so we'll do this quickly. You said you had both the goblin and a deer?"

Hel nodded, reaching into the opened bag of holding and drew out, with some effort, the pair of corpses stored within. It was a peculiar sight. The deer was obviously dead, its eyes were closed and its legs bound together, but the goblin was another matter entirely. Its eyes were wide open and bulging, its face contorted, its hands curled around its throat like it had been gasping for breath.

"Shove it into a bag of holding. Not a bad idea," Mezur remarked. She examined the deer now, carefully pouring over every stretch of fur and skin for marks or damage. "Another clean kill; how'd you manage it?"

"That's a good point," Alicia turned to Hel. "How did you do it? Janus and I weren't there."

With a cheeky smile, Hel drew a coil of wire wrapped in something from his pocket. "Leather wrapped snare wire," he explained. "Tight enough to hold it in place but not so bad it would break the skin. All I had to do then was string it upside-down for an hour or two, so the blood would run to its head. Shock got it in the end."

"I will admit that ain't bad."

"Why, thankyou Aldrich."

"Alright, you can all gush about it later, but right now, we've got work to do. You, elf, Alicia, wasn't it? Cut the bindings and help me put the deer on the table; we'll start with that."

Mezur worked efficiently. With the beast laid on its back, she took a small scalpel from the cart and ran it gently over the animal's belly, which burst open like a swollen purse. From there on, the party needn't have looked further as the same nauseating smell hit them like a wave. Most managed to stand firm against the stench, but others, such as Hel and especially Janus, lost the urge to gag, the latter of whom had to run from the room to stick his head out of a window. Even Mezur wrinkled her nose in disgust.

When the tabaxi returned a few pounds lighter, the sight before them became horrifically clear. The internal organs were nothing but a blackened mush barely held together by sinews and tendons. The stomach and intestines had ruptured at some point, spilling bile and excrement throughout its flesh.

While Mez, willing her iron stomach to hold, dug through whatever was left of the thing's insides, she pressed the ranger for information. "Did you notice anything unusual about it? Did you recognise some symptoms with the other animals? Was it more aggressive?"

Yes, he replied. Yes, to everything.

When she was confident there was nothing else to be gained from it, the druid wrapped the remains in an old sack and instructed Aldrich, the least affected by the foul odour, to dump it on the cart outside. He returned quickly to see the same operation being performed on the humanoid. Once again, Mezur took her scalpel to the creature's belly, and the contents drew a horrified gasp from the onlookers.

It was the exact same scene, perhaps not as advanced, but it was undoubtedly the same condition. The flesh was rotting away before their very eyes. Some organs were untouched, but the intestines, liver, kidneys and even the tongue were either gone entirely or present but barely resembling what they had been before. The nails and teeth had dropped free of peeling gums and fingers, and when Mezur poked it with a needle, an eye burst, showering the face with blood.

The party just stared at it.

Bella was the first to speak, her voice trembling as she found the right words. "That's technically a humanoid, right? So does that mean that it- can it-"

"Can it transfer to us?" Mezur wiped her brow with her sleeve. "From this, I'd say yes."

"So you know what it is then?" Janus asked.

Mez nodded. "I was afraid it would be this, but I needed to make sure. I didn't want it to be true, but here it is. It's a form of ancient blight magic that comes from the Genesis of Nyxia-"

"But that's thousands of years ago! Nothing remains from there, not even the gods!" Carnate argued.

"That is mostly true, but there are still slivers of stories left behind, and some people argue that magic is just a kind of story."

Aldrich huffed in frustration. "Get to the point! What is it, and how serious is it?"

"It's called Ramasar's Corrupting Touch," Mez went on, "and it is extremely serious. Back in the beginning, magic was primal, raw and untamed. You could do whatever you wanted, and no one could stop you, and Ramasar was someone who took that to heart."

Bella frowned. "Ramasar...I don't know why but that name sounds familiar."

"Yeah, I could've sworn I'd heard it too," Carnate added.

"He was a human, possibly one of the first to reach Azaire when it was still inhabited by your ancestors Carnate. It's also believed he was one of the first necromancers. He started by researching plants and bringing them back from death. Of course, his taste quickly matured from daisies, and he started experimenting in animals and, of course, eventually humans."

Bella snapped her fingers. "Yeah, that's it! He was the reason the gods came in and sanctioned magic except those sourced from the divine until the Age of Arcana! If my memory was correct, the first humans, elves, dwarves, gods and dragonborn came together to defeat him. I think he was eaten in the end."

