As I ran the body back towards its hollow, Lia climbed to the top of the overturned wagon and peered down into its ruined hold. A terrified scream echoed back at her as Lyn pulled herself further into the wreckage, concealing herself and her husband with a fallen curtain. “Lyn, it’s okay,” Lia called out softly, “it’s me. It’s Lia.” She slipped down from her perch into the wagon’s interior, her boots crunching over a thin layer of glass shards.
The curtain slipped a few inches, and Lyn peaked out over the edge, her kind blue eyes bloodshot and puffy. “Lia?” she asked, her voice cracking as she dropped her cloth shield. “Lia?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” she answered with a reassuring smile. “Are you hurt, Lyn?”
She blinked slowly, looking cautiously around the wagon. “I—I don’t know,” she started. “We were just...driving. And then, the horses screamed, and the...the wagon, it just flipped. Flipped over. And then, there were these…” Her eyes grew wide as she remembered the details of her own story, and her movements became more erratic as she continually scanned her surroundings. “These blades, they came right through the walls, and...and then…” She froze in place for a moment before letting out a pained wail. “They’re all dead! They’re DEAD! Miles, and Gran, and…” she pulled Layne’s body closer to her chest and screamed again, burying her face in his bloodied neck.
Lia knelt down beside the pile of debris that covered Miles and Josephine, pushing aside broken wood and seat cushions until his head and shoulders were clear. She placed a hand on the back of his neck and activated the Healing rune within her ring. A sparkling green light shimmered over his body as it worked to mend the cuts and scrapes on his exposed skin as well as the swelling in his head from the blow that had knocked him out. He gasped loudly as his consciousness returned to him and threw himself backwards, landing awkwardly in Lia’s waiting arms. His chest heaved as he fought to regain his situational awareness, only slowing when he caught sight of Lyn and Layne across from him. “Lyn,” he whispered, stunned.
The sound was lost beneath her mourning cries, but the sudden movement drew her attention. “Miles?” she sniffled, her lips trembling as they formed traces of a smile. “You’re not…” Her breath ran out, and she gasped silently for a moment. “Oh, Miles…”
Lia helped him to his feet, and he limped the few steps across to where Lyn had hidden herself. His shoulders began to shake, and he sank to his knees before her. “Lyn, I’m...sorry. I—I don’t...I’m...this is all because...it’s because I made you come get me...” he choked out as he began to sob.
“No, no,” Lyn replied, shaking her head, “no, that’s not true.” A fresh wave of tears rolled down her face as she reached out and brushed the dark blonde hair from his eyes. She pulled him forward into a tight hug, and the pair cried quietly in each other’s arms, Layne’s body still held up between them.
Their sadness welled up in Lia’s chest, and her vision grew hazy as she wiped tears from her eyes. I don’t know what to do, Lux.
You don’t have to do anything, I answered. We can’t fix this for them. They just need time now; a lot of it. The yawning abyss of the monster’s den waited in front of me, with a steep dirt slope leading down into a pitch-black cavern. I rolled my shoulders and hauled on the back leg of the dead beast as we descended into the blackness. My Detection revealed everything I needed to see: the space was nearly ten feet high at its tallest point and formed a circular room about twenty feet in diameter. The rough, uneven floor was littered with human bones, and the walls of the room were lined with the remnants of Elise's caravans, as well as smaller carts and wheelbarrows. Why would it collect this stuff?
I’m not sure. Lia’s voice startled me as I stood alone in the dark, surveying the scene.
Sorry, I was just...thinking aloud, I guess. I’m not used to whatever we’ve got going on here yet. I pursed my lips and rubbed my temples. It was disorienting to wade through our collective consciousness, but I refused to consider an attempt at decoupling our minds; whatever drawbacks the link held were massively outweighed by the sense of comfort we both shared by being together. I let out a frustrated sigh as I gave up on parsing the reason behind the ruined collection and moved on to a different line of thinking.
