Steven walked the desolate streets of Paris, smoke from the burning sites wafted all around him, he was alone as most residents of the city opted to stay home.
Turning a corner he was met by the scene of young men whipping themselves as they walked the streets, singing in strained voices and asking forgiveness for their sins.
He stood aside to let the procession pass, then he resumed his slow walk.
A few meters ahead, there was a fire pit. Steven averted his eyes from it, as he could see human forms in the fire. Victims of the black death were sometimes buried, but mostly their bodies were thrown in sporadic pit around the city.
He tried to focus at the job at hand, he had to procure a vial extracted from one of the victims by a hapless chemist who met his demise not long after he extracted the substance from one of the plague boils of a victim.
The council of purples knew of the presence of this vial from the Chronicler and they sent him to retrieve it.
The black plague didn’t spread to Agartha yet, but since rats were theorized as the ultimate carriers, it was a question of the time the plague would hit Agartha.
Some members of the council suggested to pass a decree forcing people to stay home, but fear of rebel spirits forced them to send Steven to retrieve the vial as well.
Everybody in Agartha except a few who might not have heard of the decree were already, preparing for a long winter behind closed doors when Steven left Inner earth.
He also wished that he could stay home, but the lives of many were at stake.
Steven memorized the map of the city and he still had a good walk for another hour to reach the house of the dead chemist.
Some members of the council even sent another before him, two years ago to warn the rulers of the cities of Europe, asking them to force their people to stay home to avoid the spread of the Black Death.
The one before him never returned and it was believed that she fell to the plague herself.
Steven sighed as he walked past a group of women mourning the deaths of their loved ones at another corner, their wails and cries tore his heart. But he couldn’t offer them any help, the spell that protected him was too weak to pass it on to them as well, and he had his mission to accomplish.
Finally, he stood in front of the barred windows of the late chemist’s house.
He cast a fast spell to propel him to the roof, found a week point and pushed through.
Steven was assaulted by the vicious smell of death immediately, that he had to cover his nose by his cape.
He rummaged through the deceased chemist’s belongings for some time, but he finally found the vial.
He took the small strong box designed to carry it from his pocket and put the vial inside.
He climbed through the same way he entered and headed back.
All he wanted was to return and be allowed to stay home.
From Another World.
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