“Hey, are you okay?”

A young boy with blond hair stood above him, offering a hand to help him up. The two of them were a lot younger back then. The sky was bright and blue, back when the warm sun comforted him. Victus looked down at his scraped knee, blood pouring down his leg. The sight frightened him. He cowered and covered his face, crying.

“Um! Don’t cry! It’s just a little bit, you’ll be alright,” the nice boy took off his bright yellow scarf, and tied it around Victus’s knee while the boy tried his best to stop crying. He couldn’t help how it stung, and that made him cry much harder all of a sudden, a constant stream of tears running down his face.

The other boy looked around, thinking of how to cheer him up, and then it hit him. He reached into his satchel.

“Do you like muffins?”

Victus sniffled, finally looking back up at the boy, nodding.

“I got these from the market the other day,” he pulled out a couple of muffins, handing one of them to Victus, who slowly took it and bit into it. It tasted dry and salty, but then sweet. He stopped crying to munch on the muffin.

“You can keep the scarf. What’s your name?” The boy asked, sitting down next to him.

“My name’s Victus, but dad used to tell me not to tell that to strangers..”

“But taking food from strangers is fine?”

Victus nodded innocently in response, still chewing.

“My name’s Duncan. Your name’s cooler sounding than mine.”

“..I like Duncan..” Victus lied, finding his name unimpressive, but he didn’t want to hurt the nice boy’s feelings. He finished the muffin in one big final bite.

“I like you too. Wanna be best friends?” Duncan asked. Victus hadn’t grown up with any friends, so he was curious to find out what a “best” friend was.

Years passed, and the two were practically attached by the hip, going on all kinds of quests and getting into all sorts of trouble. One day while dungeon diving, Duncan finds an emerald ring after looting a treasure chest, “Woah! Look at that!” He let it sparkle in the sunlight once they were finally outside.

“It’s kind of girly, though..”

“Who cares?” Victus sounded annoyed. He felt that Duncan always found all the cool stuff in dungeons.

“Maybe I’ll give it to the girl I like the most.”

“..You like someone?”

“No, not yet, but eventually. I’ll wear it for now, though.”

“Psh, whatever. I call dibs on the next treasure we find.”

Later on, the two got into a fight at a tavern one evening. Duncan swung at a man that threatened him, and a surge of wind blew from his fist, forcefully knocking the thug out the front door. The two friends looked at each other in awe.

“..We should run-”

“Yep, running sounds good.”

“Running it is!”

The two were run out of town, accused of being sorcerers. Magic was often looked down upon at the time, until the kingdom found use for it. After escaping, they sat around the campfire at a clearing in the forest.

“Dude, did you see that?! I, like, I don’t know how I-”

“It was so awesome! Since when can you use magic?”

“I don’t know, it only happened after,” he looked at the emerald ring he was now wearing, “Oh! This ring is probably enchanted with wind magic or something.”

“Really? You should name it, then. What about: Excelsior!”

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“That’s pretty good, actually! Excelsior, it is.”

“That’s so cool..”

“We’re so cool.”

The two looked at each other, content with their company.

“Good point. And good night! I’m exhausted from all that running,” Victus stretched, yawning.

“Me too. G’night, Vick,” Duncan patted his best friend’s head, ruffling his silver hair.

“Ugh, I hate when you do that,” he swatted his hand away while Duncan chuckled, going to sleep.

A few weeks later, he awoke with blurred vision and his ears ringing. He'd been knocked out for a short while while they were fighting a Behemoth in a dungeon.

Duncan shook him awake, "Get up! Come on, please!?”

Victus jolted up suddenly, pulling out the dagger he'd found just moments ago. He looked at the Behemoth that was charging at them, then back at his reflection, then stood up.

"What are you doing?" Duncan pulled Victus’s shoulder.

"What do you think?! We gotta fight that thing!"

"No, we gotta run!"

“We're always on the run!”

Victus swayed slightly, weak. “How many have fallen to this wretched beast? How many will continue to die from it? Tell me, how will we ever rise to become heroes if we don’t fight?! For justice!”

"Always with the theatrics..” Duncan groaned. “Fine! Get him under that pillar!" Duncan pointed at a large stalactite hanging from the ceiling. Victus nodded, readying his weapon as Duncan ran aside.

When the Behemoth finally got in range, Victus dove and somersaulted underneath it, anticipating that the animal would pounce at him. He slashed at its legs and stomach as much as he could to keep its attention on him. The beast quickly became frustrated, charging up an electrical attack with its unicorn horn.

Victus acted quickly, running up a nearby wall and stabbing his dagger into the Behemoth's tough neck, sticking and hanging onto it. The beast roared, rampaging, slamming itself into the walls and ground as bolts of lightning enveloped the area. He held onto his dagger for dear life, hoping Duncan was soon to be in position. "Could you..hurry it up, please?!"

"Almost!"

The Behemoth kept trying to shake Victus off, moving under the sharp pillar protruding from the ceiling.

"Perfect! Now!" Duncan hurled a slice of wind at the pillar, causing it to break off and plunge deep into the beast's back, impaling it through all the way to its stomach.

Victus gripped his dagger and placed his feet on the beast’s neck, ripping it out with a heroic leap, landing on his feet as the Behemoth fell to the ground behind him, lifeless. He looked over at Duncan, breathing heavily, giving a weak thumbs up. Duncan smiled back before a sudden quaking shook the whole cavern that surrounded them. More debris began falling from the ceiling. "Head for the exit! Now!"

Victus hurried towards the entrance they came from, but his path was blocked by falling rocks and boulders. He turned back towards Duncan, who reached out for him before a large boulder separated the two. After a short while, the quaking stopped, and Victus found his way through the wreckage. "Duncan..? Duncan, where are you?!"

He searched, eventually finding his blond friend under some rubble. Duncan coughed, a sharp piece of debris sticking through the right side of his abdomen. Victus panicked.

"Duncan, you're.."

"Bleeding? It's okay..It’s just..a little bit.."

"No it's not!" His voice was shaky, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the faded, tattered yellow scarf. A faint bloodstain could still be seen on it.

"Heh, you really kept it? That thing's filthy.."

"B-But, it could stop the bleeding, probably.."

He touched the bloody stone, causing Duncan to wince painfully. The wound was quite large, and his skin was already turning pale. Victus's eyes began to water.

"..It's okay. I’ll be alright, Vick.."

"Th-This is all my fault, we should’ve just ran away like you said..I’m so sorry, Duncan, I.."

Victus held back tears as Duncan took his hand, "That dagger's yours. You called it, remember?"

He nodded, giving a weak smile. Duncan slowly pulled the emerald ring off of his finger, holding it out to him. Victus looked at the ring and then back at him, scrunching up his nose. He started shaking his head as tears poured down his nose and cheeks, his voice breaking, “No, no, no..That one's yours..”

“The dead don't take things with them, Vick," Duncan coughed, gripping the half-elf’s hand and forcefully sticking the ring onto his finger, “Please, just..Take it..For me..”

Victus nodded, “..Okay.”

“Excelsior, Victus!"

Victus gripped his hand back, watching the life leave Duncan’s eyes. He slowly leaned down and pressed his forehead against his chest, sobbing, "Excelsior.."