It didn’t take long at all for Gardener and Gus to catch up to them, even fighting their way through the wolves. Ryan had tried talking to Micah, but the boy just cowered in the corner of the cave behind his bag. The only response Ryan had gotten out of him was a nod when he asked whether or not he was OK. And that definitely wasn’t a sign of him being OK.

How do I solve this? he thought as he paced at the mouth of the cave, watching for his instructor’s arrival. Below, Gus appeared and fired an arrow into the woods. Gardener followed and looked up at Ryan. He held up a hand, telling them to stay put. Then he cut down a wolf, paused and turned back.

“Did you find him?” he asked.

Ryan nodded.

“Yes, he … he’s alive.” He still smells like flowers. That’s a good sign, right?

“Ryan?” Gardener said.

“Yes?”

“When this is over, we two are going to have a talk about proper behavior and communication.” His voice was low, angry. Ryan had never heard it like that before.

“Yes, sir,” he said.

“Good. Then stay put.” He turned back and defended the ranger against the approaching pack. Ryan stepped back into the cave, towards where Lisa sat on the ground near the entrance with her back against a wall. Her eyes were closed and she looked exhausted.

He shuffled up to her.

“Everything alright?”

She groaned and looked up.

“I should be asking you that. How’s your arm?”

Ryan held it up for inspection. It looked … it looked disgusting if he was being honest. It took him everything he had to not scream just then. He was close to heaving, too.

“It hurts,” he admitted to himself, quietly. Then he spoke up. “It really fucking hurts.”

Lisa blinked and nodded seriously. She sat up and got out her waterskin.

“We need to clean the wound,” she said.  

Ryan knew that. Gardener had healing potions, but they were only middle-grade ones. They just healed the body, they didn’t filter the wound. So you had to clean it first. Ryan knew from experience that it hurt, but he’d never had a wound this bad. He didn’t want to if he was going to be honest. But he forced himself to sit down and hold his arm out for her.

“It’ll only hurt for a moment,” she said. “Alright?”

Ryan nodded and held back a whimper. He was fifteen, he could handle this, he told himself. But then he reconsidered and pulled up his shirt. He rolled it into a ball and bit down on it, careful not to bite into any of the squishy parts, the blood stains.

Lisa nodded once more.

“It’s going to be alright,” she said.

She poured some water on the open skin. Ryan shouted into the fabric while she quickly started cleaning it with bandages. Through it all, he heard something whimpering at the back of the cave. Flower Boy. Ryan clenched his teeth against the pain until Lisa was done. Then he took a moment and forced himself to look alright when he looked back into the cave.

Flower Boy wasn’t looking at him, though. He was up and ruffling through something on the ground in front of him. A bag? Something clinked and Lisa paused. She frowned and got up. Immediately, Ryan’s hand shot out to stop her. He didn’t even know why.

He was gripping her arm. She looked down at him.

“Be careful?” he asked.

She smiled and patted him on the head, so Ryan let go and watched as she headed to where Flower Boy was holding up something that glowed orange from under his fingers.

A potion?

“For Ryan?” Lisa asked. The boy nodded. “Are you sure?” More nodding. “Thank you, Micah,” she said softly. Flower Boy immediately picked up his pack and retreated into the corner. He clutched it against his chest and watched them.

“What is it?” Ryan asked when she came back.

“A healing potion, I think.” She opened the lid and sniffed it, then turned the flask over against the back of her hand and licked some off her skin. “A pretty good one, too.” Seemingly satisfied, she took his arm and poured some carefully on the wound. It stung at first, but then came the relief and Ryan sighed. The skin was healing, the wound was closing.

“Drink some, too,” she said and handed him the flask. “Not too much.”

Ryan took a quick sip and felt the soothing liquid seeping into his body. He handed it back and Lisa took a quick swig herself. She looked back to Flower Boy, considering, but shook her head and sat back down.

“So that’s Micah?” she asked. “The boy that’s got everyone so worked up about?”

