James examined his chest wound where Deimos had impaled him. Just last night, it had been a gaping wound, one that seeped blood like an overflowing bathtub. Now, it was reduced to a faint scar, its position right where his heart was. The sight was eerie, terrifying almost. James was so close to death, his life held together by a foreign spirit from another world.

“Best not to think about it,” James muttered. He buried that thought into the recesses of his mind, putting right next to his nightmares and the idea of being summoned from earth. He was going to go mad if he kept thinking about those things. For now, he needed to focus on surviving the next two days.

James pulled on his white shirt from earth, its cotton material much more comfortable than the itchy wool tunic he had on yesterday. The clothes he wore before were currently sitting in the corner of the hut, bloodied and ripped from the eventful night. Since Dahlia had no spare clothes in his size, the otherworldly man had to go back to his earthly attire. James didn’t complain. He was more than happy to embrace the comfort of his old outfit.

That included his gray bomber jacket, which kept him warm and comfortable. Despite getting it from a Walmart clearance sale, James was more than happy with it. His jacket kept him warm and comfortable. It also gave him more pockets than what he knew what to do with. It was always an added bonus for him.

As he slipped the last of his clothes on, he caught sight of his father, which seemed to judge him from its corner. James didn’t know what to do with his father’s ashes, since there really wasn’t a safe place to put them. He looked around, making sure no one was around. He knelt next to his dad’s urn, wiping some dust off of its exterior.

“Dad?” James asked softly. “I’m gonna leave you here in Dahlia’s hut for a while. It’s too risky to take you with me, so you’re gonna have to stay here. When I find the time, I’ll get you a proper place to rest, all right? Sit tight.” He hoped that he would have the chance to keep his promise.

‘How heartfelt,’ Faust commented.

‘Shut up.’

James was already getting sick of the spirit inside of his head. Faust had been nothing but annoying and invasive, his being seeping into the young man’s mind. The dead man had no sense of privacy when it came to boredom. He had invaded private thoughts and recollections without consent, commented on what he shouldn’t have, and gave unwanted advice.

James had to bury memories and personal thoughts in order to keep some sense of privacy. He was already getting sick of another soul living in his body. It didn’t help that the two were stuck together for the time being. Hell, there was a chance they were stuck together forever.

‘I don’t like this situation either, Holter,’ Faust muttered. ‘Do you believe I enjoy being in this weak vessel?’

‘Keep out of my damn thoughts. As long as you’re inside my head, you’ll behave yourself.’

James could feel how Faust shifted inside of him, the spirit’s voice getting angrier.

‘I can still take your body, you insolent little–’

James shoved Faust deep into the back of his mind, interrupting the spirit’s dialogue almost immediately.

‘This is my body, Faust! Unless you want another round of painful clashing, you’ll behave and keep to yourself!’

The spirit went silent right after, his presence near unnoticeable. James sighed and rubbed at his temple. He was getting sick of this. Despite their ‘companionship,’ both souls were currently at odds with each other. Still, James was almost thankful that Faust was smart enough to realize that he was at a disadvantage. If the spirit took the young man’s body, he would have to deal with Dahlia and Seamus. It was a two on one, not counting James if he tried to fight back in another clashing contest.

The most logical thing he could do was to keep quiet and watch from the sidelines. While not ideal, James was almost certain Faust was more interested in remembering his past rather than taking over the body of a malnourished twenty-five-year-old.

James looked to the door to the outside, where the daylight was seeping through from. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for the impending question that was bound to come up when he exited the hut. Once he was ready, James zipped up his jacket, made sure his pants were on right, and headed out of the shaman’s home.

As expected, Seamus and Dahlia were outside. Looks of hesitance were painted on their faces, their gazes on the ground and trees around. James shared the sentiment. After all, the man known as Deimos was due to return in two days, his focus on raiding the island and capturing Seamus.

James now knew firsthand how truly fucked they were, his duel with the marauder chieftain giving him an idea of what would happen should they resist. Not to mention the two shipfuls of marauders ‘ready to burn everything down’, according to Seamus’ exact words. There were only two choices for the town, both of which James didn’t even want to consider.

