6.75 - Xol'sa, Your Name is Sa
Sulvan’s dungeon—hospital—wasn’t any more inviting compared to the last time Theo had visited it. The place was damp, dark, and far colder than it should have been. Ziz and his boys had done well to expand the space available for patients. The alchemist still wouldn’t question how they accomplished the feat. It should have flooded from the swamp, or the groundwater deposited by the river. But it was only slightly damp, showing no sights of standing water. Magic or something.
Zarali, Bilgrob, and Sulvan were all standing at the end of the hall. They nodded as Theo approached, but had looks on their faces that said it wasn’t all good news.
“How is he?” Theo said, approaching with Tresk and Salire close behind. Alex had wanted to come, but she didn’t even fit inside the temple.
“Better than dead,” Bilgrob said. “Tiny elf isn’t dead, so we did a good job. Right?”
As simplistic and ogre-like as the statement was, he wasn’t wrong. “Can I see him?”
“There’s not much to see,” Salire said, smiling. “But, yes. He’s talking and he even drank some water.”
“Be gentle, Theo,” Sulvan said, dabbing his forehead. “My Lord is concerned about this one.”
Theo nodded, poking his head into the door. The space elf was awake, taking shallow breaths as he stared at the ceiling. Theo was thankful he hadn’t brought Xol’sa along to see the elf’s progress. He was alive, but that’s all that could be said about him. The vacancy in his eyes was concerning.
“My name is Theo Spencer,” he said, approaching the bed’s edge. “I’m an alchemist. Do you know where you are?”