Now, Manila

Eron knocked on the apartment door.

“Susmariosep! Your face!” Dr. Rufo said.

“I already set my nose.”

“But the cuts!”

“Will heal. How’s Lilah?” Eron had more important concerns.

“She’s sleeping. Her temperature is back to normal.”

Eron noted that the doctor was still standing in his way. “Fine… you can clean my wounds.”

“They could get infected,” Dr. Rufo said.

“I have a superhuman constitution. I feel like I say that all the time,” Eron grumbled.

“Well, you don’t know for certain what kind of magical infections you can pick up out there,” Dr. Rufo huffed.

“From shades?”

“All the more reason to be careful.”

“I don’t see what rubbing alcohol, iodine, hydrogen peroxide or whatever can do in that case.”

“Young man, you forget that I have Skills,” Dr Rufo puffed up like a prized rooster.

“Fair enough.”

Eron followed Dr. Rufo to the kitchen table. He sat down while the doctor opened the medical bag.

“How were they, Doc?” Eron said.

“Hmmm?”

“Our people? Cherry told me they didn’t lose anyone, but I rushed up here and didn’t ask for details. Injuries?”

“Oh, they’re all fine. Minor contusions from a rough ride as I understand. Madalena had some bad abrasions from the road, but I’ve already dressed them.”

“That’s it? Nothing major?”

Dr. Rufo shook his head.

“Good. She’ll heal pretty quickly,” Eron said.

The doctor scowled as he cleaned the cuts on Eron’s face. “To me, it sounds like you’re thinking of going out there without an adequate amount of rest and recovery.”

“It’s getting stronger. We need to move people from our furthest sanctuaries to closer ones. Lessen the strain on Lilah for as long as possible.”

“Why not bring them all here?” Dr. Rufo said.

“We’ve been over this. It would be bad if there’s only one place for the fog to focus its power on.”

“And how do you intend to move people and supplies? This one attempt nearly killed you all,” Dr. Rufo said.

“I’ll have to bring Lilah.”

“Absolutely not!” Dr. Rufo snapped. “The last thing that poor girl needs is to be going out there.”

“I agree, but Cherry said the sigil they took from the wall kept the fog at bay while it lasted. Maybe Lilah can place some on shields and armor. If she’s with us then she can keep them powered. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner,” Eron said.

“No. I’m going to have to put my foot down. It’s bad enough that she has to go out there and keep maintaining the wards at great cost to her health, but this…” Dr. Rufo threw his hands up. “She’s twelve!”

“I don’t disagree in principle, but she’s also the only thing standing between all of us and shade-hood.”

“That isn’t a word.”

“Shade-ing?” Eron grinned.

“Don’t make light of this.”

“Look, Doc… just because she’s a kid doesn’t mean that the monsters treat her any differently from an adult. I’ve seen… a lot… okay, just kids don’t get exempted from the nightmares out there.”

“Don’t,” Dr. Rufo waved a finger in Eron’s face. “I’ve seen my fair share of that.”

“What we want doesn’t matter. It’ll be Lilah’s choice.”

“And she will always put her life at risk to help others,” Dr. Rufo sighed.

“She’s a good kid. Brave, strong, iron-willed. Deserves better than this.”

“We should be protecting her. Not the other way around,” Dr. Rufo said.

“Yes.” Eron regarded his bloodied knuckles. “You try so hard to do that, but it’s never enough. People always die.”

“We aren’t that different. In a way,” Dr. Rufo said.

Eron snorted.

“Back before this all happened, in the early years of my career I had the mistaken belief that I could save everyone that crossed my table. It ate me up inside for years whenever I failed. Until, I realized that all I could do was my best. Ultimately, it was in God’s hands which of my patients lived and which he welcomed into his arms.”

Eron managed to keep a neutral face. “I acknowledge your words and your feeling. I can see why you’d think that way.”

“I’m over twice your age, young man. Don’t patronize me,” Dr. Rufo said flatly.

“Fair and accurate. I apologize.”

“I’ve done all I can for you. You can leave,” Dr. Rufo said.

“I’ll wait for Lilah to wake up.”

“No. She’s my patient and I say that there are no visiting hours,” Dr. Rufo folded his spindly arms.

“You can’t be serious?”

“Deadly.”

