Kaden was living a nightmare from the ninth hell, and it had nothing to do with the demon lord who had attacked the Grove or his Daughter who had nearly torn Kaden’s heart out and everything to do with the women he normally loved but right now wanted to drop off a tall cliff.

Ravena had set to work on his wounds immediately, applying pure healing magic.

Then summoned her assistants.

Then a weird, walking tree that was apparently an evolved [Druid].

Then a circle of druids who chanted and invoked gods and goddesses.

The skin slowly changed from blackened to a lifeless gray, and his heart, thankfully, kept beating, but the missing pieces of rib didn’t grow back, though a thin layer of skin formed, so translucent his own heart showed just under it.

The rib bone ends look charred and black, and generally speaking, bad.

“It is serious,” said a Healer, who apparently had level ten in [State the Obvious]. “It’s meant to ensure the victim doesn’t survive, even if the attacker dies.”

Ravena gestured, and the vines encircling Kaden drew back. “You have an unspent attribute point. In the previous revision of the System, there was an attribute called Constituion. I want you to focus on it. On the idea of being healthier and hardier, and put that point in HP. Some attributes aren’t gone, they’re hidden, but you can influence their effect. It should prevent the wounds from worsening.”

Kaden applied it and waited.

Dropping a point in strength usually made his body stretch in a way Kaden couldn’t explain, or a complete refill of his health, or a new way of moving when he increased Agility. This was subtle, like his body compacted, growing tougher. The grayish skin at the edges of his wound turned pale white, and veins grew under the skin covering his heart.

“There’s got to be a skill that can heal this,” Eve said. “When I hit twenty five, maybe I’ll get [Flesh Harvest] or [Scar Transfer] or something.”

False hope was something Kaden knew how to recognize. “I can get armor. And I’ll just wear it…forever.”

“You and you, come with me,” Ravena said to Eve and Sara. “I need help, and I’ll answer a single question each, on any topic you want.”

“Any topic?” Sara asked. “I hope you need a lot of help. I have so many questions. Most of them about Kaden’s song writing skills and what on earth inspired him.” She followed Ravena toward the Portal.

“Open your eyes. It’s an easy answer, if you look at her.” The Ranger, a man named Viktor had come by. “You. I want to know everything that happend, start to finish. Demons are a constant threat at the Grove.”

Kaden explained, starting with Darmando and ending with his Daughter.

The Centurion found it hilarious. “You’re worried, because you’re wounded and a level five [ScabRab] could kill you and eat your heart. But whatever else happens, old Darmando won’t be back for centuries. Let me tell you how the Hells work. The seventh hell? The ninth? Those are the Demon Lords you’re thinking about. The first Hell is good hunting if you’re level thirty.”

Kaden nodded, not finding anything funny. Or sensible.

“First hell’s all goats and bats and your occasional minotaur, the demonic kind, not the Beast kind. Starting around the Third Hell, you got Demon Lords. And they aren’t worth shit. They’re weak bastards like Darmando. Got it?” He waited for Kaden to agree.

“Now, the real Demon Lords, they treat the third hell weaklings as toys. Darmando was given an eye by Asmodeus himself and lost it to a nobody. You think he’s ever going to get another Eye? He’s not. And every Daughter has only one purpose: Open the way for other demons.”

That Kaden saw a problem with. “It said it wanted me dead.”

“Right. Darmando cared more about making sure you were dead than sending his daughters as far away as possible to open the way again. So he’s making his way straight up shit creek with no paddle, and there’s a couple demondiles heading his direction.” Viktor made a chopping motion. “Of course, he can’t be killed-killed. But his lieges in the greater hells will make sure he spends centuries regretting today. And you lucky bastard, got Demon Sight. That’s what we call it.”

Kaden didn’t find much about the situation lucky. “Where’s the local Adventurer’s Guild? I need to turn in the seed.”

“Don’t turn it in here. Your local Mage’s Tower will want it. It’s only worth a gold piece a month, but gold’s gold. Tomorrow I’m going to find me a demon and bring it in. We’ll find out how that sight of yours works.” He gave Kaden a salute. “What do we do when Demons invade? We send them back in pieces.”

