On the Horizon
"You look tired," Valia said as she and Noah ate breakfast.
"Well you do tend to wring me out like a washcloth at night."
"I'm serious, you look like you barely slept."
"I've been racking my brain, trying to remember drugs and compounds from past lives. I've memorized plenty of useful recipes over the millennia, but it's been a long time since I needed them like this."
Aithorn appeared almost moments after they were finished eating. "Are you two ready?"
"Indeed, let's go check up on our patient," said Noah.
They made the trek to Balil's house, finding Meralda giving him one of many different medicines. "Good morning. How are you feeling today?" Noah asked.
"The same as yesterday," he groaned. Even with all the drugs and potions he took, his symptoms refused to vanish completely. Though not invulnerable, this disease's tenacity was unrivaled.
"Well for now, let's check on the bacterial cultures. Meralda, if you would please?"
She nodded and clapped her hands together, conjuring a green magic circle. The nearby wall, made of the tree itself, opened like the spreading of curtains, revealing the heating cabinet. Noah began looking through the glass containers and immediately stopped, something Valia and Aithorn noticed.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Valia asked.
Noah showed her two blood samples, one from Balil and another from his friend. The control sample was immaculate, with only a single speck of bacteria, likely due to cross-contamination. Balil's, however, looked like a rainbow splatter of disease.
"This was only around twelve hours ago, and there shouldn't be this much variety in the bacteria." He checked all the other samples, but everything from Balil was a bacterial smorgasbord. His blood, urine, stool, and spinal fluid were utterly riddled with nonidentical germs. "At most, there should be a few tiny dots of a single bacteria, but all these strains are multiplying faster than E. Coli and cholera. How can he be infected with all these different diseases at once?"
Aithorn looked them over, following Noah and careful not to open the containers. Though he did not fully understand the nature of disease or how to fight it correctly, the discrepancy between Balil's samples and the others was impossible to ignore. Noah was providing proof of their enemy's identity, of its severity. Though he did not trust Noah's character, the fact remained that he knew what he was talking about, certainly better than anyone else.
"So what now?" Aithorn asked.
"I need ink, paper, fertile soil, and charcoal."
Just like before, Noah busied himself writing alchemic formulas while the materials were gathered. Once finished, he mixed the water and charcoal in a basin and had Aithorn cast the spell, producing a thick white mush that left Meralda perplexed. "What is this?"
Noah picked up a glob with his finger and tasted it. "Ooh, that's sweet. It's sugar, the perfect growth medium. You folks can try some if you want." The elves tasted the mash, and their eyes widened. "It's good, isn't it? I taught this to a friend of mine in Colbrand, and she uses it to make sweets. Now, for the next step. Meralda, I'll need you." Noah then took a handful of the gathered soil and sprinkled it across the watery sugar. "Use your powers to make the mold and fungi in this soil grow. Stop when the patches are about coin-sized."
She held her hand over the basin, murmured a spell, and green mana flowed from her palm like fog. It settled over the basin, and bits of color began to appear in the field of white. Feeding on the mana and sugar, the colonies steadily grew over a matter of seconds, and then Meralda stopped when they reached the proper size.
Noah removed the fungi that didn't look right and had her continue the spell. The mold resumed growing with the periodic purging of unwanted species. Soon, all the sugar had been consumed and turned into a bluish mold, secreting an opaque liquid. Noah gathered the liquid, filtered it, and poured it into a bottle.
"What is that?" Meralda asked.
"This is called penicillin, a very powerful drug made from common mold. I come from a place without magic, where creating this takes several days and requires large fermentation tanks, operating under very precise temperatures and with specific ingredients. However, with druidism and alchemy, I can make this liquid miracle in minutes using nothing but dirt, charcoal, and water. Hopefully, this will be able to stop the bacteria from growing as well as it does in my world."
He had Meralda create a room within the tree where he could work in isolation. Before, he had only worn gloves and a mask, when Balil's affliction didn't seem contagious, but seeing how fast the bacteria multiplied, he wasn't taking any chances. He now wore clothes soaked in alcohol and dried, covering his entire body except his eyes. This sterile burqa was the closest he could get to a biohazard protection suit. One by one, he carefully opened each sample, prepared slides, and examined them closely under the microscope.
They were flourishing in the soy agate he had prepared, and he could see them producing an unknown substance. In all likelihood, they were toxins suppressing Balil's immune system and damaging the surrounding tissue, hence the temporary effect of the poison cures he'd received. Though Noah didn't say it, when he received Balil's urine sample the day before, it was evident his kidneys were struggling.
Along with penicillin, Noah also had many potions and medicinal plants. He'd expose the bacteria to each potential cure and observe the reaction. Once again, elvish medicine proved quite potent, but penicillin was the most effective in stopping the bacteria. Despite that, some strains were quite resistant, and only died when subjected to pure alcohol.
He was glad to finally finish. Though properly dried, his clothes still produced alcohol fumes that stung his eyes and made him dizzy. Once he stepped out of the workroom, he released a deep sigh and removed his suit.
"So what did you learn? Is my husband going to be ok?" Meralda asked.
"Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen a case like this before. Were you not taking care of him, Balil would never have survived this long. I can't even imagine a human lasting more than a day with this. However, this is still an enemy that can be fought." Noah handed her the bottle of penicillin. "Give a spoonful of this to him daily. It won't cure him, but it'll deal a heavy blow to this disease and buy him some time. I think that Balil...." He stopped and sneezed. "Ugh, I might need to whip up something for myself. Right now, I really need some fresh air."
