Ethan was still in shock. Leah had to drag him out of the courtroom as she sobbed. He wasn’t even sure how he was moving until they stopped in the sunlight outside of the massive brick building.

“What are we going to do?” Her voice barely registered with him as he stood unblinking.

“I...uh...I...I don’t know,” he somehow managed to stutter out. As prepared as he thought he’d been for their defeat, the possibility of being banned from the raid clan had never entered his mind. His chest felt heavy and his vision began clouding over. He felt his legs go weak and he slumped forward onto one knee, somehow catching himself with his hands before he hit the ground.

Everything they’d worked for, every death every respawn, months of trying, all wiped out in an instant. Tears poured from his eyes, rolling down his face before landing on the warm concrete walkway.

He felt Leah’s arms wrap around his neck, felt her hair on his cheek as she cried into his shoulder. But none of it seemed real. He felt outside of his body.

“I’m suh...suh...so… sorry,” she whimpered into his shoulder.

He was briefly aware of his own arm moving up and embracing Leah, but he didn’t feel in control of it. Ethan continued hyperventilating, his mouth drying as he gulped in air.

Paul won. His thoughts circled a dark pit, spiraling further and further out of his control. Ethan closed his eyes, letting the numbness take over.

No! A weak voice called inside him, Let our strength help you. Adapt, overcome. Do not lose what burns inside you.

Ethan felt a deep pull inside of him, a tug on his spirit. When he opened his eyes, Leah, and the surrounding city, was gone. Dim, autumnal light shone in beams through orange and red foliage. Soft grass cushioned his knees, a stark contrast to the hard concrete he’d just been kneeling on. He was, at least in spirit, back in the Hearg of Life.

“The strength of Earth is yours.” Grenat stamped it’s mighty forehoof, snorting as the Vættr of Earth spoke into Ethan’s mind. “Do you deny it? Or do you remember who you have become?”

“Grenat,” Ethan cried, still kneeling on the ground, “I have lost, what is the point of trying at this point?”

“Lost?” Bríse ruffled their brown plumage and shook their wings from their perch on Grenat’s stony shoulder. “Have you tried everything? Is there nothing left, young Shaman that you can do?”

“Adapt. Change course.” Vewa slithered between the Vættr of Earth’s legs, raising their blue green head to eye level with Ethan, “When faced with an obstacle, you can always find a way around it.”

“But how?” Ethan begged them, feeling hopeless and lost, despite their call to help him.

“A tiny spark can still still cause a raging inferno,” the jet black fox form of Reás trotted forward, stopping next to Vewa. “Has your’s been completely extinguished?”

“My spark?” Ethan jumped to his feet and shouted, his fists clenched tight. “I lost everything! My friends lost everything! One of the people closest to me, her husband is missing and hurt! And the four of you come to me, speaking in vague riddles, wanting to know about my ‘spark’?”

“I see not,” the fox grinned at him, bearing sharp white teeth.

“I had worried you had forgotten who you were,” a calming and peaceful voice flooded his mind. Ethan turned around and saw a beautiful brown and green doe approaching him. “Forgotten what your drive is, forgotten your reason for being.”

“Ve…” Ethan began weeping again as he fell back to his knees.

“Welcome back, Úlfeóinn,” her warm eyes comforted him as he gazed into them. “You were out of harmony and hurting. I thought you might need some guidance.”

“I...I’m lost, I don’t know what to do.” Ethan admitted, his tears burning as they rolled down his cheeks. “I’ve let everyone down.”

“Have you?” The massive doe tilted her head as she looked at him. “Is every setback the end of everything?”

“This time, I think it’s more than that.” He sniffled, “I’ve let everyone down.”

“Úlfeóin,” she said tenderly, “you lead your pack. And sometimes, the pack hungers when their leader makes hard choices. But the pack survives. Through lean times and plenty, the pack will survive.”

