At noon, on the day after the failed attempt at Risha's life, the capybara-doctor came into her room and examined her.
"Your wound is healed" he announced. "How do you feel?"
Risha replied that she felt fine.
"Good" said the doctor. Beneath his large nose, the corners of his mouth moved upward. "In that case, I see no reason for you to remain here. A nurse will bring you your clothes and some papers for you to sign."
The Doctor was just about to leave, when he stopped in the doorway and turned around, facing his soon-to-be former patient:
"Young lady?"
"Yes, doctor?"
"Take care. I hope that you will not have any further need of my services during your stay in our city."
Risha smiled.
"I'll do my best to keep out of trouble."
*****
Some time later, Risha, having changed into her normal clothes, left the hospital.
Her short-sword hung, securely by her side and tucked under her right arm was the book she had borrowed. A messenger had been sent to where the troupe was currently staying, since Risha wanted Leorin to be the first to know that she was up and about. The Doctor had offered her to wait for him (or whoever else would come to pick her up) inside, but the lynx had politely declined the offer: After days staying cooped-up in a small hospital room, she felt an urgent need for fresh air.
She began to walk down the street in the direction she was certain her brother would be coming from, having decided to meet him on the way.
She was some distance from the hospital, a solitary rain drop fell from the sky and landed on the lynx's nose, causing her to sneeze loudly. Frowning, she looked up at the sky and saw that its color had abruptly changed from blue to metal-grey.
This does not look good, she thought. Perhaps if I turn back, I can get to the hospital before the rain comes.
Risha had barely finished this thought, before heaven opened up its floodgates and torrents of rain came spewing down on the streets, drenching the poor sods who were unfortunate enough to be outside. Cursing her bad luck, Risha gritted her teeth and, proceeded on her intended path, taking care not to step in one of the many puddles. She hugged the book tightly to her chest, trying her best to shield it from the elements.
On the other side of the street, she suddenly spotted a familiar figure making his way towards the hospital, while shielded from the rain by a large umbrella.
"Leo! I'm over here!" Risha called out, as loud as she could, in order to be heard over the rain.
Upon hearing his sister's voice, Leorin stopped and turned in the direction the sound had come from.
"Stay there!" Risha shouted. "I'm coming over to you!"
"I was just on my way to pick you up" Leorin said, when Risha joined him. "You look good, sis" he added, smiling at her.
"Thank you. So, little brother, are you going to let me join you under that umbrella?"
"Of course".
Leorin held out the umbrella, allowing Risha to come in under it.
"Good thing you brought this" she commented, approvingly, as the siblings began walking down the street, back in the direction Leorin had come from.
"Actually, it was Eramus who told me to bring an umbrella. "He said that it was going to rain. If anyone else had said that, I wouldn't have believed them. I mean, the sky was blue when I left Fuchul's place, but Eramus is usually right about these things, so I decided to follow his advise."
"A wise decision. Hold on, did you say that you came from Fuchul's place?"
"That's right, the others are there too. Say, do you hear that?"
"Hear what? I don't hear anything."
"Exactly, its stopped raining."
****
Fuchul's home was a large, red building located in one of the city's finer neighborhoods. Leorin's knock on the front-door was immediately answered by the small dog with the droopy expression.
"I'm back!" Leorin announced, quite unnecessarily in his sister's opinion, as he and Risha stepped past Fuchul's servant and into the hall. "Than you for letting me borrow this" he added, handing over the umbrella.
"Not at all" the diminutive canine snuffled. He looked up at Risha. "I'm pleased to see you back on your feet, Miss. No doubt, my employer will be too."
"Is everyone still in the great room?" Leorin asked.
"Quite right. Please, follow me."
In the great room, a few members of Kyros' group, were sitting on the floor, rolling dice. Their leader, meanwhile, was involved in a conversation with Eramus, while Sara was seated in a red sofa, reading a book. As for the house's owner, he passed the time by playing a game of solitaire.
