I didn’t dare speak for fear of distracting Lira.
She had her eyes closed, her lips pressed thin, fierce concentration in her features.
A minute passed. Another.
She began to sway in her saddle, energy still pouring from her hands and into Senna.
I slipped from my mare, ready to catch her if she fell. Ready to catch Senna, too, who lay half across her lap, slumped between her pony and Lira’s horse.
There was nothing to do but wait.
I was a fucking God in this world, but if I couldn’t look after the people who had placed their trust in me – my own companions no less – what use was that?
Lira had summoned me to kill Drakos, expressly to protect her people, and instead we were taking leisurely rides to Taralith while Valorah suffered at his hands.
It wasn’t good enough.
Yes, I had to rank up. And yes, I had to be able to defeat him when I faced him again.
But it was taking too long.
God Power Deactivated.
You have gained a new skill: Riding. Riding is now level 1.
Riding has gained 1 rank.
Weapon (Sword) has gained 1 rank.
Unarmed Combat has gained 1 rank.
Not a great use of my power for today. But I suppose the results were significant for the barely-thirty seconds of activity I’d done.
Dammit, I had to do better. I hadn’t even spent my new perk, or my ability point. Six unspent skill points.
Helpless to do anything while I waited, I pulled up my sheet.
Kaelan
Class
None
Race
Human
Level
8
Age
28
Armor Class
13 (18)
Primary
Secondary
Skills
Strength
11
Attack
13
Weapon (Sword)
24
Agility
16
Defense
8
Archery
24
Intelligence
17
Endurance
14
Unarmed Combat
16
Wisdom
13
Luck
3
Dodge
15
Fortitude
8
Perception
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
8
Foraging
11
Charisma
14
Resilience
6
Sex (Women)
10
Health
72
Speed
19
Hunting
10
Willpower
9
Stealth
9 (7) (more)
You have 6 unspent skill points.
You have an unspent Perk.
You have an unspent attribute point.
Companion: High Priestess Lira (see separate sheet)
Companion: Senna (see separate sheet)
Perks: Keen Observer, Backstab
Powers: God
My Sword and Archery skill had ranked up fast. Unarmed Combat had benefited massively from the use of God Power during the fight with Jarek. Speed was high, Attack and Endurance were doing okay. Rolf’s breastplate gave me plus-four to my Armor Class at the expense of two to my stealth; the vambraces I’d taken from the goblins another one. I’d dispatched those three bandits without breaking a sweat. They’d never stood a chance.
But there was no getting away from it: I was only level 8. Drakos was level 18.
The memory of his sword easily batting mine aside pushed into my mind, and a shiver ran down my spine. I had a long way to go before I could stand up to Drakos, and he sure as hell didn’t have a strength of 11. Would I ever be the warrior he was?
It was tempting to pump it to 12, right now, with the attribute point I had in hand. But making impulsive decisions wasn’t the route to being the best I could be. I had to think about it.
Something I’d been far too lax in doing.
Lira slumped forward, drawing my eye, interrupting my chain of thought.
“Baby?”
“Can’t do … anymore.” It was a breath, not even a whisper.
“It’s alright,” I said, my stomach clenching. “I know you did your best.” I put my hands on her hips, supporting her.
“She …” Lira was barely able to speak, her fatigue obvious. I had to lean forward to catch her words. “She …”
I waited for her to say, ‘… is dead’. My heart had stopped beating, my stomach was heavy and tight, like it had turned to stone. Lira had thrown all of herself into saving Senna, as unwilling to give up as she’d ever been, but it hadn’t been enough.
Her eyes closed, and she fell against me. Senna slipped too, and I grabbed desperately for both of them. I wasn’t going to let Lira fall, but I wasn’t prepared to drop Senna either. She didn’t deserve to be dumped on the ground, just because she was—
Senna gasped, a sharp and sudden intake of breath, and my own gasp echoed hers. She wasn’t dead! Lira had done it! She’d fucking done it!
The burst of hope and life gave me the strength I needed. I pulled Senna against me, her body slipping off her pony. He didn’t much like the feel of it and walked forward, disgruntled. It allowed Senna’s legs to slide free, her weight falling fully onto me. I set her down, my other arm supporting Lira from her high on her stallion, straining my shoulder.
“Can you stand?” I asked.
Senna slumped against me, eyes still shut, but her chest moved faintly as she breathed. Her legs gave way, and she slid down my body, falling to the road. I couldn’t support her, not with Lira leaning on me.
