"Met nodded and examined the wound; she had seen it's kind before, it was the result of a poison Arzeroth liked to use on his weapons. She'd seen it's effect on some of the 'guests' he'd brought to the tower; the corruption would spread until it reached the heart, and the victim would die in excruciating agony. She didn't recall any of them exhibiting delirium though, in fact, she suspected it contained some kind of truth serum, as he had used it as part of his interrogation technique... But that was unimportant right now. "We need to get him back to the tower; there Xarame and I may be able to do something for him, but we must make haste!"
Met stopped before the tent flap and addressed her Changelings; "We have lost many of our own today, but you know as well as I that they died for a worthy cause. There will be time to honour then later, but for now we must ensure the safety of our new allies." She nodded, and the Changelings took up their disguises once more. Met took the form of a commanding looking Minotaur and looked at Frozen. "Stay in the middle of the group; we'll try and hide you from view. We cannot risk a fight with him in this condition." With that, she headed out into the battlefield and towards the Fortress' secret entrance.
Frozen carried discord silently, his mind occupied with worry for his friend. He still couldn't understand why he said what he did, or why it bothered him so much..
Once they were safely back inside the fortress, Met reverted to he standard form and turned to Frozen. "I know you're not going to want to do this now, but you must address the crowd; let them know of Arzeroth's demise. We have suffered casualties here too and they need hope. I will take Discord upstairs and do what I can for him, and you may join us when you are done here." She sighed. "Ruling is never an easy task, Frozen, son of... Prince of the Windigos."
"I am not sure about that, Frozen, but we shall have to discuss it another time." Taking Discord gently with her magic, Met teleported up to the top of the tower, leaving Frozen to his task.
Frozen sighed as he turned to the crowd of soldiers, "We have lost several of our men today," he said, "good men.. Men who fought and died so that you and I may be standing here today." Frozen walked slowly down the row of soldiers. He turned as he walked, "No war was ever fought without at least one casualty. Every soldier knows one day on the battlefield could be his last. You, even me.. But it's worth it, isn't it? It's worth it that nopony else will have to be banished to this realm. We can win this, even if the ground is awash in our sanguine. We'll win this war, we'll make them pay.. Guard well the names of our friends who passed, our heroes, carry their names in your hearts as we carry our banner onwards."
The ponies in the courtyard listened with downturned heads; the mood was sombre, but thanks to Frozen's speech, there was an air of determination, even pride. Many of them had been watching friends die or suffer for years, at least now it meant something. Met had carried Discord up to Arzeroth's bed chamber; she hated to use it, but it was the most suitable room, and it was time to purge all memory of him, just as she'd attempt to purge this wound. Xarame had applied a poultice, but unfortunately that was the limit of her abilities with the supplies she had. Met sat next to him and started casting a spell to draw the poison from his blood; it would be a long and arduous task, as the poison manipulated the body to propagate itself. As she did this, Xarame poured over one of the dark alchemical tomes from Arzeroth's library.
Frozen dismissed the soldiers and headed into the fortress proper. He could have floated to the top, but found he preferred to walk, letting his mind clear. When he reached Arzeroth's chambers, he slid the door open and quietly stepped inside, trying to make as little noise as possible as he entered, so as to not break the mares' concentration. "I'm glad to see you have your voice back, my lady Mett," he said with a faint smile. He approached Xarame and placed a tender hoof upon her shoulder, "I am very knowledgable on such subjects," he said as he noted the book, "would you like some help?"
"Yes, small mercies." Met said, glancing at Frozen. before returning her attention to Discord. "I'm sorry Frozen, but all I'm doing here is holding off the inevitable; I can slow the poison, but I cannot remove it. Xarame is attempting to find a cure." Xarame finished reading a passage in the tome and looked up. "Hmm? Ah yes this is true, and there may be something we can do; there is a potion I can make, but for it's ingredients a trip we must take."
"Just tell me where we need to go and what we need to do, and it's done," said Frozen, "whatever it takes.." He felt a certain draw and compassion for his friend, one he couldn't explain. Something told him it was important Discord lived.
"In the mountains grows a purple flower, we must find it and return it to the tower," Xarame explained, pointing to a botanical sketch in the book.
"It can save him?" he quieried as he grabbed a knife, from the table, and made a small cut on his arm. He bled what appeared to be water, into a cup, and sealed the wound with ice magic. He handed the cup to Mett, "Have him drink this, it is part of my life essence. It will cool his internal temperature to nigh freezing, and slow his body down to prolong the corruption process."
Met took the cup with a slightly disturbed look, and nodded. "I will do all I can, but please make haste; the longer this poison is allowed to remain, the stronger the possibility of permanent damage." "The potion is a mighty cure, it will leave him only a little sore." Xarame said, trying to inject some hope into the situation. She walked into the main room to sudy the map. "Here is where we must go," She said, pointing with a hoof. "Not so far, but lots of snow."
Xarame nodded and headed into one of the smaller rooms. A few moments later, she re-emerged in an enormous fur coat. "We must go."
"Guard him well," Frozen said, "Thank you my lady." With a bow of his head he followed Xarame out of the building. Though he was worried for his comrade, Frozen was also rather thankful to be spending some alone time with the zebra. She fascinated him, and he wanted to become more familiar with her.
As they stepped outside, it became clear that the rest of Discord's plan had worked at least; Arzeroth's host had dispersed, and a few had actually approached the fortress seeking to join them. Some were welcomed by old friends, others were regarded with suspicion, but none were driven away. "Should we seek others to help our plight?" Xarame asked Frozen. "They will be useful if we have to fight, however they may slow our pace, and we must not lose this race."
"I think our priority lies with discord's wdlfare," he said, "but we will keep our eyes open during our journey."