Whatever this thing was, it was alone; the den isn’t large enough for two of them. All of the tracks outside go from here to the road and back without detours, so it isn’t working with another one living somewhere else. But...I sent a powerful wave of mana throughout the cavern and suffused it into the walls and floor. Where did it come from? Why is it here? What...what is it?
Lux, you know what it is. Lia tugged on the memory I was actively repressing and pushed it to the forefront of our minds: Val’s face, unflinching against the cold steel of my sword on her neck as she spoke her warning. It’s one of the monsters Val told you about.
It was obvious that she was right, but it wasn’t a train of thought I wanted to pursue, so I instead busied myself with the task of cleaning the cave. I stacked the bones in a large pile opposite the caravans, then heaved the monster’s corpse on top of it. Whatever it was, wherever it came from, it’s dead now. That’s what matters. A rune glinted on my ring, and the pyre burst into brilliant crimson flames. I watched with grim delight as the creature’s chitin began to blister and crack against the heat, though the process was much slower than I would have liked. A surge of energy rushed out from my core and fed the flames, further brightening the dark cave with ominous red light.
I stood in place and watched the blaze consume the bones and beast alike. Though the act was deeply cathartic, my jaw continued to clench harder and harder as the monster’s remnants turned to ash. The thought that it had originated in Kaldan, more than likely due to Virram’s twisted influence, turned my stomach and set my heart racing. I sneered as the cave returned to darkness, leaving nothing but a hard, blackened spot where the pyre had been. Without looking back, I turned and left the burrow, emerging back into fresh air and a dimming, twilight sky.
Are you okay?
I’m fine.
Are you sure?
A new flame flickered to life in my gut as I felt suddenly ashamed of the emotional outburst. Yeah, I’m sure. My eyes peered down to my gloved hand, where the jagged, black scars hid somewhere underneath, reminding me of my failures. Sorry. I’m on my way back now. I sprinted back across the field, arriving at the wagon as Lia was helping Lyn out from the wreckage. Lia set her gently on the ground beside me before jumping back in to retrieve Miles. When Lyn recognized me, she immediately lunged forward and wrapped her arms around my chest, threatening to crush my ribs as she cried into my shoulder. Lia deposited Miles a few moments later. He gave me a long, empty stare, then nodded absentmindedly as he half-leaned, half-collapsed against the side of the wagon.
What do I do with Layne and Josephine? The question echoed in my head, sparing our friends the thought of their lost loved ones’ bodies.
Lay them out on the opposite side of the wagon. I’ll make a sledge out of what's left of it so we can bring them with us.
Lia sprang into action as I remained in the road, quietly consoling Lyn. Where are we going now? What...what do we do? Lia asked as she extricated the bodies from the carriage and placed them reverently at the roadside.
We need to take them back to Lienna. We’ll find someone there who can help them, and someone who can...look after Layne and Josephine’s needs. I paused as I encountered a gap in my knowledge. Unity has some sort of funeral rights, I assume? A series of images flashed through my head, all fragments of Lia’s memories from various ceremonies she had witnessed throughout her life. Men in vibrantly colored robes spoke over interred bodies before crowds of mourners, with the rites always ending with either a funeral pyre or a burial procession.
We each finished our grim work in turn; Lia traded places with me when the bodies were ready, and I set to work dismantling the wagon. A few well-placed Shatter spells shaped the floor of the carriage into a solid base for
the sledge, and the iron axles bent into passable runners. After carefully securing Layne and Josephine to the sledge, I draped a curtain over their bodies and retrieved one of the horse’s bridles, which I fashioned into a handle with which to drag the sled behind me.
I returned to the group when my work was finished. “Miles. Lyn,” I said, nodding to each of them. “We’re going to head back to Lienna now, okay? We’ll find someone there who can help you.”
Miles shook his head. “What if that...that thing comes back?” His eyes tracked wildly over the horizon as he scanned for the beast’s return.
