Zalan watched in awe as the hulking monster collapsed, rumbling the chamber as it fell into its final resting place. They had killed an Elemental Dragon. They had somehow survived the ordeal. Zalan was almost certain the day would end with either he and his friends laying dead in here or him having to make the impossible decision to use the Homeseeker and run away.

What was even more baffling to him was the fact that he had come out unscathed. All the injuries that had been piling up as they made their way through the castle were healed by him gaining two Levels. The whole thing was almost a success.

Almost.

Zalan looked back to Gorb behind him, but found that he had already rushed across the room and was hovering over Fran’s body. He placed a hand over her eyes, tears brimming on his own. Yelsa and Rep made their way over to the grieving brother. Rep placed a hand on Gorb’s shoulder. Yelsa grabbed a cape from among the treasures and shrouded everything below Fran’s neck in the brilliant fabric. Zalan made tiny steps in their direction, slow to join the three of them. He was very uncomfortable with death, never having confronted it like this before.

When Zalan was close enough, he heard Rep murmuring something. He listened intently, trying to make out the words.

“To God we belong, and to Him we will return,” Rep continuously repeated.

Yelsa was nodding her head in agreement. Gorb was trying to hold back sobs, struggling not to be so loud. Small, pained noises kept escaping from his quivering mouth.

“W-We won the battle,” Gorb stammered quietly to his sister, choking back tears. “We won, t-thanks to you. And it was such a g-glorious battle, I assure you.”

Zalan noticed that even in death, Fran was smiling slightly. As damaged as her face was, it remained an epitome of encouragement. Rep, Yelsa, and Gorb all had tears rolling down their cheeks. Never before had Zalan believed that his lack of ability to cry was a detrimental aspect of his life, but now it felt out of place to not have any tears. This was the most appropriate time to cry, but his eyes felt nothing. They felt wrong. Like he was deeply broken.

A distant, quiet thudding came from the entrance to the chamber. It was constant, like something trying to break into the room with a significant amount of force. Zalan looked up at the door as the others continued to look over Fran. King Docrun was still trying to break into the room, and may have succeeded by now had it not been both barred by the scepter and frozen shut.

Zalan blinked, an idea forming in his mind as he thought of the Fleshless king.

“What if we bring her back? We can bring her back, right?” Zalan asked.

Rep looked at him slightly, and Yelsa and Gorb had gone silent.

“We can get the Resurrector from Docrun and bring her back,” Zalan suggested, becoming excited over the prospect.

“Zalan,” Rep said quietly.

“We’re all healed and we could take him while we’re all fresh, it would be on our terms,” Zalan said.

“Zalan,” Rep said with a hint of force.

“And I gained two Levels, right? I should be stronger. I bet my lightning will stop him in his tracks now,” Zalan continued rambling.

“Enough,” Gorb said quietly. He looked up at Zalan, his eyes red. “Zalan, Fran is dead.”

“Yeah, but…” Zalan looked around at the others for support, but found none. “The Resurrector.”

“Bringing Fran back as a Fleshless is no way to live. It is a shell of a life with no past faculties. And she would be beholden to whoever brought her back, not a free woman,” Rep explained gently.

“But,” Zalan’s mouth twitched in confusion, his momentum lost. “What about another Artifact?”

“There is no way to bring someone back from the dead,” Yelsa said sincerely.

“But…” Zalan’s head twitched uncomfortably. “What do we…”

Rep shook his head at him. It reinforced the idea that this world was real to Zalan. Death was real. Permanent. No longer was he in denial. It made him grateful that he was almost done with this world. He wanted to escape the pain. He just wished he was going to leave his friends under better circumstances.

Zalan looked back down to Gorb, whose eyes still lay upon his sister.

“Gorb, I’m so sorry,” Zalan said sincerely.

Gorb shook his head, denying the sympathies.

“I am the one who should be sorry. We always knew death was an inevitable outcome to our excursions. Fran welcomed it, saying that she would rather die in the service of her goals than in the safety of her own home,” Gorb choked, his mouth trembling and his words caught in his throat. The others waited patiently for him to continue. “But I still could not agree to it. This is exactly how she wished to die, but I still am heartbroken! How is it that I can be selfish at a time when my sister achieved everything she wanted? She would be thrilled to know that her sacrifice saved our lives, yet I still…”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Then he broke into more tears, leaning over his sister in pain. Rep and Yelsa joined him in his sorrow, their eyes and cheeks wet with their own tears. Though Zalan felt the pain in his heart, nothing shone on his face. Again, though no one made him feel this way, he felt humiliated by his lack of emotional expression. The loss of Fran hurt so much, but he had nothing to show for it.

Minutes passed in this way, each person expressing their grief and condolences for Gorb. They sat with him as long as he needed, willing to remain there the whole of the evening if he wished. It took almost an hour for Gorb to gather the strength to cover Fran’s face with the cape. He looked up, wiping tears from his eyes and smiling at the others.

“Thank you, my friends,” he said sincerely.

