Gavin had Samania sell his newly looted shield at the guild market on their way back to the estate, making a decent amount of money between that and turning in the contract. He spent it to get more crafting materials and a metallurgy treatise, leaving his coffers close to empty again.

  He worked tirelessly over the next few days, up before the sunrise to run through the city with Sam, combat training, then the afternoons for tinkering before a he and Sam took a few hours to relax and explore the city or relax in the grounds of the estate.. He fell into his bed at the end of each day worn ragged from fighting and studying but more content than he'd ever been.

  His magical powers had seen steady growth with use though he had a very long way to go before ranking up. He was excited to see just how powerful he could become, with each rank in his powers would see a corresponding advancement in his strength, both in terms of versatility as he unlocked new features but also in raw stats. Sam explained that for each level he would get a small boost to his power, each one stacking cumulatively until he’d reach demigod status with enough time. Just running some numbers in his head he could see he could be at this years or decades and still have abilities to unlock.

  On the fourth day after he’d killed the crabs, Sam and Gavin took a series of contracts all near each other that could be completed efficiently. Gavin took this opportunity to field test his new toy. Their first contract was dealing with a pack of marhounds, a half-demon looking dog monster that were making their way around the countryside.

  They lay on the ridge of a hillock overlooking a small farming house. Hedgerows and stone fences crossed off sections of the countryside, what looked like Dobermans with burning eyes roamed around the building, lizard carcasses had been gorged on, bones cracked and scattered among pools of blood.

  “Hope the family got away.” Gavin said, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

  “Come on, we'll go in together. I can deal with them, just keep them off my back.”

  “Got it.” Gavin said, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

  Samania set a running pace, Gavin close behind. The marhounds caught their scent long before they got into fighting range. Gavin retrieved some improved grenades from his inventory lobbing them ahead into the charging pack of dogs. Two fiery explosions erupted in the midst of the creatures, killing several outright and injuring more with flying shrapnel.

  As they drew close, Sam picked her ground near an opening between a low hedge and a rock wall gate. Gavin took up a position behind her readying his latest weapon.

  [Item: Gavin's crude revolver]

  [Type: Weapon, firearm]

  [Rank: Level 1, common]

  [Description: A crude gun crafted with only a basic understanding of the underlying mechanics of both magic and firearms, warning, may be as dangerous to the user as anyone near or in front of the user]

  [Effect: Shoots crafted ammunition. Resistant to physical damage]

  Readying his crude pistol that looked more like an amalgamation of scrap parts than a weapon, he fired off two shots at the first marhound that leapt the rock wall. His first whizzed over its muscled shoulder, while the second hit it just under the jaw blowing a hole in its neck, the hound stumbled then fell dead, fiery red blood gushing from the cavity

  Sam was making good progress, hacking through several as they nipped at her with her greatsword, biting heavily into their unarmoured flanks. Howls and yaps cut through the sounds of battle grating on Gavin's ears. She was an expert at giving herself space to work, her sword seeming to be everywhere at once as it flowed lightning quick in her hands.

  A trio of hounds leapt the fence in the same place as the first one. Gavin fired off the four remaining bullets, two hit one of them, killing it in moments. He threw out a handful of throwing stars with his other hand. Most of them bit home erupting in more small explosions that tore chunks from their flesh, others landing harmlessly on the ground, detonating only when one of the hounds stood on one. Gavin was concerned at the rate that he was eating through his consumables. He'd need to find a way to churn out more of the common items if he planned on completing more than one contract at a time.

  With a brief moment of respite, he slowly loaded his revolver, his jittery adrenaline fueled hands only getting four of the six rounds into it before one of the monsters managed to dip around Sams guard, circling behind her as she fended off more from the front. Gavin readied his spear and jabbed repeatedly at the hound, forcing it back. He backed it up against the wall, feeling itself boxed in it attempted a leap to get clear but gavin activated the spear, the tip shooting out to catch the marhound in the shoulder. It screeched in pain briefly before Sam got a moment to cut its head clean off while he pinned it to the ground.