“Yeah,” Ryan said. He couldn’t really believe it himself, that he was alive, that he was here, that he had a Path—

No, that Ryan could believe. He had always known something was different about Flower Boy. Now he at least knew what.

“Do you know him?” Lisa asked. “You seemed … close?”

“No,” Ryan said, shaking his head. “I mean, yeah, of course. He’s from my classroom, but we just know each other by sight.”

“You should go talk to him,” she whispered. They both glanced back at the boy. He hadn’t moved from where he was.

“And say what?” Ryan whispered back. Lisa didn’t respond, so he pinched his eyes in frustration. How was he going to fix this? After a while, he let himself fall back on the ground, his arm covering his eyes. He closed them for just a moment and wondered.

He had found Flower Boy … Micah ... Stranya, whatever. He was alive. That was good. But was he well? How was Ryan supposed to help him? Nothing in his mind could give him an answer. There was no void to fall into, only the back of his eyelids.

----------------------------------------

Ryan woke with a start. Someone was climbing the rocks outside the cave and hinges were creaking much closer. Lisa sat with her back turned to him. She was rummaging through a chest. Of course, he thought. This was a treasure room. He looked back to Flower Boy and found the boy was still there, sleeping as well. His head was slumped over on the bag in his lap, like a pillow. That couldn’t be comfortable.

The sounds of climbing drew closer and Ryan turned to see Gardener pulling himself over the edge. The older man walked hunched into the room and let himself drop down in a spot near Lisa. The motion seemed familiar to the man. Had he been up here before, while Ryan was out?

“Stop that,” he said to the budding Mage. She turned around, one hand still holding the chest open.

“What?”

“Mr. Gardener,” Ryan said, trying to sound respectful as he got up.

“Don’t,” he said. “Not now.” He turned back to Lisa. “Stop rummaging.”

“There might be something useful,” she protested.

Ryan shut his mouth and scooted back to the opposite cave wall, dejected. He couldn’t feel the healing potion in his system anymore and his neck hurt. He leaned his head against the stone and turned it to look at the dark shape at the back of the cavern. The boy’s back was moving ever so slightly. Good.

“We already took his Healing Potion, stop going through his other stuff, too,” Gardener said. So he had been up here before, or Lisa brought the potion down. Ryan rested his eyes either way.

“His stuff?” Lisa was asking. “But, we were the ones who killed the pack guarding the treasure room.” There was a pause. “I helped,” she insisted. “I killed two.”

Ryan was confused, but it didn’t really matter. He wasn’t interested in the loot, only in correct behavior.

“How many chests are there?” Gardener asked as if teaching a particularly slow students something. A short pause.

“Two.”

“And?”

“Uhm, this one’s smaller? … Much smaller,” Lisa said. There was a frown in her voice. Ryan looked up to see for himself, but she was blocking his view. He heard her close the lid and run her hands over the wood. “Wait, is this a Salamander Chest?” she asked.

Ryan leaned to the side to get a look for himself, and it did have the right color.

Gardener didn’t say, but he didn’t deny it either. That was confirmation enough. Ryan slowly turned to look at the small boy who was currently sleeping at the back of the cave, too frightened to come out. Lisa was doing the same. Had he dragged the chest all the way up here? That was three floors of extra weight. Why would you do that if you were in mortal danger? But then again …

Why not? A voice inside of him asked. Maybe, if he thought he was dead anyway …

Lisa seemed to have come to a different conclusion.

“So only this chest, then?” She pointed at the larger one. Gardener grumbled and shook his head.

“No, none of it.” He sighed. “I swear I taught you better than this. Why did we come here in the first place?” he asked. Lisa looked at Ryan.

“Don’t answer,” Gardener told him.

“Uhm, he heard something,” Lisa said. “We found a dead wolf, too.“ She frowned. “It was rotting.” Ryan didn’t follow. What were they going on about?

