Orc Wars 2 : Lazarus

Chapter 77 - Kasakh

Kasakh, the she orc waited while the three familiars conferred silently with their respective Chosen.

"Yes!" Xico shouted from above. "My Chosen says yes. We will help her and Anya's Chosen. My Chosen will get to fight orcs and I will get to fly here!"

Tania and Anya nodded to the orc confirming their Chosen's' decisions. It was a deal, they would help her get back home in exchange for whatever medical knowledge she had.

"Now tell us what you know of his sickness."

"What caused it? Tell me so I can make a better guess ... diagnosis," said the she orc.

"A poisoned knife."

"Poison? Knife? What kind of poison? Liquid or powder? What color? I can only tell he is suddenly weak and short of breath. There are many which causes those signs."

"Yes, it comes and goes. He was stabbed by a special orc blade. He was poisoned with it, a thick white milky liquid came out of the knife?" Anya felt silly explaining it to the orc. Of course there was no such thing. A knife was a knife. How could a liquid be hidden in it? But that was what she had heard, she hoped the green one would not think she was deranged or making fun of her.

Tania grunted in agreement confirming Anya's narration. The two familiars had discussed between them when Anya had overheard her Chosen talking about it with Valentine. They had compared notes and agreed to keep alert for any information or possible cure they may come across in their travels / dungeoning.

The half-grown orc's eyes widened in shock, her huge mouth hung open. Kasakh's strong reaction indicated her recognition of the poison. It gave Anya hope.

"I heard him say, nak? Naog? Naaugg zee vrrr?" Anya struggled with the foreign word. Her canine brain was not made to decipher weird foreign languages.

"Nauk-dzi vras," Kasakh said sucking in her breath. She fully understood the implications of the deadly substance. "The red black death. And he was stabbed by a special orc knife, the sacred Illaru? Who could be so cruel?"

"Yes! That is it, what you said. It exists?"

"Yes, it exists," Kasakh trailed off wonderingly, "... and he survived?"

Kasakh lifted her black beady eyes to stare at Lazarus. All at once, her respect for this puny human increased. She had seen him fighting against the poison. She was aware of the gradual pain and suffering the nauk-dzi vras could inflict. After all, she had personally seen Sharak's declining health as he suffered through the long drawn out phases. It had turned ugly at the end.

The Overlord's young son, the jaav ukon, had been poisoned too. Sharak, the well-known miraculous shaman had been tasked to save the boy or he would be sentenced to death.

The shaman orc had taken the poison himself to enable the effective study and testing of his concoctions. Sharak had drunk a small diluted bowl of it confident in his abilities to deal with the new poison. It was death either way for him, so he had no qualms as he downed the strange milky liquid. Then he tried everything to reverse its effects. Nothing had worked. Sharak could only create a partial antidote to reduce the pain and suppress the poison, prolonging the jaav ukon's life. He needed more time.

In the end, Sharak had concluded that the terrible nauk-dzi vras could not be cured, unless the impossible was achieved. He had written it down, his wild theory and hidden it. It was so insane it might actually work. Then he had spoken frankly to the Overlord.