  Sam had dealt with most of the hounds that had initially rushed them and was pushing out of her chokepoint to fight the remaining ones. He followed behind, spear in one hand, revolver in the other. Sam made quick work of the monsters with her sword, though none got close enough to him to fight.

  As the last few hounds turn to run, seeing their pack slaughtered in minutes Gavin let off the four shots he’d managed to load into his pistol, eruptions of blood exploded from their flanks, downing them all. That grizzly work done, Gavin went about looting their corpses. Touching each mangled body then accepting the loot request

  [You have looted twenty three Marhound]

  [You have looted:]

  [92 level 1 silver coins]

  [368 level 1 bronze coins]

  [1472 level 1 iron coins]

  [six marhound leather]

  [three level 1 medium healing potion]

  [Monster soul: Predators focus]

  “Monster soul?”

  “What one?”

  “Predators focus. Is it the same thing as a demon soul?”

  “Thats a good one for archers and finesse fighters. They’re the same thing as demon souls, the main difference is demons are more likely to give active powers and monsters give passive ones but not always.”

  “And elementals?”

  “They mostly give out powers related to their element. You should hold onto them, even if you don't need them. Its not like you need the extra money from them.”

  “I guess. There was also a stack of cash on these things, like-” Gavin said, as he checked the solar count in his inventory “fourteen hundred solars, thats a pretty decent amount right?”

  “That’s pretty normal, you’ll get as much again from actually completing the contracts, your old profession wouldn't require you to do anything as dangerous as killing monsters right?”

  “Well, actually yeah, kinda. Electricity kills a decent amount of people, you can die like that if you're not careful” Gavin said, clicking his fingers to emphasise his point.

  After they'd finished clearing up all the corpses outside they explored the house, finding the half eaten family inside in one of the bedrooms. Gavin grimly transferred their corpses to his inventory, bile rising in his throat. A wave of nausea and delirium washed over him and he found himself rushing out of the house where he vomited over the flower garden by the front door. Not only was the sight gruesome beyond anything he'd seen before but putting those bodies in his inventory felt wrong on a base animal level. He felt he could sense their corpses in his soul, their rotting bodies smearing blood over him as their cold lifeless eyes peered into his inner being. Sam followed behind looking green herself.

  “This is the hard part of the job Gavin.” she said grimly.

  “No kidding.” Gavin said, wiping his sleeve across his mouth.

  “We have to check for survivors, someone could have hid somewhere.”

  “We found two adults and two- kids” he said, fighting down another wave of nausea. “There are three beds. I don't think there's anyone left.”

  “We still have to look, just in case.”

  “Okay. Let's get to it then” Gavin said, not relishing this part of the job, but accepting it needed to be done.

  They turned the house over looking for any survivors, though all they found was blood and gore. Satisfied there was no one else in or near the house they returned to Blacktree to hand the bodies over to the church of death and to turn in a report to the local guild kiosk detailing their completion of the contract.

  “It feels wrong to get paid for this” Gavin said as Sam gave him the reward money from the contract they’d completed, the coins clinking in his hand as he transferred them to his inventory

  “Yes, but you're going to take it anyway. Buying gear and materials isn't free. You need to become strong enough that you can prevent this sort of thing from happening.”

  “Yeah I know, im not going to feel good about it though. Speaking of, you killed more than half of those things, you should get most of that money.”

  “No.” Sam said flatly.

  “Didn't you just get done telling me ranking up wasn't free and we need to buy our way to power to save people?”

  “Yes, but I come from a rich family, my parents are buying me the soul powers I need as they become available, I have all the training and gear any warden could want, you need that money more than me.”

  “Okay. Sure. It's just… all of this will take some getting used to.”

  “Every warden goes through this, now, come on, we've got a job to do.”

  They set off to their next destination through to the other side of town. Unlike Wildenesse, Blacktree was a small tight-knit village, buildings were packed close together inside a wooden palisade wall often two or three storeys high. The whole place felt like walking through a maze.

