21

(K-391, Alan Walker, Ahrix- End of Time)

Adam

I woke up under an umbrella of silver and green shimmering leaves. A little creature the size of my thumbnail was prodding at my chest with fuzzy little light blue and lavender furred arms that extended from its chubby little body. It only had two limbs and two wings, which buzzed softly, almost silently, as it tried landing on parts of my chest hair. Its features looked more like a mammal’s than an insect’s, but it reminded me a lot of a clumsy bumblebee the way it bumped around my chest hairs. Its tiny spherical head had two big beady eyes and no ears, but a tongue that protruded like a long trumpet horn. I felt little tickles on my chest where it seemed like it was licking at the sweat. As I moved my head, its stringy tail twirled and it turned to meet my eyes. It didn’t dart or anything, so I raised my hand toward it and brushed it away. It hummed off and disappeared into a larger group of them fluttering around the tree.

I looked around, realizing I was inside the temple in the village, next to Brenden. My body was yet again stiff and aching miserably, but from what? How did I…? I wracked my brain, recalling the wagon ride, journeying into the forest, and then feeling a prick in my back that knocked me down.

Brenden’s voice startled me. “There you are. You feel as stiff and sore as me? Like every muscle in your body cramped up just a minute ago?”

“What the hell happened to us?”

“The fireblood had some sort of poison. It paralyzed you instantly, then it got me.”

“I’m assuming Tells and Desmond beat it, considering we’re still alive.”

“One would think that, but where the fuck are they?”

I stood up and stretched the pain out. Every one of my joints popped and cracked like I’d been hibernating for a whole season and my groans definitely sold it because Brenden stood up and did the exact same thing.

“Holy shit,” Brenden gasped, “my back hasn’t cracked that good in ages. I’d ask you to walk on it, but you’d probably just crush me.”

We both stood there for a minute catching our breath and stretching out until Brenden sighed, staring at his hands. “I don’t know about you, but I’m already itching to get home. I know neither of us had particularly good lives, but would you take it over getting beat up and being miserable here all the time?”

I paused and looked down at his torn expression, which mirrored my own feelings. “I can’t speak for you or anyone else, but I’m gonna be honest, man, I don’t miss it. Even with how suckish it is now, it’s better than working myself to death. It’s a big adjustment, but I’m starting to get a feel for it.” I couldn’t help letting out a chuckle. “This is everything I ever could have wanted, man. Being an overpowered dude in a land of magic and fantasy. It’s the games, the shows, the books I loved. It’s all… here. But…”

I trailed off, not sure of what I wanted to say.

“It’s not all it’s chalked up to be?” Brenden half smiled and chuckled to himself.

I nodded silently, a little reluctant to admit that I wasn’t enjoying all of this like I wanted to. “It’s just not… I thought it’d be easier.”

“I think I would have preferred something more like Star Wars or Star Trek. Fantasy was never really my thing.”

“Both of those series have fantasy elements though.”

“Thank you Adam. I never noticed.” He sighed. “All this… old timey… medieval… shit, is just… shit. It sucks. And… instead, I keep finding myself in my own head. I hate it.”

“I know what you mean. I’ve thought a lot more than I ever expected, and, after that fireblood… I don’t know. I might have the body of a beefed up orc, but I don’t think I’m made to be a fighter, a warrior, or a hero.”

“You still caught up on that hero shit? Savior of the world?”

“No…” I was still wrestling with it in my own mind, just talking through my own thoughts to him. “ I think… I think I’m happier without the burden. Think about it- being a hero. I’d be constantly fighting- killing- and in and out of getting healed like these past few days. I barely have the energy to stand right now. Sure, I hated my job on Earth, but I’m not cut out for hero life.” I sighed, not sure where I was going with it.

Brenden paused, pondering what I said. “You don’t have to be a hero. I’ve… had my mind set on getting home this whole time, but there may not be a way home. And if there isn’t, I’ll have to make a life here. I love you guys and I want to stay with you, but eventually I’m probably gonna go look for a place I wanna live… a woman I wanna live with.”

I chuckled, an idea coming to me. “Yeah, I mean, look at these people. Different language, culture, way of living. We’re human, by our standards, but our races might have completely different lifestyles.”

