Aftermath

“That was too easyyy!” 

Nadia exclaimed, stretching her hands up in the air.

They’ve successfully rescued Martin’s family from the Kingdom of Maghramm. Now they’re heading to the border of the Chablis continent and the Epheron continent.

“We’re lucky it was easy. Can you imagine all the people we’d have to fight if they knew we were here? Or that Martin is no longer their ally?”

Toshikasu said as he took off his armor while Nadia continues to stare at her katana.

“I bet my brother is having the time of his life. Aaagghhh I’m boreeddd!”

The carriages continued on west.

…

I looked at the obsidian blade in my hands.

The weapon is sharp to an almost unreal degree. The design is minimalistic, focusing more on utility than beauty. It's a souvenir from the fight with the Demon General Raziel, a reminder of sorts.

In front of me, Mercedes, Grayson, Iris, and Loralei are still unconscious on the grass. We’re currently stranded in the woods, waiting for them to wake up so we can start walking towards the border. The carriage and all the supplies in it blew up in the fight two days ago.

Shaun appears. He’s carrying some wood for the fire later. We’ve been taking turns guarding our sleeping companions, and the other looking for food. So far, we’ve been getting by with the wild berries and the occasional unknown fruit in the forest.

There’s also a river nearby. We’re still working on fishing though. 

“I’ll leave them in your hands Shaun” I said to him as I stood up. 

It’s my turn to look for food.

“Good luck finding food Aelius”

With a nod, I’m off. My destination? the river. I’d really like some fish right now. I’m tired of eating unknown plant material. 

I crossed by Aidan’s grave. It still feels unreal to me. I never would have thought anyone of us would die. I knelt down for a moment to pay my respects.

"May you find peace in the afterlife" I mumbled as I look at the grave.

It's just a simple pile of rocks, with his broken katana placed in between. I never knew what he was doing with a melee weapon, and I never will. I’m sure it’s written inside his journal, but I haven’t read it yet though, I’m just not ready.

I stood up, brushing off the dirt that got stuck on my pants.

“See you later, Aidan”

I continued to head towards the river. After crossing through some shrubs, there it is. A gentle stream heading somewhere I do not know, maybe southwest. Fish swim lazily in the current, but neither Shaun nor I could ever catch them.

I stood at the edge of the riverbank, pointing my hand at one of the fishes.

“Ice Spikes”

Nothing happened. The fishes continued to ignore me.

I think I’ve permanently damaged my mana lines fighting against Raziel. I can’t even cast Rank 1 magic spells right now. A catastrophic fight indeed.

You should have done better. You wouldn’t have lost a friend-

I quickly shook my head. Nothing good will come out of dwelling on the past, even if it was only two days ago. I need my fish.

I took stock of our equipment yesterday- well what's left of it. We only have a shield, a crossbow, a book, a staff, and a set of claws. Armor, none – unless we count all the ones we had on us, which are all broken. I almost forgot. I also have the obsidian sword.

Maybe I could try to stab the fish with it. I take a look at the nearest fish.

“Stay still, would you?”

I kindly asked as I plunged the blade into the water. The fish continue swimming like nothing happened. I was never any good with swords to begin with. I guess I'll give up on the fish once again.

I walked along the edge of the riverbank, collecting wild berries from the nearby shrubs as I go.

It's hilarious. A former God collecting berries just to get by. How the mighty had fallen. But on the bright side, it is a sort of huge wake up call. Had it not been for that fateful day - which was probably a month ago by now, I would still be blissfully ignorant and feeling entitled to all of creation.

“Alright, I think that’s enough” I whispered to myself once more as I count the berries I collected.

We don’t need to worry if it’s poisonous or not; Shaun just purifies them with magic before we eat them.

I took one last look at the fish in the water then proceeded to go back to the camp.

On the way, I looked up. The skies are clear, the sun is shining brightly through the forest canopy. The sunlight seemed to highlight a lone tree, growing in a spot that's further away from the other trees.

I turned my attention at it. Maybe I could test the sword on this. 

"Huh? Where's the sword?" I exclaimed. 

Oh right. I forgot that I left it back at the river.

I went back to the river, picked up the sword, and went straight back to the tree.

"Here goes nothing" I mumbled to myself once more as I slide the obsidian blade into the base of the tree. 

It goes through it smoothly, like slicing butter. Is this how Aidan’s weapon was sliced? He probably tried to parry it, with... less than desirable results.

The tree fell down with a loud thud. Crap. I’ll make my leave here.

Back at the camp, Shaun is busy trying to make a fire.

“Are you going to cook something?” I asked him.

“I’m just going to boil some water” he replied, his hands furiously rubbing the pieces of wood back and forth. 

“Okay. I found some more berries… at least I think they're berries. Would you take a look at them?”

Shaun pointed at Mercedes’ shield. “Just place them over there, I'll take a look at them later”

“Okay”

I sat down opposite to Shaun by the fire. It’s a little too hot. I shuffled backwards.

“ughhh….”

Huh? Grayson is waking up. I stood up, walking closer to him. He opened his eyes, and sees me.

“Al?” he asked, his voice a little raspy.

“Aeliu-yeah. Al”

I’ll let you call me that.

He stood up, rubbing his head as he looks around our surroundings.

“Did we win?”

He looks at both of us. We survived, but I don’t think that counts as winning. He then looked at Mercedes, Iris, and Loralei.

“Judging by the looks of it, we lost the carriage and most of our supplies?” he continued to ask while he observes his outfit. 

Shaun had been cleaning them up using magic, but that doesn't apply on their armor.

“Where’s Aidan? Why are you both silent?"

Before Grayson could say anything else, Shaun placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Follow me”

Shaun walked out in the direction of the river. Grayson tagged along, leaving me all alone with the others who are still unconscious. I sat down beside the three.

