They all stared in awe of the fearsome familiar Victus had summoned. The brute’s eyebrows furrowed, and he forgot all about Alyza and the girl. He ran at the half-elf, mace in hand. “You don’t scare me, you bloody freak! You and yer ugly dog!” He shouted.

Victus waved his hand towards him, “Evolution, Fenrir!”

The giant wolf howled, and the clouds above them swirled a horrific green glow. The brute was suddenly lifted off his feet by a giant whirlwind and tossed backwards into a crate of fish. He tried getting back up, but slipped and fell back onto the fish. The ghastly stench would take forever to get rid of.

Esner watched in fear, petrified. Victus glared at him, and a surge of wind ripped the sword out of his hand. The sword flew into the ocean nearby, and he immediately dropped the girl. He backed away before making a run for it, but Victus let him leave, then dismissed the beast. The sky quickly cleared, while green energy flowed back into a ring around his finger. He walked towards Alyza, who was still shocked.

“You alright?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you’re a bloody summoner?!”

“Because I’m not. Not a normal one, anyways. I’ve never trained in summoning my entire life, I wouldn’t know the first thing about it. And I’ve always depended on my ring to use magic. It just sorta..happened, one night.”

He decided not to tell her about his near death experience, since he still had a hard time believing it himself. Victus stood up and extended his hand, helping Alyza up to her feet. He looked past her at the young woman on the ground, “We should help her. Go see if you can find a doctor.”

“Right,” she nodded, and left in a hurry.

Victus picked up the young woman with tentacles for hair. She had glasses and a choker on, dressed in gothic attire. There was a spellbook attached to her belt, and that enticed him. She appeared to be a spellcaster of some sort. He carried her to the nearest doctor that Alyza had found, and placed her on the table.

“How long has she been unconscious?”

“Uh, we’re not sure. We kinda found her like that..”

“Hm,” the doctor opened a drawer and pulled out a small bottle. He uncorked it and held it up the woman’s nose. Once the scent entered her nostrils, she awoke suddenly, jerking her head to the side while gasping for air.

“Ugh! I hate ammonia!” She sputtered, breathing heavily. The three of them came into view, and she quickly sat up on the table, scooting away. “Wh-What happened to me? Where am I?!”

“My office. These two fellows brought you here, they found you unconscious. How are you feeling?”

“Sick to my stomach..And, dizzy..”

“Nausea, dizziness,” the doctor wrote down some notes, then performed a quick check-up on her. “Open,” he held out a wooden depressor onto her purple tongue, in between her razor sharp teeth. “Interesting. Ma’am, if I may, what race are you?” He pulled away the depressor so that she could talk.

“Uh, I’m a Cephalonoid..”

“A cephalonoid, you say? My, in all my days of working in Kamren, I’ve never encountered one of you folk. Are you new?”

“Mhm, I just moved here a few days ago..”

“Well, you seem relatively healthy. I recommend rest and hydration, and you should be fine. Have a good night, now,” he dismissed them. The three went outside, where the girl suddenly made a deep bow. Her tentacles moved in front of her face and wiggled a little.

“Thank you so much for saving me!” They were surprised by her sudden gratitude. “I’m sorry, I thought I could trust that guy, but mama always warned me about shady men in bars, and I really should’ve just ignored him..”

“It’s fine, just be more careful next time. You a spellcaster?” Victus asked, eyeing her spellbook again.

“Mhm, I’m a Necromancer. When I find the jerk who drugged me, I’ll curse him to an early grave, I will!” She held up her fist in a threatening, albeit cute, way.

“Haha, alright, see you around, uh..”

“Oh, it’s Vackerie,” she took his hand and shook it, smiling.

“Victus. And this is Alyza. Be seeing you, now.”

“See ya, Victus, Alyza!”

She left, the two of them now alone in the big dark city of Kamren. Neither of them knew where the others were, they hardly had an idea of their own location. Victus simply started walking, hoping they’d find them eventually. Alyza followed him. The two were unusually quiet.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

After a while of walking, she tugged on his sleeve and pointed at an old wooden bench on the sidewalk. They both sat there, next to each other. Though exhausted, he didn’t allow himself to sleep. He kept checking their surroundings, until accidentally looking up at the sky. It’d been a while since the sky had been clear this late, thanks to him. The stars were out, sparkling beautifully amongst the strips of shimmering blue and vanilla hues.

