by Edward Brody
“I haven’t been there yet. Can you take me?”
Sung nodded and stood up from the pit. “Sure. Why not?”
“We’ve got to run,” I said. “Fast. Wait right here while I grab my rune.”
Sung nodded again, and I ran for my room home to fetch the rune to the Vale.
“Adeelee is the Princess of the High Elves, right?” Sung asked as we pushed through the forest.
“Yeah, she’s the Princess. And if I don’t get to her in time…” I shook my head. “I don’t even know what could happen.”
“How’d she die?” Sung asked.
“She’s not dead.” I rattled my head back and forth even harder. “At least I hope she isn’t. Someone attacked us—someone a lot stronger than us—and I ran.”
“You abandoned your team?” Sung asked.
“I had to,” I explained. “Another Mages Guild member was killed and two of our Great Beasts taken out. There was no way we were all going to get out of there alive, so the only hope was for one of us to get away and hope for a rez. NPCs have a two-hour window to be resurrected.”
“Damn,” Sung hissed low.
I knew that there was a coastline near the northern portion of Edgewood, but I was still surprised when I smelled mist from the Serpent Sea and saw the vast expanse of ocean when the tree line broke.
Just beyond Edgewood stretched a long beach, part of it rocky with strong waves crashing against tall boulders and hardened dirt, but another section of the beach was covered in beautiful, white sand. A few seashells were covering the beach, and seaweed and other organic matter was speckled about.
I saw my guild mates almost immediately, further up the beach, fighting what looked like two giant, orange crabs. Trynzen was pouncing between the two crabs, slashing at them with his claws, Keysia was pushing them back with her wind magic, Jax was lobbing arrows, and Rina was raising her staff to issue healing effects and subtle damage magic.
As we closed in on them, there were several other giant crab carcasses littered across the beach.
Trynzen hopped on one of the crabs—which was about the size of a go-cart—and started stabbing his claw down into the hard shell, finishing it off. Without saying anything, I reach my hand out and cast a Fireblast on the other crab, and when the magic flew past Jax, he looked startled as he turned around.
Keysia released a blast of her magic, which finished off the final crab.
You have gained 200 XP!
“Shit, you scared me,” Jax said. “What are you doing here?”
“Rina!” I said exasperatedly. “I need Rina.”
Rina lowered her staff and walked over to me. “You need me?”
“What’s wrong, Gunnar?” Keysia asked.
“It’s Adeelee. She’s in trouble.”
“What?!” Jax asked forcefully. He started breathing heavily. “What do you mean, ‘Adeelee is in trouble’?”
“I believe Sora is dead, and Adeelee may be too by now. We need to go help her, now.”
“Trynzen need go where?” the Barbaros asked with a smile as he scuttled around on top of the crab.
I ignored Trynzen, knowing he meant no harm, but finding no humor in his ridiculous demeanor at the time.
Jax’s jaw got tense. “I’m going too.”
“I shook my head. I don’t know how much time we have left, but definitely not enough time to ride or walk there. We need to Recall. Rina, I know, can Recall.”
Jax swallowed hard. “Fuck. What exactly happened?”
I shook my head. “I’ll tell you later. We’ve got to go now.” I turned to Rina. “Will you help?”
Rina nodded. “I’ll do whatever I can.”
I pulled the rune to the Mist Vale out of my bag and held it out to Rina. “Go ahead.”
Rina nodded and focused her attention on the rune. After a few seconds, energy emanated from her body, and she began to disappear.
“I don’t like this, but do what you have to do,” Jax said. “If the Princess dies…” His shoulders slumped. “Don’t let her die.”
“I’ll do my best, Jax.”
“Be careful,” Keysia warned.
“Stay safe,” Sung added.
Trynzen looked on at the conversation. He seemed worried and confused, but he didn’t say anything more.
I focused on the rune and was swiftly teleported to the Vale.