  “Hey, you said your parents are buying you powers as they become available, what exactly are your abilities and what ones are they setting you up for? I kinda feel stupid for not asking before.”

  “So far I have Ethereal resilience, its like tour body of iron ability but scales all resistances equally instead of slanting towards physical resistances like yours. Blur, the movement power that lets me move faster for a moment. Ethereal blood which heals me over time. Great weapon master which increases my strength while I'm wielding heavy melee weapons. And wrath of the titan, its a special attack that gets stronger the more the enemy is damaged, it gets some powerful effects at later ranks but has a long cooldown.”

  “Wait, you’ve only got five of your abilities unlocked?”

  “Yes. Its not like five isn't a respectable number of powers, its more than most people can get their hands on without support. My family is trying to get a couple more specific ones, the next one my parents are looking for is an epic rarity one.”

  “On another note, I can't believe no one took care of the mud monster down there yet.” Gavin said, holding his nose as they wrenched open the sewer grate.

  “It's going to be more aggressive than normal, the older they get the more their minds break down, they start going feral if left too long, and they usually go on a rampage right before the end.”

  The sewer was oddly cavernous, large stones of varying sizes made up the slimy walls arching overhead. Filth flowed in rivers down the centre with a walkway either side. Iron pipes ran in from the streets and houses above, feeding into the river of waste. Sam held up an egg sized stone which glowed with blue-white light

  “What's our plan for killing it?” Gavin asked, his nose wrinkling as they delved deeper into the sewer.

  “Like I said, elementals are held together fairly loosely through a bit of magic that's seeped through into the world. Disrupt the magic enough and they dissipate” Sam said, taking the lead, sword in hand.

  “Is this before or after we get covered in shit?”

  “I think you can figure that out for yourself.”

  “Great.”

  “How do we find this thing?”

  “We walk around until we see signs. There are items we could have bought that can track elemental magic, but they're not strictly necessary.”

  “Anything that saves us time in this place feels necessary to me.”

  “Well, now you have some incentive to think ahead before going on a contract.”

  “Duly noted.”

  For quite some time they trudged through the sewer. With only the sound of wet footsteps, scurrying creatures in the dark and poo lapping at their feet to break the silence.

  “I'm definitely figuring out how to make a light like that as soon as we’ve completed these contracts.” Gavin said, looking to Sam who didn’t respond who instead focused on their task.

  “In fact, I’ve got a bunch of ideas, a mate once gave me a box of rings to make chainmaille with and I assembled most of a shirt before I ran out. It was a pain in the ass, but I bet I could make up a suit of scale armour and scribe a rune on each plate separately.”

  “Sounds tedious.”

  “Tedium is its own fun.” Gavin said, smiling despite the less than pleasant situation they found themselves in. “You should see how much work I’ve put in to optimising dungeons and dragons characters.”

  “Quiet.” Sam said sharply.

  “We've got to talk about something to pass the time.”

  “No. Quiet, do you hear that?.”

  Gavin bent an ear to the gloom surrounding them.

  “No? Just the water and the- wait, there’s not any of those little rat things around.”

  “Exactly.”

  Gavin readied his spear and a handful of throwing stars. Out of instinct he dipped the tip of the spear into the wastewater in case they'd wandered right atop it, nothing happened. Next he sent a loose stone skimming over the surface down the tunnel with a kick, landing in a wet slap in a blockage at the edge of the light

  The poo elemental roared to life, filling the tunnel with brackish sludge. Gavin sent his handful of stars zipping down to impact the monster with as much force as he could impart to them. Small explosions tore at the energy holding the creature together, but it was nowhere close to enough, the voids filled an instant after he’d blown them open.

  He drew his pistol loosing all six shots in quick succession. It was impossible to miss in such a tight space, all six shots rending holes straight through the creature, splattering chunky water over the walls. With only a moment before he’d need to take additional action he pulled more of his crude bullets out of his inventory and started to reload.