Enthralled, Victus kept staring, feeling at one with the rest of the universe. He sighed in relief, relaxing. Alyza leaned her head onto his shoulder suddenly, appearing troubled.

“You were right..I froze..I’m so stupid..”

“Sorry..”

“Why did you go out there? You could’ve died..”

“I didn’t know you cared so much.”

She pulled away, looking at him. Her eyes looked deep, sad and afraid. “Well, I do..I care about all of you. I’m well aware that it’s only been a few days, but that doesn’t mean you can go and die and expect me not to care.”

Alyza looked just about to cry. Somehow, this sight was more beautiful to him than the stars above. He found it difficult to speak.

“Say something, you dolt.”

“I think I like you..”

“What?” Her face reddened slightly. “Th-That has nothing to do with this conversation..”

“Sorry..”

“Don’t apologize! I mean, I’m fond of you too, but not in such a way that I would..” Her face grew redder. She stood up, crossing her arms, “My parents would kill me if I dated someone without any nobility, therefore..”

She found that she didn’t want to say no.

“W-Well, our relationship has yet to develop much, and..”

“We can grow it together,” Victus stood up too, and she quickly turned away from him, knowing that she’d lose all rationality if she looked into his eyes, which she secretly liked so much. He took her hand, turning her around. It was cold and soft at first, but quickly warmed up in his hand.

She failed herself, looking at him, “Oh, Victus, don’t do this to me, you know it’ll be difficult. My family is ruthless, they’ll stop at nothing to drive us apart..”

“I don’t care, I’ll win them over somehow. Right now, I’m..”

“You’re foolish..You’re crazy if you think-”

“I am crazy. Foolish, too.”

He leaned closer, “For you..”

She didn’t back away, “Then kiss me, you foolish boy..”

And so he did, while a shooting star flew by in the night sky above. He had to tiptoe to match her height, still holding her hand. She interlocked her fingers with his, before they both pulled away. In a fantastical world where you could die at any moment, a person to make your short life worthwhile was hard to come by. They both capitalized on this fact while they could, even though neither of the two were willing to admit it.

“M-My, it’s rather cold out, isn’t it..?” Alyza moved her hair behind her ear, now finding it even more difficult to properly look at him. She tried her hardest not to smile.

“Yeah. We should probably find the others before they get into any trouble,” Victus rubbed his nose, trying to cover his mouth. He was hiding a smile as well.

* * *

“There was no treasure after all, hm? A shame, truly,” Clyme cut off a piece of charred salmon, and elegantly placed it into his mouth. Victus watched with baggy eyes. Alyza was asleep next to him, leaning back against the cushioned booth, snoring.

“Clyme, where’d you get the money for that?”

“Oh, me and Wolfe did some begging this morning.”

Wolfe nodded, wearing a big wholesome smile on his face.

Clyme held the fork out to Victus, “Would you like a piece?”

The half-elf shook his head, “No, I’m not very fond of fish..”

“Suit yourself,” Clyme continued eating.

Victus leaned his head down on the table, in between his arms. Might as well get some rest, he thought. Shortly after he fell asleep, the waiter approached their table.

“Excuse me, sir, your friends can’t sleep here..”

Wolfe groaned at him in response. The waiter huffed, leaving them alone. The party finally left in a couple of hours, after Victus and Alyza were rested enough to continue exploring the city. They walked around, taking care to avoid any Raiders and Masks, “You really been here before, Clyme?”

“I used to live here. Why do you ask?”

“What about your family? Your friends?”

“Unfortunately, they’ve all perished.”

“Oh, sorry to hear that..”

He didn’t feel like he should press any further, but Jearicko stopped walking. There was a short silence, “You guys never once asked why there was a bounty on my head. Why not?”

“Guess I didn’t think it really mattered. I’m no expert, but from what I can tell, you’re certainly not a bad guy,” Victus replied, and Wolfe nodded in agreement. Alyza seemed distracted, but she still eventually perked her head up and nodded.

“Huh? Oh. Yeah, we weren’t about to stand idly by while that bounty hunter took your life,” she finally added.

“But..What if I deserved to die?” His ears drooped.

Victus clenched his fist, hurt to hear his friend say such a thing, “How could you even say that?! You’re annoying sometimes, yeah, but that doesn’t mean you deserve to die. No one gets to decide who lives and who dies.”

“But it was my fault..I was the one who got them killed..My family, my friends..They all died because of me,” he shed not a single tear, instead staring at the ground while recalling painful visions of the past. “It was all my fault..”