Sword & Spear - A Sushang Fanfic

7: Dispelling Disaster - Reader's side

Chapter art by KeyStone: https://twitter.com/TASAN57464005

The Ten-Lords Commission. Mainly overseeing the passing of souls of the Mara-struck and those who were at death's door to the Hall of Karma, a place where the souls of the dead were collected, along with their other duties of being judge, jury and executioner of criminals. If one were to go around asking for the opinions of the public about them, one would arrive at a certain conclusion.

They were trusted and respected, and yet at the same time, they were shunned and feared. But what everyone knew as an unspoken rule was that if you were approached by a Ten-Lord Commissioner unannounced, it almost never meant good news.

And yet here was one that approached me and asked me to take Sushang and follow her. Disobeying her was out of the question, and so I had no choice but to carry Sushang in my arms and followed - an ominous feeling brewed within me as I considered the possibilities. Being called by the Ten-Lord Commission who saw an unconscious girl meant only one reason - Sushang was suspected of being afflicted with Mara.

As I followed the Ten-Lord Commissioner through the streets with Sushang in my arms, I could feel the eyes of the people staring, their stares of suspicion, curiosity and some with stares of pity, only for their eyes to dart away the moment I looked at them quickly.

Passing by the iconic ancient dragon tree meant that we had arrived at the Alchemy Commission, where I was directed to a small house in a quiet corner of the street. The house was quiet, devoid of life. My nose crinkled as I entered one of the rooms, the smell of bitter herbs and medication creating a pungent odour.

Looking around, I saw on one side of the room, a single bed and a couple of chairs. A table sat along one of its walls, cupboards and drawers stacked beside it, probably holding various remedies. Placing Sushang in the bed and holding her hand in mine, my heart wrenched as I saw the expression on her face, one of discomfort and agony.

A few minutes passed before someone else entered the room. She was a Vidayadhara girl the size of a child - though it would be rude to assume likewise about her age. Everything about her was purple or a shade of it - her hair, her horns, even the scales on her tail. The only feature of her that wasn't purple was her jade eyes on her face which now wore a serious look as she entered the room.

She walked towards Sushang without a word, and she began to check her condition, checking her pulse, looking at the rise and fall of her chest with a hand on her diaphragm, before she took a slip of paper on the table to write something down before handing it to me.

"Go tell the Ten-Lord Commissioner outside that it isn't Mara. Probably just exhaustion from overwork. She'll get better after a good, long rest." She instructed. I heaved a sigh of relief, but as I stood up to leave, Sushang's breathing started becoming ragged, and her body began to writhe in pain.

The anxiety within me began to bubble to the surface. "What's wrong with her, Lady Bailu?" As I bombarded her with questions in my panic, she raised her tail and gestured for me to shut up as she climbed onto the chair beside Sushang. She placed a small hand on Sushang's forehead while placing her other hand on her neck. Her expression was calm, as if she was expecting this to happen.

Nodding and hopping off the chair, she explained. "You 'long-lived species' expend a lot more energy when recovering to your default states, creating a lot of internal heat in the process. If no cooling is provided, it results in a fever and all these other symptoms which is what this girl is experiencing. Now hurry and help me make some medication, for this small body is not very capable of hard labour."

She hurried around the room, grabbing a few packs of powered herbs from the shelves before heading to the table where she began to fiddle with various tools and kits, ordering me to do various tasks like pounding herbs with a pestle and mortar till they were a fine paste, reaching the shelves high above her that she was unable to reach. She then took the various products that were made, poured them into a glass and left the room.

Minutes later, she returned with the same glass, except this time with the medicine, the medicine in question being too watery to be mud, and instead looked like someone had casually mixed dirt into water, leaving clumps of dirt to settle at the bottom of the cup. Lifting Sushang's head slowly, she slowly fed her the medicine, and Sushang's condition began to stabilize as she now slept peacefully once more in the bed.

"There we go, she should feel better now." Bailu proudly declared.

Still feeling a little paranoid, I asked the healer lady, "It's really not Mara, right?" Bailu looked at me, her annoyance visible on her face.

"Yes, it's not Mara. I may look young, but trust me when I say so. Don't you dare look down on me just because I have the appearance of a child!" A quizzical smug then crossed her face. "Although, you seem awfully concerned with this girl. You in love with her or something?" She teased.

Perhaps I felt the healer lady was making light of my feelings for Sushang, and I retorted back defensively.

"So what if I am in love with her?"

Lady Bailu, slightly taken aback by my response, stared at me, her expression both one of shock and surprise. She gestured for me to calm down.

"No need to get so defensive. Also, stop making so much noise, you'll disturb her much-needed rest and wake her up. Off you go now. Don't worry, she's in good hands."

The small dragon lady pushed me out of the room and continued to gesture for me to scram. I was scheduled for a patrol shift later, and so as much as I wanted to be by Sushang's side when she awoke, I had to leave to attend to my duties.