Life and Death Decision

Chapter 6

"Your radiance, it's nice to hear your voice again." I thought as I walked through the halls of the church. It wasn't very packed, at least the main chamber was empty at this hour. "Is there anything you wish for me to do?" My steps echoing through the silent church, I made my way to one of the clerics stationed here.

"I don't know. I'm sorry, Sage." She still sounded distraught, her mood worsening with every second that passed by.

"Thalis, you don't need to answer him if you don't have an answer." The life-giver's voice rang in my head. "For now, rest. I will take care of everything." After he spoke, both of them remained silent. If even the gods are struggling with this choice, then this is a burden that I couldn't bear. But I had to, this is something that only I have the power to change. I took a deep breath to regain my composure, sorting out the funeral arrangements for Rose's family; it was to be in a few days.

"Is it done?" Baz asked me once I got out of the building. He and Tyme were twiddling their thumbs while waiting for me, counting their coins and playing a card game; Tyme was noticeably happier than Baz and had a larger stack of coins. I gave a silent nod to confirm, getting into the cart to unload the corpses.

"They'll be taking the bodies in order to prepare them for the funeral, help me move them inside." I took the mother's body, carrying her carefully as Tyme took the child's body and left the father for Baz. We walked inside, lead down the stairs and through halls until we reached a room that smelled of incense. "Please, take care of them..." I asked the cleric, leading the party back to the cart so that we could talk to Rose again.

The child greeted us outside of her home, her grandmother, who seemed ancient since she couldn't open her eyes anymore, standing beside her holding a cane for support. "Sage, can we talk later?" Tyme whispered in my ear before she ran off to pick Rose up in her arms again. "When it's all over, what do you want to do?" She asked the kid, who in turn, shifted her gaze toward me. "Do you want to come adventuring with us?"

"Tyme, she's just a kid." Baz tried to be the voice of reason, but the hesitation in his tone implied that he, or at least a part of him, wasn't too opposed to the idea.

"A kid with magic powers! She'd make an amazing adventurer. If that's okay with you ma'am." Tyme set Rose down, prostrating herself in front of The kid's grandparent. "We promise to protect her, so if it's possible, please let us take her with us!" Just how attached had she gotten to Rose?

"I want to go too, but..." Rose lowered her gaze, taking a few steps toward me.

"Let's deal with that when the time comes. We have around a week before the burial." I interrupted the conversation, slowly moving the horses back toward the main road. "Baz, Tyme, it's late. Where have you two been staying?" I called them back to the cart, waving goodbye to our new friend as we went to get lodging for the night.

"Sage, you awake?" I heard a knock on my door a few minutes after I settled into my room at an inn. I opened the door, welcoming Tyme in as she started the conversation she said she wanted to have. "I know I asked her earlier, but what do you want to do with her once this is over?"

"I..." I didn't know. What Rose asked me to do, if I told Tyme about it then she'd kill me. Even then, I wasn't even sure if doing what Rose wanted was the right thing to do. In any case, I had to tell her something. "I think it's for the best if she stayed here with her grandmother. What can we give her? We're not her family, Tyme, but she is."

"And when her grandmother dies? You've seen her, right? She doesn't have long left. What would happen to her then?" She put her foot down, not wanting to concede. "She'd be an orphan! Who knows what kind of people would take her in, if any?"

"Like we're any better? We go on life or death quests any chance we get! That's the life you, Baz, and I live!" I remained steadfast, not wanting to give her hope of anything greater than what would probably happen. "And so what if she loses everything? Does that make us her guardians? Don't be selfish, Tyme, we can't just take her life away from her. She can make her own choices when the time comes."