“It’s dead, Miles. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
“What was it?” Lyn asked, sheltering herself closely behind Lia’s shoulder.
I shook my head. “We don’t know. Whatever it was, it’s dead now.”
“We can’t go back now. It’s too dark, and there are still bandits out there!” Miles continued to protest, his voice growing louder as he spoke.
“There aren’t any bandits between here and Lienna,” Lia reassured him. “We took care of them, too. We’ll be okay, I promise.”
“You can’t just tell us that everything is going to be okay!” he yelled suddenly, stomping his foot in the dirt. “Everything is NOT okay! WE are NOT okay!” Tears streamed down his cheeks from beneath his overhanging bangs.
I took another step closer to him, cautiously reaching out a hand. “I know, Miles. What happened to all of you was terrible, and I’m so sorry. Nobody should have to experience something like that, but especially not kind, caring people like you.” I motioned towards Lia and Lyn. “We can’t just stay here in the middle of the road forever, though. Lia and I will get you all back to Lienna before dawn, and you can choose what you do from there: stay in town, go home, even come back and stay with us.”
He swatted my hand away as he shifted towards me, his nostrils flaring. “How can you just stand there and act like everything is normal?! You can’t get us back to Lienna before dawn, and even if you could, it wouldn’t...that wouldn’t…” his fists balled at his sides as he sputtered, fighting to keep his speech coherent. “You don’t even care that they’re dead, do you?! You’re just standing there, acting like this is a normal day while half our family was just killed! You don’t even care!”
“Miles, stop it!” Lyn shouted. “They’re trying to help us!”
“No!” he seethed. “Gran was right about you. She said you were nothing but trouble, and that we should have left you at the roadside and gone on alone. But Layne vouched for you. He said you were his friend, and that you were a good person.” His face morphed into a hard sneer as he stared me down, and he took a braver stance as he jabbed at my chest. “He was wrong. You clearly weren’t his friend at all. You don’t give a shit about any of us, and you never did.”
My jaw clenched as I silently took the verbal battering. While he was clearly overcome with grief, I still knew that some part of him believed what he was saying, and a part of me believed it as well. From the moment our Detection had come back to us and the devastation within their cart had been revealed, I had felt nothing but cold detachment towards Layne’s death. A creeping sense of regret spread up through my chest as I realized I hadn’t spent a single moment in mourning for the man that had quickly become one of my closest friends.
The silence seemed to only anger Miles further. “SAY SOMETHING!” he screamed as he pulled his arm back and threw a clumsy punch in my direction. Although I had every opportunity to avoid the attack, I simply activated my Pain Reduction and Strength enhancements and let the blow land. His fist impacted against my jaw and found it entirely unyielding, creating three fractures across his hand as the punch bounced away, leaving me entirely unharmed. He roared in pain as he clutched his wounded hand, and he stared up at me with a new expression: fear. Lyn cried out and moved to run to his aid, but Lia gently held out her arm and blocked her path.
I leaned down to his ear with deliberate slowness and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “Lyn is going to need someone to help her through this,” I whispered. “That can be you, or it can be Lia and myself. We’re taking her back to Lienna tonight, and you’re welcome to join us.” My hand tightened around his shoulder. “Or, if you’d like, I can leave you and your grandmother here on the roadside. It’s your choice.”
He sucked in a rasping breath as his body tensed beneath my grip. His good hand balled into a fist, then relaxed in quick succession as the fight seemed to drain from his body all at once. “Fine,” he murmured, his shoulders slumping, “do what you want. I’ll come.”
“Good,” I nodded, giving him a reassuring pat on the arm. “Lia, can you look at his hand for me?” I was planning to carry him and the sledge, but given...all of that, I think I’ll carry Lyn instead.
Okay. Lia’s answer echoed in my head as we passed one another on the road. “Miles, can I see your hand, please?” He offered it out weakly as she approached, and she held it between hers, channeling a small burst of healing magic into his fractured bones. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand and furrowed his brow as he carefully flexed his mended fingers.