  The monster surged forward, Samania’s sword flashed as she blurred to avoid an attack, slicing through the filthy appendage that reached out to engulf her. Gavin’s spear extended and struck over Sam as she hacked chunks of sewer water out of the elemental as it rushed her.

  Having enough of their tricks the elemental rose up and barrelled forward like a tidal wave sweeping both of them off their feet. Gavin shut his eyes and held his breath, retrieving another handful of stars from his inventory and sending them shooting in all directions. Their runes activated blasting more holes in the water that was sweeping them down the tunnel.

  The creature roared a guttural bellow, throwing Gavin bodily into the wall, he landed with a crack, his head smashing into the stone. A moment later he was up again, wiping muck out of his vision. He'd kept a hold of his pistol but his spear caught on something in the water and had been wrenched from his grip.

  In the distance he could see Sam fighting the hulking beast that had once again risen to eclipse the tunnel. Sam was the sole light source in the tunnel, smeared with filth and illuminated with a single mote of light she fought on, determined to win.

  Sprinting back to the fight Gavin launched himself into the air, lashing out with a brutal kick. He plunged through the monster, his leaping assault punching clean through the insubstantial creature, it's viscous fluids covering him once again. Sam stood over him as he regained his feet, slashing at the thing as it grew more and more frenzied.

  Gavin rolled back as the elemental washed over the pair again, this time he was more prepared. He kept his footing, lashing out with punches, knees and elbows. Sam's sword tore a wide hole in the beast as she blurred, landing several successive attacks.

  Gavin sunk the barrel of his pistol into the elemental as it swung an arm around to crash into Sam from behind, pulling the trigger as rapidly as he could. The gun detonated in his hand throwing him back to land in the river of waste.

  As he pulled himself up he saw Sam raise her sword high over her head then bring it crashing down into the elemental. Gavin felt a wave of power flow off her as she used her execute power. A pressure wave rippled down the tunnel an instant later as Sam slumped to the ground, breathing hard, the remaining part of elemental that hadn't been splattered across the walls crumbling back to sludge at her feet.

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  Gavin wiped at the goo on his face, willing himself not to think about why it was slimy.

  [You have looted [mud elemental]

  [You have looted:]

  [7 level 1 gold coins]

  [49 level 1 silver coins]

  [343 level 1 bronze coins]

  [sword of the unclean hand]

  “You okay Sam?” Gavin asked pulling himself upright.

  “Yeah, what about you?”

  “Fine I think.” Gavin said

  “What about your hand?” Sam asked, sounding worried.

  Gavin looked down at his right hand, it was a mess, his index finger and thumb conspicuously missing, in their place were two ragged stumps. The rest was torn and bloody.

  “Guess I'm not okay.” He said, noting the hand on his user interface had turned black where his fingers were missing. “this is gonna hurt like an absolute cock in a minute.”

  Gavin retrieved a healing potion from his inventory and sculled it down. He could feel the flesh knitting together but it wasn’t nearly enough to close all the wounds or regrow lost bones leaving him with puckered skin over his knuckles.

  “We need to get you to a healer, they'll be able to fix you up. Come on.” Sam said, pulling him along behind her.

  They felt their way back up the tunnel, Gavin finding his spear poking out of the water. He put it in his inventory and they carried on, finding a ladder that led up to the streets above. The climb was awkward with only one good hand, Sam helped him the last of the way out after she climbed up in front of him. When they were out in the fresh air of the street Sam scribed a ritual circle on the cobbles with chalk, filling the circle with arcane runes.

  “Stand in here, it'll get rid of the filth, just close your eyes and mouth before you activate it.”

  Gavin did as he was told, moving into the circle and activating it while Sam repeated the process with a second circle. He felt a tingling sensation as a wave of energy crept down over his face and body, scouring his clothes and skin. Where his hand had been blown apart the magic stung like acid. Eventually all of the brown filth sloughed off to the ground leaving a spotless Gavin standing in a puddle of disintegrating muck, the ritual diagram scrubbing itself away.

  “What was that ritual? It looked different than the one you've got at home.” Gavin asked.