He raised his finger like he was going to say something, then trailed off.

I continued. “We’re not a hundred percent sure yet, of anything in this world really, but we can go anywhere. Live anywhere. Pick a place and go because we have nothing holding us down. It’s weirdly… relaxing. I can do what I want. Take it at my own pace. I’m not stressed at all because I don’t have any deadlines, any times I have to be anywhere. We get all healed and fixed up here, then just go.” I smiled and shook my head. “I don’t have to worry about saving the world. We’re free, but that means we’ve gotta protect ourselves. Take care of each other. Honestly, I never had to worry about that. I was stable and stuck, but comfortable. Now…”

“Now we only have to worry about ourselves and what we wanna do with our lives.”

“Yeah. And I think I like it. Right now, it sucks, but that’s because we have nothing. But we can literally just go out into the woods and get what we need because we don’t need much. We can provide for ourselves. It’s…”

“Simple?”

“And… sobering.”

Brenden lowered his head, biting his cheek. “So you’re… sold on staying here then?”

“A little. Dude, I’m not paying for an apartment every month and making just enough to scrape by. I’ve been… thinking and… well, I’ve been thinking. About a lot of things. A lot of what I used to do was completely pointless. Wastes of time, when I really think about it. I only did them because I had nothing else to do. They’re not here to distract me, so I’ve been thinking… about myself, the world, my place in this world. It’s so fuckin’ weird, how much thinking has changed my outlook on this. It’s all I’ve been able to do. I think I’m finally figuring out what I actually want. Figure out who I want to be and what I want to do in a new place. Maybe I’m caught up in the moment and I’ll hate it when winter comes, but I think I could get used to this.”

Brenden stared at the floor, feeling his long ears. “Wastes of time, huh? I liked having technology, I guess. I still catch myself reaching for my phone or hearing little buzzes that make me think I’m getting a text from my family or one of you guys. But I think I see what you mean.”

I chuckled. He was down, a little sad looking.

Shit, did I get too heavy for him?

I tried picking the mood up. “Hell, I’ve seen you read more in this world than you ever did in the old one. It must be killing you if you’re that bored.”

“Hah. Yeah, sucks for the team too. We’re gonna miss the set this week, and the rest of the split.”

“Tell that to Tells. Can’t be a niche internet microcelebrity without the internet. Then again, it’s the internet, they’ll probably just assume he killed himself.”

“Yeah, like it wasn’t your driving that killed us.”

“We got hit by a fucking semi! I couldn’t-”

“I’m just joshin’ you, Adam. Fuckin’ ‘ell, man. I got the faceful of speeding grill, I know. Hope that trucker made it onto the top plays of the week for the one-hit penta.” Brenden remorsefully chuckled and searched around at the empty temple like he was expecting something.

“Idiots in Cars at least.”

He smirked. “That’s a bit too tame and educational. Probably whatever the new Liveleak is.”

“I do- did have a dash cam in my car. If the cops got to it before 24 hours, they should have the tapes.”

Brenden raised his eyebrows. “Ah, yes, Desmond, Rowan, Tells and I drunkenly screaming the lyrics to “Every Time We Touch” and then dying is sure to be a tear jerker.”

I scoffed. “Yeah, you’re telling me, I had to drive with you fuckers doin’ it.”

He got defensive. “I offered to drive.”

“You were the birthday boy, dipshit.”

“I’m a month younger than you, old man.”

“Yeah, know your place, child.”

“Alright,” he stretched his arms, his mood seeming to recover. “Where are the other two?”

“Woulda been nice if one of them stuck around,” I complained. “Maybe tell us what’s going on or something.”

“Or just stick around to make sure we don’t die in our sleep. Unless one of them…” Brenden’s face grew serious and he jogged to the door to peer outside. A noisy crowd of little people had formed outside. “Oh, they’re just dicks. Cool.”

Desmond’s boisterous salesman voice called out across the crowd of maybe a hundred tiny people. A sea of hats and bald heads covered the road as discussions in a foreign language took off. At the center of their attention was the wagon with the paralyzed fireblood in a cage, and Desmond presenting atop the wagon while Tells sat in the wagon like she didn’t know what to do. One of the small people was up with Tells and Desmond, interpreting Desmond’s words for the crowd who couldn’t understand him.

