The head healer and his useless staff had fled, leaving Lexianna kneeling on the ruined silk rugs beside the motionless, freezing body of the most feared warlord in the realm.
She looked up at the lead Shadow Guard. The formless assassin was still hovering near the shattered balcony doors, his dark mist bleeding onto the floorboards.
"I need a solution," Lexianna demanded, her voice sharp and uncompromising in the quiet room. "You said the Bane-dust forces the core into hibernation. How do I wake it up? How do I flush it?"
The Shadow Guard bowed his head low. "The alchemical powder is dense, Princess. It settles heavily into the magical pathways, suffocating the beast core. To flush it, His Highness's body must be immersed in a highly mineralized, extreme-temperature environment. It acts as a catalyst, thinning the blood and expanding the meridians so the poison can be pushed out."
Lexianna frowned. "The thermal pond."
