“Back on a cold bench in my damp cell, waiting on bad news to arrive in threes,” Axel muttered aloud, his voice echoing off the stone walls of his cell. The blackness of the situation was trying to smother him as he lay back, feeling the chill seeping into his bones, using the chill to have something else to focus on.

The light in the cell window was getting long, showing that the day was coming to a close. There was likely only a couple of hours left to this day by Axels best guess.

While worried about his father, he had a deeply rooted confidence in him, born of years of beatings disguised as training. His father was also one of the very few who passed a trial a full tier above him, a feat that no one currently alive has done. His father was an Expert of the 4th cycle and, if not for missing his right arm, would have been a Master tier by now, the same as a city lord or a commander of the Warriors of the Storm for the area. Instead, he became the village chieftain to give himself time to retrain his skills as losing an arm slowed him down for a time.

Axel still struggled with that guilt from time to time, that his father had to sacrifice so much for him but there was little Axel could do to repay him besides train with all he had. As this thought crossed his mind, he felt the ground shudder as if an earthquake was happening. Axel quickly moved to a corner of his cell, sitting in the corner with his back to the wall of his cell, Axel hoped the Thalaxian did not cut any corners in the building of this cell. The quakes increased in intensity for a time along with muffled bangs.

“Dad and Finn are going all out, aren’t they, that had to be Finns earth and vibration skills.” Axel grumbled.

The explosions and quakes continued on for a time but suddenly stopped, causing Axel to guess that the challenge was over. With a prayer to the Goddess on his lips for his family, Axel got up out of the corner and started fixing his bench bed that had tipped over in the bedlam. As he was just getting comfortable again, to wallow in his morose thoughts, the sound of a clank happened at his cell’s door.

“Wasn’t expecting company so soon,” Axel muttered as Icthia, the Krellian councilor, hurried into his cell, her breath coming in short gasps. Axel’s hackles rose immediately; it took a lot to rattle an Expert of the first circle like Icthia. He also noticed the Krellian version of a sheen of sweat over her skin, making him think that she exerted great effort or just got done with a hard workout.

“As Adjudicator of your punishment, I call your time in confinement over and that your time of exile starts now, as is tradition you have 2 hours to leave the village or be punished according to the laws,” Icthia said loudly as she stepped into his cell. In a much quieter tone so as to not leave the cell, she added, “Axel, your father lost the duel, along with his life, and you need to leave now before Finn assumes his powers as Chieftain of the village. This is the only thing I can do to help you now. Hurry and leave before its to late!”

After telling Axel this, she left in just as much of a hurry as she arrived, leaving his cell open with the duty enforcer looking on in confusion. Axel guessed that she ducked out after the duel and did not want to be seen missing for the new Chieftain’s coronation. Taking the none-too-subtle hint, Axel left his cell in a limping stumble. He was only about 50% healed, with many of his bones creaking and groaning in pain.

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Axel and pain were like old, jaded lovers. He had long learned how to ignore its bitching when needed, and he needed to move. His first stop was his home, which was dark with no lights on, in the growing twilight of the day. As he entered, his hand found a gem that held a weak light power in it, next to the door. With a touch of a metal stud to activate, Axel shielded the light to prevent as much light spread as he could. With this light, he moved to his room to gather what he could before leaving. Knowing that he could not survive in the jungle without the proper equipment, the first thing he gathered was his hunting gear. This included knives, compasses, rain gear, and other necessities to camp in the wild.

With how injured he still was, the packing was much slower than he would have liked. Just as he packed his clothing and survival supplies, he heard a polite cough. This made Axel jump, jolting his wounds. As he turned, drawing a hunting knife from its sheath, he saw Lyra leaning in the doorway to his room, looking drained and exhausted. With a quick motion, Axel re-sheathed the knife so as not to cause any accidents.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you, Axel. I heard you were released from Icthia during Finn’s ceremony of leadership and hurried over here knowing that this is the first place you’d go,” Lyra said in a low voice as if afraid of her voice carrying to unwanted ears. She then moved to hug Axel, forgetting about his injuries, causing him to hold in the hiss of pain so as not to cause her more emotional pain.

“He fell, Axel. Finn stabbed him with a strange stone knife that scattered his power. Then Finn sliced his tendons and stabbed him through the heart with the statement, ‘Your son may not have a heart, but I can pierce him by stabbing yours out,’” Lyra sobbed into his chest. “Then Tessa pronounced his death in such a detached way. Like this would not destroy me. How could she do that!”