"And all of his magic, discoveries and land were burned and cleansed so that no one could recreate what he had done. However, a few records were stored in the Erunsbane Sanctum so that if something ever did reappear, say if someone came across something they weren't supposed to see and replicated the magic, it could be dealt with." At that, Mezur chewed her bottom lip, not an easy task considering her giant tusks. "The problem is that spell is ritual that was nigh on impossible to complete and was only intended to affect plants and livestock. Somehow it's changed."

"If what you're saying is true, then over ten thousand years have passed since the Genesis. Nothing stays stagnant, not even magic, so I would expect something to be different."

"I agree with Hel," Alicia said. "All it takes is one narcissistic moron with too much time on their hands, and you've got a doomsday device."

"And this time, it ain't just a few barnyard beasties getting offed. This time it looks like we're on the chopping block," muttered Janus.

Carnate turned to Mez. "How long do you think we've got?"

Mez shrugged helplessly. "Wish I could say, but all I can say is it's bad. This deer is infected, so it isn't just constrained to predators. My best guess is that somehow the curse went through the plants and into the systems of the prey. It must be transferred through being eaten."

Alicia's eyes widened with a sudden realisation. "The goblins were cooking a rat when I came across that poor fool. It was faint, but I could've sworn it had this strange sweet smell."

"That my dear was probably rotting flesh, and it explains why the goblins were infected but not as severely; see the heart and lungs? They're covered in pustules, but they're relatively intact compared to stomach."

"And that means that anyone who eats an infected creature can get the disease themselves!" Hel suddenly leapt to his feet, grabbing hold of Mezur's sleeve. "We have to make sure no one eats any wild game!"

"I'm way ahead of you, my dear. After you left, I put out a word of warning to my guild that something may be sweeping through Azaire. They're a collection of druids, rangers and other influential folks that will be able to get the word out," Mez assured him gently.

"Wha' 'bout a cure?" Aldrich leant heavily on his staff, frowning hard. "Wha' you're talkin' 'bout will only delay the inevitable. If Azaire stands a chance, then this needs to be stopped an' stopped now."

"And that is where the problem lies." Mezur stepped away from the table and reached behind her for a black leather-bound book. It was dusty and old and written in a language that only Aldrich and Hel could read. It was celestial, the language of the gods and of the first humans. She put it down on the table, dust billowing outwards from the musty pages and started flicking through it, stopping at a page titled 'Ritual Curses'. "This isn't a situation where you can just cast Greater Restoration or Dispel Magic and be done with it. This spell is derived from a very complex ritual that takes a shred of magic and amplifies it to be more devastating than you can imagine."

"Like a blood hunter?" Bella asked.

"Exactly like that. Most likely, some idiot has got their hands on a remnant of Ramasar's original magic and has run it through a catalyst to make it stronger and spread. What for I can't possibly guess. It could be a curious student biting off more than they can chew or a weapon gone wrong."

"Or a weapon gone right," Alicia murmured.

Mezur nodded. "Yes, that is also a possibility. But either way, it won't stop until the source is destroyed. You're going to have to find it and the amplifiers; they can store magic for months at a time with or without the source being present."

Janus scoffed. "I'm sorry, I may possibly be going deaf because I could've sworn I just heard you say "you're". Am I the only one who heard that, anyone else?"

Janus may have been laughing and the rest of the party looking about each other, smiling nervously, but Mezur looked ferocious. They all had someone in their life like that, someone who could be sweet as sugar one moment and then hard as a keep wall the next. Father Alister, Monique, Aiden Ironborne, Scalebearer Karyntha, Nemesis and even Mezur herself. They quickly realised she wasn't joking, and the arguments began.

"See here, ma'am," Aldrich protested. "We did this one thing for you at the elf's insistence, and we went along with it because he promised that would be it!"

"Yeah, we had a deal!" Janus added.

"I know, I know. But I can't do this alone. My adventuring days are in the distant past; even my magic isn't quite as sharp as it used to be. I need your help!"

"Mezur..." Carnate begged, "some of us are just trying to keep our heads down here. This isn't our skill set."

At that moment, Carnate glanced quickly to Hel. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to see; perhaps the young half-elf would be ready to jump to his friend's defence. Betrayal was not on that list.

"Mez, you know me! You even said it yourself you know why I- why we can't do this."

