Maristella remained silent for a moment before giving a small nod. "I think I can. But I can’t heal her completely in a single treatment," she continued. "After all, her condition isn’t caused by an injury or an illness. It’s something she was born with."
She gently stroked Azura’s soft pink hair. "What I can do is help her body slowly accept both kinds of energy. If the treatment goes well, her breathing will become easier over time."
"But I’ll need some time."
"What do you need?" Azul asked without hesitation.
"I’ll need to prepare a special medicine first," Maristella explained. "The herbs must calm the conflict between the two energies without weakening either one."
She paused for a moment. "I’ll also need to heal her every few days. She’s still very young, so I have to be careful. If I force too much energy into her body, it could make her condition even worse."
Azul fell silent for a while. After all, they were still in the middle of a battle against the Devourers, and staying here any longer was extremely risky.
Unfortunately, Maristella couldn’t leave Aquillian. Whether they wanted to or not, they had no choice but to stay here.
"Alright," Azul finally said. "Just tell me which medicinal herbs you need, and I’ll find them as soon as possible."
Maristella closed her eyes for a moment, searching through her memories. "I’ll need Moon Dew Grass, Blue Tide Moss, Crystal Coral Petals, and the root of a Deepwater Sea Fern."
The moment she finished speaking, Orion’s expression turned serious. "I know where all of those herbs grow," he said. "But... they’re all inside the Devourers’ territory."
"In other words, all of those herbs are growing in the royal garden of the Aquillian Kingdom." Maristella let out a quiet sigh. "They’re very rare herbs, and their natural habitats are far away from our sea. That’s why I chose to grow them myself in the royal garden."
Roxanna frowned. "But wouldn’t the Devourers destroy those medicinal herbs?"
Maristella shook her head. "They have their own healer, too. I don’t think they would destroy herbs that are this rare."
Azul gritted his teeth and took several deep breaths. "I don’t think we have any other choice. We’ll have to sneak back into the Devourers’ territory..." He paused for a moment before correcting himself. "No... I’ll do it alone."
"What?" Calen exclaimed. "Why would you go by yourself? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Azul looked at him in confusion. "Get myself killed? I’m just being a father." His eyes softened as he looked at Azura. "There’s no way I’ll die before I see my daughter grow up."
He took a slow breath before continuing. "I just think it’ll be much harder for the Devourers to notice me if I sneak in alone."
Calen immediately shook his head. "That’s exactly why you shouldn’t go alone," he said. "If they catch you, there won’t be anyone left to bring the herbs back to Azura."
"I can escape," Azul said.
"You don’t know that," Zeir cut in. "The Devourers have already taken over the palace. We have no idea how many guards they have or what kind of traps they’ve set."
Orion nodded in agreement. "Your Highness, I’ve been inside the palace more times than anyone else here. The royal garden isn’t close to the entrance. You’ll have to get past several patrol routes before you can even reach it."
Azul let out a long, tired sigh. "Fine. I’ll go with Calen and Orion. That’s enough. If too many of us go, it’ll be much easier for the Devourers to notice us."
On the other hand, Calen looked excited instead of scared.
"Why did you suddenly pick me?" he asked with a wide grin. "Have you finally admitted that I’m the strongest among all of you?"
Azul and Zeir hissed at the same time, both cringing at Calen’s confidence.
Azul then said, "I picked you because you’d make the perfect bait."
Calen’s grin instantly disappeared. "You!"
"Please don’t let the Devourers capture him," Roxanna said with a helpless smile. "Rescuing him again would be a lot of trouble and he is still precious to me."
As soon as Roxanna joined the conversation, Azul stopped teasing Calen.
"Relax," he said. "I won’t do anything reckless that could put anyone in danger. I only chose Calen because Zeir can stay here and help my mother since he knows far more about magic than any of us."
After hearing his explanation, no one tried to change Azul’s mind anymore.
Now that the team heading to the palace had been decided, everyone began getting everything ready for their departure.
"Make sure you eat the Blue Pearl again before you leave tomorrow," Roxanna reminded Calen.
The two of them were inside one of the few buildings that was still standing. It was built from sea stone, and although the walls were slightly covered with moss, it at least gave Roxanna a private place to breastfeed Azura.
"Or maybe you should eat it before you go to sleep," she continued. "I mean... what if you get captured before you have the chance to eat it? You should hide it somewhere the Devourers would never think to look."
She paused, then suddenly shook her head. "Oh, for God’s sake, why don’t you just stay here instead? There are way too many ’what ifs’!" Roxanna said, unable to hide the panic in her voice.
"Hey, relax," Calen said, trying to calm her down. "Azura is my daughter too, so it’s only right that I help gather the medicinal herbs."
Roxanna bit her lower lip, still looking far from calm. "But you’re a land beast. If something goes wrong, you might not be able to breathe and you could die."
"I know. I know." Calen nodded a few times. "That’s why I hid a lot of Blue Pearls here." He lifted several of his braided strands of hair. "See? The Devourers will have a hard time finding them."