Resilience Run

Chapter 16

It was hard to get to sleep that night; the anticipation of killing a monster was something that kept me up. Not even snuggling up to Rhys' warm arms got me to go down.

"I know that feeling." Felice said in a nostalgic tone, "Zapp and I used to explore the fields all the time, killing creatures that accosted us. I loved it."

"Ah yes, level grinding." I said, then laughed at the completely confused face Felice gave me in response, followed by a pout when she realized I was teasing her.

"How long has it been since we got into bed?" I asked.

"About ten minutes." said Felice, "It's gonna be a while."

I groaned, then quickly shut up and went still as Rhys shuffled a bit in her sleep, unwilling to wake her.

"Why do you feel so antsy?" Felice asked, "What's troubling you, moor-acu?"

"I keep thinking about how long I've been here," I said, "It's been so long. My mom and sister probably think I'm dead."

That thought sunk in hard. I could see, in my mind's eye, my mom and sister crying, my sister falling onto my bed and crying herself to sleep, shortly afterwards being joined by my mother. It was so much, too much to deal with.

"You know, my best friend, Max, immigrated overseas to the college I attended," I said, "Almost as soon as he set ground in my country, his permission to stay here kept getting screwed up. He was afraid he would get sent back overseas."

"That sounds horrible." said Felice, "What happened to him?"

"I... I don't know." I said, "He had been planning some meeting or something, but before any of that could happen, I was taken. I hope he's okay."

"What was he like?" Felice asked.

"He was funny," I said, "Cool, and really down to Earth, for lack of a better term. If I weren't a lesbian, I'd definitely have a crush on him, or be outright dating him at this point. But he was great as my best friend. My mom liked him, and my sister liked him too. Hell, even my roommate liked him."

"Roommate?" Felice asked.

"When I was in college, I lived in the dorms," I said, "I've told you that already, but what I didn't tell you was that I had a roommate, Ayla. She was cool."

I could feel sadness welling up in my guts when I started thinking about my old life again. It was so hard to believe that once upon a time, the most stressful thing in my life were simple tests, and not fighting for my life every single day.

"You will see them all again," said Felice,

A scream interrupted my thoughts. It took me less than half a second to hop out of bed and get what I needed, primarily my sword. I double timed it when another scream, clearly Daniel this time, rang through my ears. Rhys was up in a couple of seconds as well, and we were running out the door, quickly thereafter joined by Baugh and Jagos.

"Daniel?!" I called out. The once-bustling town was now completely empty, presumably thanks to the curfew the jarl set in place, which made seeing what I saw across the town at the beach by the water easy.

The sea monster the jarl had been talking about was there, a big fish-like creature with blue slimy-looking skin.The creature's webbed hands were wrapped around Daniel's throat, squeezing. Daniel's dagger had been tossed aside along with the crossbow he always kept on his back, out of his reach.

I started running, but Rhys and Baugh were faster. Rhys shoved at the monster, loosening its grip on Daniel, and Baugh's follow-up shove freed Daniel entirely, allowing him to fall away. Jagos had some magic ready to go, and Felice took control as we charged in with my sword, swiping at the creature as it seemed to compose itself.