“Okay,” Eron chuckled. “But, you’ll let me know when she’s awake.”

“I will decide.”

“I’m serious, Doc. We can’t take too long. The fog is strengthening.”

“Fine, fine,” Dr. Rufo waved a hand, “I’ll let you know. Now, shoo, shoo.”

Eron went to the other apartments and checked on the recent arrivals.

They were all exhausted and in shock from the nearly disastrous escape, but grateful to be alive. Though he could see on their faces that hope was rapidly dwindling, if not already gone.

His next stop was to check on the supplies.

He already knew that they had more than enough, but wanted an excuse for a longer delay to the next person he needed to check-in on.

Eron tapped on the apartment door.

“Just come in, it’s open,” Madalena said. “What do you want?”

Eron heard the weariness in his cousin’s voice. She was laying on the couch with her bare feet resting on a pillow. Her soles were scraped red raw.

“I wanted to see how you’re doing,” he said.

“You’ve seen,” Madalena gestured. “Now, you can leave.”

“Man, people really don’t want me around,” Eron sighed. “I thought you might need to talk about what happened.”

“You mean give you my report,” Madalena said.

“Whatever you want to call it.”

“Fuck… if it’ll get you out of here.” Madalena told him about their desperate escape on the highway.

He was surprised to note that she didn’t have a single bad word to say about Cherry. “You did a great job getting them all back here safely.”

“I don’t need your approval,” Madalena said.

“Just take the compliment,” Eron sighed.

“Thanks… now get out. I need my rest. Doctor’s orders,” Madalena sneered.

“You were planning to walk around on those?” Eron raised a brow.

“Wrap them up in bandages and I’m good to go.”

“Yeah, well we’re going to test that out pretty soon, so be careful what you wish for.”

Madalena glared. “Lilah? Do we need to evacuate another sanctuary? Dr. Rufo said she was doing better. Is she okay?”

“She’s okay… for now. But I had a talk with our Tito Carlos—”

“You mean a copy. I hope you know better than to believe anything those things have to say,” Madalena scoffed.

“I don’t know what to believe and you haven’t talked to them as much as I have. Anyways, I think the fog’s only going to keep getting stronger, which means we’ll need to start pulling people from the outermost sanctuaries and spread them in the nearer ones. Maybe bring the more vulnerable ones here. Ease the strain on Lilah,” Eron said.

“That’s like the opposite of making it easier for Lilah. You suck,” Madalena said.

“If you have another idea feel free to share,” Eron challenged.

“Why not have her do the sigil on a shield and leave her here? Duh.”

“I guess we can do some tests, but from your experience moving the ward drained it quickly.”

“Or it was because of the way we cut it out of the wall. What if it’s because Lilah cast it for a non-moving structure attached to smaller wards? Removing it messed with all…” Madalena waved her hands, “that magic stuff.”

Eron thought about it for a second. “It’s possible. She’s never tried casting it with the intent that it be movable.”

“It’s better than taking a sick little girl out there,” Madalena shot a rude gesture toward the gray gloom outside the window.

“I’ll ask her when she wakes.” Eron searched for something to say. “You really don’t think there’s a chance that something of our relatives might be in those shades? I mean, you know them better than me. You saw and heard Vernardo. If you heard what Tita Rosalita told me,” Eron shook his head, “she remembered me from when I was small and the emotion she showed— It felt real.”

“Vern was always kind of a dick, so, sure. That felt like him,” Madalena said. “As for the rest… I couldn’t say. They don’t show up for me. A couple of times and all they’ve ever said to me was to ‘run’. The fog obviously doesn’t care about getting into my head as much as you. It probably figures it can just take me like everyone I’ve ever cared about. I saw them and heard them,” her voice cracked, “and they looked and sounded like I remember. But they materialized out of the fog and I remember that I saw them being killed and taken.” The line of her jaw hardened. “You weren’t here for any of that.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Eron said.

“Too busy playing the big superhero around the world. Couldn’t bother to check in with your family. Oh, that’s right, we probably didn’t count. Even before all of this you never visited, never emailed, not one show of interest over the years,” Madalena ground out the words.

“I’m here now,” Eron turned to leave, “and I’m not leaving.”

Eron made his way down to Cherry’s restaurant.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Another person he didn’t really want to talk to, but was obligated.