“Mother Yeline’s already marked off the parts that are claimed for people who need them most. So far, the claimed parts are both arms up to the collarbones, one eye, all toes on its right foot, the lower half of its left leg. We know you all need some new parts, but it’s our catch, so the first dibs will go to people who can offer us stuff from the list we’ve put together. We need a wagon that can hold people and supplies, one or two corties, and five tents or equal to that. Food, water and alcohol are also welcome. Things I didn’t mention are welcome if you’ve got ‘em.”

The crowd began roaring. An old man yelled “I’ve got a brand new wagon for the lungs!”

A woman from the crowd cried out “My son needs eye! We’ll give you corty!”

A young man’s voice boomed “No! I need eye. I’ll give you corty and two barrels grain!”

The woman yelled back “Fine! Two corties!”

Tells and Desmond spoke for a moment together as the people began shouted. Desmond announced back, pointing at the lucky winners.

“Wagon for the lungs! Two corties for an eye!” More yelling ensued and Desmond began to lose his grip on the crowd. “Sorry ma’am, we can’t spare any parts of the arms right now!” He turned to somebody else in the crowd. “You’ve got tents? Tents for the left knee? Got it!” He turned again. “You’ve also got tents? Sorry, we won’t need anymore- Clothes? Leather? Sure sounds good. Hips for the leather and clothes.” Offers went to every other part of the body, people offering food, and if they didn’t have food, they offered work, or services. People who couldn’t offer anything better just had to hope that what they needed wasn’t taken.

“What the fuck are you guys doing?!” Brenden ran to the wagon, so I followed right behind him. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but he seemed like he was going to lash out. Tells jumped down to meet him.

“We’ve got everything we need to get to the next city now,” Tells had a slight smile on her face, looking rather proud.

“Are you selling that thing’s fucking organs to the village people?!” He grabbed both of her arms tightly and got up in her face. Even though she was a foot taller than him, she seemed intimidated.

“B-Brenden,” she seemed like she was trying to match his tone. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. They’re-”

“The hell do you mean it’s not as bad as it looks?” He started waving his hands around, pointing at what was going on. “We get something and the first thing you do is start harvesting its organs and selling it like a prize from carnie?! That’s fucked up!”

She pulled away from him and began sounding stern in her own way. “That was the point of getting it, dipshit. Mother Yeline was gonna give its organs away and had the villagers collect money for us. We told her not to take their money and that they could just give us supplies. Desmond got the idea to do it like this, so we did.”

I stepped between them, trying to sound calm, as much as I felt the same way Brenden did. I spoke slowly and deliberately. “Why was she going to give the organs away? We thought all they were going to take were some bones.”

She had a look like she was wracking her brain for a second and second. “Because… they were all saying that the bones and stuff work, but the organs can also be put into people’s bodies to fix conditions.”

Brenden put a hand on my back. “Adam, you can’t tell me that this doesn’t sound fucked up to just me.”

I turned back to him and then to Tells. Looking over the crowd, they were all so eager and… frenzied. It was horrifying, in a way, to see all these people so fervently crying out for body parts to take from that creature. We were going to kill it anyway, but ripping apart its body for organs still felt weird.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I guess that’s just how this world works. I’ll try to meet them in the middle.

“Brenden, what were you planning on doing with that creature?” I looked him solemnly in the eyes.

“I knew we were going to kill it and take its arms, but I… we don’t need as much as you guys are taking. I would rather we just collect some money from the people and then let the Mother give parts to the people who need them the most. Not auction them off like some black market organ dealers! Hell! I don’t even give a shit about ripping its organs out anymore. Let ‘em. Just give ‘em to the people who really need ‘em and only take what they can afford to give!”

Tells nearly jumped to respond to him. “We did that! That’s why there was a list of what things were already claimed. People who would have died without the parts are getting them.”