“Ve…”

“The Vættr behind you, are they separate or united?” Her motherly voice flooded his mind. “Are Bríse and Grenat opposed to each other, or do they work together. Or Reás and Vewa? They may rage against each other on occasion, but all know they need each other.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The fires of Reás still burn intensely inside of you, but what of the others? Have you lost the gifts and understanding of the rest?”

Ethan turned back to the gathered Vættir, noticing the way they had approached him. Together as one group, not individually. Their unity meant to remind him of the balance he once understood.

“Thank you, Ve.” Ethan finally wiped the tears from his face.

“You are never alone, Úlfeóin.” She bowed her enormous head low, touching the tip of her nose to Ethan’s chest. Instantly, he felt calm and focused.

Ethan opened his eyes again and he was back in Startesgarde, still holding Leah. Was it real? He wondered to himself, the renewed vigor seemed to prove to him that it was.

“We will fight this,” he said firmly, gently helping Leah to her feet. “Paul hasn’t won yet.”

“Ethan?” She said, blinking in astonishment at the sudden change in him.

“I won’t let him win,” he said, steel like resolution in his voice.

“What are you going to do?” She blinked you at him, wiping away the last of her tears.

“I’m going to see my sister.” He pulled Leah close to him, “go home, don’t tell anyone else what happened yet.”

“Just be safe, yeah?” She said softly, still hugging him.

“You too. I don’t think I’ll be gone long.”

It took Ethan nearly an hour to reach his sister’s house by foot. He could have summoned his faithful mare, but he wanted time to think and plan. His guild’s immediate concern was gold. They needed significantly more than they had and not a lot of time to get it. If they’d been able to scout a couple of floors, it would have helped tremendously, but overall their levels were still too low to tackle uncharted floors.

What would Bríse suggest? I need to look for a creative solution. His legs were beginning to tire as he trudged along through the city and he began to regret not riding to his sister’s house. Mounts! The thought came to him in a flash.

It cost nearly a thousand gold to purchase a mount along with the necessary riding skill, but Ethan and his guild had gotten theirs for free from finishing the Castle in the allotted time. We could sell mount runs for 750g! Players without horses could get a good one and a fair amount of experience at the same time. We’d take a hit for being a higher level than the floor, but we’d still gain a little progress towards our leveling.

Excited for the first time that day, he hurried his pace to get to Arianna’s house.

The house his sister and her husband, Thomas, lived in was in a much nicer district that the Disorder Guild Hall. The streets were smooth cobblestones and hedges lined the walkways. His sister could have chosen to live in the Raid Clan’s hall, but she and Thomas liked having their own privacy.

Their “modest” townhouse was bigger than his guild hall. He’d been there several times, usually when he’d been missing home and needed to see his family.

Thomas answered the door shortly after Ethan rang the bell. His sister’s husband was the main tank for the raiding clan. Ethan hadn’t had the chance to run any raids with him, his guild not being a part of the clan yet, but he’d heard how focused and serious Thomas got before any pull. How he was always willing to sacrifice himself to make sure other players survived and the boss died.

“Hey little brother,” Thomas’ friendly grin greeted him, his arms outstretched for a hug, as the door swung open. “Are you looking for your sister?”

“Yeah,” Ethan quickly hugged his brother in law, “she available?”

“For you? Always.”

Ethan and Thomas had been in the same grade in high school, it had originally been weird for both of them when Thomas and Arianna started dating. But as the years passed, Ethan had come to love having a brother-in-law nearly his age.

They’d been hesitant to announce their relationship at one point back in the real world, the region of the country they lived in wasn’t always friendly to interracial couples. But Ethan’s parents had immediately accepted him as part of their family. His mother had thrown a guest out of their house one time who’d said something discouraging about her favorite son in law without ever looking back.

He followed Thomas down a wide hallway leading towards Arianna’s office. She frequently worked from their home, she was always planning for the next day of raiding.

“Hey, hon,” Thomas said as he rapped his knuckles on the open door, “you got company.”

Ethan poked his head in the room just in time to see her stand up from behind her desk.

“Yeah, I’m not surprised,” she said wearily, but still smiling for her brother. “Will you give us a minute, Thomas?”

