A Bored Lich

Doevm looked around and to his surprise, Frey was nowhere to be found. However, there was a trail of deep footprints heading into town. 'First Thomas and now Frey,' he thought. 'This better not become a pattern.'

"Doevm," Thomas called through the mental connection. "I assume the report I just received of a giant attacking the town is actually Frey's doing."

"Tell your father not to hire fools next time," Doevm replied through the mental connection.

"It was not his…never mind. I will explain in a moment, after Jameson leaps you to the estate."

Doevm furrowed his brow. "We can just as easily bring the carriage over to you. What do you mean by 'leap me over to the estate'?"

In a flash of bright, golden life essence, Doevm was ripped away from the outskirts of town.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself within the flower-filled courtyard of the Virility estate. A looming mansion stared him down. 'Guess Olpi and Elero will have to catch up on their own.'

Disoriented at the sudden change in scenery, Doevm would have fallen over if his father Jameson, head of the Virility guard, weren't holding him upright. "Hey kiddo."

Doevm shook his head. "Father, I understand that you must be excited because you've made a breakthrough, father, but I could have used a warning. I couldn't see you coming." He turned around and looked Jameson head to toe.

A few month's time had greyed parts of his black hair, which began to stretch into a well-groomed beard. His brown-eyed gaze, however, was as piercing as ever. A few grey hairs wouldn't force him to yield his perfect posture either. "I broke through to the golden level weeks ago," Jameson explained. "Plus I know you can handle it." He yanked open the front door, then glanced over his shoulder. "You coming?"

Doevm followed with a kick in his step, out of a habit from working under his strict mannerisms.

A kindling fire casted its light over empty furniture. Their shadows danced against the left wall, near which a half-dozen plates stared up at the dining room ceiling. Doevm welcomed the house's warmth, and all the simple memories it stirred up from years prior. Everything was smaller than he remembered, including Jameson.

They ascended the stairs. Doevm turned towards the library, yet Jameson kept walking up the stairs. "You coming?" he asked.

"We aren't allowed near the lord's sleeping quarters…"

Jameson beckoned for him to come: "As acting lord, permission granted."

"Acting lord?" Doevm glanced at the library doors. Where before two guards kept watch, a stillness hung in the air.

The answer to his increasing questions awaited him on the third story, where he had never stepped foot before. It was underwhelming. At the end of a hallway with two doors on its left and right was a small training ground with practice weapons and dummies. Their destination was made obvious by both the noises inside and the guards standing watch, one of which opened the door for them.

"Don't worry father," Thomas said as he stood by his father's bedside. "Help is here."

Lord Virility's eyes were covered by a moist towelette, and thick blankets covered his body, leaving only a sad, unkempt mustache uncovered. Lying on the nightstand was a small painting of three smiling faces and his headwear.

The three maids tending to him bowed and left. Jameson put a hand on Doevm's back. They walked up to the foot of lord Virility's bed. The lord's chest rose and fell with each labored breath.

Just like that, Doevm's trip down memory lane was brought to a screeching halt. The calm days of cleaning books while lord Virility silently, pleasantly scribbled on his desk, were over.

"Doevm?" Thomas asked. "Can you tell us why he's dying? The healers can't figure it out."

Doevm walked around the side of the bed. He gently lifted the towelette off lord Virility's face, and cursed. "He has been poisoned."

There was a pause as both Thomas and Jameson absorbed his words. The room's occupants sank down in chairs, which had previously been brought into the room.

"Are you sure?" Jameson asked, strangely serious even though he didn't know about Doevm's skills. He shouldn't have known, yet he was so serious, so matter of fact, that it caused Doevm to question himself.

'Have I been careless,' Doevm thought. He set the thought aside, and pointed out the blackened veins running down lord Virility's arms. "This poison runs through the body slowly. It takes days to kill its intended target."

Jameson furrowed his brow. "You sound like you know-"

"But it's been two weeks and he isn't dead," Thomas interrupted.

Doevm closed his eyes for a moment. "It's likely the Virility bloodline. In addition to access to healing potions, his nervous system is reinforced against…" he looked at the confused crowd and let out a sigh. "He's stronger than the average person, but he's still dying."

Jameson nodded. It was an odd sight, seeing his own father listening to him without question, and not the other way around. "Does The Fracture have anything to do with this?"

Doevm raised an eyebrow. "The Fracture?"

Jameson pointed to the ceiling. "That's what the townsfolk are calling what happened to the moon. There are so many theories about the Fracture that you can't tell right from left anymore if you hear them all. In the chaos, we've been dealing with this…" He gestured to lord Virility. "Or I should say I've been dealing with this. I have been acting as lord in his stead while young master Thomas has been gone. We tried to contact you guys. I take it the message never arrived. The messenger is probably dead from all the chaos that's been happening."

Doevm nodded. "From the increased monster attacks?"

"How did you know that?"

Doevm shrugged. "It explains all the new mercenaries?"

Jameson narrowed his eyes for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh. "I know how to fight, not be a lord. I never have time. I want this over as soon as possible. Nonetheless, thank you for your diagnosis, Doevm. Now that we have that information, I think we know what the next step is."

Thomas stood up. "If it's recent, and it's poisoning, it has to be the mercenaries, right?"

Jameson shook his head. "That sounds too obvious. I've seen something like this before, when my commander fell ill. After a week of scouring the outskirts for an assassin, we discovered it was internal. Someone had waited for their chance to move. Before suspecting anyone, I should ask the more important question: can lord Virility recover from this?"

Doevm leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes for a moment. "Without the exact strain of this toxin, I can't create an antidote, not that I even have the skill for that sort of thing. The only option is to find the toxin itself."

"You sound so sure. Are you familiar with this?" Jameson asked.

'Of course I'm familiar with it,' Doevm thought. 'Those damned War Monks never change.'

Meanwhile…

Doevm vanished within a puff of gold life essence.

Elero crossed her arms and tapped her foot as Wade awkwardly looked around.. "Those idiots left us behind."