“Of course,” Rep said, finally taking his hand off of his companion’s shoulder.

“Anything for you and Fran, Gorbonifus,” Yelsa said cordially.

“No!” Gorb snapped immediately. “You are a dragonslayer, Yelsa. An Elemental Dragonslayer! I have never even heard of one before. You have no right to call me by the name reserved for the weak. Without your killing blow, we may have died of exhaustion before we were able to overwhelm Hatewing.”

“My killing blow would have amounted to nothing were it not for your Elemental backing,” Yelsa said.

“We all deserve credit for the dragon’s defeat,” Gorb nodded.

Rep looked as though he had mixed feelings at the claim, but said nothing to rebut Gorb’s words. He wrung his hands uncomfortably.

“It was a glorious battle, was it not?” Gorb said.

The words sounded awkward coming from Gorb, but it was immediately clear that he was channeling Fran’s sentiment to them. Yelsa joined in,

“I thought we were done for, until Fran was able to single handedly redirect an Elemental Dragon’s flame! What a display of power!”

“I thought she was insane!” Zalan cracked a smile. “Everyone else was keeping their distance from this thing and she wanted to charge in headfirst. And she was laughing the whole time, I really thought she lost it! But she saved my life.”

“And, in turn, you saved ours!” Gorb pointed out with pride. “I certainly thought we would all share a grave, but you had the foresight and memory to gain a Level right under its claw. Such quick thinking was a brilliant turnaround to your original plan.”

“That was totally accidental. I just tried to keep Roaches off of Fran and Rep,” Zalan admitted, feeling necessary to also add, “I hate Roaches.”

“For that, I am grateful for both of your efforts,” Gorb nodded to Rep and Zalan.

“Me?” Rep asked, confused. “I do not believe I did anything.”

“Do not be a fool. You focused both Hatewing and the Roaches on a simple, slow-moving enemy. I was hardly moving atop a pile of gold and would have likely been the dragon’s next target had you not stepped in when you did. And had that happened, who knows if Zalan would have been able to reach or protect me with his lightning?” Gorb said seriously.

“Rep, if you had done nothing, you would not have gained a Level along with the rest of us,” Yelsa reminded him.

“I suppose,” Rep shrugged, not fully accepting their explanations as fact.

They sat quietly around the shroud for a minute, looking around the room shining with gold and ignoring the massive dead dragon taking up so much space. Gorb breathed deeply, nodding to himself and looking at the others.

“We should gather spoils of the battle,” Gorb gestured to the fortunes around them.

“Right,” Rep stood up to retrieve the Homeseeker from under a pile of gold. Zalan and Yelsa sat watching him and Gorb watched them, interested.

“What are you waiting for?” Gorb asked.

“The Homeseeker?” Zalan said.

“I forgo any spoils and wish to use them as payment,” Yelsa replied.

“Nonsense, there is more than enough to cover your payment and for you to still have a fortune of your own,” Gorb said.

“I have no need of money where I am headed,” Yelsa said.

“They do not have money in Aetheria?” Gorb asked somewhat facetiously.

“Of course they have money, it is a city after all. But home has everything I need. This gold will be little more than a souvenir,” Yelsa replied.

“Would it not be able to be traded for whatever your currency is?” Gorb asked.

“You almost sound as though you believe Aetheria exists now,” Yelsa said, smirking.

Gorb shrugged noncommittally.

“Very well, I will take some funds so as not to be rude,” Yelsa stood to gather coins.

“Not just funds,” Gorb said. “Search for Artifacts!”

Yelsa waved her hand at him dismissively.

“What about you, Zalan?” Gorb asked.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to take anything with me where I’m going,” Zalan answered sincerely, a nervous smile on his face. He wasn’t sure if he still sounded crazy to Gorb whenever he mentioned coming from another world. “What about you? Don’t you want to go and get some money?”

“Well…” Gorb hesitated, his eyes floated over Fran’s shroud. Zalan picked up the meaning quickly. He wasn’t ready to leave his sister’s side, yet.

“I can get you some coins if you want,” Zalan offered.

Gorb’s head perked up, a curious expression on his face.

“Do you really have no interest in such riches?” Gorb asked.

“I told you. Riches are cool and all, but I don’t think I’ll take any money with me when I go back to my world,” Zalan said.

Gorb peered at him curiously.

“Even now you insist you are not of this world?” Gorb asked.

“Only because it’s true,” Zalan shrugged.

Gorb scoffed.

“Very well. For my sake, take some gold in your pockets. Just so I know you will be rich even if you are lying to me…”

“I’m not lying to you,” Zalan said, though he wasn’t offended. Gorb was being too sincere to Zalan. He just wanted to make sure his friend was taken care of.

“Just gather funds for my sake. As a fool blinded by grief?” Gorb suggested.

Zalan shrugged in acceptance. He couldn’t say “no” to that.

“And, because you offered, go and find me some Artifacts. Gold is nice, but I want some real treasure,” Gorb said.