“It was an alpha,” Gardener said. “One of up to three guarding this room. He killed them, the whole pack, and the new ones came to fill the void.”

“What?” Lisa asked. She looked down, frowned deeper, and looked up again. “Are you sure?”

“What?” their teacher said.

Ryan flinched back at the man’s voice. He wasn’t as rude as Lisa, but even he had his doubts. He looked for a weapon in the dark but found nothing. Flower Boy didn’t look like he could hurt a fly right now, let alone a pack of Alpha Prowlers guarding a treasure room.

“I mean, lugging that chest around?” Lisa went on.

“If you don’t believe me, you can just ask,” Gardener said. Lisa gave him a look that said haha, very funny and Ryan had the beginnings of a headache. Why were they even talking here?

“But we still saved him, right?” Lisa said. “If you whistle, you forfeit your loot.”

“What’s your issue with the fucking loot?” Ryan asked. They both looked at him, surprised. “No really,” he pressed on, “tell me what’s so important that it’s worth stealing from a kid who went into the tower to earn money so desperately, he almost died trying to lug a treasure chest across three floors? Are you proud of yourself right now, Lisa?”

She didn’t look proud. She looked pissed that someone had told her off. Ryan stared at her anyway and was relieved to eventually see a hint of shame in her eyes. Their teacher was doing the same.

“Well?” he asked.

Stolen story; please report.

Lisa stared back, incredulous.

“Is it something valuable?” he asked.

“It’s-”, she started, “It’s just a Mana Ring. You know how I struggle with keeping up my Mana, half a dozen spells and I’m down to cantrips.”

“The boy survived on cantrips,” Gardener said.

Lisa scowled.

“Yeah, well, we can’t all be survivors. That ring would give me at least three more fireballs, I bet.” She let the lid fall close and turned to sulk in front of it.

“You’ll get there someday,” Gardener said, and that was that.

“Can we go now?” Ryan asked. “I’m worried.”

“I’m not,” Lisa said. Ryan was beginning to hate her right now. “If he had a healing potion like that lying around,” she said, “the boy must be peachy.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“We’re waiting,” Gardener said.

“On what?”

Gardener growled at him.

“We’re taking a break, Ryan,” he said seriously. “I’m not young anymore, Lisa is out of Mana, and Gus is out of arrows. We can’t just run back, carrying the boy and two chests without any way to defend ourselves.”

“Oh,” Ryan said. “So then …?”

“As soon as Lisa has got some Mana back, we’ll make a beeline for the exit. In the meantime, I promised Gus I’d check for arrows. Why don’t you try consoling your friend?”

He pointed at Micah and Ryan realized the boy was awake. He was looking at them, but Ryan didn’t know how much he’d heard. While Gardener began to search the chests, Ryan hesitated. Micah was a wreck. He had been huddled in the corner of the cave all this time.

What if he said something wrong?

He forced himself to get up and walk over. The other boy’s eyes followed him all the while. He sat down near him, not quite next to him, just close enough that he would hear even if the boy whispered something, thanks to his [Enhanced Senses].

The scent of flowers was thick this close to him, but it was hiding something else.

“Hey,” Ryan started casually and cringed. “Uhm, how are you?”

Micah stared at him from behind his tattered pack. He said nothing.

“People missed you in the classroom, you know?” he tried. “Your parents were worried. They asked us if we knew where you were.”

Micah shifted then, looking down. His legs sunk down a bit and he let his pack fall away. He seemed resigned.

The hidden smell got stronger. It was obvious really, or ridiculous that Ryan would think otherwise. Four days in the Tower on his own, only prepared for one day, of course Micah would smell. How did he still smell like nice things, too, though?

He took a deep breath and smiled.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “They’ll be happy you’re back. Most of us thought you’d just fallen asleep on a field, really. One of the girls was worried, though.” Ryan tried to think of her name, so that Flower Boy might have a girlfriend soon, after all. But as he racked his head trying to remember who it was again, he couldn’t find it. All he could come up with was Lisa, and then Linda, and he remembered how worried she had been.

