Arthur's Point of View

Dwarven Coast/Harbor City

We hit the city in the evening. The breeze from the beach was refreshing, and the sound of the waves was sorely missed. Many of the Dwarves had heard the tale of how I had vanquished the Demon Army. I was their savior, hero, champion, and many other terms of worship. There was talk of my godhood, which I quickly learned to ignore.

They were busy preparing a festival of sorts to celebrate. General Dwar spoke high praise of my deeds, and I was the guest of honor. Not that I cared. I was sitting on the edge of a pier next to what I assumed was our ship. Our luggage and other supplies were already loaded, so I had the pier to myself. My legs hanging off the side as I looked at the calm water; I glanced at my two wrists for a moment.

With a sigh, I pulled out a knife I had snatched earlier. “I really didn’t want to do this…” I mumbled to myself.

Holding the knife in my right hand, I brought it to my left wrist and pressed in. With my energy barely active, it hurt an indescribable amount as my hand started shaking. My teeth clenched as I whimpered as I proceeded. Cutting through my skin up a couple inches toward my elbow, blood started to pour from the wound at an alarming rate. Strength quickly left my limbs, and I only made it worse as I did my right wrist as well.

With shaky fingers, the knife quickly dropped into the red water below. My blood was dying the ocean a vibrant red. Part of me wondered if there were sharks on this planet. What sort of nightmarish creatures could they be here? Naturally, after people had decided to leave me alone for a bit, someone finally came looking for me. It just so happened to be at the worst possible time.

“Arthur?” Elincia’s voice called out from behind me. “What are you doing down here all by yourself? The festival will begin shortly.”

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I didn’t turn to her, knowing my face would be rather pale. “Give me a few minutes.” My voice was shaky, and I felt cold.

Her footsteps got closer. “Are you okay? You sound off.”

“I’ll be fine.” Was my weak reply. “I’ll join you-“ I didn’t get to finish as she yanked me back with a horrified expression. “Elinc-“

She didn’t let me finish as her magic activated, and I quickly found myself lying on my back. “By the gods! Hold on! I-“ Grabbing her hands as blood dripped all over me, I stopped her. “Arthur, you need help!”

I shook my head. “This was intentional.” Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“You did this to yourself?!” She ripped her hands from mine, and I saw tears come to her eyes. “I’m not letting you kill yourself!”

Sighing, I sat up and moved back to my spot on the pier, which shocked her. “I’m not trying to kill myself.” My voice sounded tired, and my jaw started shaking as my teeth chattered.

Taking a deep breath, Elincia stepped beside me and looked down. “Explain.” Her jaw tightened as her eyes found the water below before they flickered back to mine. “Quickly.”

With a weak smirk on my lips, I replied. “It’s called bloodletting. I’m purposefully bleeding to try and get the poison out of my system.”

Her lips tightened at that as she stared at me. “You should have done this under someone’s supervision. Namely, mine. That way, I could help should you pass out.”

A weak chuckle escaped my lips at that. “If I pass out, my energy will automatically go up and close the wounds. Plus, it’s easy for me to replace lost blood.” She just sat down slowly next to me with a worried expression. “I was ripped in half, remember?”

“Is the poison truly that bad? Is your energy not returning?” The Priestess inquired solemnly.

“It is bad. Truth be told, I’m not even sure this will work. It’s probably already in my internal organs and, quite possibly, my brain. I feel like I’ve been in a haze ever since Dwardew.” My fingers twitched as I painfully moved my arms. “Some is definitely in my blood, so I plan to do this a few times to see if it helps.” Then I shrugged. “Truth be told, I could be making it worse. I don’t know.”

“And your energy?”

A sigh escaped my lips. “It’s coming back, but at a snail’s pace. I can only do so much with my energy being forced to keep my body in a constant regenerative state.” I gave her a weak shrug. “It is what it is at this point.”

Elincia placed her hand on my back. “You look like you’re dying.”

I scoffed weakly at that. “Technically speaking, I am. Don’t worry, though.” Holding up one of my wrists, I moved some of my energy into the wound, and it sealed shut. “It’s all a part of the plan.” My body slumped into hers. “Just give it a little longer, and I’ll turn my energy up a bit more to replace the blood I lost.”

She wrapped her arms around me. “Take all the time you need. I’ll be here to make sure nothing goes wrong.”

If I had known what this was going to lead to and where I was going to end up, I never would’ve done it.