The portal activated as Ravena returned with her arms full of green leaves that looked like they grew in the tropics. Sara carried a metal box with both hands and her pseudopods struggling to keep her upright. She set it down and rubbed her arms. “Viktor, go on, get out of here and get ready for the feast,” Ravena said. She looked to Sara. “Are you ready to do your part as Party Leader?”

“Of course.”

“Then get out and take your blood healer with you. That’s the best thing you can do.” Ravena waited until they were alone. “You’ve grown.”

Kaden couldn’t help blushing. “I—”

She shook her head, and turned her attention on the box Sara had carried. Roots burst up from the soil to tear into it, and chunk by chunk, revealed a silver inner sphere that looked like liquid—until Ravena touched it.

The liquid drained into her fingertips, and the remains of a skeleton lay meshed with something metal, which Ravena picked up, picking out fragments of bone until the metal shone.

It looked like a pair of metal wings, maybe twenty inches across, where each wing was rows of silver feathers that jutted out from a center spine. “A few centuries ago, I had to kill a necromancer who was grafting cursed prosthetics onto [Druids] as a form of revenge. Not all of them were necessarily evil, though all of them come at a cost.. Your Blood Healer will never cure these wounds. I’m a Centurion and I’m not sure I could.”

Kaden watched as the wings flexed under her grasp. “It’s a chest plate.”

“It is. Most prosthetics of this type are agonizing to fit. This was designed to entrap its victims. Installing it will be easy. Removing it might be impossible.” She offered it to him. “There’s a catch.”

There was always a catch. “Tell me.”

Ravena gestured to…everything. “Druids—particularly young ones—take a dim view on magical prosthetics. To cut out part of yourself and attach something like this is to never find your place with Nature. Never attain a tree form. You won’t find many friends at the Grove. Older Druids lived to be older by understanding there are times when hard rules don’t apply.”

Once, the Grove had been the subject of his dreams.

Now Kaden had bigger dreams than undressing a druid. Bryce, the Man at Arms who had taught Kaden at Beast Control, taught him an important concept. Make the decisions that matched how he wanted to live, unless the he was going to die. Then, make the one that let him live. Kaden might get lucky one battle. He might get lucky the second. Sooner or later, luck would fail. “How do I attach it?”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Let me.” Ravena reached it out toward him. The feathers breathed in as though they were alive, and the tips curled inward, forming wickedly sharp hooks. “Are you sure? You’ll never be able to dual class as a [Druid].”

“Certain.” Kaden waited as cold metal brushed his skin. Metal ground on bone, and lightning struck his spine, not so much pain as a shock. His sides felt wet, and the smell of copper filled the air, then the grinding and scraping ceased.

Kaden took a deep breath.

Placed a sticky red hand on the metal.

It wasn’t cold, only slightly cooler than his own skin.

It wasn’t even hard. The metal flexed under his pressure, almost spongy.

Each feather formed an interlocking segment where a rib was. Just under his arms the silver plunged into the skin which was red and swollen with blood dripping. Down the center of his sternum, the wings had formed a diamond shaped depression. “Is that a Mana Core socket?”

“I have no idea,” Ravena said. “I’ve used this on three commoners through the years and never seen it do that. Let me heal the incisions, we’ll clean you up, and head to the feast.”

[Druid] healing magic came in the form of leaves she placed over each segment. The leaves glowed green, then turned brown and shriveled, leaving the skin underneath crusty with dried blood, but a healthy pink.

“Now? A water sprite to clean.” Ravena snapped her fingers. “[Sprite Servant] is generally speaking looked down on by fools.”

A blue firefly formed and danced back and forth before Ravena—then blasted toward Kaden, striking him with a blast of warm water that chipped of the flecks of blood.

“You should change.”

