Derek stepped outside the house, with a cup of coffee in his hand. The air was crisp and cold thick with the humidity of rain. Despite the cloudy sky, it hasn’t started raining yet. His mind struggled as he tried to shift his thoughts from his crap family to something more practical, such as adding to the house. They were cramped last night with several people sleeping on the floor despite having beds sitting in the shed.

Derek moved out back of the house and started excavating a huge section next to the house so that they could start the foundation. It was going to be the first major remodel of the house. The earth rumbled as Derek’s elemental magic infused the ground, preparing to excavate. As the dirt started rumbling, he heard the patio door shut and the thudding of feet as John and Adam joined him.

They watched for a moment as Derek used his elemental magic to carve a hole in the ground. The dirt and rocks flowed out of the hole like a river. The pair moved next to Derek being careful to avoid the rumbling earth.

“Need an extra set of eyes?” John’s voice, tinged with the calm of an experienced builder.

John asked relevant questions and helped guide Derek in his excavation efforts. It seemed like John was planning on taking the helm on the construction efforts. Derek wouldn’t be here for the construction anyway, but at least they would have some insight from him so that everything could proceed in his absence. When Derek asked them to push the construction projects as fast as possible, John only nodded in understanding.

The house wouldn’t be that big of a deal, since it was wooden construction. The outside building was the major project, but John expected they would finish with most of the heavy construction by the end of the week with everyone’s help. Since they had all the materials onsite, the only issue would be labor and working with skilled people.

With Michele calling them in for breakfast, Derek wrapped up the morning’s project. The mental and magical exertion caused some mental fatigue, but nothing that wasn’t managed by more coffee. As he stepped inside, the house was filled with the scent of bacon, pancake batter, and coffee. The warmth of the kitchen and the clamor of conversations briefly dulled the edge of his resolve.

He sat at the head of the table, only for Marie to appear with the coffeepot to top off his empty mug. Soon everyone was sitting, eating, and enjoying the company. He caught Marie’s eye, the weight of his next words settling heavily between them.

“I’m going into town today.” Derek announced at breakfast, his eyes glancing at Marie for a moment.

Every day their baby would suffer because of the conflicting bloodlines and they needed a solution fast.

“I’ll get geared up.” Carson said.

“No, I need you to be here helping Marie and John with the construction. I’ll be going alone, and I won’t be back until dark. If you need me to pick anything up, give me a list. I’ll be leaving as soon as I get my armor on.”

“What are you going to do?” Carson asked.

“I’m going to wipe the city clear of monsters.” Derek grinned wickedly.

“You’re going out to grind experience and levels?” Leroy asked.

Derek looked at Marie. “Have you told them?”

She shook her head. “No.”

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“There was a complication with the baby.” Derek paused, leaving his words to hang in the air, ominous and demanding attention. Then explained the bloodline issue and what was needed to solve the issue. “Within the week, I plan on leaving. I’m not sure when I’m going to be back. It may not be for several months.”

Derek shared the quest with them. As the group read, a ripple of shock passed through them, their expressions morphing from curiosity to concern. A heavy silence filled the air as they understood what Derek would be doing. Their faces reflecting the horror he’d felt upon first reading the quest himself.

“So, I’ll be away for quite a while. Much longer than I would ever want. Especially now with the power, internet, and cell service offline. It’s going to be a long trip and I need to prepare, because I can’t imagine that this will be a fight where I’m fighting weak goblins. I imagine that ill be fighting things that are much stronger than that golem.”

“Sounds like a suicide mission.” Michele commented.

Derek shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Are you planning on dying a martyr?” She asked.

“Ha, no. I’m planning on carving a path of violence so great my name will forever be immortalized.” Derek grinned.

“That sounds like something you would do.” Phil said.

“You better keep her alive and healthy while I’m gone.” Derek said, looking around the table. “Keep her too busy to think about me.”

They nodded, understanding what the coming months would put Marie through.

Derek pushed back from the table, his chair scraping softly against the worn floor. “If you will excuse me. I need to prepare.”

“Hurry back or I’ll seduce her.” Phil joked.

“Psssh. In your dreams, goat boy.” Derek poked back as he dropped his plate off at the sink before heading off to the addition.

A while later, Marie entered the addition while he was sorting through his camping gear.

While Derek was engrossed in the addition’s silence, surrounded by his camping gear, every item and thought was a constant reminder that he would be leaving this place. Leaving his home, the place he wanted to be the most. It was there, as he was elbow deep in a box of supplies, that Marie found him. Her entrance was quiet, as if hesitant, the contrast of the warm home to this cold, gloomy silence.

“Hey.” she said, as she entered the room.

“Hey.” He replied, looking up at her for a moment then looking back down at the box of cooking supplies.

Marie’s voice held a steadiness that belied the storm Derek saw brewing in her eyes. “So, you’re set on facing those monsters alone, leaving us here worrying?”

Derek paused, his hand hovering over the camping gear. “That’s the plan,” he admitted, the weight of his decision pressing down on him like gravity.

She stepped into his embrace. “You’re not alone, you know. You have friends. You have us,” she reminded gently, her gaze locking with his, a silent plea within.

Derek let out a heavy breath, looking up at her. “I do, and I’d take every ounce of help I can get. But this… it’s something I need to handle alone. I can’t ask anyone to leave their family to accompany me. It’s better if I go alone.”

“Just… promise me you’ll come back,” she whispered, her solidarity slipping to reveal the raw emotions beneath.

“Did you have a list for me?” he asked, changing the subject.

“You didn’t say where you were going, so here is a list of everything we need, sorted by the store to get it from.” A small notification popped up in his vision, showing that he received a file. “Everything that is red is critical, orange is important, and green is low priority. If it’s not color coded, then pick it up if it’s convenient. Here are a bunch of storage bracelets. Be sure to leave anything you don’t need here for us to use.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Derek said.

“Try not to kill humans, if you can help it.”

“Alright.” Derek said, closing his eyes to stop himself from rolling them.

“You know, I practically have a built-in lie detector now and it just told me you are humoring me.”

“Guilty as charged.” Derek shrugged as he started pulling on his beaten and abused armor.

Marie didn’t make his job any easier. The entire situation sucked. Despite having lots of options when the rubber meets the road, he could only rely on himself to handle the suicidal task before him. He couldn’t ask anyone from the household to help him, he knew they would, but taking them away from their families wasn’t acceptable in his mind. This was his burden. He was directly responsible for his choices in evolution. He accepted the sacrifices he was forced to make for the sake of power. This was a consequence of his actions.

Even asking Marie to go with him wasn’t something he wanted to do. Every since they started dating, Derek cherished her warm innocent heart and wanted to protect it as much as he could, sheltering her from the hardships and disappointments of the world.