When Risha entered the room, they all stopped what they were doing and flocked around her, congratulating the lynx on her recovery. Risha thanked them all, as she had Fuchul's servant while in the hallway. Once she had done that, Eramus took the lead:
"Now that you're with us again" the faun said, turning to Risha with a serious look on his face, "it is time that we talk about certain matters. Matters concerning you."
"I am all ears."
"As are we all" said Kyros.
Eramus nodded in acknowledgement. Then, returned to the armchair next to the one occupied by Kyros. Ever courteous, the mountain-lion rose from his seat and offered it to Risha, who, having thanked him, sat down in it.
"Leorin has told me about your theory" Eramus began, "that the Princess is possessed or otherwise controlled by some malovelent entity."
"I realize how absurd this must sound" Risha said, "but I know its the truth. I just know it."
"I believe you. You see, I know exactly what has happened to the Princess. As soon as Leorin told me, I remembered something that I read many years ago, before anyone in this room had been born. Back when I was a young faun, living in the Land of Mists..."
Eramus had uttered this last statement in a casual enough tone of voice. However, the revelation as to the troupe-leader's birthplace, caused everyone to stare at him with newfound interest. The Land of Mists was a place shrouded in legend; said by some to be the place where intelligent life had originated. Where the very air was filled with magic...
"Did you know this about him?" Leorin whispered to Sara.
"I didn't" the porcupine whispered back. "I don't think anyone in the troupe knew."
She returned her attention to Eramus, who proceeded with his story:
"When I reached my tenth birthday" he said, "I was sent away to study at one of the magic schools that exists in my homeland, as is customary. Said education lasts for another ten years. I shall not claim that I was the best student in my class, for that would be a lie, but I wasn't the worst either. Anyway, between classes the students were supposed to help out with various chores around the school. I was selected to help out in the library; dusting the shelves, filing old books and scrolls and so on.
One day, during my sixth year at the school, I was told by the head-librarian to go into the archives where the oldest works were located and fetch a particular scroll. Having received the title and the name of the author, I went in search for it. Despite the information I had, it took me awhile before I noticed the scroll in question. Just as I was about to take it out, I happened to spot another scroll, lying on the floor.
Thinking that it had fallen out of its shelf, I picked up the scroll. For some reason, I became curious to see what it contained and so, I opened it..."
Eramus' eyes, which had been closed as he journeyed down memory lane, now opened and looked at those present in the room.
"Before I continue" the faun said, "I must ask you something: Does anyone here know what a dream-walker is?"
"Someone who can enter people's dreams?" Sara asked. "At least, that's what it sounds like to me."
"Exactly. Dream-walkers are rare, one in a million. Basically, they are magicians who can project themselves into people's subconsciousness when they're asleep."
Eramus paused, allowing the others time to process this new bit information.
"I asked you if you had heard about them" he said, "because the scroll I had picked up, contained instructions for a ritual which would allow a powerful enough dream-walker to take full control over another person's body and all of its functions.
I didn't think much of it back then; according to the scroll, the ritual would take years to prepare and the intended 'donor' so to speak, would have to be unconscious during all that time. I put the scroll back on the shelf and left with the one I had been sent to fetch.
During my last year, a fire broke out in the archives and many scrolls were destroyed. At the time, I was no longer working at the library, my position there had been taken by a younger student. Said student got the blame for the fire. Since he perished in it, there was nothing he could do to protest. At least, I always thought that he had perished, until now that is."
"This student" Fuchul said. "He wouldn't have happened to be a lemur, with six fingers, by any chance?"
The Red panda asked the question like someone who already knows the answer, but who wants his suspicions confirmed.
"That's correct. He did not call himself Zevedo back then, but since that's the name you know him by, we may as well continue to use it, it makes no difference either way."
"How exactly did you get involved with Zevedo?" Kyros asked Fuchul. "We have already guessed that he was blackmailing you, but how did it begin?"
Fuchul let out a deep sigh.
