Chapter 39 - Regrets

A thin, shrill sound rang out through the pre-dawn air, distinctive enough from the sounds of the forest waking up around them that they were sure it would carry for a long distance, just as the mercenary had explained.

Leon withdrew the whistle from his lips, then craned his head attentively to one side while his eyes drifted shut. The sound he’d been listening for came not too long after, no doubt issued by a similar whistle though it sounded as though it’d come from a long distance away.

“East,” Leon muttered, opening his eyes and gazing at his companions with a helpless look. “I guess that decides it, then.”

Skyle nodded firmly while Leena assumed a much more neutral expression, as though this outcome did not please her at all. Which, of course, was completely the opposite. She was simply trying to be graceful about her victory, but a twinkle in her eye revealed a hint of just how pleased she was.

Not that she had even been the one to suggest this solution. Leon would have had nothing of it, had that been the case. Instead, Skyle had been the one to step in to cut off another stand off with both Leon and Leena’s voices quickly rising both in tone and heat. Seeing that no compromise seemed near, and with the full light of day about to break over the horizon, Skyle had suggested that they try to ascertain the direction from which their enemies might approach using the whistle, and depending on the result they would either move west, towards Dalorn where the Greenwood clan was located, or northeast, where the ominous Black Zone awaited.

Leena enthusiastically began to take up her things, ready to set off, but Leon held up a hand to forestall her.

“I want to make one thing clear. We reach Dalorn, you drop off the brat, and we leave within the hour.” It was apparent that this “we” did not include Leena, but Leon obviously felt the need to further clarify things with his next sentence. “With or without you.”

Leena did not seem bothered by this at all, promptly nodding her agreement to Leon’s conditions. Skyle’s brow wrinkled a little, but he said nothing either.

Satisfied at last, Leon dropped his hand and gruffly nodded his head towards Skyle, presenting his back to him. “Alright, let's get a move on then.”

The smaller boy hesitated for a moment before climbing on Leon’s back with practiced ease

The party set off at a brisk pace, traversing a dangerous compromise between the obvious reluctance of their enemies to enter the Red Zone, and risking the hazards inherent to skirting the edges of this beast infested forest. Still, no one complained and even though they were still suppressed under the weight of the terrible ordeals they’d faced the day before, Leena clearly was putting some visible effort into the act of moving on and dealing with the day’s problems, rather than those yet to come, let alone those which lay behind in the past.

It was a hard thing to not appreciate such a spirit in a traveling companion, especially under the circumstances. Still, Leon barely acknowledged her presence and instead made sure to keep her in the edge of his vision at all possible times. This was as much of a habit as it was a conscious choice, and in this, Leon reflected, he did have a decisive advantage over his more innocent and thus far more vulnerable friend.

Armed with the very eye of the gods themselves and wickedly smart as he might be, Leon had quickly come to realize that deep inside Skyle was still only a naive country boy. After the first moment that Skyle had decided to let Leon into his life, there had not been the barest hint of the turbid depths that indicated a mind scarred with the necessary lessons for survival in the real world. His little friend’s world was one full of trust and loyalty, one where promises actually meant something, and where vows were kept because of the weight of a man’s word rather than a complex set of checks and balances which were carefully kept hostage as ultimate guarantors.

His was a simpler life, and in truth Leon did not look down upon Skyle at all for such a deficiency. If anything, he found that he truly envied his friend. He had seldom, if ever had need to use such a word, to admit to such a feeling, but he did so now with no scruples. A life where one did not have to pluck every single petal from even the simplest flower in order to find the poisoned needle lurking within, this was a harsh, often colorless life.

A life like Skyle’s seemed impossible to Leon, a thing so alien to him that he could not comprehend it. Neither would he wish to adopt it even if he had the chance, for the past lessons which had been scorched into his flesh - bitter truths on the true price of loyalty and trust - were sobering reminders that murdering such innocence was the cost of survival. Though this knowledge poisoned his view of the world until he could no longer discern black from white, and instead blended everything into a deep, perpetual gray, he knew now that there was no going back, ever.

Perhaps it was this last piece of knowledge which prompted that unfamiliar coiling of envy deep in his heart. Skyle’s world was one which would be forever denied to Leon, and there was no medicine nor regret which would ever mend this lack.

Thus, it was up to Leon to shoulder Skyle’s share under this burden of mistrust which must be borne at all times for the sake of survival. Such efforts were always to be directed outwards from the inside. This meant that in the current situation, his defensive efforts must begin with this useless elvish wench and the sniveling little kid. Survival was not a charity ball, and at this point Leon frankly could not care less about whose toes he stepped on, let alone whether there would be any collateral casualties.

Hell, he was still angry at Skyle for the knife he had given to the girl, even letting her keep it. Something told him she was not to be trusted,and Leon liked to listen to his gut feeling because it usually ended up saving his skin.

“Leon, stop. I think we need a break at this point,” Skyle said softly, interrupting Leon’s grim line of thinking.

Leon raised his head towards the light filtering through the sparse foliage of the branches above, noting that it was still far from noon.