Brenden stepped forward to her as I tried to keep him from getting up in her face. “What about people with conditions that aren’t bad now, but will get worse with age. Sure, an old guy got its lungs and gave you a new wagon, but did you see or hear him? He has a fuckin’ pipe in his hand, man. He probably just wants ‘em so he can smoke ‘em to shit again! I guarantee you that I can find somebody out there who’s got bad lungs, is younger and is probably gonna do a helluva lot more with ‘em.”

“We need the wagon though!” Tells wasn’t pleading with him, but she sounded like she had less conviction than before.

“Brenden’s right, Tells.” I pulled her aside while Brenden hopped up in the wagon. “We caught the fireblood and they’re going to pay us regardless, so let’s just try to do the best we can. We might be able to buy the wagon.”

Tells looked down and nodded.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of either. It’s not like you were intentionally trying to be greedy with the body parts, you just-”

“I’m not ashamed or greedy, dickhead.” She scowled and went back up to sit on the wagon.

I didn’t think I phrased it badly, but she seemed to think otherwise. She was never that sensitive before, at least.

Desmond was trying his best to calm the crowd. “Alright, all the offers are in. I’ll go over parts to hear any last minute counter offers!” Brenden’s eyes perked up at that. “Hips for the leather and clothes… no others… okay sold! Lungs for the new wagon. Can anyone beat that? A few out there… what have you got?”

A gruff male voice called out and the interpreter translated. “My mother’s old and got bad coughs from being down in the mines that the Mother can’t help anymore. We can give you food for it. We don’t have much.”

A deep feminine voice yelled “My jzaeti can’t be loud and tell ya, but he’s got bad lungs ever since he was sick. He’s young but can’t work like he used to. We’ve only got a few barrels of ketzey to give.”

Brenden almost silently ran up and stood next to Desmond as Desmond began to make his verdict. “Sorry, but those aren’t gonna-”

Brenden stepped in front of him and cut him off. “How bad are they? They gettin’ worse? Too bad for Mother Yeline to fix?”

The woman sounded a little confused at that. “His sickness went away a month ago, but he still coughs and stuff comes up. Mother Yeline said that there wasn’t anything that she could fix with the sigils she has.”

The old man with the pipe began. “He’s just gotta cough all the water up. He’ll be fine soon. Deal’s already set! They’re mine!”

The gruff voice spoke up. “As much as I love my mother, I think Zootu’s jzaeti needs the help more. That sounds bad, I- I didn’t know.”

The woman pleaded to Desmond and Brenden. “I can’t give you a wagon, but I’m sure I can match what Aayatogn is offering.” The crowd was silent except for the wife and the old man, desperately arguing their cases for the lungs.

Desmond tried talking, but Brenden cut him off. “The lungs are going to Danya and her jzaeti.” He pulled a bag out from behind him and then I saw Tells reaching around, grabbing at her waist with a look of surprise as Brenden turned to the old man with the pipe. “We’ll buy the wagon offa you. We just got some money.” The old man angrily tried to plead with them, but Brenden cut him off again. “We’ll buy it. Desmond, next organ.”

I watched as they went through the offers people had. If counters came up that sounded like they could be worsening illnesses or conditions, Brenden stopped Desmond from making the verdict until he was satisfied that the organs were going to the right person. In the end, our haul was a lot smaller than it would have been and the pouch of money was almost empty, but it definitely felt like we did the best with what we had. I knew Brenden felt the same way. Tells wasn’t talking, just staring at the ground, and Desmond seemed irritated that he was interrupted, but he listened to Brenden the whole way through. I had questions of my own after all of that. This town had a healer, but so many people had what sounded like chronic conditions or severe illnesses. I turned around to the clinic and the temple, hoping to find the Mother. As I was walking I noticed leaning on one of the buildings was a tall, muscular woman next to a similar looking man. She was looking at the entire situation with haughty intrigue. She met my gaze for a moment, then walked away, so I carried on to the clinic.

The mousey desk guy was sitting at the desk, marking something by running a glowing hot metal rod on soft wood. He glanced up as I squeezed through the door and bumped my way into the clinic. I apologized a lot and he shrugged in response. I heard voices at the farthest cot. They stopped before I could hear what they were saying. I hadn’t even gotten around the curtain before I heard Vetia’s voice.