"I suppose it doesn't matter now" he said. "First though, I should tell you that I'm not originally from around here. I was born in the Eastern Continent, but in another country, Fuchul is not even my original name. In my youth, I made some mistakes, mistakes which resulted in me having to feign my own death and flee the country. I traveled extensively, before settling here, where I met the woman I fell in love with. Sadly, my wife died in childbirth, a few days later, our son followed his mother into the grave.
To forget my grief, I buried myself in my work, until I had built up my fortune. One day, fifteen years ago, a person came to my office. That person, as you no doubt have figured out, was Zevedo.
He told me that he had a business proposition to make and I asked him to sit down. He did and then he thanked me, addressing me not as Fuchul, but by the name my parents had given me. A name that I thought was buried forever.
My blood froze in my veins, I stared at my elderly visitor with newfound horror. He, on the other hand, looked at me with an infuriating smirk on his face.
'Yes, I know who you are' he said, 'and I also know people who would be most interested in learning that you are still alive. Very interested, indeed'.
Thinking that it was money he was after, I offered him a handsome sum to keep his mouth shut, but he only laughed.
'Do you think you can buy me off with such a paltry sum?' He asked, mockingly. 'I want a partnership in your business. Don't worry, the name can remain the same, it doesn't matter to me. In fact, no-one need find out about your having a business-partner, that detail can stay between the two of us.
What could I do? I told him yes and he immediately took out two contracts, which we both signed. Before he left, Zevedo warned me that if anything happen to him, my secret would be revealed to my enemies by one of his associates.
From that day on, I was in Zevedo's thrall. I had to pay him a regular percentage of all the profits the firm made. Not only that, I was also obliged to procure rare plants and herbs that Zevedo was using for, I can only guess what purpose. Many of these had to be smuggled in and, naturally I had to pay all the expenses; bribing the officials and so on.
However, I knew that this could not last forever and so, I had my employees abroad keep me up-to-date whenever one of my old enemies died. I know that its terrible, but every time I got news that one of them had bit the dust, I felt like celebrating. Then, on the same day I met Kyros, I got word that last of my foes had gotten his skull bashed in at a tavern he frequented. I am not ashamed to admit that the news made me almost giddy with relief. At last, I was free! I wrote a message to Zevedo asking him to meet me. Having done this, I went out to celebrate. Anyway, you all know the rest."
During Fuchul's story, Risha had listened with barely concealed impatience. As soon as their host had finished, she turned to Eramus:
"Tell me" she said, in as steady a voice as she could manage. "The People whose bodies are possessed, what happens to them? Do you remember if the scroll said anything about that?"
"Let me think..From what I can remember, the original owner's soul lies dormant while the dreamwalker is in control."
"Which means there must be a way to break said control" Kyros chimed in. "If only we knew how."
"You know, I read a story like this once" Sara said, having decided to join the conversation. "The Hero's beloved was possessed by an evil spirit and began to wreck havoc. The Hero hunted her across the land, until he finally caught up with her, at the edge of a cliff. Instead of attacking the hero, the spirit began to plead for its life, in the voice of his beloved, but the hero only took hold of her and then, he took out the dagger she had given him once and stabbed himself with it. At that moment, the spirit lost its control over the hero's beloved and she regained her senses."
"What happened to the hero?" Leorin asked.
"He died in her arms and she threw herself off the cliff. Later, they were both reunited in the afterlife."
"Hmmm" Risha said thoughtfully. "That gives me an idea."
"Sis, you are not going to kill yourself to get Merees back, are you?"
"Don't worry, Leo, I won't. After all, I'm not the hero of some story. I do have a plan though, but I'm going to need all of your help if its going to succeed."
She looked at the others.
"You are part of my group" said Kyros. "We do not abandon one of our own."
"Needless to say, you have our support as well" said Eramus.
"Mine too" said Fuchul. "Anything to finally get rid of Zevedo for good."
"Thank you, everyone" Risha said, a smile of gratitude lighting up her face. "Now, here's what I had in mind..."
