They gave Kai some food before they packed up camp and ate themselves.

Kai watched them work. Bear was a large muscular man that reminded him of a viking. The image was not helped by the lack of armor and the massive axe on Bear's back. Then there was Thane, a tall man who wore mostly normal clothes that had been reinforced with leather.

Once most of the stuff was done, Bear walked over to Kai.

“Hey kid, I can carry you on my back.”

“Can I walk?”

“Can you keep up?” Kai nodded in answer.

“Well then I don't see a problem with that and if you get tired then I’ll carry you.” As Bear walked away Kai spoke his voice softly.

“If you have to carry me please don’t tie me to you. It reminds me of…” Kai stopped talking, eyes staring at his hands. He began walking towards Sarah who was packing up the last couple things. Bear and Thane exchanged a look before nodding and following behind him.

Kai got to Sarah as she was slinging her bag onto her shoulders.

“Ok let's head out we’ve got 5 more days.” They set out trekking through the forest. At first they moved slowly thinking that Kai wouldn’t be able to keep up if they set a faster pace but soon they realized that Kai had much more endurance than his frame or his age would suggest. And they were moving almost as quickly as when they had first left the mountain.

They didn’t all walk together as a group instead they had Sarah moving up front scouting for them easily hopping from tree to tree. Behind her in the front was Thane, behind him was Kai and then Bear taking up the rear.

While they didn’t walk around with their weapons ready to swing they also weren’t relaxed. Acting as if this was a stroll through the park. They seemed to be right in between, always ready for a fight but not to the point they exhausted themselves. Sarah jumped down to them from a tree bringing a lit breeze with her.

“Pack of 4 bark lynxes coming this way they already got our scent.”

“Ok, formation wall bash. Sarah get Kai in a tree to make sure he doesn’t get hurt. Worst case scenario, we stop for a day to rest up.” Sarah helped Kai get into one of the trees. As they did that Bear and Thane set up defenses.

“Mother earth I seek your aid. Please take my offering and grant me the protection of your children and help me defend against those who seek to harm. Grant me your protection so that those I seek to help and defend will be safe. Earthen summon. “Mana rippled out of Thane's staff and the earth started to bubble as 2 figures pulled themselves up and out of the earth. They looked like rough men made out of stone with sharp rocks sticking out of their shoulders, knees, fists, heads, feet, elbows and other body parts. The 2 earth men stepped forward to stand next to Bear as a wall.

“Kai, stay here if you need something or you feel like you are going to be attacked. Call out and I will help.” Sarah began her own chant. “Whipping winds part my way, propel me forward and aid me. Traveling winds.”

The wind picked up around her and she moved forward faster than she had moved before. She moved from tree to tree, the wind moving around her in a way that let her move faster than before while not disturbing anything and giving away her location.

4 creatures came out of the forest. As they did, Kai felt something change. It felt as if a storm had been whipped up inside of him and it was trying to break out. Kai felt his eyes begin to burn like bonfires, his senses felt as if they went on overdrive, he took in everything and then his senses focused on the fight about to happen.

Kai watched the 4 bark lynxes. They were about 3 feet tall and they had mossy bark for fur that seemed to sway in the wind more like fur than actual bark. They had vines woven into the moss and bark and wrapped around their paws.

A stone spike shot out of Thanes staff hitting the bark lynx and only leaving a mark on its fur. The 4 ran forward engaging with the 2 earth men and Bear, one of them rushed around Bear, moving towards Thane. Bear grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and threw it at a tree. The hand that had grabbed the lynx was torn up and bleeding. The other lynx attacked him, biting into his leg. Bear swung his axe down chopping into the lynx's hide.

As they fought Thane shot stone spikes at the other lynxes trying to keep them back. That was when Sarah joined the fight. She dropped down on the lynx that Bear had thrown. She was wielding her short sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. She used them to keep the lynx back but struggled to do any actual damage to the lynx and wind seemed to swirl around her helping her out.

The lynxes slowly battered them down, the lynxes hides were tough and it was hard for them to get through.

“KAI. Grab one of the bags we dropped and run around towards where we were heading. You should be able to find the town.” Thane shouted. Kai looked down at them hesitating.