Chapter Twenty-One
2/10/0001
“Welcome back, Ambassador!” I heard a high elf yell from his perch above me. Rina was already in a kneeling position on the ground.
“Get up,” I said, making no effort to kneel myself.
Rina looked up at me anxiously as she stood.
“Sorry!” I yelled. “No time for formalities right now! We’re not heading into town!” I grabbed Rina’s hand and began running. Thankfully, the elves didn’t give me a hard time.
As we ran through the forest, I started to realize just how lost I felt without Sora. What would’ve been a quick trip on Sora’s back was a brutal trek on foot.
We passed through the Vale, Addenfall, and eventually made it to Linden after what seemed like an eternity. We followed the same trail that led us towards the gnoll den, and when we reached the path that ran up the hill to where Sora was killed, I grabbed one of Rina’s shoulders.
“Careful,” I warned. “They could still be here.”
“Who should I be looking out for?” Rina asked.
“Hooded men,” I said. “I don’t know who they are, but they’re wearing all-black robes.”
Rina nodded.
We crept cautiously up the hill in sneak mode, looking out for any indication of enemies. Birds chirped, and there was the general sound of wildlife in the background, but I saw no sign of the men from before or any gnolls that may have still been in the area. Still, any time I heard the tiny snap of wood or crack of leaves in the distance, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
“There,” I said when I Sora’s body. I stood up from sneak mode and ran over to where she lay.
It was heartbreaking to see her lying there. Her ribs were broken, and her chest was partially caved in. Blood seeped out of her mouth, and part of her skin had been torn. It was a horrible sight that I had hoped I’d never see. She looked a lot like her mother on the day that I rescued her, and I was the one who was supposed to protect her from that same fate.
I had failed. All I could do now was hope for another chance.
Nearby, Liam was still lying in the same position. The sword that had impaled his body had been removed, and a pool of blood was forming all around his corpse. Tsarra was still several meters away, mangled even worse that Sora had been, her body having numerous deep cuts all over it.
I quickly scanned the area, looking for Adeelee’s body but saw nothing. The capsule she’d erected to protect herself was gone, but some organic plant matter was on the ground. Her sword was missing too, and though there was blood everywhere, there was no telling who the blood had come from.
“Shit!” I said in frustration. “The Princess isn’t here, but maybe that’s a good thing. We’ll have to search for her, but let’s resurrect everyone first.”
Rina nodded, raised her staff a little, and stepped up towards Tsarra. Before casting, however, she lowered her staff down a little and looked at me. “Wait a minute. How long has it been since they were killed?”
I shook my head and looked from side to side as I thought. I had run from our attackers, then ran to my home, then to the beach, and then we had to run all the way back there. It had taken a while, but I hadn’t kept track of time. “Close to two hours, I suppose. Definitely more than one…” My heart began racing as soon as I realized what kind of situation we were in. I already knew the rules of resurrection, but the intensity of the situation and hope of rescuing everyone hadn’t let them sink in.
“If it’s been that long, I don’t know how many I can resurrect. Maybe only one.”
I swallowed hard. “Only one?”
“I don’t know, but you need to choose fast,” Rina said. “The longer we wait, the less chance I can resurrect a second or third. If only one can be resurrected, who should it be?”
My stomach churned.
It was an awful kind of decision to make. The obvious answer was to resurrect Sora. She was the dearest to my heart and almost felt like a child to me. But, how would I explain to Adeelee that I had chosen my pet over hers? And how would I explain to Darion that his other student was dead after his first outing with me? Neither would be a good look.
I looked at Sora, and then to Tsarra, and then over to Liam.
Again, my heart wanted to tell Rina to resurrect Sora first, but my brain was telling me something else. The truth was, Sora was a Great Beast. She spent half of her time in the Otherworld, and she was only able to communicate with me and other beasts—at least as far as I knew.
Liam, however, was a human. And though he wasn’t a Reborn, in some ways he was more substantial. He had a life, a history—however fabricated by Dr. Winston it was—and goals. His existence was more than to serve my whims or run to me whenever I called.