“Adam! What took so long?” She was upright in the bed by Mother Yeline, who was on a stool by the window. “What’s going on big guy?” Vetia looked off. She seemed like she was really happy to see me and change the subject. I couldn’t make out who Mother Yeline was looking at through her veil.

“Oh, uh, hey. I was actually hoping to find the both of you.”

“You are well now. Good. Why seek me, young Adam?” The Mother was looking right at me now. “Was fireblood payment insufficient?”

“No, no, we got everything we needed. Thank you and the town for that, by the way.”

“Exchange of your and our service need not be thanked needlessly. Both your and our side is content in dealing.”

Vetia seemed down. “They ran off to cut that thing up and sell it off a little bit ago. Good to see that you’re awake now. Is Brenden up too?”

“He is. He’s helping them sort out the shitshow outside.” I felt Mother Yeline’s eyes lock onto me when I cursed.

Are curses disrespectful to say in front of her, or did I just call their culture a shitshow? Not good either way.

I pulled a nearby stool under me. “Mother Yeline, with all due respect. Why are all the people here sick or have bad conditions even though you’re a healer? They were- uh- very eager, to get parts from the fireblood. Can you not fix them?”

Vetia looked shocked that I asked that. Mother Yeline took a long breath. “I do not know where you hail from. Know so little is strange. Vetia say from far away.”

“I didn’t mean to be disrespectful in any way, Mother Yeline, we just don’t-” she held up a hand to stop me from talking.

“I understand. I am explain nature of Vetia’s jzanmah, but I suppose you ask similar many question. Healer, curer, life-giver, we all have limit to jzanmah use. To power. Sigil connect mind to jzanmah. Jzanmah pass through brain, through our many and one will. When untrained jzanmah tejuh create sigil, no control. Vetia lost control of jzanmah and healing you, harm herself. Her will intend to fix every part in precise. Too much jzanmah, too fast. Stress make her lose control. Precise healing has many harsh effect on body and brain of tejuh. You need many jzanmah tool for that. As for illness, do you know why body grow warm when person grow ill?”

I was just staring at her, and I nodded. She didn’t seem convinced by it.

“There exist many creature smaller than we see, which live in all body. All little creature feed, coexist, and benefit. In many way we need many creature to live, yet many other kill us in few day.”

Vetia seemed surprised and spoke under her breath “Microorganisms?” She realized she said it and then said, “Mother, you know about viruses and bacteria and sh- stuff in this world?”

Mother Yeline turned her head toward Vetia. “Yes. ‘In this land’ we not fool. We detect them.” Vetia’s pulled her lips into her mouth and she looked down at her bed, silent. The Mother looked back toward me. “Our jzanmah heal body. Precision to kill many tiny creature require incredible jzanmah control. We… I, do not know of sigil that kill many small creature in safe way. Many remedy in plant and chemical exist, but many unsafe or no succeed. To kill many tiny creature cost much jzanmah. Fixing battle wound cause heat. Too hot for bugs. Illness different. My old brain will burn. Jzanmah limited by tejuh physical strength and stamina. We cannot understand many night sky sun or defeat tiny invisible small creature without great physical and mental fortitude. Only most train and experience regenerator survive after defeating many small creature. Use many tool, very slow. If not, regenerator must recover long time, if not dead or lost. I am old. I jzanmah exhausted. My one body cannot withstand strong fast jzanmah. I have nothing tool, only village heirloom, fireblood tool. To use sigil no tool, I die or be lost.”

It was a lot to take in, but there was a question eating at the back of my mind. “What about the people? Can’t they use sigils, even the easier ones? Brenden was telling us about them and that everyone apparently can use simple ones.”

“I wonder where such unknowing two person as you hail from. But I no intrude. It is same for person use heat jzanmah. Heat and cold are within and make us alive. All person use them as gift of Blood. Many may learn some heat sigil. Easy for all person use. Only blessed person, or belonging to jzanmah tejuh family or race of person may wield other jzanmah. Common person use other jzanmah suffer their find. Jinian Adam, you perhaps may wield jzanmah of force and gravity. Ability unique to few outside jinian person. Vetia, you exist as anomaly to regeneration jzanmah for reason we spoke of.”