He found her seated at one of the tables. Modestly dressed and cradling a blood bag, which she was sipping out of with a straw, in between the palms of her hands.

“Fingers shouldn’t be bent those ways. I’ll ask Dr. Rufo to help set them,” Eron said.

“Don’t bother,” Cherry said glumly.

“Ah, right. So, why aren’t you shapeshifting them back to normal?”

“Need more of this in me,” Cherry held up the blood bag.

“Okay, well, just wanted to thank you for helping get the people back here safely. I heard you did good work,” Eron said.

“Then why do they still look at me like I’m about to eat them?” Cherry sighed.

Eron kept his mouth shut.

“Do you think it’s possible that they won’t look at me with terror in their eyes? I mean, how long will it take? Do I just have to keep saving them from monsters? And eventually they won’t think of me as one?” Cherry sighed.

“I think what you did today goes a long way to that end. At least it does for me,” Eron shrugged. “I hope we can count on you again… probably soon.”

Cherry gave him a wan smile that made his stomach flip.

Supernatural beauty was some b.s.

Eron cleared his throat. “Well, I’ll leave you to it—”

“Do you think I can ever make…?” Cherry said suddenly.

“What?” Eron turned back.

“Never mind. I’ll be ready to help,” Cherry said. “Just need to drink some blood… make that a lot of blood… and these will be back to normal,” she wiggled her fingers with a grimace.

“Thank you. Honestly, all those people wouldn’t have made it today if you hadn’t been there. I can’t really speak for anyone else, but I think in time they won’t see you as your Class. They’ll see you for your actions”

Cherry took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “I hope so,” she smiled sadly.

It was heart-wrenching to see and Eron was overcome by an urge to embrace Cherry.

He clenched his fists and spun around to leave the restaurant.

----------------------------------------

Now, Northern Philippines

“What can you do?” Doran said.

“Spirit stuff,” the tall, lanky young man replied.

Cal glanced over at the plastic table where a line of people had formed waiting for their turn to interview. He was surprised at the number. He didn’t need to read minds to know that the datu’s men watching the proceedings weren’t happy with the turnout. Things must not have been great in the local militia or perhaps the datu didn’t provide equal opportunity to everyone when it came to gaining levels.

Doran cleared his throat.

Cal had agreed to vet all the potential candidates, as well as make the final decision on accepting candidates that weren’t a good fit for Doran’s spear unit. Thus, he was responsible for picking new recruits for both Demi and Sgt. Butcher.

He sighed before gesturing the young man over.

“Um…” the young man began.

Cal didn’t say anything for a moment. He merely continued to watch as Hanna handled her latest militia challenger in a “friendly” spar.

A long, wooden stick meant to stand in for a two-handed sword clacked against the two rattan sticks wielded by the militiawoman.

Hanna clearly wasn’t trying that hard, but the other woman looked pretty good. Her hands moved like a blur.

“Good footwork,” Cal remarked.

“Oh… yeah, that’s Jovita, she’s probably the best hand to hand fighter in the militia,” the young man said.

“So, what’s your name?”

“Rai. You probably don’t remember, but you guys saved me and Ambrose—”

Cal glanced back, following Rai’s pointing hand to another young man waiting in line.

“—back at the aswang village.”

“And now you want to join us? You do know that we’re headed into extreme danger, probably worse than the aswangs?”

Rai chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “I figured and was kinda counting on it.”

“Most normal, sane people would head the other way.”

“I have to get stronger and I can’t do that here. Either, I stay and take forever to gain levels while doing shit work for the datu and being hung out to dry just cause I don’t want to bow down and stick my nose up his asshole, or I take my chances with you guys.” Rai tried to smile as he puffed up his chest. “You guys obviously have high levels and I want in.”

Cal regarded Rai with unblinking eyes.

For his part the young man managed to stare down without looking away. However, rapid eye blinks gave his nerves away.

The seconds ticked and Rai began to sweat.

“Okay, what can you do to bring value to our Quest?” Cal said.

“You mean what’s my Class?” Rai began warily.

“Share what you want to share. Think of this as a job interview.”

Rai stared blankly.

Cal sighed.

Rai looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. Which meant that he had been a child when jobs and interviews were still integral parts of human society. His generation didn’t grow up with that.

“I need to know if you can contribute,” Cal said.

“Magic stuff with spirits,” Rai said.