“It’s still too early to stop. We need to put as much distance as we can from that place before we lose the daylight and are not able to travel anymore,” Leon refuted, not pausing his purposeful stride.

“It won’t do us any good if we exhaust all our energy, especially if we come upon an unexpected danger,” Skyle reasoned calmly.

“You mean if the girl and the kid can’t keep up,” Leon muttered almost accusingly.

Skyle shrugged from where he lay perched on Leon’s back. “Like it or not, we’re all traveling together now. A body is only as strong as its weakest member, Leon.”

“We are most definitely NOT,” Leon began heatedly, finally stopping his steps, letting Skyle off his back and glaring hotly towards Leena and Emil, who recoiled as though stung, “one body, as you put it, and I need you to get it through your thick skull once and for all. Playing at being hero is fine and all when we can afford it, but it is a luxury that will cost us our lives out here, farmboy.”

“There are no heroes here, Leon. Only people doing humane things for their fellow human-” Skyle began slowly, but was instantly interrupted by the other boy.

“Just listen to yourself, she’s not even human!” Leon burst out, pointing towards Leena, who had chosen to withdraw, taking Emil by the shoulders. The little boy’s figure had been shuddering under her grip. He was probably crying once again, the sniveling little brat.

“She’s human enough for me, Leon,” Skyle patiently stated.

After taking a deep breath, Leon began once more. “Look, all I care about is getting you and me safely out of this nightmare and back home in one piece-”

“Me too, Leon,” Skyle began, but the other youth kept going right on top of him.

“- And the costs be damned!”

A moment of silence ensued, during which even the forest seemed to have quieted somehow. Then Skyle’s voice reached Leon as though from a far, far away place.

“And do you truly think survival is worth any cost?”

“Yes,” came Leon’s instant reply.

“Are you sure of that?” Skyle asked, his voice tinged with sadness.

“Of course I am, you little fool,” Leon snarled, his voice hot and heavy with the razor-sharp frustration he had held pent up inside all this time. “And if you weren’t such a spoiled little brat, you’d know it too! Life is a cold, vicious game of cards where the winner takes it all. Hell, winning is the only thing that matters.”

Skyle opened his mouth, a wounded look on his face, but then it closed without uttering a sound. Then the smaller boy opened his mouth once again, but after a brief moment of struggle, it closed and there was sorrow and worse yet, disappointment in Skyle’s eyes. Leon’s stomach heaved at the sight like he’d been gut punched. For some reason, that look had hurt more than a physical blow would have, and at just that moment Leon couldn’t figure out why.

“Look, Skyle. It’s not that I-” Leon began with an aggrieved tone, but was cut off by the hand Skyle held up.

“Quiet.”

It was a harsh and cutting word, and Leon was surprised to find that instead of sparking the fury or indignation he would have expected, only hurt and sadness welled up within his chest. Just what was happening to him?

Leon opened his mouth, about to protest, but Skyle’s imperious hand gesture forestalled him.

“Not you,” Skyle whispered, his eyes roaming around and taking on that spooky air his friend assumed when seeing things no normal human being ought to be able to see. “The forest, it is too quiet.”

Leon’s hand immediately moved to his sword, while his other dug into his pocket, towards the elemental crystal he’d left there for easy reach. His heart finally stopped pumping wildly, however, and his pulse actually began to settle down as his mind calmed down from his earlier agitation. Deadly danger might be lurking just ahead, but that was just fine by Leon.

At least this was the sort of fight he was used to fighting.

Leon resisted the impulse to distract his friend with stupid questions, and instead slowly began to draw elemental essence into his veins from the crystal in his hand. His eyes darted around, but he was not looking for the threat. By now Leon had been through enough with Skyle that he trusted his friend would let him know of any impending danger the moment it presented itself. Instead, Leon was doing his part, carefully scanning the area around them and looking for any defensible areas or vulnerable points.

That meant his eyes immediately sought out the girl and little boy. Granted, in his book they were liabilities at best, weaknesses the enemy might exploit against them or burdens that would hold them down in the crucial moment that would decide whether you lived to feel guilty about sacrificing a couple strangers, and simply died like some stupid fairy tale hero.

At worst, they might turn against them, whether for their weapons, their crystals, or who knew what else the natives did to rifters like them. Sure, the girl was comely enough, but something in his gut just told him she needed minding. Leon had long learned to listen to his gut feeling. For instance, something had told him he could and should trust Skyle, and that had already saved his skin more times than he cared to count.

For now though, they were not a threat. At least, not yet. They were, however, a glaring weakness because he knew full well that Skyle would not hesitate to risk his own life, and by extension, Leon’s own, in order to protect these two innocents.

That’s how Skyle would view them, Leon knew, while to him they were simply victims. The world was full of them, and it was only a pity that Skyle had not learned this lesson yet.

Shaking his head grimly, Leon briskly gestured to Leena and Emil, beckoning to them. Leena looked like it was the last thing she wanted to do at this moment, but with a deep breath, she turned Emil around and began to walk towards Leon.

“Faster, like you mean it,” Leon growled under his breath, not wanting to rise just yet in case Skyle needed him. His friend’s splinted leg severely impeded the smaller boy’s ability to move, and thus Leon might need to help him.

