Ludo crawled to the man’s side. His face had gotten pale and his breathing hoarse. Ludo turned him around to get a better look at his wound and saw a rather large gash.

“Hey, hey!” Ludo said, lightly tapping him on his face. “We’re safe!”

“Save yourself…” the man mumbled.

“Not happening!” Ludo said. BEN!

“I told you, I’m not an ency—”

I DON’T CARE! HE’S DYING!

“Hmph. Calm down, we only need to stop the bleeding.” Ben said.

Ludo removed the remains of the man’s rough looking armor and pulled his torn blood soaked shirt off. The wound looked worse than he imagined. It was a large, deep cut into the man’s body from his shoulder all the way to his breast, coating the rest of his white skin a dark crimson red. Ludo quickly removed his shirt and wrapped it tightly around the man’s wound. Then, he grabbed the man’s right arm and swung it around his neck to help him up. The man replied in painful moans while they traversed back towards the road. Ludo pleaded to whatever greater power that they would be seen by a fellow scouting party once they made it out of the forest. They pushed through the thicket filled with unwieldy branches and roots. In the tangle, a root caught the wounded man’s feet and made him fall, dragging Ludo down with him. Ludo got back up and tried his best to drag the man up on his feet but he was delirious and his eyes were clouded.

“He is dying,” Ben said coldly.

“NOT YET!” Ludo cried out, scaring a nearby group of birds.

“If you want to keep him alive, try to make him talk. Keep him distracted from the act of dying.”

Ludo tried to pull him up one last time to little success. He was running out of time and needed to save this man’s life. As a last attempt, he tried Ben’s advice and spoke loud and clear to the dying man.

“Your name? What’s your name?”

“D-Do- Dolph?” He mumbled.

“Listen to me, Dolph! You are going to be safe! Help is right ahead, get up!”

Dolph did not reply. In desperation, Ludo swung Dolph over his shoulders and bore his weight. Ludo struggled to stand up and the cold blood coming from Dolph’s wound quickly found itself rolling down his own body.

“Dolph, stay awake!” Ludo said.

Ben, there is something I can do to keep him awake, right!?

“Ask him about himself.”

Ludo took a second to think his questions through before looking back at Dolph.

“Back at Balessia, what do you do besides being a mercenary?”

Dolph mumbled and slowly and painstakingly turned to look at Ludo. A slight glimmer in his eye eased Ludo’s worries for a brief moment.

“Stay with me! Tell me, what do you do!?”

“I… write,” Dolph sighed.

“Good… good!” Ludo said, looking around for a way back to the road. He attempted to use his eyes once more, to get a sense of where he and the road were. Yet he was unable to. His mind kept drifting back at Dolph, making sure he was still conscious. Every sound, close or far, made him freeze in place as he expected it to be followed by the undead which had spotted him. Under these circumstances it was impossible for him to concentrate and use his ability properly.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Do you write books?”

“No, I write… poetry,” Dolph said before choking in his spit and blood.

“He’s losing a lot of blood,” Ben added.

“Poetry… that’s—that’s good! Who do you write it for?”

“I—” Dolph mumbled between bloodied teeth. “—Hazel”

“Hazel? What’s that?” Ludo asked Dolph as they reached the edge of the forest and the road’s edge. His heart sank and horror set in, there was a large group of undead at the old road, carrying what had been Ludo’s scouting force away, most likely to be reborn as soldiers for the necromancer. Ludo hid himself and Dolph in between some bushes by the road, cold sweat kept flowing down his face and he struggled to breathe quietly, to make matters worse, he knew he could not sit idly for long as each wasted minute meant death was closer to Dolph.

“Not a what. A she. A most beautiful she,” Dolph replied, not fully aware of the danger nearby.

“That’s great. Is she a girl you like?” Ludo whispered while he crept away, almost crawling in the ground at the opposite direction of where the undead were heading.

Ben replied, “I can only see what you see, Ludo. Maybe that ability of yours would—”

I can’t, not like this!

“Yes you do.”

No Ben, I can’t. I am carrying a dying man on my back and our attackers are just a stone toss away from us. I cannot concentrate like this.

“And that is where you are wrong, boy. That power, whatever it is, is not driven something you get by concentrating. It’s your will, your drive and want to be able to see the world for what it truly that is makes that power work.”

“Right,” Ludo closed his eyes and this time he did not concentrate like he did before but repeated deep within his mind what he wanted to do. He wanted to see. Opening his eyes, he was immediately greeted by the changed world and all of its secrets. The magnitude of creatures hidden on the trees, buried deep, and flying above the clouds, the power that flowed in the air and Dolph’s own spirit which was quickly fading away. Through them he was also able to see the various undead blobs and their deep blue almost black aura that surrounded them.

“That color around them reminds me of dead skin…” Ben said worryingly.

Ludo stayed put, observing the undead for a while until they retreated from the road into the forest. Once they where far away, he sprinted the opposite direction, knowing time was against him. Dolph was getting heavier by the second, he wasn’t long for this world.

“Dolph, you said you write poetry for a girl. What is she like?” Ludo said loudly once they where out of the undead’s ears.

“She is the most beautiful woman I have laid my eyes upon.” Dolph groaned, his eyes still half closed. “She’s charming and lively and…”

Dolph’s words were too faint for Ludo to notice the rest. He turned and saw Dolph’s head hanging low and lifeless while a small droplet of his own blood found its way down his chin.

Ludo stopped and screamed at Dolph. “You said you like her, what’s her name?”

Dolph mumbled something.

“I can’t understand you!”

“—azel. Her name is Hazel. And she is the woman I hope to marry one day,” he said, somehow finding the strength to keep himself in the conversation.

“Good, and what do you like about her?” Ludo picked up the pace, almost sprinting, hoping to find anyone who could help.

“Everything” Dolph replied.

“Good,” Ludo said, looking around in a panic. “Thats good. When do you want to tell her?”

“Soon…” Dolph replied. “But its too late for that.”

“IT IS NOT!” Ludo bellowed. “Don’t worry, I will find help for you.”

Ludo gathered all the strength left within him and sprinted through the road as the sky above darkened. After a while, the day quietly died, yet Ludo did not stop, using his ability to at least see some of the road. It did not take long for his throat to parch and for him to collapse onto the hard cobble under the weight of both himself and Dolph. Despite in his knees and hands, most likely bruised and cut now, he picked himself up and carried on.

“Ludo…” Ben began to say.

“I don’t want to hear it!” Ludo yelled and continued on the road. It had been a while since Dolph had replied to his questions but Ludo refused to allow himself to think he had parted. He was not going to allow it.

His tenacity would pay off as, not so far away, Ludo’s ears caught the galloping of horses. A sense of jubilation overflowed from his soul and he picked up the pace. Within just a few seconds he came upon a large group of riders. He could not help but let a smile escape him. He—no, Dolph was saved. At that very same moment his eyes dulled and his legs gave out again. He had given his all.