Vetia murmured to the Mother. “So that’s why everyone is so obsessed with my kind?”

“Yes. We are without harm because you perceive reason, yet we wary. You need know: Healer rare. Many bad person will use you. I make the arrangement now, so you may leave when I tell.” The Mother put her hand on Vetia’s knee and looked into her eyes. “You are bastard of nature. Bring life or nature destroy.”

Vetia was still looking down, looking like she was in a daze. “Right. I’ll try.” I knew she could feel my eyes parsing her face, trying to grab the attention of her own eyes. She looked up at me and I saw fear and worry in her eyes. “All that’s crazy, huh? I’ll tell you all about it when we get out of here. I’m still figuring it out. If I walk out of the clinic alive, I should be able to manage. If I don’t, go on without me.” Mother Yeline politely and quietly stepped away.

I leaned back, then forward in confusion. “What? Why would we go without you.”

“I… I wasn’t exactly joking about what I am when I introduced myself. It’s not exactly what I said, but it’s not far off.” She pursed her lips like she was terrified of something.

“As in… you’re actually a… vampire hunter?”

She smiled despite the welling fear in her eyes. “The first half of that, yeah.”

What? What even does that entail? Is she…

I leaned in, whispering. “Do you have to drink people’s blood? Do you wanna drink our blood?”

She chuckled. “No, I don’t have to, um, but I can’t deny that not being able to drink any blood has been taking a toll on me. And the jzanmah shit? Fuck, it’s messin’ with me too. I’m figuring it out, which is why I can’t say much. But please, just… I’m not different. I’m just… figuring it out.”

“Do you want some company? You don’t have to tell me everything. You can just talk, you know?”

“I’d like time to just think. It’s all I’ve had, but somehow it hasn’t been enough.” She paused, tears welling in her haunted eyes. “I’m still me, right? I’m not different or… changed, am I? I think that’s what I’m trying to figure out, but you’re the only ones who knew me. Who knew who I was.”

I lowered my head for a second, scratching my growing stubble. “I’ve been thinking a lot too. It’s changed the way I see some things. I feel… different, but I know I’m still me because… I don’t know, I just am. It’ll probably be a longer adjustment period for you, though. At least I’m still a guy.”

She smiled through her drying eyes. “Lucky.”

“That’s what I mean, though. We’re not who we are because we want to be, but we can control what we do with ourselves. I’m not the hero of the world, but I’m starting to like who I am a lot more than I used to.”

Vetia sighed. “Maybe it’s the name that’s throwing me off. It’s weird being called a different name. I know I’m still Rowan, but I’m… not exactly him anymore, even though I am him. And Vetia’s not different from Rowan, just what I’m calling this body I’m in. Same person, but different names for different worlds, I guess.”

There she is. Still in there.

I was going to pat her shoulder, but I hovered my hand there awkwardly for a moment. “I was gonna pat you, but-”

“Yeah, no, that’s-” she chuckled- “it keeps happening. If you could do me a favor, could you nab that cloth and wipe under my eyes for me. The dried tears are really uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t even cry though.”

“No, I’ve, uh… I’ve just been doing it a lot and Mother Yeline can only keep me so bathed.”

I picked up the cloth and wiped away at her cheeks and under her eyes, a relieved breath escaping her nose. “I think you’re just getting caught up in your head, worrying too much. You’re still you, but it’s scary not knowing what you are. And with fear comes anxiety, and anxiety’s just a bitch.”

She peered out the window, her crimson hair almost seeming black in this lighting, in contrast to her pale, gaunt face. “It’s scary, knowing that if I even do one thing wrong, they’re just gonna kill me. That’s it. I’m a monster to them. Simple as. I’m not supposed to be alive apparently, but I’ve made it this far because I’m lucky enough to look and sound like a normal person. I know you guys wouldn’t- won’t be bothered by me being… this. But I was worried… terrified.”

“I’d hug you, but it’d probably just hurt.”

She turned back to me and smirked, bright red eyes and lips restoring color to her exhausted visage. “I’ll give all y’all big hugs when- if I get out of here alive, and don’t tell anyone yet. I don’t want them to be concerned or worried. Y’know?”