Should he try and help them he really didn’t know if he could but they were willing to hold the lynxes off while he ran. Kai’s hand ran along the medallion on his neck. A soft, kind voice spoke to him. You have other options, don't resort to killing yourself to deal with something. Since the moment he had awoken Kai had been able to feel that he could summon Seth or Arthay, but doing so would be a bad idea. If he summoned Arthay the seal and bindings would weaken and if he summoned Seth that would be inviting him to take Kai’s body. A memory flashed through Kai’s mind of when he fought Seth. It couldn't hurt to try.

Kai stood up on the branch, the storm inside him seemed to rage even stronger, his eyes burned hotter and Kai spoke. “Cold embrace of death I summon you to your place of birth. Death Field.” Kai swung his hand and cold black energy left him.The mist settled on the battlefield and in weapons blades shone with and black light and staff swirled with it.

The lynxes backed off slightly wary of the feeling of death. There were no questions from the team that Kai was trying to help as they pushed forward, understanding that somehow Kai had helped them.

Their weapons cut deep into the lynxes as if the bark-like hides were not there. The sharp rocks on the earth men began to glow black allowing their hits to break the bark. Black mist swirled around Thane’s staff before sinking into it. The stone spikes he shot out were also tinted black. The black mist settled on blades before slowly being absorbed into them.

The group swiftly cut through the lynxes blades slicing into hide, spells piercing them and stone bashing them. Once Thane and Bear were sure there was nothing else, they walked over to Kai to make sure he was alright.

Kai dropped down but was careful to see what their reaction was to his spell. It was death magic so they might not like it. Maybe they would try to kill him?

“Nice work Kid. That would have been a tough fight without you.” Bear said, smiling at Kai.

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Sarah dropped down from a tree and patted Kai’s head. “That was well done. Thank you for your help. It wouldn't have been a clean win without you.”

“Why did you tell me to take a bag and run?” Kai asked.

Thane crouched down in front of him and Kai noticed something he hadn’t before. Thane’s ears weren’t normal; they were long and pointed. An elf?

“Kai the reason that I told you to run is because we weren’t confident in killing the bark lynxes and might have died or had to retreat. If you had run, we could have fought easier not having to worry about you. But that’s not what you were asking. You wanted to know why we would want to protect you. The answer to that is simple. You're a child and you need help. We would have helped anyone, but you're a child you have not had time to grow and mature. Children are both important for the future of all and they are precious. Children are important because they are the next generation. They are precious because they have not lived long and have so much ahead of them. You should always remember that, ok?”

“Ok. I think I kind of understand.” kai replied.

“Thanks again kid, that was a powerful spell.” With that they all split up to do various things. Sarah started scouting and making sure nothing came after them because of the smell. Thane started hounding everyone to take care of their inquiries, directing his golems and just generally watching everything, and Bear started to butcher the lynxes.

Kai walked over to Bear and watched him work on the first one.

“Can you teach me?”

“Hmm, sure kid come here and I’ll show you how. Here you’ll need a knife. Now the first thing you need to know is this is the ends sharp don’t cut yourself. Sounds like a joke huh? It's not. This is serious advice, you should never cut in a way that might end in you getting cut if the knife slips. So always cut away from yourself.

Now second when you cut you need to always make sure you know what you are cutting and always go slow and steady at least until you know what you're doing. Here watch me.”

Bear showed Kai how to cut open the hide before removing the organs and then slowly dismantling its body. The only time when Bear hesitated was when he got to the wounds that had been made when infused with Kai’s magic.

This probably shouldn’t be eaten. Bear glanced over at Kai and hesitantly asked.”Do you know anything about this magic?”

Kai paused, should he tell them? They hadn’t reacted badly so far even after feeling that magic but what if they didn’t know what it was would they react badly then? Kai looked up at Bear unsure what to do.

“Hey kid, you don’t have to tell me anything, it's your magic in the end.”

Kai paused but in the end answered his voice quiet. “It's death magic.”

Kai waited for something, unsure what to expect but expecting something yet nothing came. There wasn’t someone mad for some reason or someone trying to kill him. A hand ruffled Kai’s hair

“Then we probably shouldn’t eat it just to be safe.” Bear got back to work dismantling the lynx. “These hides are strong and hard to cut. I can get you something easier later to allow you to practice.”

Kai knelt down, took his knife and started to slowly cut through the hide. The hide was tough and hard to cut like bark while also being soft and fluffy. Yet despite the tough ness Kai found he was able to cut through the hide with minimal effort.

“Huh? Never mind I guess.” Bear helped Kai butcher the final 2 lynxes before showing him how to store the body.

“Thane, we’re done here if you're ready to go we are to.”