“Of course,” he answered, still smiling.

Arianna’s office was bigger than Leah and Tae-Won’s room at the guild hall. Armor stands displayed a variety of gear in different colors and types. She’d told Ethan one time that she always had a complete set for any and every class so she was prepared for any wipe. He’d been secretly jealous of just how important his sister had become, aware that her triumphs vastly outweighed his in game.

“I take it you’ve already heard,” Ethan said grimly, sitting in a chair in front of her desk after she’d hugged him.

“Junpei messaged me immediately.” She nodded, looking sad.

“Is there anything you can do?” He asked, fidgeting in his chair.

“Ethan, I can’t.” Arianna shook her head. “I have to listen to what he says.”

“So that’s it?” We’re just out?” He smacked his hands against his legs in frustration. “Everything we’ve done for the Raid Clan, all the work we’ve done and we don’t even get a chance?”

“No, you do have a chance,” she said holding up one hand, “the terms aren’t permanent. Given some time, you’ll be able to apply.”

“But you lead the clan in raids, you can’t change his mind?” He asked incredulously.

“Ethan, I tried, he said that I was too close to the situation.” She shook her head, “and that I was wrong to even kick out the guild who you reported. He said that I abused my power based on my family connections. Ethan, I’m on probation for this.”

That surprised him. He knew Junpei was the overall leader, but he’d always assumed the man was more of a figurehead. Arianna did all the heavy lifting when it came to running the raids, the entire purpose of their guild.

“Why did Leah kill that man?” Arianna asked him when they’d sat for nearly a minute in shared silence.

“The Blood Dragon guild kidnapped Tae-Won.” Ethan answered softly.

“That’s her husband, right?” She looked shocked.

“Yeah, they sent Caleb with a message: Tae-Won’s finger and eye.” Ethan stared at her. “They’re torturing him and sent Caleb as bait so we do exactly what Leah did.”

“Why didn’t you tell Calder that?” She asked, her arms spread wide in disbelief.

“I did,” Ethan said, “but they sent another player to represent Caleb, and she turned it around to make it seem like I was lying.”

“Who was it?”

“Her name was Kalinda something,” Ethan struggled to remember what Calder had called her, the events of the rest of the day clouding his mind. “Kalinda Patel, you know her?”

“The name sounds familiar, but I can’t picture her.” Arianna shook her head.

“That’s the other thing I wanted to ask you about,” Ethan continued. “Do you know anything about the Blood Dragon guild, where they might have gone?”

“Not really,” Arianna shook her head and slumped her shoulders, “after we kicked them they kind of disappeared.

“Do you know anyone that might?” He leaned forward, “c‘mon, you’re my big bad sister. You know everyone.” Stoking here ego had always been a sure fire way to get Arianna to go along with anything.

“I’ll ask Donovan,” she answered. “Paul, the guy you made the complaint about, was melee, wasn’t he?”

Ethan nodded.

“Then he might know something.”

“Thank you, Arianna,” he said, standing up. “I’m sorry I got you into trouble.”

“Don’t be,” she shook her head, standing up with him, “Junpei occasionally gets a bug up his ass, he thinks I have too much power. Listen though, if, when, you find Tae-Won, it’ll be proof that they set you up and I could make that go a long way to getting you back in his good graces.”

“We were going to find him anyway,” Ethan said defensively.

“I know, I’m just saying.” She walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder, “don’t lose hope. This is going to end up okay.”

“Thanks, big sister,” he hugged her close, glad as usual he had at least one family member in the game with him.

“But also, keep it quiet.” She said after she pulled away, “if it gets out you’re hunting them, it may look even worse for you. I’ll do what I can though.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Now, are you staying for dinner?” She asked with a grin. He knew what she meant was “are you going to cook dinner for me tonight”.

“Not today,” he shook his head sadly, “I need to get back and let everyone know the bad news.”

“Good luck with that,” she said, hugging him again.

“Thanks, I get the feeling I’m going to need it.”