It’ll be the same once they wake up. And what would Nadia think… she’d never see her twin brother again. What do we say to her? To everyone? Not to mention, I couldn’t even beat Raziel...

I wasn’t strong enough. You're weak Aelius. You and your arrogance, if you just accepted your mortality, things would have-

As my thoughts began to infiltrate my sanity, a soft voice snaps me out of it. 

“Aelius?... What happened?”

I opened my eyes. Iris looked at me, her face filled with concern.

I held her hand. “Iris, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

She looked at the sky, her lips quivering as her voice starts to waver.

“I-I’m fine, I think. Aidan… he... he didn’t make it, did he?”

“Yes” I reluctantly said.

She placed her left arm over her eyes. A few tears fell on the ground as Iris continues to bite her lip. I wish I could comfort her. It wasn't her fault.

She rubbed her eyes and looked at me. “I’ve never seen one up close. A Dullahan I mean. He just suddenly appeared behind us”

So I wasn’t wrong. The figure really was headless. My vision was blurring out at the time so I couldn’t see any other detail. But I will avenge Aidan. As long as we keep heading towards the Demon Lord, we’ll definitely encounter that person once again.

I gripped her hand a little. “Stand up, let’s eat. Although all we have are berries and stuff”

That was an awkward line. Luckily, I think she gets what I'm trying to say. 

She tried to smile a little. “Next time, leave the food preparations to me”

“Alright”

A few minutes later, Shaun and Grayson returned to the camp. Grayson walked over and slumped down a few feet from the fire. He then looked at me. Shaun must have explained the situation to him. I already know where this is going to lead.

“Aelius” his face darkened a little.

“Yes, I know. It's my fault-” I looked down on the ground.

“How are you feeling?”

Huh? That's not what I expected.

“You’re... not mad?”

He held his hands as he looks at the fire. He’s smiling, but it seems forced.

“Why would I be? It’s not like you’re the one who stabbed him”

“That’s true… but if I didn’t do what I did… maybe things would have gone differently”

He stood up and walked toward me. He then sat down, placing his hand on my shoulder.

“It would have been a lot worse if you didn’t teleport the injured out of the way. It could have ended with all of us dying that night”

I rubbed my eyes. I think he's right. But I also think that I could have done better. Maybe if I just kept teleporting us away… If I did my spell management better in that fight…

“You should be blaming me Grayson. Now I don’t know how to react”

“It can’t be helped. All of us are aware of the dangers we’re facing when we signed up for this mission. Let’s just pray we don’t lose anymore people in the future. I mean hope, not pray, seeing as you’re-um, never mind. You get the point, right?”

I couldn't help but smile a little. “I understand”

Grayson lets out a wide grin. He then took some berries from our stash, eating it alongside Iris and Shaun. I lay down on the ground. I haven’t been able to sleep since that night.

…

I looked up.

There’s a dragon in the sky. It’s Nathan.

The Greater Dragon circled around our camp for a moment, then started to descend.

“Never thought I’d be grateful to see that overgrown lizard” Grayson covered his eyes as dust gets swept up in the air.

Nathan landed beside the camp, destroying a couple of trees in the process.

Where were you during that night? Is what I thought to myself. But I’m sure he has reasons. 

His glossy black scales reflect the sunlight all over the place. He then looked at Loralei- who's still unconscious. 

Seeing this, Grayson immediately walked up to the dragon.

“Woah there lizar- Nathan. We didn’t do anything to her”

As if feeling relieved, Nathan ignores Grayson and lies down. I stood up and walk towards him.

“Grayson, maybe we can get a ride from Nathan? We’re pretty far behind on schedule”

“Are you sure?”

“Well not really. I mean look at him, he still hates my guts”

Nathan glared at me. I don’t know what dragons look like when they hold a grudge, but Nathan is definitely still mad at me for what happened back at Sol.

Shaun called out to us. “Aelius, Grayson. Speaking of which, she’s awake”

He pointed at Loralei, who’s still lying down and looking at the sky. Grayson and I walked towards her.

Grayson stopped just by her head and looked down on her.

“Rise and shine lady”

She scoffed at him. “Knight. Where’s Aelius?”

Grayson sighed. “That’s the first thing you think about?”

Loralei ignored him, looking towards me. “Are you alright?”

I reached out. “You’re the one who was sleeping for two days. I’m fine. How about you?”

She took my hand, stands up and looks around.

“I’m fine Aelius. Thank you.” She said as she pats my shoulder for a bit.

Loralei walked towards Nathan. The two then looked at each other.

“Where’s the kid with the crossbow?”

“His name is Aidan! And… he’s not here anymore” Iris replied with a semi-bitter tone.

Loralei kept silent.

“Do you want something to eat?” Shaun gestured towards the berry stash.

She looked at it for a moment. “No thanks. We need to catch up with the others, right?”

Grayson nodded.

“Yes” I replied.

She got up on the dragon. “Then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

Free ride.

Shaun dropped the berries and went to grab the equipment. Grayson lifted Mercedes, placing her on the dragon. Iris and I climbed on the dragon. Shaun and Loralei are the last ones on.

“Don’t try to fall, okay?” Loralei said as she stood up.

It doesn’t look like it will be stable, but I stand up as well.

“You should probably sit down.” she said, smiling at me.

I sat down, trying my best to act cool. “Let’s go”

With a roar, Nathan brings us up high into the sky.

Things did not go as planned, but I’m going to stop dwelling on that. We still have our mission. Defeat the Demon Lord. As for me, I have a personal grudge to settle.

Iris handed me the obsidian blade. "You almost forgot this Aelius"

"Thanks Iris" I replied.

I looked at the journal in my pocket. Maybe next time, I’ll open it.

Onwards to the Epheron Continent.