I nodded and rose, speaking louder. “Alright, see you when you’re better.”

“Two day for full recovery, Adam, please wait,” the Mother slowly returned to Vetia’s side.

I left the clinic and found the others on the road by the stables setting up all of our gear and taking inventory. Their bitterness at each other seemed to have settled down, or more likely Desmond realized he wasn’t gonna convince Brenden to see his way.

Desmond was positively irked, but not completely dissatisfied. “It’s business, Brenden, we need shit and you don’t seem to understand that!”

“And we got shit while not being pieces of shit! We’re done talking about this until Vetia gets out,” Brenden put his foot down. “We’ve gotta set some ground rules, or just figure out what the fuck we’re going to do in this world. We can’t keep surprising each other with shit happening like this. Regardless of what was right or not, we got what we needed. We’ll get the hell out of this town and make our decision then. Sound good?” Everyone agreed without pushing against him. “In the meantime, let’s just relax. I feel like we’ve just been getting royally boffed ever since we got here.” He pushed his smooth dark hair out of his face and tied a string around it into a ponytail. “We’re all we’ve got here. We’ve gotta stick together. We also can’t let this place change us. I know we’re at least moderately decent people deep down.”

Desmond’s mouth twisted and turned like he wanted to rip out on Brenden at that comment, but he controlled himself. Brenden’s passive aggressive tendencies were a pet peeve of Desmond’s even if Desmond didn’t realize it. The sun was going down, so we all laid back under the cover of our new wagon, tied the corties up to graze, and fell asleep.

The two and a half days of waiting were boring days of lounging and training. A lot of thinking for me, but I was in a better mood. Desmond spent most of the time exploring the woods. Tells and Brenden spent a lot of time learning to use their swords from the local teenagers who had nothing better to do. Every time Tells or Brenden cut or bruised themselves or each other they’d put it on “Vetia’s tab” as they called it. Most of my time was spent lifting things up to see the limits of my strength. I wasn’t exactly superhero strong, but I was definitely more powerful than any of the others. I lifted small downed trees and even pushed a few smaller and dying ones over. They seemed like saplings compared to the monstrously massive trees of the inner forest, but they were about the same size as a normal tree on Earth. The townsfolk were certainly happy to have me bringing more dry wood back to the village, giving me an extra barrel of grain for my “services.” I ran into Desmond a few times, and every time I did he would lecture me on “proper lifting form” even though I didn’t need it, being so strong.

The implant process for the new organs and bones was successful for everyone. They sawed apart the fireblood while it was still alive and paralyzed, cauterizing the wounds, then pulling out organs slowly until it ran out of blood and died. It was hard to tell if the blood loss or paralysis killed it, but it was making some horrid groans and growls until every drop of blood had been drained. It was a little too much violence for me, so I kept my distance. We all did, except Desmond who watched it with apathy that only a seasoned hunter could muster.

I heard they had to do full operations where they would cut people open to expose the ruined spot, then Mother Yeline would use sigils and a tool to have the fireblood parts connect with the body and essentially fuse the old parts with the new parts. I didn’t know how well that worked for lungs and other really vital things, but everyone came out in about half a day and apparently there were only a few close calls. I was curious about how Vetia was going to fare having an operation done on her, but it all seemed to be working fine.

That noble guy kept approaching me because I was her friend, asking when she was going to be out and what her long term plans were. I didn’t know if he had any ulterior motives, or if he was seriously thinking about trying to get serious with her, but I didn’t give out many answers to him. It was a lot of “I don’t know” and “You’ll have to ask her.” I told the others to say the same, just in case he kept questioning. The whole town was done in two and a half days and the rest of the fireblood’s body was burned in a bonfire celebration at the top of the hill in town.

The morning after the operations finished, the patients were able to go out and about with their new parts. The four of us gathered outside the clinic early, followed by the nobles, which seemed more like the sister puppy-guarding her brother from doing anything too risque. Behind a wave of several patients came Vetia practically skipping out of the clinic, dressed in her medieval looking clothes, satchel over her shoulder, an ear-to-ear smile, and her arms outstretched to launch herself for a tackle.