“There aren’t a lot of trees where we’re headed,” Cal shook his head.

“I’ll admit that I do my best work in the rainforest, but there are spirits all over the place. Even in the middle of the city. I promise you that I can contribute wherever you’re going.”

A hint of pleading crept into the young man’s tone.

“I don’t know—”

“I also know a couple of the basic spells that every magic type gets at the beginning and…” Rai leaned down to whisper in Cal’s ear, “I can tell you which people are signing up just to spy for the datu.”

Cal already knew that.

“How do you know this?”

“Spirits told me,” Rai nodded gravely.

Truth.

“Okay, you’re on the team.”

Rai beamed.

A genuine smile. He exuded happiness.

Cal’s stomach twisted, but he presented a slightly smiling face. Morale was important. Yet, he couldn’t lie. At least not completely.

“There are no promises here. This will be the hardest and most dangerous thing you’ve ever done. You might not achieve your levels.”

“Get stronger or die,” Rai nodded. “I grew up on that. I’m not scared of death. Only the strong can truly live.”

Cal could only give a tight nod at the Rai’s resolve.

“Just hang around here. We’ll head on over together with all the new recruits when we’re done.”

“Yessir,” Rai saluted.

“I don’t do that,” Cal waved a hand.

“Uh… excuse me, sir?”

Cal turned to the voice.

“I’m in, Ambrose!” Rai said.

“Lucky! I hope I get in too!” Ambrose said.

“And what can you do?” Cal said.

“I’m a Headhunter. I take heads, shrink them,” Ambrose gestured at the animal heads tied to his belt, “and gain abilities from them.”

Cal scanned the young man. He didn’t detect any duplicity. “Alright, you’re in too.”

Rai and Ambrose clashed arms in excitement before heading to the fighting square to watch the sparring from a closer vantage point.

“She’s so hot,” Ambrose whispered.

“Shut up! They might hear,” Rai replied.

“Do you think she’ll remember us from the village?” Ambrose continued.

Cal ignored the rest of their conversation. He didn’t know if Hanna remembered the duo from the aswang village, but he did. He shook his head, angry at himself. He had saved them only to take them into greater danger.

Cal was distracted. His actions from the day before continued to weigh on his thoughts. He couldn’t, wouldn’t forget the look on the old woman’s face before he killed her.

Fear and peace.

It would’ve been easier had she worn her monstrous class’ face.

An unworthy thought.

An attempt to lessen the guilt.

To unburden himself of the responsibility.

Angry voice behind him snapped him back to reality.

“You can go bitch at him,” Doran growled.

Once again Cal turned around.

Ah, finally.

He was wondering when the datu would make a move.

An angry woman flanked by a dozen armed men and women marched up to Cal.

“So…” Cal said lightly, “which one of you shot my dad in the head?”

The datu’s personal guards tightened their grips on their weapons.

“Now, now, none of that. I promise I won’t hurt anyone… first,” Cal said. “Besides, you’d really only hurt yourselves and your fellow citizens,” he waved a hand to indicate the people in line at Doran’s table and the large group watching the sparring square a short distance away. A bullet to my head would only make me angry and I’m meaner than my dad. I’d take it personally.”

“This wasn’t part of the agreement,” the woman ground out. “The datu didn’t give you permission to take his citizens.”

“You don’t own them,” Cal brushed her off. “Anyone that signs up with us does so of their own will and with full knowledge of the risks.”

“If you don’t cease and desist—”

“No,” he cut the woman off. “We got rid of the aswangs plaguing you in exchange for a few trucks and gas. We are purchasing supplies and services with Universal Points. Your citizens are getting more points than they ever have before.” He didn’t add that a large majority of said points were his. “Our deal with the datu was more than fair. Please, tell your datu that he doesn’t want to screw this up with a dick measuring contest.”

“I—”

“If you’d like, I could fly over there right now and hammer out a new deal,” Cal said blandly, “although, I can guarantee that the new terms won’t nearly be as favorable.” He allowed a tiny sliver of his anger to radiate enough to encompass the woman and the datu’s guards.

The woman stammered before nodding and hurrying away.

Cal sighed.

That wasn’t a nice thing to do to the poor woman and the guards. They were only doing their jobs. It wasn’t like they could say no without repercussions.

Why was it that people in power were usually not worthy of it?