“Ms. Linda was worried about you, too,” he said. “She tried to have the rubble searched, but wasn’t allowed. We offered to keep an eye out, instead.”

Ryan remembered how annoyed he had been the last few days because of that stupid high-pitched sound in his ears. He felt ashamed. “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner,” he mumbled.

After a pause, Micah still didn’t say anything. Ryan didn’t know why, but it seemed like he was listening anyways, so Ryan started talking again. He talked about fighting the wolves today, and how much he hated their copies. Micah’s face wrinkled in disgust when he said that and Ryan was happy to see they shared the sentiment.

Then he talked about wounds and healing potions, how he hated having only middle-grade ones. He thanked him for the one he had given them. He talked a little bit more about climbing in general and the fighting he did, how he also hated salamanders in general, and anything the boy would listen to, which was everything. He hung on every word Ryan said. That was great.

Eventually, Ryan talked about the classroom and what Micah had missed in the last few days. Mostly, it was just new maths equations, some new words and more propaganda history about the first king again. Ryan remembered how his mom had told him the fable of him when he was young, of how he had made a deal with a Dwarf a hundred years ago to build the first Tower. It was nonsense, really, the Towers couldn’t only be a hundred years old no matter what the registrars said, but he found himself telling the story to Micah anyway.

Halfway through, the boy turned away and began to rummage in his pack again. Ryan stopped, dumb-founded when Micah pulled out two more potions and some herbs he thought he had seen growing around here. He kept on searching but apparently couldn’t find something else. Suddenly, he looked up at Ryan.

What? Ryan panicked. What did he want? Was there something he needed? The healing potion? Should he go get the healing potion back? He shifted his weight to get up again, but Micah spoke.

“Wa-”, was all he croaked before he choked up. He tried again. “Water.”

“Water,” Ryan said and felt like smacking himself in the head. He realized Micah might have gone for days without it. Here he’d been sitting, sleeping, telling him fairy tales, but he didn’t even offer him water? What kind of an idiot was he?

He hurried to unstrap his waterskin from his belt and gave it to him. Micah took it but fumbled with the opening.

“Here, let me,” Ryan said and did it for him.

Then Micah did something strange. Instead of drinking from it, he poured some into a flask with some of the herbs he had. Then he added a little bit of both potions.

“Hey,” Ryan protested. “You shouldn’t go around mixing with potions.”

The boy just ignored him and finished his concoction. He re-packed his things and began to shake the flask with both hands. It wasn’t very forceful, though, and the boy looked pained while he did it.

He stopped after a bit, seemingly unsatisfied and held the bottle out to Ryan with a pleading look on his face. Ryan stared. How was he supposed to say no to that?

“You want me to shake it?”

His head bobbed up and down.

“And if it explodes?”

No answer.

Ryan took the bottle gingerly and shook it a little. Micah didn’t tell him to stop so he shook harder, and then even harder until it was like making butter at that harvest festival. Suddenly, a look of delight shot up on the boy’s face and Ryan stopped, a little winded. He handed the flask back.

Micah took the bottle and stared at it for a moment. Then he collapsed. He fell all the way over his pack and face-planted into the floor.

Ryan was much too slow to catch him. He lurched and pulled him back up, but the boy was limp in his arms.

“Shit,” he cursed. “Gardener! Gardener!” he called. “Something happened!”

The man had been resting at the cave’s mouth and came rushing over. He propped the boy up against the wall and held two fingers to his neck. A Skill? Was he checking something?

Then he visibly relaxed and sat down. Ryan was confused.

“What happened?” the man asked.

“Nothing,” Ryan insisted. “We were just talking and he wanted water, so I gave him my waterskin and he filled some into a flask with some other stuff and told me to shake it, then he collapsed all the sudden.”

“While you were shaking the flask?”

