Death and Resurrection and Death

“It’s okay, Beth, it’s okay.” He smiled at her. He felt so frail when he smiled.

“There’s no way it’s okay!” She stood up suddenly, hot tears streaming down her face. “You haven’t told me the truth once! It was always supposed to be something minor! And now suddenly you’re dying!”

He reached out and grabbed her hand weakly, but she wrenched away, and John winced in pain as his arm flailed at his side. She dropped to her knees and held his arm.

“I’m sorry, John. I’m so sorry. I just don’t know what to do.” She held John’s hand to her face as she cried, unashamed. He could feel the tears running over his fingers.

“I’m sorry too. I should’ve told you sooner. But there’s one final thing I need to tell you. Look at me, please. I need to know that you understand.” She looked up at him, and he caressed her cheek with his other hand. “Even with bloodshot eyes you still look beautiful.” She just managed to crack a smile.

“Stupid. Is that it?”

“No, no it isn’t, but I don’t know how to tell you this. It might sound like I’m crazy. I might be crazy. All those months of treatment, of stress. But if just for me, for the last favor I’ll ever ask you, please believe me.”

“I’ll believe you, John. Tell me.” He looked down at her pleading eyes, wet and red.

“Okay.” He took a deep breath, deeper than his lungs could handle. “This may be the last time I ever see you, and this might be the last time I’m ever John, but in some way, in some other world, I’m going to live on.”

“What do you mean? Like, heaven?”

“No, no, another world. Like Earth, but different. I can’t tell you how I know, I think it was in a dream, like some white figure told me, and told me everything about the world, like I was there for years and years, learning about it, but now it’s all gone.” He was looking up, as though he could see through the ceiling and roof and into the stars above, but he suddenly looked at Beth, his eyes brimming with confidence. “But one thing I can say for sure, is that I will be reborn there when I die.” Beth’s mouth opened, but no words came out. “And there’s still something you can do for me when I’m over there. Beth? Are you listening?”

“Y…yes, I’m listening.”

“There’s something you can do for me. There’s something you need to do for me. Please.” Beth stared at him. “In my closet, on the left hand side, there’s an old shoebox underneath some clothes. In there is a piece of paper, and a ring. You have to send me the ring, Beth. I’m going to need it there.”

“Send it to you? But h…” John coughed violently, and held up his hand to cover it. “John! That’s enough talking, you need to rest.” He pulled his hand away. It was covered in thick, dark blood. Beth winced at the sight of it.

“I don’t have much time, Beth.”

“John, you can’t do this to me. You can’t leave me alone. What am I supposed to do without you?”

“Send me the ring, Beth. Instructions… on the paper…”

“John! Please don’t go, John! John!...” Her words faded into oblivion.

He suddenly sat up, gasping for air. His surroundings swirled for a moment, but quickly stopped. Slivers of soft moon light drifted in from the cracks in the ceiling. The chirping of bugs and the croaking of frogs filled his ears. He looked around. An abandoned, weather beaten cabin. He stood up, and flung open the door, but it broke off its hinges and clattered to the ground. He was surrounded by dense forest. Black, except for a few traces of moonlight that barely came through. All according to plan. He had to run, he didn’t remember why, but that was next. He ran. So fast that he almost became dizzy, and with almost no exertion whatsoever. He dodged the trees, and vines, and stumps. He avoided the swamp on the right. Hildegaard’s swamp, rumored to house the remains of Hildegaard himself, along with his entire clan. He didn’t go too far east, so as not to enter the territory of the Silver Bears. He did all this instinctually, as if he had done it before, as if he had done it a thousand times. Only one thing was different. He looked down at his hand. No ring. He clenched his teeth and continued.

He came suddenly upon an opening, and took a step into the bright moonlight. He should be fine, right? He didn’t technically need his ring for this, but he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. He took another step forward, and raised his voice.

“Stop right there!” Two beasts froze in their tracks. One, a wolf type, turned slowly to look behind him. He was the height of 3 men, and the weight of 30. His shaggy brown fur was matted with mud, and his long claws glistened with blood. The other, a smaller insect type, immediately began buzzing its wings, turning in the air to bare its scythe-like arms. It flew up, ready to descend and attack, but the wolf suddenly spoke up, in a rough, loud voice.

“Stop! Mage. Death.” He said, the words coming out in angry barks. The insect descended slowly, and together they moved towards the edge of the clearing. He could see the huddled mass on the ground where they had been standing. Unconscious, probably, but not dead. So far so good, but he couldn’t relax until they left his sight altogether. Without his ring, he was powerless even to fight such low level beasts. A soft breeze blew at his back, and suddenly the wolf lifted up its snout and began sniffing.

“Fear.” He froze as the wolf turned to him. It grabbed the tree nearest to it, tore it from the ground, roots and all, and threw it at the mage. The mage jumped to avoid it.

“Jump? No magic?” He gritted his teeth as the wolf snarled. The wolf ran at him tearing open the ground with its razor sharp claws as he did. The insect took a moment to figure out what was going on, but as soon as it saw the wolf attack, it followed, flying into the sky to dive at the mage. The mage ran around the outside of the clearing, so both beasts were together behind him, then he kicked the tree nearest him, breaking it at its base, and kicked it at them. They dodged, but the mage was nowhere to be seen. He appeared suddenly in the air behind the insect, jumping on its back and struggling with it. The insect wavered in the air as they struggled. They crashed into the ground, and the mage succeeded in tearing one of its arms off. Now he had a weapon. The insect spouted blueish blood from his wound, but it hardly seemed to notice. The mage brandished the scythe-like arm, but it felt clumsy in his hands. The wolf lunged at him, and when the mage jumped away, the insect attacked him in the air. It didn’t seem to notice that it was missing an arm, so when it tried to attack with its stump, the mage was able to take advantage and cut its head off. He landed, pointing the weapon at the wolf.

“This is the end for you. I’m stronger than you, you see. You should run away now.” The wolf snarled.

“No.” And it ran at him, clawing wildly. He managed to block the attacks, but they pushed him back, and when he managed to regain his balance, the wolf was gone. He looked around, and tried to turn, but it was too late. He looked down, and saw bloody claws sticking out from his chest, and crimson color spreading over his mage’s tunic. He fell to his knees as the wolf chuckled like a hyena. Great. He had been reborn just to die again immediately. What was it all for? All that suffering? As the world dimmed, he heard some strange sound. So loud. Almost loud enough for a dead man to hear.