  “Basic cleaning ritual, there’s lots of different ones, that one is good for out in the field it’s not as advanced as the ones at the estate, but its functional. You should pick up a ritual magic treatise when we get back to Wildenesse.”

  “I definitely will. Why haven't you used one of these out in the field before?”

  “Drawing out the diagram is tedious, and its not like a little sweat and dirt is an inconvenience.”

  “Yeah, but it took five minutes and now we don’t have to walk around covered in filth for the rest of the day.”

  “Well, get a Treatise and you can do it. Come on, we need to find that healer.”

  Once they'd got their bearings and asked around they made their way back through town to a temple of Florin, the god of life. Gavin trailed a small trickle of blood behind him even after downing his healing potion. A priest was waiting for them at the entrance with a warm smile on his face, he cast a spell on him as they neared the doors, the smooth golden light surrounding him and filtering into his body over a few minutes while his fingers regrew at a rapid pace.

  “Thanks mate.” Gavin said, flexing his new fingers, they looked exactly like his old ones, down to the scar down the side of his index finger. He'd acquired it years ago with a hobby knife modeling a Treebeard replica out of epoxy putty and armature wire when his hand slipped, slicing his finger open to the bone. Once his hand had been stitched up, he'd gone home to complete his model, only to slice it open in the same way immediately. He vividly recalled his embarrassment as the same doctor stitched him up a second time that same evening, the wound now remaining as a gnarled line of skin across his finger.

  “How come there's a scar on my brand new finger?” He asked the priest.

  “Advanced healing uses your mind and soul as a template, you remember those old wounds. You put that scar there.”

  “No shit? Anyway what do I owe you?”

  “Florin intimated you got that wound defending the town from an elemental in the sewer that was getting dangerously close to the end of its manifestation time. In this house, there is no fee for those that take on the jobs no one else wants.” He said, inclining his head.

  “Well, I'm not going to argue with that, come on Sam, you heard the man, we've got one last contract to complete today.”

  Their last contract was to deal with a forest troll that had wandered dangerously close to Blacktree. They were notorious for being big, slower than most monsters, but extremely difficult to kill and had a long reach with their powerful clawed hands. They were smart enough to use simple weapons like clubs and rocks.

  Gavin had exhausted his supply of throwing stars, his gun was more or less slag, all he had was his spear and his ability to conjure basic weapons with the scant resources he had in his inventory.

  It was mid afternoon as they made their way into the forest. A local woodsman, Sven, accompanied them for their journey. He'd seen the troll and identified it to the guild a few days before and was willing to take them to where he'd seen it.

  Gavin built up a rapport with Sven, learning a little about the local environment. He hadn't been on a hike through the bush since he was a young teen, and was enjoying his afternoon after their emotionally ravaging morning. Sven showed him several ingredients the local alchemists used but warned him away from touching most of them, either because they were dangerous or had very specific harvesting requirements. One plant, a small shrub with bright yellow flowers was useful for crafting stamina potions and could be harvested with no special skills, Gavin picked a few of the flowers off each plant wherever he saw them.

  It wasn't long until they found troll tracks. The trio fell silent as they followed them up and around the hill. The prints in the soft earth were easy enough for even Gavin to follow which led to a hollow dug out, under a huge gnarled tree that looked similar to one of the natives from his home country. Clumps of earth had been scattered around the hole and sat loosely atop the leaf litter, and more was flying out in great handfuls.

  He fabricated a throwing star into his hand, though this hadn’t been inscribed with any runes. He readied it and threw it down into the hole, eliciting a grunt from the creature inside.

  A few seconds later the troll crawled on all fours out of the hole. The thing was a shaggy green carpet, like a sloth had grown to the size of chewbacca. It's arms looked too long for its body and its face snarled menacingly, sharp teeth bared.

  Gavin summoned and threw handfuls of z nails to land under the trolls hands as it crawled out. The troll howled in pain pulling each out. As it focused on its hands Sam charged in, ramming the point of her sword down into its neck from above, thrusting it deep into the troll's chest cavity.