“No, when I gave it back. He stared at it for a moment and then his eyes closed up and he slumped over.”

His teacher frowned.

“He probably tried to use a Skill,” he said and looked down at the boy with contempt. “There are cantrips that cool your drinks or make them taste a certain way … “ He snorted. “What an idiot.”

Ryan stared at him. Gardener noticed.

“Relax, Rye. I’m just telling it how it is. I know you’re friends and all, but he honestly is a complete and utter imbecile. Just think about all he’s done and tell me otherwise.”

Ryan opened his mouth in protest but found he couldn’t. He shut up and clenched his jaw, feeling cheated.

“What’s he like in class?” Gardener asked. Ryan didn’t need to think long to answer that.

“He sleeps a lot,” he admitted, “never pays attention, gets distracted easily … I think he flunked a history exam pretty badly once.”

“Strangely specific. So he’s a scatterbrain then?”

“Yeah,” Ryan said. That seemed about right.

“Those always have the hardest time exploring their Path,” he said. “I doubt he’ll get anywhere in life.”

Ryan disagreed, and said as much. When Gardener gave him a questioning look, he just raised his hands and gestured around themselves, as if to say, look at where he brought us. Gardener huffed in resignation then and sat down. They shared a moment in silence, both of them still holding the boy up, but not looking at him or each other.

“Why do you hate him?” Ryan asked eventually. He was thinking about the man’s behavior and it was all that made sense.

“I barely know the kid,” Gardener said.

“Yeah, but you at least dislike him, don’t you?” Ryan was pretty sure about it, even if it was just a hunch.

His teacher seemed to consider. His face scrunched up.

“He made Linda cry,” was all he said before he let go. Ryan lurched to adjust his grip on Micah so he wouldn’t fall over again and watched as Gardener got up and left. The man stopped in front of the loot chests and opened them. Ryan was worried for a moment, but then he started moving all the loot from the larger one into the smaller chest. He was just preparing to leave. A moment later, he came back for Micah’s bag.

“You’re carrying him,” he said. When he lifted the bag, the contents almost spilled along a tear and Gardener cursed and grabbed the other end. He threw it down on the chest in a huff, picked it up and headed for the entrance of the cave.

“Lisa!” he called down. “Help me carry this down.”

Ryan watched it all until Gardener was gone. Then he looked at the prone figure next to him and found himself reconsidering how he felt about [Enhanced Senses]. He did get up, though, and lifted the boy, one arm holding his knees, the other his back. He groaned immediately.

Micah was about as heavy as he looked, but Ryan was still barely two years older. He only had [Lesser Strength], and he was hit by the stench of the boy at the same time, too. He checked to see that he hadn’t forgotten anything before he carried him to the entrance of the cave. Before he could wonder on how to get him down, Gus appeared at the ledge.

“You’re doing that wrong,” the ranger said and held his arms up. Ryan crouched and lifted the boy down for the ranger to take. He was both relieved and worried when the weight disappeared, but Gus didn’t move far. He laid Micah down on the grass a little ways away.

When Ryan reached the bottom, Gus was waiting for him.

“Here,” he said. “Like this. You put his arms here, lift his leg and then you just roll.” He put his quiver and bow away and demonstrated. Ryan was surprised when he stood up with the boy lying over his shoulders. It seemed so easy.

“And now you.”

He put Micah back down and Ryan copied the man. He wobbled a bit standing up, but carrying someone would be easier this way than bridal style. He could probably manage a fast walk. How would he defend himself?

“You stay in the middle of the group. If things get too dicey, set him down carefully and protect him. We’ll be fine handling the rest.”

“I still have your back,” Lisa said. She nodded at him earnestly, more confident now, probably because she had some of her Mana back, and Ryan was glad to see there were no hard feelings about earlier.

“Thank you,” he said before they made their way into the forest.

----------------------------------------

Only two wolves attacked them, and Lisa and Gus took care of them before they could get close.