Since being in Eden’s Gate, a lot of my views had changed, and a lot of things on Earth didn’t apply anymore. I often dismissed the idea of killing humans, humanoid bandits or other bad guys, and sometimes wondered if I were doing the right thing. But Liam was a good guy. He was a little bit of an asshole and a creep, but he wasn’t evil. It seemed wrong to dismiss him.
Shouldn’t he take priority over an animal?
I swallowed hard, feeling it was the hardest decision I had yet to make in Eden’s Gate, and when the words left my mouth, I could hardly believe I was saying them. “Liam… Resurrect Liam first.”
“Liam is the dead mage?” Rina asked.
I nodded. “Yes. He’s another member of the Mages Guild.”
Rina nodded and quickly moved closer to him. She lifted her staff and began casting a resurrection spell.
I prayed as she cast the spell that there would still be time to resurrect Sora. There was a 15-minute window between resurrections, and if there had been too much time, Sora would be lost forever. And though Rina hadn’t confirmed that she could resurrect Great Beasts, the fact that she didn’t say it couldn’t be done left no doubt in my mind that it was possible.
Liam’s bloodied body glowed, and after a few seconds, his extremities twitched slightly. After another few moments, he coughed and began spitting up blood. He grabbed at his chest, pulled himself up into a sitting position, and his eyes grew wide. “I’m alive…” He turned and looked at Rina and me. “I’m alive.”
“You’re alive,” I affirmed.
Liam shifted in position and turned his head from side to side rapidly. “Where are they? You couldn’t have defeated them yourself.” He looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. “Did you?”
I shook my head. “I ran. I don’t know where they’ve gone.”
Liam’s shoulders slumped, and he signed. He looked resigned for a moment before letting out another harsh cough.
Rina raised her staff and cast a healing spell on him.
“Your friend—the beauty?” Liam asked. “Where has she gone?”
“I have no idea,” I said, shaking my head. “We’ll search for her as soon as we resurrect Sora and Tsarra.”
Liam turned to see the bodies of our dead mounts. His face looked saddened for a moment, but then he pulled himself up and stood to his feet. “Our attackers were strong.” He looked over to Rina who was just starting to sit in a meditating position. “Who’s the healer who has honored me?”
“I’m Rina,” she said.
He strode over to her, grab her hand, and tried to lean over to kiss it, but Rina pulled away. “I’m sorry, but I need to keep track of my cooldown, so that I can resurrect again as soon as possible.”
“Oh…” Liam stepped back shyly and looked defeated. “Of course.”
“I had to travel all the way back to Edgewood,” I explained. “And that was after being chased by our attackers through the woods. We may not have time to resurrect both Sora and Tsarra.”
“Might not have time to resurrect either,” Rina said. “At least we were able to bring you back.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed as he looked down at Sora, then he turned to me. His shoulders went slack, and his face softened. “You knew that there may not be time for another resurrection, but you chose to resurrect me over your Great Beast? Even if she may be lost forever?”
I nodded. “It wasn’t an easy decision. You and I may not have had the best moments together, but…” I shook my head, looked down at Sora’s body, and fought back a sudden surge of emotion wanting to erupt in my eyes. “…nothing. It was a hard decision. I hope I made the right choice.”
Liam gulped, looked down again, and his eyes perked up when his noticed his bulging bag on his hip. He slid his hand over his bag, then looked over to a pool of his own blood, noticing the staff that he had looted from the gnoll’s den. “They didn’t loot me?”
I looked over to the side and noticed my staff laying in the grass as well. I shuffled over to it and picked it up. “Maybe our stuff was too low level for them.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed, and he shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense.” He suddenly grabbed his bag, flipped it open, and rummaged inside, pulling out a long eggplant-shaped vial, filled with a sparkling white liquid. “Here. Use this.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“A revival potion… for Sora.”
I creased my brow as I grabbed the vial out of his hands.