  The troll howled, scrambling out of the hole and knocking Sam back as blood, thick as treacle oozed out of the wound. It pulled itself fully upright, grasped the hilt of the sword and yanked it free, a glob of thick almost black blood came out with it, clinging to the blade like tar. The troll threw the sword at Gavin who dodged aside only taking a glancing blow on his cloak, skittering off the scales to come to land hilt up in the dirt nearby.

  Gavin readied to throw more nails at the troll as it walked, timing them to land in patches under where he anticipated its feet would fall. The troll tripped as the prong of a nail bit deep into its soft soles.

  Sam retrieved her sword and began taking every advantage, darting around the creature hacking at it with wide powerful strikes. Though they were scabbing over as fast as she could inflict more of them. She worked around it, dodging as it lashed out and charged her. Her sword bludgeoned and enraged it, but she wasn't making a lot of headway.

  “Fire. Trolls are weak to fire! Gavin yelled” wracking his brain for a way to make fire with what he had on hand “stall it!” He called pulling items from his inventory with nervous hands.

  He began carving a rune into a throwing star with a rune engraving tool, it was sloppy but probably functional. He pressed some of his mana into it, activating the rune to explode on contact with a target.

  “Here, Sven, take these as I make them and throw them at the troll” Gavin said hastily, holding out his new star as he summoned another blank to inscribe.

  Svens throw landed at the troll's feet, erupting in a puff of fire. The troll howled with rage and turned to sven, though Sam arrested its attention with a blurring flash of cuts to its face and neck as it focused on him.

  His second throw caught the troll in the back, lodging in its shoulder blade and catching in its matted fur. Flames erupted across it as black smoke plumed off it.

  A third star skimmed its leg, cutting a bloody line and bursting flames across its lower body.

  The troll’s regeneration shut off as it was repeatedly burned and blistered with the crude throwing stars. Samania's attacks began to have a noticeable effect. Between Gavin hobbling it's movement and her relentless cuts the two of them stacked up dozens of deep wounds on the beast.

  Sam let out an almighty bellow as her sword crashed into its side, slicing clean through with her execute power. The troll fell to the forest floor, its last breath rattling free of its ragged throat, its lower half completely severed next to the torso.

  Gavin touched the burned and matted fur of the still warm creature

  “Sorry mate. Nothing personal” He said, feeling only grim satisfaction that the troll would no longer pose a danger to the locals.

  [You have looted: Forest troll]

  [You have looted:]

  [1 level 1 gold coins]

  [30 level 1 silver coins]

  [200 level 1 bronze coins]

  [1 Troll Hide]

  [potion of regeneration]

  Gavin retrieved the gold and silver coins from his inventory and pressed them into the stunned Sven's hand.

  “Payment for your help.” He said, with a tone that clearly indicated that it was not a negotiation.

  Sven clasped his hand around the coins, thanking Gavin with a nod.

  “Let's get back to town before the sun goes down I’m nearly spent.” Gavin said.

  The three of them portalled back to blacktree in high spirits. Sam was becoming more impressed with Gavin's use of his limited powers to support her fighting style.

  “You just wait until I get some proper battlefield control items” Gavin said, laughing. “When we turn these contracts in I might be able to pick an actual combat power.”

  Svens house was on the edge of town, and their portal opened up nearby on the main road leading out into the woods. Sam and Gavin walked him home safe to his family chatting amiably.

  As Gavin shook his hand goodbye, an arrow glanced off his dinosaur scale coat just barely missing his head. It deflected upwards catching Sven in the shoulder and pinning him to his front door frame through his collar bone.

  Gavin whipped his head around to see Benjamin De Vore and two others waiting for them off to the side.

  “Told you to watch yourself” De Vore growled, pulling an axe from a loop on his belt and shouldering a shield.

  The archer loosed another arrow that caught Gavin in the stomach, slipping in the opening where his open coat didn't cover. The bodkin tip barely punched through his skin, his enhanced resilience stopping it dead a short way inside.