Patting the crying woman gently on the back, Axel this time did hear a side door slowly open as it needed to be oiled, making a slight creaking noise of the door joint. With as much swiftness as his pain-ridden body could manage, he moved Lyra behind him as a shadowy figure moved through the living room to his room. With great relief, the shadows melted in the light of the gem to reveal his mother.

Lyra, seeing her adopted mother from behind Axel’s back, over his shoulders, transferred herself to hug her. Nyx Thunderstrider used one arm to hug the girl and mutter words to her that Axel could not hear from where he was standing. “Mother, I am glad I could see you!” Axel said fiercely, kissing her on the head as hugging hurt too much right now. Damn you, Lyra!

“Lyra was telling me about what happened. What are you going to do?” Axel said, trying to keep his voice down through the emotions raging inside his chest to rip and tear the ones that hurt his family. Axel knew also that his time was very limited, and he had to keep moving.

“Fear not, my son, your mother is wilier than that bastard Finn. Lyra noticed something off with how your duel with Cade was. I agree with her as I watched that boy grow, and he would never have gone for a kill strike on you, he would have taken a killing blow for you. I would have bet everything on it, the boy was ever to sacrificing.” The dark look in his mother’s eye promising retribution for the loss of someone she considered a second son said more than the words that she spat out.

“With everything going on, I used some tricks I learned growing up in a Healer of Hope compound. I also called in a favor with Tessa. Tessa will also fake his funeral rights with a recently dead hunter who had no family. Your father lives for now, boy, but he is still gravely injured. I plan to hide him, and when I get him stable, call some friends from our Flame Seeking days to help me move him to one of my old homes in Typhoon. This may be the last time we talk in a long time, my boy.” His mother finished her revelation.

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“In the shed is the gift that me and your father had gathered for you for your Age of Majority ceremony. Sadly, we won’t have that happy moment, but they should do you well in your life outside this village.” She then kissed him on the forehead, turning to look at Lyra. “Do you wish to come with me? While I don’t think Finn is crazed to the point that he would hurt a healer, I don’t wish to take chances.”

Lyra shook her head, regaining her determined look. “No, Mother, I plan to stay and see if I can find any evidence of what is happening here. Someone needs to, and I am the only one that can. I will need to leave soon anyway to take my first trial, and I could meet with Axel in Greenhaven. Your leaving, after your father’s death, makes sense as this happens with widowers in your situation often and very few will think much about it.”

“While you don’t have any of my blood in your veins, you are truly my daughter. I will leave now to use this time to get somewhere safe with your father. Be safe my children and may the Goddess guide your path.” With a kiss for both, Axel’s mother melted back into the shadows and vanished into the night.

“Axel, you need to get moving also. The gates will close for the night in less than an hour. We also don’t know how much power Finn has consolidated. He could use the fact that you are an exile, traditions on leaving within two hours be damned, to have you killed or tortured. I will do what I can and meet you in Greenhaven.” With that, Lyra also turned, heading out without a backward glance. If Axel had to guess, she would head back to the coronation to delay things for him as much as she could.

Axel picked up his pack, though not putting it on his shoulders, and headed to the shed to see what his parents left him. Under the hay were the two gifts. The first was a new halberd, the axe blade of a Tempest beast’s axe tail, a curved spike of a Zan for the hook, and the spear point and connection was a metal that only a high-level Thalaxian metal smith could forge. This gift must have cost his father much of his savings. The other gift was a book of herbs. This was just as rare as it likely came from a large Healers of Hope enclave library. This knowledge, all in one place, was worth almost as much as the halberd.

With these gifts, Axel moved silently to the south gate. While slightly farther than the closer East gate, Axel did not want to leave the village near the road so that he could not be easily hunted down if Finn had men to call on. As he walked, Axel could tell that most of the village was distracted by the change of power, as the streets were empty of almost everyone, and this made it much easier to move undetected.

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Arriving near the gate, Axel could tell that something was off as the gate guards were doubled with two of the normal guards but two people that Axel had never seen before. After watching for a time and listening in as much as possible, Axel knew that the situation would not get any better by standing here given his time limit not many were leaving or entering at this time, so there would be fewer people cover as time went on making it harder to get through the gate.