You’ve received: Revival Potion. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Epic. Weight: 0.1 kg. A single-use potion used to resurrect the fallen.
“Are you serious?” I asked. “I didn’t know these existed.”
“Rare and very expensive even for the wealthiest of adventurers. Most alchemists don’t make them due to the difficulty of obtaining its reagents.”
“You were carrying it around the whole time?”
Liam curled his lips and looked to the side a little. “I found it on one of the gnolls. I was going to sell it, of course.”
Rina jumped up. “Use it, Gunnar! Don’t waste time.”
I hurriedly shifted over to Sora and popped the cork in the vial. A strong but pleasant perfume-like smell immediately filled my nose. “How do I use it?”
“You can pour it over her or in her mouth,” Rina said. “It’s more potent than a healing potion.”
I wasn’t going to take any chances, so I lifted the side of Sora’s mouth and started pouring the white substance inside. When the bottle was two-thirds empty, I poured the remaining liquid all over her body.
The potion sunk into her body like a sponge, and Just like when Rina had cast a resurrection spell, Sora’s body began to glow. After few seconds, one of her paws twitched. One of her legs kicked out hard, and the worst of her wounds began to heal. Her crushed chest started filling back out, and her eyes flipped open.
Sora moaned and turned her head from left to right, looking all around her.
Father? Sora asked. You’re here?
“You’re alive!” I said loudly with a smile and kneeled down beside her. I rubbed my fingers through her fur and pressed my head up against hers.
I’m sorry I failed you, Sora said. I was afraid you would’ve been killed too.
I’m fine, I projected silently. I’m just glad you’re okay. I looked up to Liam who was standing nearby. “Thank you, Liam.”
Liam raised his chin and swallowed. “No, thank you, Gunnar. I never imagined that you would choose me before someone you clearly love so dearly. Rarely has anyone extended their hand to me in such a way. I must return my gratitude.”
I felt a bit uncomfortable talking about my choice to resurrect Liam first in front of Sora. I wasn’t sure if she would be offended or even understand what had happened, but it wasn’t something I wanted her to hear. I didn’t want her to doubt where she sto
od on my totem pole.
Hell, I wasn’t even sure if I understood it myself. I would’ve given my own life to save Sora, but in that particular situation, I felt it only right to bring back Liam first. Life was odd and convoluted, but in Eden’s Gate, the situations were even more confusing.
“Five more minutes or so,” Rina said. I looked over to her, and she was in a sitting position with her eyes closed.
“Now we can for sure resurrect Tsarra,” I said with a smile.
Tsarra was killed as well? Sora asked. She quickly stood up, and as if she could smell where her old friend was, she immediately limped over towards her mangled body. Though Sora had been resurrected, it was clear she was still not one hundred percent.
Sora whimpered and started licking at the side of the dead cat’s face. She lifted her paw and patted it gently on her body as if trying to wake her up. It was odd, almost as if Sora still had some childlike tendencies and couldn’t quite understand the concept of her friend being dead.
“Maybe you shouldn’t do that, Sora,” I said. “Wait until we resurrect her.”
Sora backed away and mewed again but didn’t say anything.
“While we’re waiting, maybe we should do a quick search for Adeelee,” I suggested.
“I’ll help,” Liam offered.
Sora bobbed her head and frowned, but after a few seconds she lifted her nose and rotated it from side to side. I don’t think she is here.
“Are you sure she’s not here?” I asked.
Sora shook her head. I don’t feel well right now, so my smell could be off.
As soon as Sora spoke, her head snapped to the side, and she jumped back and off to the side. Her back arched slightly, and she stared at something intensely.
I looked over to where she was staring, and standing in some brush was one of the black-robed men. I turned my head looking for signs of the others but only saw one.
Liam and I both grabbed our staves.
“Rina!” I yelled. “Get ready!”
Rina’s eyes snapped open, and she immediately jumped to her feet. Seeing us holding our staves, she grabbed hers as well.