Obsidian (2022)

11. Schemes and Collusion

Chapter 11

Schemes and Collusion

"It's when we make the decision to fight a joint enemy, that we realize how much we need the support of others."

The children sat on old chairs tied up and unconscious. The little shack covered them from the upcoming rain. Rin and Jade had made a shelter and kept a close eye on them just in case.

Darya walked in the shack, pulled her sleeves up, and squatted in front of the chairs.

"What is she doing?" Jade asked.

Kieran followed her in. "She said she's going to fix them."

"How?" Rin's attention was back on Darya.

"Give me a dagger?" Darya put her hand out.

Kieran stepped forward and handed her one without questions.

She cut through the sleeves of the children carefully and observed the veins on their elbow pit. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Their upper arms looked fine as well.

"What are you looking for?" Jade asked.

"Needle holes," Darya answered observing the bodies.

"If they don't have any?" Rin asked.

"It means whatever made them like this was swallowed or inhaled and not injected. It can give me an insight into what happened to their bodies."

"Do you think it was something injected?" Kieran asked helping her check their legs.

"I don't want to jump to conclusions yet because I don't see any needle points.

"I can't think of anything that can cause yellowish eyes." Kieran rubbed his neck. This seemed hopeless.

Darya opened their eyes and held up a Cerasus solar pebble. In the darkroom, it served as a light.

"These eyes are just a side reaction. Is it not their main problem?" She sighed. "I'm almost certain is a drug that causes blackouts, confusion, speech impediment and anemia." Darya pulled the boy's shirt and leaned over to see the smudge on it.

She rubbed her forehead. "There's no way they can feed themselves. I believe someone is force-feeding them to stay alive, otherwise, they would have died a long time ago."

"Maybe it is the ones who did this to them." Jade frowned and took a step closer to them. "They are skinny and pale. Look how tiny their little bodies are. Who would do this to them?"

"The west village maybe knows something." Rin answered.

"In any case, I'm going to need to do some tests first before I help them. We have no other options than to find the village and ask to see what medical instruments and medicine their doctors have." Darya said.

"I hate this idea. We have no idea what kind of people live here." Kieran took back the dagger.

"We still have to move them from here if we want them to get better," Jade said and pulled out a pouch of herbs. "This will keep them asleep for a little while longer." She pressed it to their noses to inhale it.

She untied the ropes and picked up the boy in her arms.

Darya lifted one of the girls and Rin took the other girl and turned toward Kieran. "I'll carry her. We need one person that can act in defense if it comes to it."