Hope I'll have enough

"Mors? Gonna guess and say that's the man who posted the notice." I asked as the woman led me through the village. Simple and little more than a hamlet. In total there must have only been a dozen homes in total. "Do you know what happened to his son? I'm sure he'll answer me, but anyone's side of the story would be helpful."

"Yes, Mors is one of the younger farmers. He inherited his father's plot and came here with his wife and son. The poor boy is only a couple winters old. Maybe ten, on a good guess. The other week his son was playing in the forest when he fell into a crack in the earth. We don't know a whole lot past that, but he's badly hurt and hasn't been very responsive for the last four or five days." We came to a stop outside of one of the many identical houses. Inside I could hear a woman and a man talking but they didn't seem in the best spirits. "Mors will be able to tell you more. All I know is what rumors hit these old ears."

"Old ears can catch a lot. Thank you, Miss?"

"Oh, forgive me, son. My name is Loroni." She said with a smile. She reached out and knocked on the door. After a moment the door opened and a rather attractive woman answered. Though despite her youth and beauty she was ragged. Countless days and nights without rest. Inside the house sat a man of similar age, maybe early thirties for the pair of them. In front of the man lay a small boy. His leg was propped up and held together with a splint. There was a rag laying across his forehead, and a deep red fever to his cheeks. "Mors, Hailey, this is an adventurer from the village. He's come to..."

"From the village? You're from the guild?" The woman, Hailey, said in an excited way. The man, Mors, peaked up as well. He turned in his seat as he eyed me up and down. No doubt seeing some dumb kid trying to scam a few coins out of him.

"Yes, Miss Hailey, it's as Miss Loroni says. Mister Mors, I'm told that you can give me some more information on the matter? I know this is all too much, but anything you could tell me would be immensely helpful."

"You speak well for a human." Loroni said with a smile as she walked past me into the home. "Some herbal tea would be nice, dear." In response Hailey simply shook her head and smiled. Setting a small pot on the fireplace to heat up.

"I keep hearing that, and every time it feels just as insulting." Following her lead I walked in and knelt next to Mors and the boy. I looked his leg over, while not a nurse, I could at least tell it wasn't a complete break. Though it was swollen and ugly. Though the thing that really caught my eye was the nasty bite mark on his thigh. Red, infected, and desperately in need of some disinfectant. "Sir, I understand this is hard. I do, but I need to know what I'm getting into if I'm going to be able to help. The broken bone doesn't seem to be the thing hurting your son. What did that to him? A dog?"

"It wasn't anything I've seen before." Mors said in an exhausted voice. "I only saw a glimpse of it. It tried to go after us I carried him out." As he spoke the boy groaned painfully in his restless sleep. In response Mors grabbed hold of his hand and dampened the rag on his head once more. "What ever it was, it got my boy. Tore his leg apart. It... it tried to go after mine but it was too slow. I managed to kick it off of us."

"So whatever it is waited? Forgive me, but I doubt your boy was able to fight off something like that with a broken leg. Especially if it's as you say."

He shook his head before answering. "You're not wrong. It... waited. It waited for him from the dark. I didn't notice it until it was almost too late. It... it was watching him struggle. Watching him suffer. It would have done the same to me."

"So either it's so smart it used him as an ambush, or it was waiting for him to die first. I don't like either of those options." I turned my head to look the boy over. His leg was horrible and ugly. His fever seemed torturous, the boy was suffering more than I would ever know. "Sir, have you given him anything? Is there a doctor in the village?"

Hailey answered from behind me, "We don't have anyone like that here. Loroni is the closest we have, and all we could give him was simple herbs. Keeping the wound clean, the leg straight."

"You've kept him alive, that's what's important. So you haven't tried any potions?" I reached down and opened the bag I had set next to me. Sitting at the bottom of the bag, I pulled out the muli-use potion that I had bought. Going off of what Miss Shari had told me, I had a good four or five hits of the good stuff. "Miss Hailey, could you pass me a cup?" After receiving the small cup I poured it until the top. A few ounces, maybe five or six in total. After filling it I handed it over to Mors, who seemed confused at first. "I'm not sure if it'll fix it all, but it should help."

Mors took a sniff of the drink first before turning to the boy. He pulled his chin down and poured a small amount into his mouth. Whispering softly to him as he did. Despite his state, the boy drank it down. After the first gulp Mors poured the rest and watched as the kid took it all. At first he choked on it. Coughing and sputtering before his body went stiff. His muscles flexed and he screamed in a silent pain. Mors and Hailey forgot about yelling at me to instead focus on their son. His silent agony lasted a few moments before he fell back into the bed once again. After another moment the swelling in his leg began to dissipate. A painful squelching sound came from the leg and slowly the ugly bruising also began to break apart. Melting deeper into the leg. Finally, after the disgusting sounds stopped, his eyes fluttered open.

"Dad?" He said in a dry voice. Far too old sounding to be coming from such a young spirit.

"Bry? Bry? Bry!" Mors fell into his son's chest with Hailey following immediately after. The three of them sopping into each other's arms.

I reached between them and took the cup back. I poured it back to the top and passed it over to Miss Loroni. "Please, I'm not sure if it'll help, but I'd like you to at least try. It pains me to see such a nice woman with such pain." She tried to object but I simply took her hand and placed the cup into it. She seemed concerned for a moment before she brought it to her lips and downed the entire thing. She too went stiff for a moment before falling back into her seat. Another minute passed and she reached down to feel her leg.

For the next while the family continued to cry into each other's embrace, at the same time Loroni began to weep softly. She held onto her leg for some time before she finally spoke. "Twenty-six years, twenty-six years my leg has been in nothing but agony. And here you come with a bottle none of us could hope to afford. It would have taken years to save up enough for just that small sip." She stood up out of her seat. For moment she wobbled in place before she took a tentative step. Waiting for the pain to set in at any moment. After a few tests she finally took the leap and walked over to me. Her limp gone, her eyes, full of water, her joy was palpable. She fell into me as she wrapped her thin arms around me. Crying nearly as hard as the family next to us. For the next while, what felt like an hour, the four of them simply wept. Pure tears of joy and pain leaving them.

Eventually the tears dried up and the four of them took their positions once again. This time, however, Miss Hailey sat on the edge of the bed holding her son's other hand. Before she got a chance to speak I raised my own hand. "Consider it part of the job. I'll need to know where the ruins are. Mors, in the morning, can you show me? I only want you to show me, after that you can leave."

"I can do that. We'll leave as soon as the sun comes up. We... we don't have an extra bed for you to sleep in." He seemed far too apologetic for my liking. But I wasn't going to push the matter until Miss Loroni did it for me.

"He can stay with me. I've still got my daughter's bed. It doesn't have any privacy, but it's warm and soft enough." I smiled to her and nodded to Mister Mors. Miss Loroni stood up and smiled to me once again. She made her way over to the family and hugged each of the parents.

"Warm and soft is all I could ever ask for. Thank you, Miss." Following her lead I didn't want to **** anything more. They had some time to make up for. "I'll be back in the morning, Mister Mors. Join me when you're ready. I'm in no rush to **** a man to leave his child. He smiled weakly to me before turning back to his boy, Bry.