Egosum was finally fully armed for future combat. He had the spear on his back and the hook strapped to his left arm for easy access.

The weapons gave him the first bit of killing power beyond blunt force trauma.

“Thank you for making this. I really appreciate it.” He let his eyes roam over the items for the tenth time with a fondness one might see in a mother's eyes.

“Yeeaah, don’t mention it. Seriously. You have said it like five times already.” Thunkar went to work carving a weapon from the larger arm bones that were more appropriately sized for someone of his stature.

“Let's go out and test it already.” His excitement was palpable in the air.

“They have enough food to stay full for a few days. They will be fine without any more meat for a while. You need to sleep off the injuries still. You might be supernaturally tough but that doesn’t mean you are immortal.” Cinera lectured him as he caressed his new tools.

“Come on. You know I can put some work in now. Imagine what all we could do now. It would be a bloodbath.” Egosum was brimming with energy everyone knew he didn't actually have.

“Just wait for when the salve runs its course. You won’t be saying that for much longer.” Thunkar lifted the weapon up to look at the detailed work he put into it. “I must say, this is the best material I have had to work with for a while. The spike deer was too brittle for carving but these are just right.”

The bone had been modified into a war pick ready to pierce into the largest of beasts they had seen in the forest yet.

“I know you want to test it. Let’s get out there!” Egosum tried to convince the boy before turning to the trees. The first hop sent him flying with only a tinge of pain. The next saw him tumble through the air as a cramp sent shockwaves through his body and the final one saw him groaning on the ground in delirium.

“Yep, the salve ran its course already. Told you so. I will carry him back to his tent and get Granny to give him more.”

-

Egosum laid in the earthen hole as the shocks of discomfort rocketed around his body, the salve doing much less work than it had before.

He fought with it to fall asleep. The sun peaked overhead and fully fell when he was finally exhausted enough to pass out.

The comforting feelings of his soul domain welcomed him home as he opened his eyes.

His corporeal issues were gone and he could finally enjoy life without the injuries while he remained inside.

“Hey! Welcome back. Glad you survived cause that would have really sucked to die again. Not sure my soul would come out of that fully intact.”

Egosum sighed as the familiar voice rocked his peace to shambles.

“Hello, Pangu.” The soul soil to his side drew his sight. His Qi vision enlightened the area for the first time.

The patch of earth was only slightly different from his normal sight but under the new filter, he could see it in its full glory.

The wet dirt was burning with a bright blue flame that he thought would have been impossible on the moist ground. The tips of the fire turned white as they terminated themselves not far above the ground.

Images of torture and pure pain flashed within the ever-moving light. He looked deeper into the sights. Civilizations bowed to him and sent ludicrous gifts to appease him only to be wiped from the surface with a derisive flick of his hand.

The flames abruptly cut off as Pangu spoke up.

“Hey! Stop that. That is personal information. I have to worry about you looking at my soul now? Learn some decorum!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so open in my soul then.”

Pangu was silent for a few seconds before speaking.

“Whatever. You almost died to a sloth. It’s almost like you ignored the most important thing I said to you the night before. Know there is no other option but victory. You ended up giving yourself to the enemy for it to crush you in its hand. It is those kinds of mistakes that turn certainty into a toss-up.” The verbal lashing struck him deep as he felt the tightness of the scar tissue on his back.

“You are right.” Egosum sighed as he acquiesced to the dirt.

“I know I am. Why else would I be telling you!” Pangu huffed in anger before calming his rough voice. “You did live through it though. I will give you that. It was certainly in a higher realm than you and if it wasnt for those ‘genetic modifications’ you would have died. A word of advice, don't eat the heart, it will certainly corrupt you.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Egosum nodded his head and fell silent as the man finished his advice.

The world was quiet as the feeling of mud in his toes and the sights of a healthy swamp carried about inside of him. He failed to realize it while he was awake and suffering, but he finally understood that the near victory had shaken him more than he thought.

The fear of death was not his major concern. It was the unresolved life that he was determined to live. He wasn’t a mage yet. He hadn’t gotten revenge for his civilization. He hadn’t done anything of note beyond saving some elves.

The fight helped him realize that the more mistakes he allowed himself to make, the longer the road he would travel was going to be. It was inevitable that he would fail along the way, but that didn’t need to mean he would take those failures and let them drag him down forever.

The world around him flickered in and out. He waved the vibrant soul domain goodbye as the real world welcomed him back.