With a deep breath and regretting the action immediately, Axel moved to the gate, getting about 20 feet from the wall before he had no more cover. The village wall loomed above him, a towering structure of massive concrete and steel, designed to withstand the fiercest beast tide. The sharpened stakes lining the top of the wall glinted in the fading sunlight, a stark reminder of the dangers that lay beyond.

With confident strides, Axel figured that he would have better odds moving like he owned this place than looking like a sneak thief trying to flee. This got him to the gate before anyone reacted. One of the veteran guards, noticing Axel, moved to distract the new guard, yelling at him for some minor infraction. Axel didn’t know this guard personally, but the man’s actions spoke volumes. This allowed Axel to clear the gate before the other new guard, who had been talking to a group of hunters entering with a catch, reacted.

By the time the new guard reacted, Axel was clear, and as much as it hurt, he moved into a full sprint into the woods. As he started hearing the yells from the new guards followed by yells from the veterans, Axel was clearing the brush and disappearing into the jungle.

Axel found a safe spot in the dense jungle a good distance away, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He leaned against a tree, feeling the rough bark against his back, and closed his eyes for a moment. He needed to check his status and plan his next move. With a few practiced blinks, he activated the Goddess’s Journal, the interface appearing on the iris of his eyes, overlaying his vision.

Accessing Journal system ……

The familiar interface flickered to life, displaying a series of options and statuses. Axel focused on the health status icon, and the display shifted.

Switching from basic mode to detailed mode ……

A detailed holographic image of his body appeared, rotating slowly. Angry red lines highlighted the damaged bones and muscles, giving Axel a clear view of his injuries.

Health Status:

* Injuries worsened due to strain on healed injuries.

* Healing prognosis: 5 days 3 hours for full recovery.

* Recommendation: Find a healer or consume a beast of novice tier strength to speed up healing.

* The current supply of nanites in body is low and needs time to replenish due to constant repair.

Axel winced at the prognosis but knew he had to keep moving. He blinked again to close the detailed health information.

Closing Detailed health information ……

The display shifted back to a more basic overview, showing only the essential information about his injuries and an estimated recovery time.

Changing health information to basic health information mode ……

Next, Axel focused on the core status icon. The display changed to show a bar indicating the energy level of his proto core.

Opening Core status Detailed mode ……

Core Status:

* Proto core running at 12% power level.

* Time to full known charge: 4 hours 13 minutes.

Axel sighed, knowing he needed to conserve his energy. He blinked to return the core status to basic mode.

Returning Core status to basic mode ……

The bar showing his core’s energy level appeared, sitting at around 13%. Axel then focused on the journal icon, bringing up his recent entries and statuses.

Opening the Journal from standby mode ……

Journal Status:

* The user has not updated in over 30 hours. Please update the journal when able so Hope can monitor user status.

New Status since the last update:

* Guardian of the Storm training (Novice) Completed

* Experienced to Skilled in the use of Halberd achieved

* Age of Maturity achieved

* Ability to access novice level trials activated

* Exile from Jungleheart

Axel felt a pang of sadness at the last status but pushed it aside. He needed to focus on survival. He blinked to skip making a journal entry for now.

Make Journal entry …… No

Journal returning to standby mode ……

Finally, Axel accessed the quest log to see if there were any new directives from the Goddess.

Access Quests ……

Current Quests:

* Take a Trial and become a novice

* Heal thine wounds – return to full function through healing or hunting

* Recover thine legacy …… Quest deleted

* Explore Thine purpose …… Find a meaning by traveling and getting stronger.

Axel noted the quests, especially the one about healing his wounds. He needed to find a healer, very unlikely out in the jungle, or hunt a beast soon. He blinked to close the quest log.

Closing Quests ……

Access Past entries …… No

Log out of interface …… Logging out

The interface faded from his vision, leaving Axel alone in the jungle once more. He took a deep breath on instinct and again regretted it, feeling a renewed sense of purpose after the pain passed. As he prepared to move, a new quest notification appeared, catching him off guard.

New Quest: Save the Scout …… There is a scout in trouble near you that could help you on your journey……

Axel sighed, the Goddess’s timing impeccable as always. He steeled himself and set off in the direction indicated by the quest and, more importantly, the feminine scream, determined to find the scout and continue his journey.