Did that apply to himself as well?

Yes, no, maybe.

More uncomfortable thoughts roiled in his head as he watched Hanna floor the dual stick wielder with a slick move. The greatest Swordswoman in the world, probably, tapped her stick on the other woman’s throat before helping her up. The two exchange words as they walked out of the sparring square.

Cal wondered if Hanna was done showing off or if she would take on another challenger. She was up to nine already. The last one was clearly the best so far, but was she the best the militia had to offer?

A quick scan with his telepathy would’ve given him the answer and more, but he didn’t want to open himself up to that many thoughts. Even with the walls around his mind he could never truly escape the whispers.

He just had to do enough to weed out the spies.

Doran cleared his throat.

Cal turned and shook his head.

The Spear Sergeant sent the would be recruit away.

Cal nodded as the next person in line stepped forward.

Perhaps it wasn’t surprising that a good chunk of those looking to join them were doing so with the intent to spy for the datu. Cal supposed that the man was taking reasonable action to cover his bases. If he couldn’t prevent his citizens from signing up then he would try to insert loyal people.

Cal considered simply telling the spies to go away, but decided against it.

The day wound down.

Hanna continued to spar with the militia while conversing with the dual stick wielder during breaks.

Cal scanned the militiawoman’s surface thoughts and found nothing objectionable. She merely wanted to soak in as much technique from Hanna.

“All done,” Doran grumbled as he plodded over to Cal.

“How many did you recruit for your unit?”

“Twenty-three, pretty much everyone that you gave the okay on. Mostly young men and women with basic fighter-type classes. I can integrate them into my unit with enough time.”

Cal heard the question in Doran’s voice. “We’ll avoid fights on the trip down to Manila. You’ll have time for training.”

“You’ll keep the monsters off our backs,” Doran grunted.

Cal nodded.

“Thanks.”

“Least I can do.”

“You think the watch captain and Sgt. Butcher will be okay with splitting ten recruits between them?” Doran ventured.

“They’ll have to be. That was all that fit their criteria and even then most of them were just scraping the minimum requirements. Don’t worry, I’ll tell them you weren’t hoarding all the best recruits for yourself.”

“That weird kid with the shrunken animal heads and the tall kid were the best out of all the recruits. They just won’t fit in my unit,” Doran said.

“Did you get enough?”

“I’d try coming back tomorrow, but something tells me that turnout won’t be as much and even then I’d bet my gold coin that it’d be all plants,” Doran shrugged.

“The datu won’t let anyone that isn’t a spy near your recruitment table. We had them scrambling today. That surprise is gone.”

“You think they’ll sack up and try to stop us taking their people?”

“No. The datu isn’t stupid. We’ve been stepping on his pride, but we got rid of the aswangs, which means that we’re more dangerous. He won’t risk the huge win we’ve given him.”

“He’s going to be crowing about it, isn’t he?” Doran snorted.

“I don’t care if he takes the credit. The important thing is the aswangs aren’t eating people anymore. This place isn’t so bad that it needs dealing with right now. The datu’s a dictator, but in general things are orderly.”

“No abuses?”

“I didn’t say that,” Cal said flatly. “The Quest takes precedence.”

Doran cleared his throat, sensing the conversation had hit a wall. “I’ll get my recruits ready to head back to base.”

Cal stretched out with his thoughts for a moment.

“The road outside the city is clear. No monsters or other threats for miles. Move as a group. Don’t leave without Hanna.”

“Understood,” Doran said.

Cal floated up into the sky. Eyes tracked him in amazement while words and thoughts of mingled awe and fear drifted up after him. He couldn’t escape them.

The sun cast a soft, reddish haze as it began its downward arc over the mountains to the east.

He watched it for a moment and savored the wind as it flowed strongly around him.

He had left his armor back at their temporary base. It felt good to feel the environment after such a long time. It reminded him that he was still a person of the world. In it and not something else. Something that stood above.

“I’m full of shit. I’m literally standing above the world,” he sighed.

His gut twisted.

It was too late.

He had already placed himself in judgment of other people. Taken their lives because he had decided they were too dangerous.

What had given him the right?

Doubts wormed their way through his thoughts.

He decided to do something unequivocally just.

“Then again, isn’t justice a matter of perspective? No, there are things that are simply right or wrong.”