Kaden looked in the mirror. The Daughter’s claws had gouged rents in the fabric of his vest where silver showed through. “No. I want this repaired, but leave it. My scars are trophies of what I’ve survived. If your [Druids] don’t like that, I’ll find a way to sleep at night.”

Ravena passed her fingers over the edges of the tears, and a black vine grew through, sealing them. “Where did he go? The shy young man I taught? You look like him. You wear his skin and you carry his name, but you’re not him.”

“I like to think the best parts are still inside me. Trella would say that. She will say that, when I tell her. And I want to say I’m sorry. For—”

Ravena’s laughter cut him off. “I’m seven centuries older than you. You’re not the first teen boy I’ve taught and you won’t be the last. I’m not ready to set my roots and grow my limbs. But I’m glad you were so impressed by my ‘beauty.’ Really, you should sing more. You have a lovely voice.”

She opened the portal to the TreeSpace. “The feast is waiting.”

“For me?”

“Waiting is more of a euphemism. We’re [Druids]. When Nature offers you a celebration, you celebrate. There will be days to mourn as well.” Ravena looked to the portal. “Well?”

Kaden stepped through into the most somber celebration he’d ever seen. Druids sat in silence around short ringed tables, looking down at their food, while dim light shone down from single pixes.

In the distance, he spotted Eve and Sara, and made his way toward them.

Halfway there, the world errupted into shouts.

Cheers.

Fountains of light as every single dim pixie became a spotlight. And the Beasts! They had hidden everywhere. A [Bearzerker] taller than Kaden came lumbering by, and Kaden summoned Trinity and Vip.

Vip loved a party, because Vip loved people, and she’d never met a person she wasn’t convinced loved her.

Trinity had never met a piece of meat she didn’t love. Some meat was charred and tasty and some was warm and bloody and some meat wasn’t aware it was on the menu yet. She loved them all the same.

Kaden had very little experience with celebrations. He quickly threaded through the crowd to where Sara sat with a plate of food in front of her and a Druidess on each side sharing her wine. Eve welcomed Vip with a genuine smile, and sipped a goblet of wine. “Sit. Have some food. It’s not like wine will slow the—what is that on your chest?”

“Plate?” Kaden asked one of the servers. And was handed a heaping plate filled with meat and grapes and fruid that had literally grown on the plate. He dug in, while tossing bites to Trinity—who dragged hers to the nearest fire and tossed pieces in for a good char.

Wine. Trella had said he was a terrible drinker.

He didn’t actually remember drinking. “Water?”

A Druid man wearing a golden robe touched his goblet. “Spoilsport.”

Music swelled from everywhere, as different Centurions gave speeches. The general theme was how Demons sucked, Druids were great, wine was even better and everyone should get full, drunk, and laid in that order.

Kaden was working on full, avoiding getting drunk and had zero plans for company. The looks the women gave him as they spotted the silver embedded in his chest would poison a graht at twenty paces.

If Trella were here, he never would have been ambushed. There wasn’t a logical reason to think that, but Kaden believed it anyway. She would have insisted they run from Darmando. She would have spotted the Demon’s Daughter at fifty feet. And Trella would have already sent four different Druids his way. She would have critiqued them and made suggestions and kidded him mercilessly.

The best time to leave a party was—Kaden didn’t actually know, but he thought perhaps it was now. As Druid couples left for privater areas, Trinity had discovered the joys of unattended plates, and now was using her [Multitasker] to add a piece to the fire with one head, flip it with another, and swallow with the last.

Kaden looked to the grass and asked for the route to his treespace.

This time, it led him to a tree near the class gathering spaces, and when he stepped through, it was to a bedroom with a wide balcony that overlooked the party below. From here, Kaden enjoyed it. From here he could watch as Eve played with Vip, throwing bites of food.

Vip could have gotten them herself, but she adored the attention.

Trinity had now taken over a bonfire and was quite possibly making soup.

Sara—her seat was empty, her paramours gone.

“Kaden?” Sara’s call startled him. She joined him on the balcony. “I expected you to be downstairs. Druuuuiiiids. Remember?”