“Ok then let's move.” Thane said.

With that they returned to how they had been traveling previously. Night rolled around and they stopped to rest near a small river. Thane started setting up the tents while Bear handled food and Sarah began going through the bags. She took a shirt from Thane’s bag before she started ripping it she then took a needle and some thread. 10 minutes later she seemed satisfied with whatever she had been doing.

“Kai come here.” Sarah said as she got a towel out of the bag. “We're going to go wash up in the stream.”

Sarah guided Kai upstream a little bit far enough away that they would have some privacy but close enough that they would be able to call for Bear and Thane in case they needed something. Kai took off his tattered rags and jumped in. The water was cold and fresh but to Kai there was something warm and soothing about it. Kai felt something that he hadn’t ever felt before. It was another reminder that he was out of that hell.

Kai let the water flow over his body soothing his skin and muscles. Eventually he turned around to look at Sarah. She just smiled at him, seeming to know exactly what was going through his mind at that moment.

“Kai, know that we are glad for your help today and if you ever need anything, we will help you. You seem to be suspicious of us wanting you for something. I don’t know what it is but just know that we don’t seek to harm you in any way and only wish to help you.”

“Knowing someone is enough for you to get hurt.” Kai said as an image of Isabells head leaving her body flashed through Kai’s mind. Kai shut his eyes and dipped farther into the water trying and failing to forget. Warm arms wrapped around him.

“We are here for you and I promise that we won’t hurt you.” Sarah said, matching his quiet voice. As they sat there in silence, water flowed around them. Kai couldn’t help but feel like he had a big sister hugging and looking out for him. Maybe he could trust these people.

Sarah helped Kai get his hair mostly clean, something very hard to do since he had never bothered really trying the few times that he had been given some dirty water to clean up with. It also didn’t help that he had blood and other stuff stuck in it but with a little bit of work most stuff came out. After that, Sarah gave Kai some rough clothes that had been sewn together using Thane’s ripped up shirts.

They returned to the camp where Bear and Thane were cooking some meat. Bear ended up needing to make even more once Kai finished eating and was still hungry. With eating concluded Kai’s mind began to slow down and he fell asleep.

***

Sarah sat with Kai as he ate more food than her and Thane combined. Once he was done eating Kai nodded off to sleep. She laid him down in his tent before going over to where Thane and Bear were cleaning up in the river right next to camp. She would normally have done the same thing but she had wanted some time alone with Kai to try and get him to open up and it had worked.

“Did he tell you anything?” Thane the party leader and half elf asked.

“He didn’t tell me anything about his past directly. I told him that he could stop being suspicious of us and all we wanted was to help him and I promised him we wouldn’t hurt him. He said that knowing someone is enough to get hurt.”

“And your thoughts?”

“He’s lost people close to him and he is far more mature than someone his age should be most likely a byproduct of what he has had to go through.”

“Bear, did you notice anything?”

“Yeah I did. First we need to stop talking about him like this. You are treating it like a mission that can be broken down into parts. This is a 10 year old boy with at least 5 years of trauma having seen and gone through some of the worst this world can offer. But on the topic of what you wanted. He could cut through the hide of the bark lynx with little trouble, something not easy. He also told me what magic he used.”

“Oh. What did he use? I haven't been able to place it.”

“Death magic.”

Shit!

Fuck!

Yeah they were experimenting with death magic. Bear’s fists were clenched hard enough that his bones could almost be heard creaking. Based on how he cut through the lynx's hide they also did something to increase his strength. Bear breathed in calming himself. Also try to avoid restraining him when I told him I could carry him on my back he asked me not to. It seemed like a bad topic.

Makes sense since they wouldn’t want him escaping.

Did you notice anything off Thane?

His eyes.

Sure they are weird with the black and the chains but so what? Sarah asked

It's not just the chains though that is a big part of it. First it's probably safe to say that the black is the death magic. The chains are weird and I'm not sure what they represent but that's not what I am talking about. His eyes it's like they see everything. Along with that there’s mana constantly entering them.

When he first woke up I didn’t really notice it because I was focused on the fact that he was finally awake. But did you notice how quickly he took everything in? It was like he was moving faster than us or something similar. Also during the fight I felt a massive increase in mana entering them enough to distract me momentarily.

Sarah spoke first. So either he was the subject of 3 different experiments or the eye thing is natural? She shook her head. It’s a horrible thing that happened to him but it doesn't affect what we are going to do. We will help him.