The first choice was to hold the marauders off, to resist and fight back. This option was borderline suicidal since they were dealing with one of the more dangerous groups of people in Valenfrost. Seamus himself had been a victim to that and was a firsthand witness to their brutality. Not only was that problem enough, but James doubted any of the townspeople of Yorktown would even consider fighting. If anything, they were probably forming a witch hunt in the town, all in search of the refugee that had escaped marauder hands.

That brought them to the second option, the ‘reasonable’ one. Of course, the option was to turn Seamus in to the marauders. James didn’t even want to consider that one. It went against every instinct he had, every moral he was taught. If his father even saw him considering such a move…

‘Besides, I seriously doubt Deimos is the type to keep his word. I saw those eyes. Nothing but pure bloodlust,’

Turning Seamus in would do nothing to spare the town. James was sure of it.

“James, we need to talk,” Dahlia’s voice cut his thoughts off.

James turned to the shaman, who was slowly approaching him. Both she and Seamus looked worried, the tone between them grim. Earlier that morning, after they had freed James, they all had spoken about the Deimos issue. James had already voiced his opinion on the matter, but the other two couldn’t come up with a consensus, resulting in them going outside to think and discuss.

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‘I really hope they didn’t go for the second option.’

“You’re not seriously considering turning Seamus in?” James asked. He noted the way Seamus was avoiding eye contact. It looked as if he was trying his best not to show a reaction. It only made James worry even more.

“Of course not!” Dahlia responded. Her answer gave the other man a sense of relief. It was quickly whisked away soon after. “But I’m not considering the first option either. James, we can’t fight the marauders. Even if we had the entire town on our side, we probably wouldn’t stand a chance,” she sighed, rubbing her forehead. “We can’t even leave the island since they’re obviously watching the island.”

“I know it’s just…” James sighed in frustration. He wondered if there really was another option, one that can solve everything. Back on earth, he had always tried to find a third option to situations, whether it’d be in real life or in those RPGs Nick made him play. It was a force of habit to always look for another choice.

‘But this isn’t earth… or a video game.’

His thoughts prompted Faust to ask in confusion,

‘What are you talking about?’

“Just something stupid,” James muttered out loud. His response caught the attention of the shaman.

“Talking with the spirit?” Dahlia asked suddenly. The shaman had been barraging James with questions about Faust, his memories, and how it felt having an ethereal spirit living in his body. James’ go to answer had been ‘Not fucking fun,’ but it didn’t seem enough to quell her curiosity.

“Yeah,” James answered tiredly, rubbing his eyes. Despite being passed out for nearly all of last night, he still didn’t get enough sleep. “Is there anyone on this island that can help? Anyone who has some experience in this type of situation?”

“No… No one in that town would help us.” Dahlia shook her head. “They’ll turn Seamus in without a second thought after seeing what Deimos did to you,” she grimly stated, her gaze moving to the snowy ground.

James could see how Seamus had turned pale at her response. The thought of going back to those marauders obviously shook him. James could feel a pit forming in his stomach. He was sick at the thought, too.

“Except… there might be one person who can help,” Dahlia slowly started before she looked back at James. “There’s this hermit across the island, opposite of Yorktown. He’s an old veteran from the Outsider Wars, been here for as long as I can remember. He has been isolated from everyone for years now, but I'm sure he can help.”

Dahlia’s eyes averted to the hut. “We’ll need to pack supplies for the journey. The island is small, but the terrain makes it a pain to navigate. Not to mention the seemingly endless forest…” she rambled on about what they needed, but James was thinking about what she had said earlier.

The Outsider Wars. A conflict that was apparently so ingrained in this world that Dahlia mentioned it without explanation. James had to remind himself once again that he knew nothing about this world, and that he’ll need to learn more about it sooner than later.

‘Knowledge is power.’

He could feel Faust do something akin to an approving nod in an ethereal sense.

