The battering of hail against our tavern room’s window woke me up with a start. A huge chunk broke the glass and flew past my face, landing near Punch’s sleeping bag on the ground. I shook Line awake and tickled Punch until he groaned and his eyes opened.

“Get up, you two. I think something happened to Reshien. Now,” I commanded.

“Wait, wha… What’s happening?” Punch scrubbed his eyes and put his head back down, ‘hibernating’ again.

Line jolted awake and went to change out of her pajamas, but tripped in the darkness. I didn’t have time for this. I put on my protective gear and boots and sped out the door. I’m sure I looked like a sexual deviant about to rob a bank with this gimp suit on, but it was better than the heart-stopping voltage.

Hail pelted me as I jogged miles across Reanth. The black turned to dark blue as dawn approached. I made sure to maintain a pace to get there as fast as I could while still giving myself enough energy to fight.

When I made it to Reshien’s place, I saw the growing swirls of storm clouds out in the field half a mile away. By some miracle, he at least was away from the town to prevent collateral damage, for now. Maybe he had a feeling this would happen and wandered out here.

I was buffeted by gusts and hail. Each step closer felt like an increasing magnitude of intensity.

Enhance. I covered my heart with my right hand and cast a basic enhance spell to elevate my physical prowess and durability for a while. A green aura flashed around me for a second before dissipating and staining my eyes and nails to the color of birch leaves for now. This should at least help prevent my neck from getting snapped. Was the storm getting that much worse or was it just that intense around Reshien? By now, I was almost a hundred feet away. Had it not been for the boots of gravity I would have most likely been cannoned away by one of the stronger bouts of wind.

“RESHIEN. CAN YOU HEAR ME? ARE YOU IN THERE?”

No response. The tempest continued. Reshien stood silently with his head bowed as his hair and robes violently flailed around.

Come on. Don’t make me do this. I don’t want to hurt you.

“RESHIEN, PLEASE. WAKE UP.”

Behind me, I heard roofs being torn off of their hinges and people screamed and fled their homes. I had no other choice.

I sprinted at the god with everything I had. My palms sweat causing my grip to loosen on Punch’s steel. I could feel a throbbing in my head and cold sweat all across my body. My heart fluttered as I closed in and struck a blow directly on the god’s face.

Like a cowboy with a gun, Reshien’s hand blinked up and blasted me with lightning and wind, sending me flying. Dazed, I laid on the ground for a few seconds as I processed what just happened. It felt like static ran the course of my body like blood, and I could tell that my right arm fractured.

“Shit…”

“Don’t worry, Alene. We’re awake now. We’ll take care of healing you. Just try not to die.” Punch’s voice reverberated in my head.

As I looked up, I was met with the sight of Reshien approaching me methodically. It was hard to make out the expression on his face through the hail and the early morning darkness, but I could tell the man wasn’t there. I wondered how he felt. I wondered if he felt anger, or if he was scared, confused, and lost.

I feigned my injury being worse than it actually was to lure the god closer. As soon as he was in range for me to go for a running blow to his head, I had the gravity boots force me to my feet.

“RESHIEN!” I cried out as I sprinted at the old man, hoping to get a response.

His arm shot up again, but I was ready this time. I dropped to the floor and rolled to the side, completely evading the bolt of lightning. Even with the suit, those things seemed like they could still halt my heart. I got back on my feet and jumped right in Reshien’s face, striking him with a thwack to his temple. The god went flying as divine blood splashed on my face. I ran after him and dodged bolt after bolt of lightning he shot as he laid on the ground.

“RESHIEN, WAKE UP, PLEASE!” I pleaded. Within my, I thought I could almost hear the soft cries of Line.

I tackled the god and went for another blow. He placed his hand on my stomach and sent me flying upwards. Next thing I knew, I was flung a few stories into the sky. Grass blended into indistinguishable green as I got further into the sky. Fuck. Fuck. How do I survive this?

Without a second thought, I did my best to land on my left arm. If anything, I thought it would be best to prevent Line from feeling like she’s being forced to kill her surrogate father during his uncontrollable rampage. Grinding and snapping ensued as my arm collided with the ground.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“FUCK,” I screamed. My breathing became shallow and shaky and I closed my eyes to attempt to subdue the pain before the adrenaline and healing kicked in.

“Alene! Shit, can you move? We’ll try our best to heal you faster?” Line telepathically communicated.

My ears rang louder than the winds. My left knee also felt shattered. I steadied myself up with the boots and got ready as the god closed in on me.

It’s a gambit, but if he’s somewhat there to defend himself, this might work. The angels were concerned, but at my weakest point is where I’m most likely to win this fight. His consciousness seems to be there enough that he’s defending himself appropriately, so I this bet could end things here.