He opened his eyes to see the dull light of a rising sun peaking through the tent flaps.

The lack of noise was reassuring as he crawled out of his hole and out of the tent. The aches and pains were now only a dull reminder of what had happened. He stretchde out as he felt for any discomfort that would limit his mobility.

His full range of motion was back and he was ready to get busy.

The village was just waking up. Kids were nowhere to be seen and the mothers had gotten up to start their daily chores.

It was a beautiful morning. The light had just crested the trees when a scream surged forth from the other side of the camp, startling everyone.

Heads craned around to search for the source.

A lone woman was holding the body of a child near the tree line. Egosum looked to the side and saw Thunkar rush from his tent and Morgal follow him from hers.

The entire village was up and crowded around the woman as she cradled the child.

“He’s dead. Why?! I don’t understand!” She poured tears as she looked down at the bloody body.

Morgal pushed her way through and inspect the victim.

“Blade wounds and the smell. It was humans. Damn it.” She spoke quietly as everyone around her went silent to hear her opinion.

“We will set up a proper burial for Endar. I need to think about this. Set up curfews and start making barricades.” The old woman looked over to where the toad stared at her. “ Thunkar and Egosum, some with me. We need to talk.”

People dispersed as they all rushed to follow her orders, leaving the crying mother on the ground.

The pair followed Morgal into her tent and sat across from her.

“Would either of you like to explain how the humans found us? Could it have something to do with that rabbit?” Her tone was cold and certain.

Egosum looked at the boy calmly.

“I said I cleaned that rabbit. We weren’t even out of the village yesterday. You know tracks don't last in the woods and humans aren't the best trackers in the first place. There is no way they could have followed us here.” The boy rapid-fired the defense to rebuttal her as much as possible.

“They could have waited after they found our camp and attacked us when they were ready. This might just have been a teaser for what they really were going to do to us. I knew I shouldn’t have let you out of the village to hunt. Endar is dead and now we have to have a burial and set up barricades.” She sat her head down in her hands as she thought about what her next move was.

“Thank you for all of the food Egosum, but I am going to ask for you to stop hunting. We don’t have the people to make sure you can bring the food back safely and without getting tracked. I don’t blame you for this, I just don’t know what we are going to do. You can stay for a few more days while you recover but I ask that you leave after that.

“Granny! Please listen to me. It was not from our hunts. There is no way. I would have smelts them or heard them. Plus, why would they just kill Endar? At night too? It doesn’t make sense. I think-” He stopped as his grandmother screamed.

“Stop! Stop. Just stop it. *sigh* I know you want to help but I can't have something like this happening. We were already on the brink of death and now death is breathing down our necks. Just stay inside and help protect the village.”

Thunkar began to try and refute her once more only to be stopped by the older lady with a raise of her hand.

She stood up and showed them out of the tent.

The pair walked out and the boy followed him to the tent the amphibian trio had shared before.

“You guys look just chipper. What was that scream earlier?” Cinera welcomed them and stretched as she woke up.

“Meep.”

“Hello. That was a kid that got murdered last night.” Egosum hopped inside as the kid followed in his footsteps.

“Oh, my goddesses. How did that happen?” She looked shocked at the blunt response.

“Humans apparently.” He walked deeper inside and messed with his new weapons.

“I don’t think it was humans.” Thunakr finally spoke up as he sat down.

“You saw the stab wounds were very obviously from swords or very large knives and I haven’t seen anything like that around here.” Egosum clanged his spear and hook together to emphasize his point.

“I know. The humans rarely use swords out here. They just use the same axes to fight as they do to cut trees down since their biggest issues are the massive beasts running around, not the hunters. The last time humans actively used swords was when the army came to clear us out.”

“Then who else could it be? Some new enemies? A monster with blade-like claws?” The toad questioned him.

“I know. It just doesn’t feel right. I need some time to figure it out. We can deal with it then. I am confident.”

“Well, we won’t be here long. If we can’t hunt and the hunters are so morally corrupt that they forsake their own village then there is no reason to stick around. Sorry kid.” Egosum apologized to him as the salamander sighed and began to pack up her items scattered around the tent.

“I know Morgal said not to, but I didn’t listen to her before and it isn’t going to start now. I think we should hunt at night.” Egosum whipped his head back to look at the boy.

“As much as I welcome the fights, I don’t know about that. What do we do about the meat?”

Thunkar looked down at his feet before making eye contact again.

“Just make it look like it's the hunters like I used to. They come during the night usually, anyway.”