“If it means a possible third option then we should get moving as soon as we can,” James responded. He knew that time wasn’t on their side, so it would pay to get this done as fast as possible. Dahlia and Seamus didn’t seem too excited, but both didn’t object.

“All right, but let me prepare some supplies for the trip. We might need to camp out there if we can’t get back on time,” Dahlia said. She headed off into her hut, leaving both Seamus and James to themselves.

As the two men stood around quietly, James noticed something off about Seamus. At first, he assumed it was the strange foreign feeling everyone in this world emitted. He soon realized that wasn’t the case. Upon focusing on Seamus, James could see what it was that caught his eye. Seamus’ hands were shaking. It was sporadic and barely noticeable, yet it was there. It was clear that the younger man was filled with a terror that shook him to the core.

James could almost relate in a way, since he too had been subject to indescribable fear and terror. Both in the nightmares he had suffered from and the duel from last night. He almost shuddered at the memory of Deimos’ inhuman strength and speed.

‘Best to ask if he’s doing fine.’

“Are you all right?” James asked, looking over at the young man. Seamus didn’t seem to acknowledge him at first, his eyes focused out into the distance.

“Seamus?” James asked again, a little louder this time. Seamus seemed to snap out of it, his eyes blinking as he looked over at James.

“Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts,” Seamus murmured. James could see how he clenched his shaking hands into fists. He pretended not to notice and averted his gaze to the snowy trees around them.

“Yeah. I do that too sometimes,” James spoke. There was another awkward pause between the two.

“Dahlia told me about your situation,” Seamus mentioned. “A stranger from another world. Summoned here by accident.”

“You don’t seem that surprised,” James pointed out. Seamus was calm and put together. It looked as if he was taking this information pretty lightly. It confused James. Dahlia herself had freaked out to some degree when she figured it out. Yet Seamus’ reaction was lukewarm at best.

“To be completely fair, I’ve been through a lot these past weeks,” Seamus admitted. “An Outlander such as yourself isn’t at the top of my priorities or fears. If anything, your presence here is comforting in a way. It reminds me of those old stories, the ones about heroes summoned from foreign worlds.”

“Old stories?” James furrowed his brow, curiosity overtaking him. “You mean there were others?”

“No, those were myths, James,” Seamus shook his head. “Stories made up by parents trying to put their children to sleep. From what I can guess, those legends were probably about people from the continent of Kasan and Areno. Far-away lands that were already other worlds back then.” he shrugged.

James stared at Seamus for a bit, trying to process what he had said.

‘Those were some names I didn’t recognize. I should ask about them later. When it isn’t so awkward.’

“Do you really think we can take them? The marauders,” Seamus asked after a long silence.

James shrugged, not really sure himself. “Do you really think they’ll keep their word if we turn you in?” He asked back, looking over Seamus. The younger man took a long time to answer, his eyes focused on a random tree.

“I know they won’t,” Seamus answered simply. There was conviction in his voice, the kind that more than assured James that he wasn’t lying in the slightest.

‘What has he been through?’

James wondered what Seamus had to go through to be so certain that the marauders would never keep their word. Then again, James only had to fight Deimos to know what he was more than capable of.

“All right, I think we’re ready!” Dahlia’s voice rang out from inside the hut. She finally emerged from the hut, two rucksacks in tow. She plopped them both in front of the two men. “One for each of you. If you two really think I’m gonna carry all the equipment, you’re insane.”

“I don’t have to come, right?” Seamus slightly raised his hand. “Truth be told, I haven’t slept for days,” he said tiredly.

“Sure, if you want to deal with any of the townsfolk coming up around here to look for you,” Dahlia mentioned casually. Seamus gave a sigh of defeat before he moved to pick the rucksack up.

“The trick is to use your shoulder and back,” James advised before he lifted his rucksack up. Thankfully, it was much lighter than the bag of items Dahlia had him lug around the other day. Seamus followed James’ example, his arms struggling to lug the sack over his shoulder. Once all three were ready, they made their way into the forest, ready to start their long walk.