Slowly, deliberately, Leon withdrew the sword from the scabbard hanging by his side, and his fingers tightened around its hilt. The muscles in his arm bulged as he reflexively clenched them, preparing for any sudden action he might need to take.

“I don’t understand,” Skyle murmured, his eyes wandering as though he were lost. This was certainly unusual, Leon reflected. Usually, the farmboy’s eyes were keener than an eagles, and would unerringly focus upon dangers far before they were an actual threat.

“What’s the matter?” Leon asked, shifting his feet uneasily as he watched Leena and Emil make an agonizingly slow progress towards them. What was the matter with the woman, she’d been running well enough back when the lizard dogs from hell had been nipping at their heels.

“You know that I periodically scan the forest around us with my True Sight. It usually picks up nothing of interest: small game, birds, rodents. Then during our conversation, it became too quiet and I did a routine scan with a cone True Sight. All the auras had gone berserk with fear, as though they’re fleeing for their lives.” Skyle’s tone was measured and composed, but the way he licked his lips gave away just how tense he really was. “Now I see nothing around us, and that is the most disturbing thing of all.”

Leon grit his teeth while he hefted his sword, his other hand deftly weaving the now familiar pattern of a fire shield. “Whatever it is, you should be able to see it coming with your True Sight, right?”

Skyle did not answer, and Leon had to turn his head around to see his friend shaking his head mutely, his eyes constantly scanning the area.

Cursing under his breath, Leon finished casting the shield and a translucent sphere of scarlet energy flared into life around him, pulsing faintly with power.

Suddenly, pain shot up Leon’s hand and he looked down to see Skyle clutching at his hand in a deathgrip.

“Leon, no!” Skyle hissed, his eyes suddenly looking up, and all the blood drained from his face. Leon automatically followed his gaze, craning his head up and squinting.

“Wha-?” Leon muttered, but the rest was cut off short as Skyle’s shout rang out painfully in his ears.

“Down!”

Leon’s gaze was still searching the skies for any perceived threats, and seeing nothing, was too slow to react to Skyle’s warning. By the time he saw the barest hint of a shadow growing larger in his vision at a terrifying speed, it was simply too late to avoid it. All he could see was the cold glint of a massive talon aiming straight for his eye, and in his petrified state of shock, all he could hear was a small voice wondering, of all things, whether Skyle would remember him by the bitter words of the last argument they had.

Then a heavy impact drove the air from Leon’s lungs and he was flung off his feet, the air knocked out of him by the blow. The hit seemed to clear his head somewhat, and he recovered enough presence of mind to wonder what the hell had happened to his flame shield. It should have provided at least some marginal protection against frontal attacks, but Leon was sure it hadn’t even activated.

Still flying through the air, such thoughts were knocked loose from his head again as he felt his body lurch to a sudden stop and a violent explosion almost burst his eardrums. Leon felt the impact rattle his bones as crimson energy flared brightly in his eyes.

“Ah, there’s the shield,” Leon thought lamely, as energy exploded forth and he was jerked in a different direction from the one he’d been flung to initially. The jolt jerked his neck violently to one side with a deafening crack, and his vision swam as his body twisted in a crazy spin through the air, trailing smoke in a jumble of limbs.

As his world spun in a dizzying circle around him, Leon struggled to draw in just one more stubborn breath. Only one, was his fervent prayer, though by the area he’d felt the impact in, he knew it was close to the lungs and heart. From the force and violence of the impact, Leon knew it was only a fool’s wish. That didn’t stop him, however.

“Just one more breath so I can at least take one shot at whatever damnable beast has finally killed me,” Leon growled in his head, his fist clutching convulsively at the sword he still felt in its steely grip. “Because I’ll be damned if I’ll walk to Cilcer’s Torments by myself.”

“Skyle!” came the plaintive, morning cry, more of a howl, and that was enough to bring Leon fully back to his senses.

It had not been Leon’s own voice. Nor had it been Leena’s. Instead, the voice that called out that wretched cry, more of a heart-broken lament, had been that of Emil.

“Why would he be crying Skyle’s name when I was the one..” Leon began in his mind, then his blood ran cold as free hand desperately clutched towards his chest, where he had felt that first impact.

Not his chest, Leon realized, with a growing horror clutching at his heart.

It had been his back.

Not a blow, either. It had been a push, as Skyle forcefully tackled the much bigger Leon from behind in order to shove him out of the way of impending doom.

Rising to his unsteady feet, Leon frantically searched around, a violent cocktail of emotions bubbling up his throat from the acid scorching his heart. Fear was heavy there, and so was anger. The bitter taste of ashes that parched his throat, however, was mostly regret.

“Skyle!” Leon cried out, his eyes roving around, searching everywhere, but there was nothing to be seen, no hint that his friend had even been there except for some fresh blood marking the grass at his feet.

Leena and Emil huddled there, taking refuge in each other’s arms as they stared with grief-stricken eyes at Leon, who seemed as though he had gone mad, howling to the sky and demanding that it take him instead.

A cold, indifferent breeze would be the only reply he received.