At that, Mezur's heart broke. She loved that damn boy with her entire being, and she couldn't stand the idea of throwing him back into the flames just after he'd crawled out. But she didn't have a choice. "Hel, I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't desperate. Even on the fastest of messages, it will take too long for words to reach Erunsbane and experts to get here. Besides, with all the unrest between Azaire and Underdark, they may not realise the urgency until it's too late."

"But what could we possibly do to change anything." Alicia shot a quick glance at Janus and hung her head. "Some of us aren't exactly heroes."

"Few heroes are, my dear."

"It's not just that either. It's like Carnate said, most of us are just trying to stay out of trouble. I'm trying to move out of Azaire, some of us are trying to repay debts, and some of us just want to survive for a little longer. We understand this is the noble and the right thing to do, but we can't do this. Some of us only have what we're carrying. Plus, we are in a contract with the Beast Master, and we made a deal with him first, a deal we can't–"

"How much?" Mez interrupted Bella.

The human blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"How much is he paying you?"

The party once again exchanged a look of confusion. "Erm...." Hel shrugged. "Six thousand split five ways."

"The lizard don't want nothin'."

Carnate blushed. "Yeah, I can use the temples for income. I didn't want anything."

Mez put her hands on her hips and thought for a moment. "Alright, how about I add another six to that?"

Most of them froze in shock, except for Fenrin, who was perched on Carnate's shoulder looking incredibly confused.

"Mezur, that's a lot-"

But Mezur once again interrupted Alicia, this time with something that sent them reeling. "Each."

Six jaws dropped open unanimously. For some, they stood there gaping like a trout on a fishmongers stall. Others kept trying to speak, but they could only manage spluttering noises and puffs of air. In the end, it was the tabaxi who shook off the cat from his tongue. "Each?!" Janus made a strangled sound.

Hel recovered next. "Mez, that's too much! Besides, you don't even have access to that kind of money!"

"But my guild does, and we know we need you. We can't act without the king's approval, but as an independent party, you can. We are within our rights to hire you to seek out the source of the infection and destroy it. I have discussed this with my fellow guild members, and we are not just willing to go through with this, but we are going to do this. While you were gone, I had a contract written up if it was something out of our hands and wouldn't you know it but guess what happened. So long as you are willing to do this, and I mean willing to go to the end to find this, we are willing to pay. So what do you say?"

But for the life of them, no one could say anything; they were either too taken aback or too exhausted to say a single word. All except for Carnate.

"What happens if we say no?"

"Then thousands of people will die." She said it bluntly. No frills, no sugar coating, just plain and simple truth, a language that, even with the many tongues on display they could all speak perfectly. "Listen, tell you what, sleep on it. You all look like shit, and you could probably do with some rest. I can't offer you the rooms at the tavern, but I've got a spare bedroom upstairs so long as some of you don't mind sleeping on the floor."

"That would do us just fine," Bella said politely.

"Good to hear. But just promise me you'll think about it. You don't know it yet, but we need you more than you could possibly imagine. For all, we know the world could be at stake."

"So no pressure then?" Janus barked.

Mez smiled kindly. "Nah. No pressure at all."

***

Mezur may have told them to get some rest, but sleep didn't come easy. It wasn't the tiny room causing them issues, Mez's spare bedroom was comfortable and dry, even if the boys had to sleep on the floor. Bella had tried to protest about taking it, but she was faced with a very firm no from the four men. Alicia was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

But she didn't stay asleep for long; no one did. They all kept tossing and turning in their sleep, waking up with a start and a gasp at random moments from their worries clouding their dreams. The voice in Carnate's head had been especially venomous, whispering that he was a coward and a fool for even considering this madman's errand.

At around midday, the group finally sat up together, each face carefully studying their neighbour. The choice had kept them all awake, and now they had to face each other.

"So..." it was Carnate who spoke up first, clearing his throat, which was drier than after breathing an entire mouthful of fire. "What do we do?"

"What can we do?" Bella added.

Aldrich snorted. "Nothin'. I'm sorry, but this ain't our problem."

"If we don't find the source of the blight soon, it will be. It'll be everyone's problem, and by then, it may be too far gone to reverse." Hel grumbled.

"I agree with Aldrich," Alicia said. "We can't do anything, Hel! What difference can we make!"

"A single raindrop can start a flood! A single soldier can change the course of a battle! One person's actions can make all the difference in the world!"

"We are not soldiers!" Alicia argued. "Some of us aren't even citizens, for god's sake!"

