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"Sick, sick again.." Kenta's feverish mind tried to puzzle out what was happening to his body. The headache and nausea were so intense, a bolt of lighting connecting his head to his stomach.
"rest easy bro, i've sent the boys to find a healer....this is a bit beyond my abilities" Sir Ice told his brother, pushing him gently back down onto the bed.
"Maybe if you just kill me, then you could rez me....feels like i'm dying already, perhaps you could just hurry it up a bit?"
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"Well there you are my little bandersnatches" M'Alice said sweetly
Trey exploded through his change back into human "don't call me by that insulting Elvish name you witch"
"Calm down little one, I know how much you hate the elves. How much they've insulted you. How much they've hurt your family." M'Alice said "in fact i'm here to help your father, can you please lead me to him....I've spent so much time searching for him"
Trey gripped his hammer, nodding to his brothers still in their wolven form...."follow us"
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Upon entering the cabin Ice's sword cleared the scabbard with a distinctive ring, the etched heron standing out in the gloom; the point scraping a thin line in M'Alice's throat. "I Justicar Sir Ice place you under arrest in the name of the King"
M'Alice smiled sweetly "So a seeker of truth believes the lies of a corrupt King? Answer me this Sir Knight when has this king ever been a servant of the White? As an assassian wouldn't his very existance be opposite of all you believe in? Now, can you hold off on my arrest and execution till I help your brother? Or would you rather have him die?"
"Do what you can, I'll base my judgement on what I observe"
M'Alice looked down "Its been a long time by comrade, you are the spitting image of your many times great grandfather, the mercanary mage/warrior who was first to come to my Lord's aid. I will do all I can to aid you Howler, but bewarned that it will come with great pain and great cost to you"
"Is death so preferrable then? When has life never cost in pain?" Kenta answered weakly.
M'Alice looked around at the family, "No matter what happens, remember and believe what I do is to help him. Now who know's what one must do with a gangerous wound?"
"Usually it is amputated" Ice said quietly "So what do you propose to chop off his head?"
"Nothing so drastic Sir, it is his eyes that are the problem. The madness is simply a by product of the pain. So we must remove the eyes. He is a lycanthrope, they will grow back....especially with the aid of a spell. I'm just worried that it must be done several times to ensure healthy tissue." She looked down at the patient, "you understand what this means?"
"Yes, get on with it" came the weak reply.
In a flash the hooked kukuri came off M'Alice's belt and with twin plops the ruined eyes were flung out the window, with the accompanying screams. Alice began to chant "Endless health unto thee" holding her hand over where the eyes had been. "Now we must wait and see if it must be done again"
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Many "operations" later, Kenta opened his eyes....the blues of his eyes taking in the room. the boys asleep on the floor, his brother slumped in the chair...M'Alice sitting tailor fashion at the end of the bed.
"I knew you would come, I saw it"
"You were blind not because of what you saw, but what you refused to accept"
"I understand that now"
"You know what you are, what you were and what the Great Lord needs you to be?"
"Yes, I am, I was, I will be the Howler..One of the Great Lords Taken"
"Chosen brother, Chosen. Taken is a negative term the elves used to brand us as evil. We are no more evil than the idea of natural selection"
"So witch" Ice said 'you were true to your word. And for that I give you thanks. As for the arrest, I am a Knight of the Kingdom. But I will forget that I have seen you this day. The Balance give you blindness in me for restoring sight to my brother. Go your way in peace." M'Alice's features shimmered slightly, her disguise folding back into place. Adian looked at her long time friends "Always remember nothing is as it seems"
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