Phoenix had been a nervous wreck as she tried to be helpful while also paying attention to the battle her mentor was fighting in the distance. Keeping her portal avaible to those who were still retreating from the hastily constructed camp they were in was the best she could do while listening to Dazien give a verbal py-by-py over the mental communication ability and their party was split in two.

  “I think the vessel is fighting the dragon now,” he reported with a hint of disbelief.

  “Seriously?” Rayna piped up, “You’re telling me that Phoenix’s crazy stunt is actually helping Paul fight a Ruby Caste monster?”

  “Why would you have to say it like that?” Dazien compined, “Now she’s going to keep doing them.”

  “Pretty sure we’ve already established that is her Role,” the bard retorted.

  “You’re sure Paul got out of it when he got swallowed?” Phoenix double-checked nervously, wishing now that she had stayed on the hill to watch.

  “I saw the explosion and the hole ripped through its side, but I told you the Casters are moving too fast for me to be completely sure,” Dazien reiterated and she gave an annoyed huff.

  “I don’t like having to just wait here while he’s fighting like this,” she compined, crossing her arms in a self-hug that was further reinforced by Saiya coming up from behind to wrap furred forearms and tails around her as well. The Healer and Mage had been the ones to accompany her back down to the staging area that was attempting to get clear of any potential Ruby Caste threat.

  “We’ll just have to trust in his strength,” Saiya replied softly.

  “We would just be a liability in a fight like that,” Uriel quietly pointed out, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder, “While I understand wanting to help, Lord Waynd made it quite clear that he would get distracted by our presence. He’s already fighting on the back foot.”

  As the st of the remaining Casters in the camp retreated through her portal, she opened her next one to rejoin Dazien and Rayna, who were still perched on the nearby hill to watch the battle while wrapped in the shadows of her aura. She pulled out her own Crystal Spygss to try and see if she could spot anything, but it wasn’t a match for Dazien’s [Eagle Eye] passive when it came to readjusting and scanning the wreckage for signs of Paul.

  Phoenix caught a glimpse of a small crystal hovering in the air and she asked the group incredulously, “Was that a Sense Stone? Is someone over there actually trying to record everything?”

  “I thought it would be useful for the historians and the AOA reports I know that director woman is going to make me fill out,” Everin’s voice replied over the network, “I’m staying well away and controlling them remotely, so no need to worry about my safety or distracting Paul.”

  “Are you at least helping him?!”

  “I gave him Boons and pn to move in once the battle is over—oh nice! That dragon is very dead now.”

  Phoenix moved her spygss again, and sure enough, it looked like a giant pile of sashimi had been poured over the ship.

  Dazien gasped from beside her as a fsh of lightning pulled her attention and they both saw Paul frozen in mid-air for a split second before getting pinned to a nearby wall by a fleeting shadow.

  “No,” she whispered right as the Wrath Bde vanished in a series of fshing lights that appeared like glitter through the lens of her spygss.

  “Is that the ability you mentioned seeing him use the first time you reunited, Uriel?” Dazien asked the Mage standing behind them.

  “I can’t tell from this distance,” Uriel replied, “But how many abilities would he have that produce a bunch of fshes as he annihites a swarm?”

  “I think he just killed the ship,” Everin noted from his closer position that she didn’t even bother trying to find. “Now it’s just the Caster that he’ll need to—oh sh—”

  “What happened? Where is he?” Phoenix asked in a panicked rush, trying to find her mentor once more in her limited sight.

  “On the very top level. He just cut the enemy in half, and the Caster didn’t grow a new pair of legs! That’s not usually what happens at Ruby before the killing blow that burns through the remaining magic keeping them alive. These recordings are going to be amazing to watch when we—”

  “Help him!” Phoenix yelled, interrupting him as she watched Paul stumble and fall to his knees, the bck wings vanishing as his golden Familiar appeared to stop him from nding on his face.

  She flung herself down the hill, sprinting to get her aura in range to portal to her dad.

  This One does not like being manifested outside of the summoner. Waynd is safe and soothing. Waynd’s thoughts and perspective help This One see the world around them differently, and when manifested in my own form, This One loses the filters and additional information Waynd’s mind grants.

  Now, however, Waynd was falling.

