The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive.
Alexand’s condition is rapidly deteriorating. The nature of her illness is cyclical, and degenerative, and her doctor has given her the maximum dose of Katherine’s inhibitor, to try to stabilise her.
Alex wasn’t well enough to get out of bed, but she had been visited by most of her family once the news of her being awake spread. It’s night time now, and the last of the visitors left half an hour ago. Alex is exhausted, but quietly happy, knowing her family accept her. Jarad has been by her side for the past half an hour, reading to her.
Alexand suddenly feels very unwell, despite being very close to the factory, which she believes to hold the cure to her illness.
It is finally the fourteenth of May, and The Guild Master’s General has been watching over Katherine as she sleeps. He fades between energy and matter, making himself invisible to Katherine’s nurse as she injects a dose of adrenaline into Katherine’s bloodstream, to wake her up.
The group set down for the night, they’ve been using the cave as a base, to formulate their strategy. It’s cold, and Inajda has set up a heat shield around the perimeter where they’re sleeping. Alex has been feeling ill for the past few hours, and has moved away from the group, as she doesn’t want them to see her when she’s sick.
(This is for you Dad. You died exactly 20 years ago today. My stories and my world are dedicated to you. I will try to find you in my stories, to go to places far away from this world, to search for you. Maybe one day I’ll know you again. Until then I’ll keep writing. I’ll never forget you. This issue is also dedicated to Kelly Priestley, and her family, a beautiful soul, taken far too soon. You are in my thoughts.) Alexand and her troops have travelled for days across the Red Sand Hills of Kekexili, in Qinghai, China. The cart has avoided the mountains, where tribes of bandits live. The land is dangerous, and the threat from bandits is ever present. Farokh sits at the front behind the driver, next to Alex.
Alex wakes up after falling unconscious, due to her illness.
After attempting to escape from an angry farmer, Alexand has collapsed, and has been caught.
Alexand wakes up in a field after sleepwalking out of her room in the tavern.
Alex attempts to disguise her illness from her troops, as she leads them towards Tibet.
It is the night before Alexand’s ship is due to set sail back home to India, but she can’t sleep. Although the inhibitor is slowing down the progression of her symptoms, Alex is getting night fevers and experiencing hallucinations. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
After having tidied herself up after her shower, Katherine returns to the lounge to confront Farokh about the map he accidentally saw when he found her lying unconscious. Farokh has opened up the book, and the map has been projected onto the wall, where it had been before Katherine collapsed. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Before Alex had to leave for a five-month tour of duty to Australia, she asked her brother Farokh to make sure Katherine was looking after herself properly. (She gave him a spare key to her apartment.) Two months have passed since Farokh was asked, and he hasn’t visited, due to the fact he forgot, and is also mildly frightened of the rather austere Katherine. Guilt overrides Farokh’s selfish reluctance, and he makes his way towards Katherine’s apartment to carry out Alexand’s request. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
It took Alexand’s division just under a month to reach Australia by boat. She has been there for a week and has been administering the plague victims with their own supply of injections, as part of a trial to see how much longer Katherine’s serum adds to the lifespan of this control group. Attempting to perform her duty, Alex has found it difficult imagining Katherine at home, getting sicker. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Katherine has added Amanojuko blood to a sample of her own. Five minutes have passed but nothing has happened. (CLICK HERE for the beginning of this story) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Farokh has left the laboratory, leaving Katherine and Alexand alone to conduct more research into the illness afflicting Katherine (which was injected into Katherine’s bloodstream by Helga Ritter, see Amanojuko Part 3) Katherine hasn’t slept for 24 hours. She spends most of her time in the laboratory, trawling through research journals, taking blood samples from the victims in her sick bay, and from herself. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
