Life and Death Decision

Chapter 4

"Good morning!" Baz greeted me as he knocked down my door. I couldn't sleep, my thoughts too cloudy to get any semblance of rest. I sat at the edge of my bed, rubbing my hands together as I acknowledged his presence.

"Hey."

"Wow, you're in a good mood." He said sarcastically, stepping in to take a seat beside me. "What happened, bud?"

I thought about telling him the truth, hesitating. I was about to let the words spill out of my mouth when I glanced out the open door and saw Tyme and Rose laughing across the hall. I held my peace, standing up and dusting myself off. "Call Tyme, let's talk at breakfast." I walked out, stepping down the stairs and getting a table for us at the tavern on the first floor. I called over a nearby barmaid, placing my order before calling her over again. "Hey, uhh...is there a Church of Lumos nearby?"

"Religious one, are you? Well, there isn't one here, but there is one in the next town over; Aitog. As for this town, there's a small chapel to the Life-Giver a couple of blocks north of here." She said, walking away after I gave her a silver coin as a tip.

"The life-giver, maybe he'll have the answers I need..." I muttered to myself as the others joined me at the table. Rose couldn't bring her head up to match my gaze, still slightly fidgeting whenever she tried to look at me. Her body wasn't visibly altered by the spell last night, but her demeanor clearly showed that she was wary of me.

"So, what happened?"

"It's nothing. But I think I'll stay in this town for a while." I said, looking down at the table as plates of cooked, smoked, and cured meats were placed down for us to dine on, along with some rice and bread. "I just have a lot to do. So I'll catch up with you in Aitog. Take the cart with you and go without me."

"What? Are you sure about this?" Tyme turned to me, eyes scanning my face to try and gather what signs of my reasoning I was giving away.

"Take the horses," I said, reaching for a bun that I tore open to make space for some cured meat. "I might be here for a few days." I looked over at the kid; she wasn't eating.

"But what about the bodies?" Baz whispered as to not disturb the other patrons. "You're the religion guy, what are we supposed to do without you?"

"I just learned that there's a church for my goddess there, I'm sure Rose can tell you where it-"

"I'm staying with you." The kid nearly got me to choke on my food. She finally managed to look my way, her eyes aglow and resolute with whatever intent she had. Her face was hard to read for a child, but I guess that's something she learned from her family's bargains.

"We don't have very long before we lose the bodies to decay. We need to get them to Aitog." I said, using any information I had to try to get some solitude. "I can buy us some more time, but I can't keep that up forever."

"Then we'll take them. Just take care of the kid, okay?" Tyme grumbled, calling over a waitress to get some veggies to balance out our meal.

"You're okay with leaving her?" I asked, picking up another slice of meat.

"You're the only one that can heal her. If something like what happened yesterday happened again, then Baz and I won't be able to do anything." She stood up, reaching across the table to try to intimidate me, all the while handing me the diamond that I asked them to get for me. "If anything happens to her, I'll kill you." She left no room for negotiation, returning to her meal while doting over Rose.

The four of us returned to the cart, their eyes trained on me as I moved my hands over the corpses' heads. I finished my incantation, completing the ritual; no magic took hold of the bodies nor traveled through my veins. Her radiance had left me; I was now just a man. I feigned satisfaction, turning to my team as I gestured toward the front of the cart. "We'll catch up with you soon," I said, waving them off as they slowly made their way to the gates of the village.