Chapter 66

They had missed out on afternoon class. Later that night Jay was surprised to see Warren visit at the Infirmary to check on the four of them. M'redith and Norri slept through it but Jay assured him that he would let them know he had stopped by.

Warren smiled. “Don't worry, the four of you didn't miss anything much. We went over the importance of having the tank turn a monster so its back is to the group. It sounds like you four did something similar just with the difficulty ratcheted up to maximum.” He smiled kindly as he spoke in low quiet tones so he wouldn't wake the others.

Jay nodded almost as if he wasn't seeing Warren in front of him, “I can't get over how huge it was. It was like trying to dodge a school bus. The amount of food it must have to eat just to keep itself going must be staggering,” Jay said thoughtfully as his mind started to wander and he unconsciously spoke of Earth. The day had been a long one and Jay was just as tired as everyone else.

Warren chuckled softly not even bothering to ask what a school bus was, “It was a big one too. You all did a wonderful job surviving.”

Jay wanted to ask if anyone had died but a sad nod from Warren answered his question before he asked it. Jay went quiet as he thought. It had really been close, especially for M'redith. Jay had felt helpless during the fight – Jay's job in a group so far was to make the group better. Better at finding loot. Better at taking loot. Better at avoiding special abilities. Better at staying clean. Not better at combat though.

And it wouldn't change as time went on Jay thought. His abilities would never be exactly combat oriented. Jay had convinced himself that was ok until M'redith had almost died. Now it was again bothering him and he would once again have to convince himself.

Knowing what a badass M'redith was made it a little easier to come to terms with his lack of fighting abilities. M'redith had done amazingly well today and had displayed courage in the face of almost certain death. She had protected her group, Jay included.

She was a keeper, Jay thought to himself, not for the first time.

Warren watched Jay stand there and just think. He waited until it appeared that Jay had reached some kind of peace with whatever he was struggling with. He raised an eyebrow in question.

Jay, too tired to care, answered honestly. “I can't protect her. I can help her, I can make things easier for her, but I can't protect her. But that's ok, I think. She doesn't need my protection. I need hers.” he said, turning to look down at M'redith's sleeping form.

Warren smiled as Aiden sat quietly listening to the conversation. He was too tired to join in.

“Those with the Adventurer class one way or another always come face to face with the same thing you are struggling with right now. You've already realized where your true power comes from, improving others. You will always be in need of protection from those that focus on combat.” Warren said seriously but stopping before he went any further. Jay looked too tired to absorb too much wisdom right now.

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Warren looked around the room as he spoke, “Figuring out that sometimes you can't protect those you care about is a major step forward for you and your growth as an adventurer. So don't protect them – prepare them. You have abilities, use them.”

Warren looked back at Jay and stared at him with intense eyes, “Do you understand?”

Jay thought about his abilities. If he desired it he could probably easily amass a small fortune with little effort. So far he hadn't been very focused with how he spent his money. Now though, now he had a purpose for it. Protecting, no, Jay shook his head for a moment, PREPARING his friends for battle.

“I understand, thank you Warren.” Jay said as he shook Warren's hand. Warren shook Aiden's hand as well before he wished them both a good night and left as quietly as he had arrived.

Aiden smiled tiredly at Jay once they were alone again. “Don't worry about it Jay. We all did good. You included you know. M'redith would have actually died if you hadn't told her to step left. You know how she prefers to dodge right when she can – the monster knew exactly what to do to get her. Only reason it didn't was because you helped her. So don't give me all this crap about you not being able to protect her. You did just fine.”

Jay sat down and took M'redith's hand in his own and sat back. There was nothing else that needed saying and soon Aiden and Jay were sleeping as well in their chairs.

It was quite late when a healer entered their room to check on them. Jay and Aiden woke as she walked in. The healer didn't wake either of the patients but quietly told Jay that Norri was all healed and ready to go home. They would like to keep M'redith overnight for observation though.

Aiden got up and stretched. “I can walk Norri home if you want to stay here with M'redith?”

Jay nodded in thanks, “Thanks Aiden, for everything. Especially for the heals during the fight. You did good yourself you know,” Jay said with a smile.

Aiden grinned, “Anytime.” he said as he reached down and gently woke Norri. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and got up with Aiden's help, she was just a little bit shaky but in a few moments found her balance. “Time to go to your own bed,” Aiden said kindly as he led a just woken up Norri out of the room.

Jay wasn't going anywhere until M'redith was completely healed up. There just did not exist any reality in which Jay would have left her to wake up alone after all that had happened that day. Whatever distance Jay had been trying to maintain between them had disappeared after that day's fight. Jay eventually fell asleep slumped over in his chair, one hand still holding M'redith's hand.

The next healer that entered did so early in the morning after the healers held shift change. She had heard all about M'redith and her group – that was how it was being referred to. Not Jay's group – M'redith's. The healer looked over the two sleeping forms, one laying down, one slumped in a chair. She retrieved a folded blanket and shook it out before placing it over Jay, tucking him in gently.

Walking out of the room she pulled the door closed halfway to darken the room a bit and left the two to sleep through the night.