  Sam was already launching forward before Gavin realised they were fighting, battering Benjamin's shield with her greatsword. She blurred to the side to get around his guard and hammered his armour while he pivoted to get his shield up. The third member of the team buffeted her with a gust of wind, sending her stumbling past the axe strike Devore had launched at where she would have been.

  Gavin leapt into the fight, a surge of adrenaline pushing him on. He lobbed a conjured hammer at the archer as he put De Vore between himself and the wizard and continued throwing conjured items at the archer who was struggling to get a bead on him as he ducked and weaved. Spear at the ready, he and Sam came at De Vore. A shield blocked Sam's sword but his spear bit into the side of a knee. Gavin followed up with a left handed palm strike as he got inside De Vores guard, then a knee to knock him off balance.

  Another gust of wind sent all three tumbling to the ground. Gavin was the first to rise as Sam had caught the brunt of it, catching an arrow in his ribs and another shattering off the side of his head before he could dodge out of the way. Gavin thrust his spear at De Vore as he tried to stand, skewering him through his ribs and pressing him down to the ground. Sam rushed over to the wizard and was slashing him to bloody ribbons as Gavin left the floundering fighter, chasing down the archer who was still uninjured, and his real threat. Two more arrows thudded into Gavin before he closed with the archer. His spear launched out, too quick to avoid as he activated its ability, the tip rocketing through the archers neck.

  Blood gurgled through the wound, frothing out in irregular pulses and splutters as he wrenched it free. The archer grasped at his throat, his fingers slick with crimson.

  "Drop your weapons" De Vore grunted raggedly.

  Gavin turned around to find De Vore holding Sven like a shield, his axeblade biting into Sven's exposed neck.

  “It's over De Vore, you can't win.” Sam said, dropping the lifeless wizard with a final cut.

  “Your man over there needs a healer, I can stay here all night, you can either drop your weapons and save your friend or we all die here today.”

  Gavin looked down at his pincushioned body, the arrows weren't deep, but they were leaking a lot of blood freely down his torso.

  “I'm fine Sam, just a scratch, I’ll have a potion once we get this done.” Gavin called, as blood flowed from his many wounds. “What's all this for De Vore? An eye for an eye?”

  “Exactly. She got mine killed, I'm going to get her. So, what about it Starbourne, willing to kneel and take responsibility for getting my family killed? Is your life worth more than this one?” He said, slicing a little deeper into Svens neck.

  Sam looked at Gavin, who nodded. It would be up to him to time this right. Her sword clattered to the hard packed dirt. De Vore’s predatory smile widened as he saw he'd won. He shoved Sven to the side, bringing his axe over in an arcing chop, the blade biting deep into Svens neck as he fell away.

  Gavin’s summoned hammer smashed into the side of De Vore’s head an instant too late. His manic visage faded to confusion as he tumbled to the earth, eyes glassy. Sam was on him a moment later, her sword parting his bloody head from his neck.

  Sven’s last choking breaths rattled from his rent neck beside his motionless killer. Gavin staggered to his new friend who was clutching the last of his blood, draining through his open wound. Gavin’s vision blurred as his own injuries were catching up with him.

  Crashing to his knees above Sven, he pulled his last healing potion out of his inventory, unstoppered it, then poured the red liquid into Sven's mouth. He then unstoppered the regeneration potion and forced that into Sven's mouth too, the yellow syrup leaking out from the corners of his lips the same way they had for Sams dead team mate weeks earlier.

  Sven lay still, potion leaking out of his neck wound, his eyes unblinking as they stared at the sky.

  Gavin started chest compressions, feeling sick as he grunted the words to Staying Alive.

  “Get a healer Sam. Run.” He said, not stopping his work.

  He could feel the arrows still inside his body working through the flesh but he didn't care. He wasn't going to let this one die.

  What felt like hours passed and Gavin's strength waned. His compressions were barely moving the powerful woodsmans chest. His thoughts were muddled and his lips were numb with exertion. The last thing he knew before he collapsed was a frightened cry behind him

  “Daddy?!”