“Clemens!”
The cry, akin to a scream, sounded as though it had come from Zack. Clemens had crumpled to the ground, struck by an arrow from an unknown assailant. Dark red drops of blood stained the ground near his left arm, forming a small pool.
“He was shot?! But how?!” cried an adventurer.
“Was it a stray arrow?!” cried another.
Shock ran through everyone in the immediate area as it hit them all that the injury had not been caused by the dragon. Confusion rippled across the battlefield.
“Stand strong!” shouted Alec, bringing his comrades’ focus back to the task at hand. “I’ll see to Clemens! The rest of you keep up the attack!”
His voice roused his comrades from their distress, but he was all too aware that he was perhaps most shaken of them all. Based on where his friend had fallen and the direct line he could draw to the suspected shooter, Alec knew that Clemens had likely just saved his life. He also saw that the shooter himself had fallen, his shoulder pierced by an arrow from Linus’s bow. Frol sprinted to the attacker, enraged, and took him by the collar, barking abuse. Based on the man’s appearance and Frol’s reaction to him, Alec surmised that he was an Imperial.
And when that fact hit him, everything came together in Alec’s mind. He had never met the shooter before, but he knew then that he was not the man’s target for no reason. This was no coincidence. Clemens had taken an arrow meant for Alec, though perhaps it was more accurate to say that the arrow was meant for Allen Schrigeena, the false identity that Alec had left behind in the Empire.
“Let the gavel of death fall upon the betrayer!”
The man was dressed like a raggedy, filthy hunter, and he cackled as a group of knights held him down.
“Long live the emperor!” he shouted. “Eternal glory to Dolgast!”
He continued to cackle as though he were out of his mind, and it was for this reason that none took note of his use of the word “betrayer.” All simply assumed he was an old stalwart of the Empire, and that his actions were spurred by the loss of his sanity.
As Alec held Clemens in his arms, he felt the strength leave his friend’s body. The sudden weight of it as Clemens slipped out of consciousness left Alec almost unable to breathe. He knew this weight. He’d had to see friends pass on a number of times since having become an adventurer, and when they breathed their last in his arms, it had felt just like this.
“You damned idiot!” Alec cried, holding back his tears. “You fool! Why would you do that?!”
“Need you even ask?” replied Clemens, smiling even though he could barely speak through the pain. “You finally...have...the happiness you...always wanted. I could not...let it end...here... Not like this...”
“But what about you?! What about Nadia?! Would you put her through such tragedy a second time?!”
“Yeah, that first time...wasn’t...me, though...”
Clemens tried to muster another smile, but could only manage a pained moan, his breath suddenly coming in sharp gasps. He shuddered as he fought for oxygen. Sweat beaded on his forehead and ran down his face. He reached a shivering hand to his chest as he struggled. Clemens was as tough as nails, and it was not like him to writhe and cry out in such agony—Alec knew that it was no ordinary arrow they were dealing with.
Could it get any worse...?
It was poison, of that there was no doubt, and it had likely coated the arrow’s tip. With Clemens’s blood racing due to all the exertion, the poison would be quick to spread through his body.
“Clem...” uttered Nadia.
She was as pale as a sheet as she looked down at her lover bleeding on the ground. The fear of once again losing the man she loved brought the woman known as fire incarnate to her knees. There was still no sign of a physicker, nor any herbalists. The timing was awful, and even the medics all had their hands full. Medicine was an option, but it wasn’t going to help while Clemens still had the arrow stuck in his arm. That said, if they weren’t careful about removing it, it was possible they’d only cause greater bleeding, or otherwise make the situation even worse.
But we can’t just leave him like this!
Clemens wasn’t just poisoned—he was also steadily losing blood. Left unattended, he would most certainly die. A shadow fell across Clemens’s handsome face—the specter of death was at hand, and it did not wish to leave without him. Time was running out.
Suddenly, Shiori was at Alec’s side, carrying styptics, antidotes, and bandages. Her eyes showed her resolve—she was ready to go as soon as Alec was. He made up his mind and tore through Clemens’s bloody clothes to reveal the arrow wound. It was so grotesque a sight that he could not help but gasp.
The arrow had entered at a shallow angle above Clemens’s elbow, threading through the flesh across the surface of his arm and burying itself in his shoulder.
This wound... It will need an experienced hand...
But even given the severity of the wound, Alec wanted to at least stop the bleeding. He reached out gingerly towards Clemens’s arm, but it was at that moment that a panicked voice cried out angrily to stay his hand.
“No! Don’t touch it unless you know what you’re doing!”
Ordinarily, none could have ever imagined Linus shouting so fiercely. He leaned in to get a clearer look at the wound before speaking again.
“Damn it—it’s just what I thought!” he spat. “It’s a contraband poison! If you pull that arrow out, the head will stay lodged in the wound—the arrow is designed so that doing as much will release the rest of the poison. If we aren’t careful, pulling the arrow free will only kill him!”
The arrow had been cunningly crafted to ensure that even taking emergency measures would shorten the target’s lifespan.
Linus explained that the last time he had seen such an arrow was when he was a child, and his great uncle had died due to an accidental shot. The poison arrows were meant for magical beasts, but such had been the casualty count among its users that they had then been prohibited. As such, the arrows were no longer commonly traded.