  This One caught him. It would not do for Waynd to take even more damage from a fall, even a short one. This One was careful to y Waynd down on his side. Waynd was still awake but weak. Much too weak for a Ruby Caster.

  “Waynd must stay awake to see the young ones again,” This One logically pointed out to the summoner’s previously spoken desire.

  “I… I don’t think I can anymore, Be,” Waynd replied aloud, coughing slightly at the action, and This One noticed the dark blood that now covered Waynd’s lips. That was not good. Then Waynd’s magically constructed armor and sword vanished, leaving him in only the Emerald Caste under armor. Not good at all.

  This One reached into the pouch always held at Waynd’s hip and pulled out the Maniac’s Sorrow salve again. Moving Waynd slightly forward to get at his back, This One conjured a small bde of Light to finish cutting his shirt further to clear around all the wounds on his torso and arms, letting the fabric fall to the ground while This One carefully applied the Divine salve.

  This One continued talking to keep Waynd awake, just like This One had been doing for the st five days to keep the summoner going, “Little Miss will be upset if Waynd does not stay awake for her right now.”

  Waynd chuckled, though This One did not understand why. Little Miss being upset was not funny and Waynd falling asleep now would have a 98% probability of him not waking again. None of this situation was funny, but humans were odd creatures that would often ugh instead of cry.

  “Do you think she’ll yell at me?”

  “Waynd would deserve it for not listening to This One.”

  “Will… Do you think Phoenix and Dazien will hate me?”

  This One did not understand why Waynd would ask that. From This One’s observations, the Little Miss was very forgiving of the stubborn human. It was obvious to everyone that the Little Miss did not hate Waynd and seemed to be blind to many of his fws. The Little King was much the same, always looking to Waynd for guidance and affirmation.

  “This One does not predict Little Miss or Little King will ever hate Waynd. Why does Waynd think they might?”

  Waynd chuckled again, obviously losing control of what little mental faculties remained, “Because the Bde of Pure Wrath broke his promises and went off to die?”

  An odd sensation occurred in This One’s core, like all the pieces of This One’s being tightening around it in an effort to shield it from damage. This One will need to run a diagnostic ritual ter to analyze if anything may be broken.

  “This One does not like when Waynd tries to make predictions. They are always terrible,” This One pointed out pragmatically.

  This One noticed the Rebel Fox arrive then, holding a handful of Sense Stones that he was putting in a bag, and This One gave Waynd a different prediction, “This One thinks after today, the people of Tulim will call Waynd the Bde of Pure Love instead. It will fit much better.”

  A coughing ugh this time. More blood that was turning bck pooled near Waynd’s head and This One rubbed more of the salve on, making sure the Blood Banes were all gone. Then This One searched for another Healing Potion in the bag as Waynd asked, “Why would they call me that?”

  “Because everyone will know what you did to save them all,” the Rebel Fox stated, but the vulpine smile did not look normal. It looked forced. “I’ll make sure of it. Now stay still and don’t argue about me healing you.”

  “Rebel Fox can cleanse Void Banes?” This One asked, needing to add the knowledge to my mental databases.

  He ughed. This One did not understand what was funny about the inquiry.

  “Does your Familiar always call me that?” the Rebel Fox asked Waynd, pcing a furry white hand on the summoner’s shoulder and whispering healing incantations.

  “Yes,” Waynd confirmed with a groan, “She calls people exactly how she sees them.”

  “I see,” the Rebel Fox said, then turned to look at This One and added with a frown, “No, I can’t cleanse this. I can only buy time.”

  Then Little Miss’ portal appeared nearby. This One was pleased that Waynd would get his desire at least. This One hoped it would not be the st time Waynd’s desire was granted and that a solution to the current problem would present itself soon.

  This One wanted to reach Obsidian and be able to stay with Waynd forever.

  Phoenix was startled by the sight of Paul lying halfway between his side and on his stomach, with Everin kneeling in front of him and Orebe leaning over his back. By the time she had finally arrived, the wild weather infused with magic had shifted in this area, turning the rain into snow and becoming softer. The lightening effect caused a somber feeling as it washed out any color and she didn’t care for that one bit.

  The bnk face was slightly disconcerting, but Phoenix could tell from body nguage alone that the android-like Familiar was fretting over her downed summoner. Rubbing the ointment on nasty bckened wounds where wings once were.