"Maybe that's why we should do it." Five heads turned to who had spoken in shock and surprise. Janus stood, back pressed to the wall, fiddling absentmindedly with the white fur on the tip of his tail. "I mean, in the long run," he went on, "we don't matter. We're no one."

"You've got to be kiddin' cat."

Janus glanced sharply at Aldrich. "For once in my life, dwarf, I'm not. I've been giving it some thought and...I really can't believe I'm saying this, but we have the power to do something." He sighed, "look, I know what it's like to feel vulnerable and desperate for help. When shit hit the fan back home, I used to wonder where everyone was. Why no one was coming to help us. I realised it was because no one cared about us; we were nothing to them, and that's what whoever has started this thing thinks about us too. That we don't matter, that no one is going to care if we just disappear."

"I know that feeling," Alicia muttered.

"Me too," Hel added.

"Me as well," said Carnate.

"I think we all do," Bella rested her cheek on her hand. "Societies rejects... heh that just about sums it up. The pieces of the puzzle that just don't fit with the 'grand plan'."

"But maybe we're just not meant to fit. Maybe we're meant for something else," said Hel.

"Y'know if you're trying to talk me round, it may be working," Aldrich smirked.

Alicia scoffed. "Look, I get the rousing speech and all, but that doesn't change the fact that we're useless!"

"You know, my stepfather used to tell me that. He told me I was a mistake and that I was no good, and I believed him. I believed him until I entered an archery competition just after I left home. It was just a bit of fun; maybe I'd get third and walk away with a bit of gold. I certainly didn't expect to win, but a few hours later, I was walking away with a perfect score and the top prize," Hel said.

She squinted at him. "What's your point?"

"For years, I was so blinded by his constant criticism and belligerent nagging I genuinely thought I was crap, but in reality, I was brilliant. I was strong. Capable. I was more than he ever said I was!" Suddenly he grabbed Alicia by the hand, hauled her to her feet and pointed at Bella. "Bella, who was the one who brought you down?"

It took her a moment together herself. "My father," she croaked. "I'm his only biological child, but he chose my stepbrothers to be his heirs. It was like he hated me just for being a girl."

"Thank you for your honesty." Now he shoved her in front of Aldrich. "We're all getting this treatment, so be truthful. Your go Aldrich."

"It was Father Brogeln. He was jealous I was better than him with a forge, so he blamed me for every mistake in the monastery."

"Are you kidding me? My head is on the line back in the colosseum. Everyone hated me there! Even the ones who didn't say it to my face.

"All the priests. They call Bahamut's one great mistake."

"See?" Hel said gently. "We all know what it's like, so what about you."

When she spoke, her voice thought, like Alicia was on the verge of tears. "I'm a prostitute; not a day's gone by when I haven't heard it."

"We all know what it's like to be abandoned, but right now, people need us, and they don't deserve to be abandoned by us. So what do you say?"

Alicia sniffed. She took a moment, turning so as not to show anyone the first pearly tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Bella handed her a handkerchief but said nothing. She didn't need to. Alicia handed it back and giggled. "Did you really just come up with that speech right now? Or did you have that rehearsed?"

"Every night in front of the mirror before bedtime."

As the elves hugged, Aldrich laughed. It was that signature deep, booming dwarvish laugh that could've been heard from the basement of the tavern three streets away. "So I guess this means we're doing it then?"

"It could be fun?" Janus suggested.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Fun isn't exactly the word I'd use."

Carnate swung his morningstar over a few times. Something had been bugging him for a while. It had been on his mind since setting foot on the mainland. It was the question of why. "Y'know something. Before I came here, I had a vision from Bahamut telling me to come to Wildport and listen to the crowd. I think I've mentioned it."

"Yeah, in the tavern," Bella said.

"Well, what if the reason I'm here is this. What if Bahamut was telling me to do this?"

"Well, if it's a god's orders, no matter how poncy a god, we should listen. There could be somethin' funny goin' on."

Carnate's eyes widened. "Are you...are you agreeing with me?"

"Don't get used to it, lizard."

Despite the warning, Carnate could help but smile. This would never happen again, so by the gods, he was going to savour it.

Something had changed in that moment. An unspoken agreement that unknowingly would change the course of not only their lives but the world in general. The loose threads had tied, bonding irreversibly. A new union was made. A union that could never be broken. And as Janus grinned, white teeth glinted in the flickering firelight, he sealed their destinies forever.

"Well then, let's go save the fucking world."