“Remove his clothing,” Maeryn suggested. “There is something we’re missing.”
Casimir used his dagger to cut off Beric’s shirt as his friend made quick work of his pants and boots. Casimir began to peel off the tunic, when Ava saw it.
“Get back!” she yelled, lunging and shoving Casimir away.
A small yellow scorpion, only a couple inches in length, skittered out from Beric’s shirt, headed straight for Casimir. Ava stomped on it with her boot before it had the chance to sting anyone else.
Blowing out a breath, her shoulders slumped.
“What was that?” Raine asked.
“You don’t know? You don’t have scorpions in the rest of Eorhan?”
“No,” Imsel said.
“Scorpion?” Beric’s friend asked, Beric now whimpering and moaning beside him.
“They’re arachnids like spiders. But they’re in their own order.”
Everyone looked at her like she’d spoken a different language.
“Right. You all have no idea what I’m talking about.” She shook her head. “You really don’t know about them?”
“We know quite a bit about the wildlife in Eorhan,” Gisela said. “But no one comes to the Wastelands. We may have learned about them as children, but I don’t remember anything like this…”
“Well…They have venom they deliver through a stinger on their back. It’s very painful and a couple of species in the human world are dangerous. But they don’t cause blindness that I’m aware of. I think the scorpions here might be worse…” Ava knelt next beside Beric, scanning his torso. “See? There.” She pointed to a swollen mark on his shoulder. “He was stung.”
“How can we help him?” Casimir asked, bewildered.
“If we were in the human world, we’d take him to a healing facility, and they usually have what’s called antivenin that can halt the progression in most people.”
“But we don’t have that,” Raine said.
“No. We don’t.”
Beric gasped and choked. His friend began to panic. “Oh gods, he can’t breathe!”
“Jareth,” Casimir said. “Use your healing magic. Help him.”
Jareth shook his head. “I cannot do anything regarding poisons or venom.” He knelt anyway, evaluating Beric.
The other soldier released a small cry as he held his friend’s hand.
Jareth stood, shaking his head. “He’s dying. I can’t stop it.”
After a few more minutes, Beric’s breaths stopped, his eyes vacant and unseeing.
He was gone.
His friend murmured their kingdom’s prayer to the Earth Mother, bowing his head. The rest of the group moved to the other side of the cave, giving him space to grieve, Casimir staying to honor his fallen soldier.
“This is just great. Does this mean if we get stung by one of those tiny monsters, we’ll perish?” Raine whispered harshly.
“It appears that way,” Gisela said.
“How long until dawn?” Maeryn asked.
“A couple of hours,” Imsel answered. “But we mustn’t leave the cave before then. There are likely even more foul nocturnal beasts out there.”