  “Waynd is very injured and has Banes from the enemy that are not stopping despite the Caster’s death,” Orebe expined in her mind.

  Tendrils of bck veins seemed to trail from the twin cuts, though the gashes were slowly closing. Phoenix knew the crow wings were only missing because Orebe wasn’t merged to conjure them, but it looked as if they had been savagely torn from the Padin’s back—a Fallen angel never to soar again.

  No.

  She couldn’t let that happen.

  Phoenix moved towards Everin’s side, pcing herself near Paul’s head as she checked to make sure he was still awake. She could feel his aura still, which let her know that he was at least still alive, but it was completely unrestrained, flooding the area with its purifying powers of fire and light.

  “Paul? Are you still awake? Everin’s going to fix you up, and then we’re gonna go home for you to sleep in a bed, okay?” she said hopefully, gncing up at the Cleric who didn’t smile.

  “I’m sorry, young one,” Paul replied, sounding weaker than she had ever heard him before.

  “Don’t be,” she murmured, “It’s okay that you got hurt, but you still won. Now we’re gonna heal you up, and—”

  “I’m sorry I can’t go on our adventure,” he said in a rush, as though trying to get out his words before he passed out from exhaustion, “I’m sorry I won’t be there to shield you anymore.”

  “Stop it.”

  “I’m sorry I hid things from you.”

  “Stop talking like this.”

  “I’m sorry I can’t—”

  “STOP IT!” she yelled, ignoring the sensation of Dazien, Uriel, and Saiya walking through her portal, and kept shouting, “Stop talking like you’re dying! You can’t die! It’s not allowed!”

  Her vision blurred, and she hoped the gently falling snow would hide her tears as she continued berating the foolish Padin who seemed to just be giving up on her, “Everin is here. Saiya is here now. She can cleanse. There are potions in your satchel. I have an Elixir of Divine Cleansing!”

  “You do?” Everin asked, suddenly perking up.

  “Yes. I had…” she trailed off, realizing it was missing from her collection, then gnced at Uriel as she remembered who she had used it on, “I… I had one, but…”

  Uriel’s eyes went wide in realization before turning into the most pained expression she had ever seen on his face then suddenly going completely bnk. She recognized it now: when the earrings he still wore during combat would activate and make him numb.

  “She used it to save another life that was equally worth saving,” Dazien said firmly, and she wouldn’t disagree. Both men were important to her, and she wouldn’t bring herself to try to choose between them.

  “I did,” she reaffirmed, turning back to Everin, “You’re an Emerald Caste Healer. Don’t you have a powerful cleanse that can take care of whatever is happening?”

  “Being able to cleanse Divine Banes is insanely rare, Phoenix,” he replied, still having that stupid frown that made everything seem so much worse, “And even if I could, I’m still not Ruby myself. The Banes would resist anything I attempt… it’s… there’s nothing I or Saiya can do.”

  “There must be something!” she yelled, “He can’t die!”

  Then she felt a hand on her cheek, clearing her vision with a thumb, and she heard Paul say soothingly in the same way he sounded when she woke from a nightmare, “Hey, everything will be okay.”

  “No, it won’t be,” she sobbed, hoping this current nightmare would end already.

  “You’ll be okay, Phoenix.”

  “No, I won’t.”

  “You will shine, young one…” Paul coughed again, and she focused on his face as he looked at her with those bright blue eyes that she rarely got to see. He softly spoke while wiping her tears, “You are the stars and moon enlightening the night, the sun that banishes the monsters, my strength, my hope… my daughter.”

  “You can’t die… you’re my dad… you promised.”

  Paul gave a pained smile, “I’m sorry, love,” he whispered and closed his eyes.

  She caught his hand as it slipped from her cheek and didn’t break down into sobs right then only because she could still feel his aura embracing her own. It meant he was only sleeping. The soul exhaustion finally caught up to him was all this was.

  Dazien knelt down next to her and spoke over her towards Everin, “Please, Cleric Starrk, isn’t there something you can do? Surely your goddess wouldn’t leave her Chosen without her Mentor.” Then he wrapped a reassuring arm around her shoulders as he added, “Please… save our dad.”

  “I—” Everin paused as she looked up at him, begging with her eyes and soul. “I can try…” he stated slowly before adding, “Just don’t hate me if this doesn’t work.”