“Lux, I’m sorry,” Lyn apologized, bowing her head. “He didn’t mean that, I know he didn’t.”
“Please, Lyn, it’s fine,” I assured her. “You’ve both been through far too much today.” I slid out of my cloak and gently draped it over her shoulders. “We’ll be heading back to Lienna now.”
“I...don’t think I can walk that far,” she admitted. “Even on a good day.”
“That’s why you won’t be walking,” I said as I turned and patted myself on the back, kneeling down slightly. “We’ll be carrying you.” She bit her lip as she paused for a moment, but eventually she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around my neck. I stood and shifted her weight into a comfortable position before turning to Lia expectantly.
She turned and mimicked my actions to Miles, patting her back and bending her knees. He looked between us with raised eyebrows. “No, I’m too heavy. I’ll walk.”
“Climb on, Miles. You won’t be able to keep up otherwise,” Lia answered curtly.
“I’ll be fine if—”
“Miles, please,” Lyn called out, “just do it.”
He blinked at her in surprise, then gave her a small nod and did as he was told. When he was situated on her back, I rounded the wagon and knelt beside the shrouded sledge, retrieving the reins. “Lyn,” I said softly, looking at her out of the corner of my eye, “hold on tight, okay?” I started forward when I felt her arms tighten across my chest, rapidly accelerating from a light jog into a magic-enhanced sprint.
“Primes,” Lyn gasped as we rushed forward. She buried her face in the side of my cloak’s hood to hide from the wind that whipped past us. I wasn’t happy with the idea of showing off such a blatant display of our abilities, but my discretion was far outweighed by my desire to get Lyn and Miles to a safer place.
Lia matched my speed, taking her spot a few steps ahead of me on the road as we raced through the dark. Taking advantage of our combined senses, we pushed our Detection out in two separate directions: She spread her mana out in all directions to hold a safe perimeter, while I reached out straight ahead of us, scanning the entirety of the road between us and Lienna. The space was entirely empty apart from the expected wildlife, and more importantly, absent of the caustic void the monster had created within our Detection.
Our sprint continued uninterrupted for hours, with the clear road providing optimal traveling conditions under the light of the moon. Miles and Lyn both dozed in and out of consciousness as we went, far too exhausted and in shock from the day’s events to be disturbed by the bumpy ride. We reached the outskirts of Lienna an hour before dawn and left the comfort of the road to find a more secluded waiting spot. Lia left Miles with me and dashed ahead into the waking city, intent on procuring a room for our two remaining friends and beginning to arrange Layne and Josephine’s funerals.
After a half hou
r of quiet waiting, Miles awkwardly sidled over to my lookout point at the edge of our impromptu camp. “Lux?” he asked tremulously. “Do you...have a moment?”
“Of course, Miles,” I answered, opening my eyes as I paused my meditations. “What do you need?”
“I need to, uhm…” he trailed off, nervously glancing over his shoulder to where Lyn slept, curled in a tight ball beneath my cloak. His voice was hoarse and low when he continued. “I need to apologize. For how I acted, before. Back at the wagon.”
“No, you don’t,” I said curtly. “Miles, you experienced a really traumatic event yesterday. You lost people that you loved, and you saw a lot of things that probably still don’t make sense. You had every right to be angry.”
“But not at you!” he replied. “You and Lia, you were just trying to help, and I just...said those awful things.”
“Really, it’s okay,” I emphasized. “We hardly know each other, after all. I’m just a random stranger who suddenly asked you to trust me with your lives, after everything you had seen and been through.” I looked over his shoulder to where his last remaining companion slept. “I know you were just trying to look out for Lyn.”
He spun to look at her again, then gave me a meek nod. “I just...I don’t know what we’re going to do now.”
“It’s going to take time,” I answered. “You’ll have a safe place to stay at the inn for as long as the two of you need, and the Church will take care of the rest of your affairs.”
Restart Again: Volume 3 Page 30