I left Senna where she lay and lifted Lira off the back of her horse. She was limp and unconscious, but at least she was breathing.
They were both alive. That was all that mattered.
I carried Lira to the side of the road, looking for a place to lay her. There was a ditch to cross, then a small patch of long grass on the other side.
I stepped over the ditch with Lira in my arms, pushing through a small holly bush with her lifted high above its sharp spikes that caught on my trousers. I trampled the grass to give her somewhere to lie, and set her gently down.
Then I went back for Senna. I picked her up out of the road, dusting her off as best I could, then carried her to where Lira lay. Senna’s shift was damp against my hand where I held her, soaked and tacky with her blood. How much had she lost? Was she out of danger? Was the wound there, or had Lira healed her fully?
I lay her down next to Lira, then peeled the sticky material away from her skin. Her back was covered in blood … but her skin beneath was smooth and whole. There wasn’t even a wound – at least, not externally. Whether Lira had healed the damage inside, I had no way to tell, but Senna was breathing. Shallow, delicate breaths, yet with no rattle or wheeze that might indicate a damaged lung.
My two girls lay in the grass, side by side. They could’ve been just sleeping.
There was nothing to do but wait for them to regain consciousness.
I went and gathered the horses, tying them to a tree near where the girls lay. Then I frisked the men, as much to try to glean some clue as to their identity. But they had nothing, only a few coins between them. Their weapons were ill-made, their clothing that of peasants. They were nothing more than those who had chosen a life of banditry, for whatever reason. It had cost them their lives, but it had almost cost Senna her life, and for that, for coming so close to killing a girl so innocent and blameless, they deserved their fate.
I rolled their bodies to the side of the road and left them for the animals to deal with, returning to the girls.
Lira was awake, holding Senna close with her head cradled on her shoulder. When she saw me, she gave me a tremulous smile. “I did it,” she said. “I wasn’t sure I could, but I did.”
“You were amazing. You gave everything you had. You saved her.”
Her smile strengthened, then her arms pulled Senna in more tightly. “Can we rest here?”
“We can rest soon. I don’t want to stop so close to the bodies.”
It would attract animals, but more, it was simply unpleasant. I wanted somewhere nice to stay the night. It was still relatively early, but we would stop as soon as I could find somewhere suitable.
Lira nodded in understanding. “She might be out for a while yet.”
“Well, as soon as you’re ready to ride, we can move on. I’ll ride with her.”
“I feel stronger. I can go now.”
Neither of us wanted to stay near the men who’d attacked us any longer than we had to. “Then let’s go. Do you need help getting on your horse?”
“I think I’ll be alright.”
We laid Senna back down on the grass, then I hovered as Lira stood shakily and made her way back to her stallion. She seemed stronger with each step.
“You’re amazing,” I said to her. “I’m constantly in awe of you.”
She smiled, going up on tiptoe to kiss me. “Do you know what it’s like to hear your god say that to you?”
I didn’t feel much like a god in that moment. I felt like a man, dragged to a world that wasn’t mine, thrown into the path of two girls who deserved more. A man helplessly out of his depth, with tasks and responsibilities greater than he—
She pulled back, looking up with concern. “What is it, Kaelan?”
I took a breath, forcing myself to look down at her. “It’s nothing. A moment of weakness spent wallowing in self-pity.” I took another breath and gave her a smile. It wasn’t my best; it needed more skill points. “Nothing more than that. I’m sorry, I’ll do better.”
“I think you’re doing pretty damn well.” She kissed me again, then turned and pulled herself up onto her horse. Without my help.
I mean, damn, her stallion wasn’t exactly small.
I walked back to get Senna, thinking of the marvel that was Lira.
Maybe I didn’t have to shoulder the whole world alone. I wasn’t alone, and with Lira by my side, I was stronger for it. Senna too, for that matter. She was resilient – hell, her Resilience was far higher than mine. Higher than Lira’s, too. Maybe with both of them supporting me, I could do more. Do it better, faster - whatever I needed.
Still, I was immortal, and they were not. Senna had almost died, and if I lost Lira ... it just wasn't worth the risk. I had to do this alone.
I picked Senna up in my arms, grimacing as I felt her blood that had soaked into her shift. Too damn close. We’d only packed one change of clothes, and this shift was ruined. She definitely needed new ones now.
It wasn’t easy getting her onto my horse then climbing up behind her, but we were so keen to leave this place that it was the motivation I needed to get it done.
We headed off down the road, Senna lolling against my chest, my arm tight around her waist.
Lira led Senna’s horse, and neither of us looked back.