"- I am not sure. Be very cautious, I think - use your Sight -" 

There's something there. On Leareth and also on the ground, sinking rapidly into it. There's not much of it, but it's growing, it really likes the Gates and it really likes the sterilizing light. It doesn't seem to be doing anything, yet, just spreading, as quickly as it possibly can, and growing. 

The Healer stops dead where she is. 

"...Oh," Leareth says, very quietly. 

For a long minute, neither of them moves. 

"Do not approach," Leareth says finally. "Keep your distance. Do you - what is it, what should I -?" 

"The sterilizing spell is worse than useless," the Healer says finally. "And - I think Gates feed it, somehow... You could try fire. On the ground. Or ice." 

....He could Final Strike. 

Leareth can't help being immediately aware of this, a contingency sitting in the back of his mind, the tradeoffs, the losses and gains... 

"More distance than that," he says. "I will - I am going to stay here. It was in the water...?" 

"Y-yes. In the ground now. Growing." 

The Healer breaks and runs. 

No Gates. 

Leareth stares at the ground - he can't see the alien-world disease, of course, but he knows... 

He taps a node, heat-shields himself, and then blasts the tundra with SO MUCH FIRE. 

That's very rude! And they were getting along so well!

Leareth cannot, of course, fireball his own body. (Unless he's willing to sacrifice this body, lose most of this lifetime's memories again, start fresh in a month and repeat five years' worth of preparation...) 

:You can approach cautiously: he tells the Healer, in Mindspeech this time. :Please check if - if that did anything: 

The Healer approaches very, very carefully, stretching her Sight out ahead to its maximal range of about ten yards. 

The ground seems dead. The other lifeforce is still present, but only on Leareth's skin and the tissue beneath it.

She relays this. 

Leareth sits down on the scorched ground. 

"You can come close enough to assess it more closely," he says after a long silence. "Do not touch me." 

Privately, he's thinking that this is OBVIOUSLY enemy action - it has the signature of the gods all over it, the worst possible luck. 

In the back of his mind, he's terrified. But fear won't help, so he sets it aside. 

The Healer approaches to within a yard, squats in the ashes, and runs her Sight over Leareth's body. 

How bad is it? 

There's not actually a lot of it, but it's kind of everywhere - on Leareth's arms, legs, torso, neck. Its signature is actually getting fainter as it spreads out. If it were all in one place there wouldn't even be enough of it to see, but to Healing-sight it's more distinctive.

It's still not apparently doing anything, aside from spreading out.

She focuses on a patch of it on Leareth’s skin. Can she kill it with a focused burst of destructive Healing energy?

Yep! (The rest of it reacts, scattering faster and deeper.)

....What. Diseases don’t do that.

She goes after the rest that’s still on his skin, destroying it, more hastily now - at worst being sloppy will give him minor skin damage, no worse than a sunburn. Not at all like fighting it off inside his body.

It’s not a huge exposure - or so she hopes - maybe his immune system can still fight it off. She sets up s link and starts feeding him Healing energy to help out with that.

Leareth is busy trying to think of projects he needs to hand off, if he dies or becomes seriously ill. And, despite himself, he’s distracted by trying to notice whether he feels at all unwell,

Healing energy! What a good idea!

(Leareth feels completely fine.)

A few minutes later, Nayoki arrives. She stays twenty yards out. 

:We should evacuate you somewhere safe: 

:- I am not clear if that will help: 

:You might become very ill. We should at least bring you indoors: 

Leareth thinks through the implications for a couple of minutes, in silence. 

:All right: He names a place. It's underground, remote, used for minor records storage; importantly, it's surrounded by bedrock. :You will stay away. One Healer can come in. And - find out what is happening in Haven right now. Please: 

He nods to the Healer, and then raises a Gate for both of them to cross.