“AHHHHHH,” I screamed as I got back to my feet and sprinted straight towards Reshien. Lightning whizzed past my face as I barely dodged it. I closed in and went for a right hook with Punch, but Reshien slapped my hand away with wind. I came prepared. I shifted all my weight and pivoted and readied for a strike with Line. I winced from the pain of even clenching my fists. Hopefully this would be the last blow she’d ever have to endure. I felt a crunch in Reshien’s mouth as the blow connected and his body tumbled across the ground.

Now to finish this. I ran to follow up my attack. It wasn’t enough. The god of tempests lifted his head from the dirt and pelted me with hail and lightning sending me crashing into wooden debris of fences and houses dragged near. My body refused to move. I couldn’t get back up. Am I dying here?

Get up. Get the hell back up, Alene. The regen process can’t keep up with the severity of my injuries. Arms trembling, I elevate myself up a bit, doing my best not to collapse back down. Once I get back on my feet, I will the gravity boots to steady my stance one more time. In front of me, I see a familiar face crying out as their tears stream and become nothing more than moisture in the wind.

“Reshien! Please! It’s me, Line. Listen to me. Snap out of it!” Line did her best to carry her voice to the God of Tempests through the ravaging gales.

By some miracle, it seemed her pleas reached Reshien through the winds, the lightning, the rain, and even the rot. The lightning stopped; the current of air dwindled into a zephyr; the rain simmered to a drizzle; and the old man’s face softened. I took my chance and charged at him, striking a blow with Punch straight to his jaw.

“Line, come back!” I command the angel. Line flashed back into my knuckle and I began to pummel Reshien with Punch. He put up little resistance. If that was due to the exhaustion from the battle or Line’s intervention, I couldn’t tell.

Ichor sprayed into my hair and grunts of pain from Reshien became metrical with my fists. As I brought Line up for the final blow, my fist trembled and fell. Atrocities were one thing, but to kill someone that Line cares so deeply about was another. I knew that neither of us would be able to bring ourselves to land the final blow. Rot or no rot, this didn’t feel like the right thing to do.

… ABSORB ME. TAKE ME…

What the hell is this? Where’s that voice coming from?

Rot lunged out from Reshien’s vessel towards my heart. It stopped less than an inch away from my chest.

ABSORB ME… AND SAVE HIM.

Absorb the rot..? If it means saving Reshien’s life, maybe I should. It’s just concentrated human corruption, right? Maybe it’ll be fine…

The black manifestation filled with maggots, blood, mold, and sludge shot inside my soul. My natural pareidolia formed faces of agony in the cursed matter as it created an eerie droning noise. The force from the rot entering me slammed me on the ground and my consciousness faded to black.

“… Alene… Alene, wake up!” I heard Line’s voice get closer and closer as my eyes began to open. My body vigorously shook. Blonde hair draped my eyes and caused my nose to itch. My head hurt like hell, and my chest felt a bit heavier somehow, like something a weight had been placed on my soul.

“Line…?” I groaned, pushing aside some of her hair to meet her gaze. Her freckles looked like hundreds of stars in the evening light; her eyes were like bright planets covered in ocean. Her smile looked like… Well, an angel.

“Are you okay, Alene? Something bursted from Reshien and slammed into you,” Punch spoke with trepidation. His precious brown eyes and ruffled hair were even more adorable when he was worried.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Whatever it was, it’s gone now,” I lied. I didn’t want to worry them, at least for now.

“Where’s Reshien?”

“Right here, young one,” the mellow voice of an elderly gentleman soothed my still burning blood. Punch and Line helped me up to meet the voice.

“Thank you for knocking some sense into me. I fear what I would have become if I had stayed that way.” His smile was brighter than the embarking dawn that caused the pellets of hail around us to shine like gems.

“Don’t worry about it. I did it for the sake of everyone, especially Line. I’m just… Really glad it’s over. I thought I was going to die.”

Reshien twisted his beard and smiled warmly. Even with his tattered robes from our destructive battle, he looked as wise as and as kind as Line described.

I noticed my gimp-ahem-insulator mask had been removed by someone, likely to promote my body to breathe better.

“I’m sorry about that, my child. Why didn’t you finish me off, Alene?”

“You really think the rest of the world could survive without rain and the winds?” I quipped. A mix of a sigh and a laugh escaped my lips.

“Who knows if those will really disappear if I’m gone? Maybe they have a soul of their own now.” Reshien pondered aloud.

“They might, but I can’t bear the thought of taking a life such as yours, Reshien. Don’t worry. I have a feeling the rot won’t come back.”

“Is there something that you know?” Reshien asked, bewildered.

“You can say that. You should move to somewhere more isolated until the conflict between the gods gets resolved, if ever.”

“You must have your reasons for the subtlety, so I won’t pry. Thank you, Alene. I will leave immediately.”

The old man began to shamble away. Even through his tattered robes and wily hair, he still looked regal and graceful.

“Reshien!” Line called out.

He stopped and stood still for a good while. Then he turned to face the girl, tears in his eyes.

“Come to visit sometime, won’t you Line?”

Line sniffled. “I will.”