“Turns out Druids aren’t fans of using metal to protect your heart. Also turns out, I don’t really fantasize about [Druids] anymore. Where—did you bring your friends here?” He’d give her the room if so. And the space.

“My ‘friends’ went off with each other when they discovered my Horror wasn’t some kind of snake I could dismiss. Druids and entities meant to destroy the universe don’t get along.” Sara’s annoyance rose with each word. “I stole the entire bottle of wine. I’ll celebrate alone.”

One of her pseudopods poured a mug Kaden was fairly sure was a graht skull, and Sara took a sip. “Delicious.”

Another pseudopod brought the mug to Kaden.

He took a small sip, and it was absolutely delicious. He glanced over to Sara and raised a cup. “Not alone.”

###

Kaden wanted more than anything to find the graht pounding a war drum on his skull. He’d get up and kill it, but Sara slept next to him, her brown hair trailing down his chest. Her horror never truly slept, and he’d woken to find it probing the edges of the silver ribs, inspecting them.

Vip leaped onto the bed and began to lick Kaden, then turned in circles to settle down next to him.

Sara roused.

Her eyes fluttered and then opened wider. She sat up, then clutched the sheet to cover her chest.

“Oh, I think we’re way past that point,” Eve said. She lounged on a chair near the window. “How long has this been going on?”

“It was just some pleasure last night, not a torrid love affair. In case you didn’t notice, Kaden and I did’t have druids lining up to keep us company.” Sara rose and headed to the spring, which sprayed her with water.

“They weren’t lining up for me, either, but I somehow managed to say out of bed with Kaden. Also, if I ever wake up in bed with him, I’m going to the Temple of Mortis and have myself final-murdered. Weren’t you dating that [Shield]?” Eve asked.

“You know damn well how that ended.” The tone in Sara’s voice said it wasn’t a topic she wanted to talk about.

Kaden didn’t care. She’d said it was a fling, and that was as much as he was looking for. “They’re bringing a demon in for me to test my sight today. Eve, I think you have classes tonight for some kind of Lunar spells. Sara, sorry, you’re stuck waiting with nothing—”

“Archery. I’m learning actual archery from actual [Rangers].” She cut off the spring and let Kaden take her place, primly wrapping a towel around herself. “We learned [Archery] in the worst possible way, but like most [Sword] skills, it can be raised with proper instruction.”

“When will we know about the pollen?” Kaden was ready to move on as soon as Eve’s classes were done. His Quest to return the Necromancer’s inheritance wouldn’t solve itself.

“Two more days. Then we’ll hit the Blight,” Sara said as she dressed.

Kaden found his armor in the cleaning box. The white leather with Vichorean constellations had become surprisingly comfortable. It stretched over the metal embedded in his chest easily. Kaden studied the indention. It was definitely a mana core socket.

“Vip?” Kaden called to Vip and let her sniff the metal. Vip was a dog. Vip was a Beast. And Kaden didn’t know anyone whose gut opinion he trusted more. She hadn’t reacted badly to it before.

A more thorough sniffing ensued as Kaden waited.

*Love?* In this case, [Beast Speech] translated it as ‘Smells funny, seems ok.’

“Vip? Treat?” Eve called.

Vip stayed where she was, laying her head over as Kaden pushed *Love* with [Beast Empathy]. Kaden didn’t bother hiding the smug grin. But what he felt from Eve was sad. Almost lost. Kaden put her down and sent her to Eve. “I don’t want Vip near demons. Would you mind keeping her?”

Kaden could keep her perfectly well in his soul, but sometimes, he felt like Vip was Eve’s only emotional connection. “I’m heading to get some food. Anyone want to come with me?”

“I ate literally all night. Speaking of which, did you know Trinity was boiling food in a helmet filled with graht blood?” Eve asked.

“She’s trying to raise her cooking skill,” Kaden said. “Actually, she already did, for making Graht Blood Soup.”

He headed toward the portal, then stopped to let Sara go first. It was time to face demons. And this time, it would be him leaving the scars.