Yay, two more, Lisa said when they burst into clouds of smoke. She skipped off to collect their crystals.

When they found the other two students still sitting in the tree they had left them in, the two badgered them with questions. Barry and Mark had been waiting all this time, worried something had happened. They wanted to head off to look for them after a while. Gus told them it was good that they didn’t. Both of them offered to carry Micah or the chest, respectively, but Gardener and Ryan both declined. Instead, they stuck close and looked menacing during the rest of the trip, even though nothing happened. Ryan was grateful either way.

Then they stepped through the silver portal spanning between two trees and into afternoon sunlight. Ryan squinted up at the sky, enjoying real light instead of that false forest one.

Micah reacted immediately, squirming on his shoulders like a fish on dry land.

“Hold on,” he said, but before Ryan could let him down carefully, the boy jumped and landed in a crouch. The children froze and stared at him, worried he might be hurt. Even other Climbers leaving were silent as they walked past. Then Micah searched his pockets until he found the potion he had mixed earlier and gulped it all down in one stretch. He wiped his mouth and stood up on shaky legs.

“I’m alright,” he said. A river of spring scent washed over the exit. Everyone nearby shifted at the smell. A potion? Ryan wondered. To let him speak?

“Are you sure?” Gardener asked. Micah nodded and walked up to him. He held out his hands as if wanting to take the chest.

“You said this was mine?”

Again that scent filled the air. It smelled … good, actually. Fresh. Clean. It smelled like flowers, and honey, and wet grass, soap and a spring breeze, but it was too strong. Much too strong. Ryan almost gagged despite it.

“You heard?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Here then.”

Garender dropped the heavy chest into Micah’s arms and went to keep walking, but Micah bumped into him right away. He held the chest back out. Ryan was confused. Was he too weak to carry it after all? His arms were shaking. Of course he was too weak. Ryan took a step forward to go help him.

“It’s yours. For saving me,” Micah said. “Minus the … bag …. on top.” He stumbled over the word and everyone knew why. What remained was just a tattered mess of cloth and stains. Ryan stood still, surprised.

“A token gesture?” the teacher asked.

Micah nodded.

“Shove it.”

“I’m sorry?” he asked, but the instructor just stormed off.

Gus called after him, “Where are you going?”

“To tell Linda this one survived!” he called back, never even turning around.

“He’s not happy,” Lisa said.

Ryan agreed and turned to Micah. The boy’s eyes were watering up a little.

“Do you want it?” he asked, holding out the chest.

Ryan shook his head ruefully.

“And you?” he asked the Mage next to him.

Lisa visibly brightened and almost rushed over to whisk it away, but slowed to a stop two steps off and rested her hand against the ornamented wood. Putting one hand on the bag, she opened the lid and rummaged around a bit before revealing a small stone ring. She showed it to Micah.

“Just this. It’s a Mana ring. It’s only useful to a Mage?”

Micah nodded quickly. “Of course, of course. You can have it.”

His voice sounded like his nose was stuffed, but he seemed glad to be rid of it. Maybe to repay some of his debt? When Lisa let the lid fall again, Micah took one step forward, towards Gus and the others, and promptly collapsed. The wood thudded to the ground and the boy on top of it. Ryan had been headed towards him anyway but rushed over the moment he wobbled. His classmate didn’t get back up. He’d collapsed. Again.

Gus rushed over as well, knelt and told him they had to bring him to the infirmary. He did that weird finger-to-neck thing Gardener had done, too. When Ryan went to lay Micah out so he could pick him up again, Barry and Mark insisted that they would carry him.

“You look like a mess, Ryan,” Barry told him. “You wouldn’t want to drop him, right?”

That’s low, Ryan thought but backed off. But then again, he didn’t even know the way to the infirmary. He’d never had wounds bad enough or lacked healing potions that he had to go there.

They carried Micah away. Gus waited for a bit while Lisa helped Ryan gather up Micah’s things, and they followed with a heavy chest.

At least, they were safe now.