Chapter 19: Childhood Friend

The notifications flickered across Rael’s vision the moment the ape’s body finished settling into the dirt.

[+ Level up]

[+ Level up]

[+ Level up]

He ignored them. His hands were still locked in a half-open position, blackened and raw from the repeated Ignite. Every small movement sent fresh waves of pain up his arms. He stayed on his knees, breathing hard, staring at the ruined corpse of the creature and the smaller, more terrible remains a short distance away.

Suzy reached him first.

She ran the last few steps and dropped to her knees in front of him, arms wrapping around his shoulders before he could react. Her face pressed against the side of his neck. Hot tears soaked into his collar almost at once.

"Rael..." Her voice cracked on the name. "Rael, you’re alive."

He could feel the soft press of her chest against him. Heat rose in his face for a reason that had nothing to do with the burns. He did not push her away. He understood the weight of what she had just watched. In her mind he had been dead for days, and now he had appeared out of nowhere and dragged her back from the edge.

"I’m here," he said quietly. "You’re alive too, Suzy."

He tried to return the embrace, but the moment his damaged hands touched her back the pain forced a sharp breath out of him. He settled for letting her hold on while he stayed still.

Lila stepped out of the trees a few seconds later, bow still in hand. She saw the two of them locked together and stopped. Something tight moved through her chest. She remembered the first day in the realm, the way Suzy had looked at Rael and spoken her interest without shame. Lila had told herself those feelings did not matter, that survival came first. Yet the sight of Suzy’s arms around him still settled in a quiet corner of her mind and refused to leave. She said nothing. Her eyes moved past them and landed on the other girl.

Nathia.

Recognition hit like a physical blow. Lila had not looked closely at the water mage’s face during the fight. Now, with the danger gone, she saw the familiar features clearly—the same girl she had known since childhood, the same quiet intensity that had always set Nathia apart. Lila’s breath caught.

Nathia was no longer looking at anyone living. She crawled on hands and knees toward what was left of Luke. Her voice came out broken, barely more than a whisper at first.

"Luke... Luke..."

Then the sound rose into a raw, open cry that seemed to tear something inside her throat.

"Aaaah—Luke—"

She reached the scattered remains and laid both hands on the nearest piece of him, the lower half that still wore the torn remnants of his trousers. Her shoulders shook so hard it looked like she might come apart. Tears fell in thick streams, mixing with the blood on the ground.

The memories came without mercy.

They had studied in the same school for years. Nathia had watched Luke from the edge of every classroom, every training yard. He never seemed to notice the way her eyes followed him. She never found the courage to speak. When the transfer to the Dream Realm came, fear finally pushed her past silence. She had walked up to him in the chaos of the first hours and asked if they could team up. Luke had looked surprised, then simply nodded and said yes. In the days that followed he had protected her without hesitation—blocking blows meant for her, pulling her out of the path of claws, sharing what little food they found. One night, while they sat against a tree listening to distant howls, the words had finally left her mouth. She told him she had liked him for a long time. That she was glad they had ended up together here. Luke had gone quiet for a long moment. Then he reached over and rested his hand over hers.

"When we get back," he had said, voice low and steady, "I’ll give you a proper answer. Not here. Not while everything is trying to kill us. Wait for me until then."

She had believed him. She had held on to that promise through every fight since.

Now the promise lay in pieces on the dirt.

Lila crossed the clearing and sank down beside her. Tears already blurred her own vision.

"Nathia," she said, the name coming out soft and broken.

Nathia turned her head slowly. When she saw Lila’s face the last of her control shattered. A long, keening sob tore out of her. She fell forward against Lila’s shoulder and clung to her like a child.

"Lila... Lila... Luke died... he just... he just died..."

"I’m so sorry." Lila’s voice cracked. She wrapped both arms around her friend and rocked her gently. "I’m so sorry, dear. So sorry."

The words felt useless. In the back of Lila’s mind a colder thought kept circling: if her arrow had not crossed paths with the water blast, if it had struck cleanly a second earlier, Luke might have had the time to pull free. The knowledge sat like a stone in her chest. She kept murmuring soft, broken comforts while Nathia’s cries rose and fell against her.

Rael watched them for a moment longer, then spoke quietly to Suzy.

"Suzy. Let’s go to them."

She nodded, wiped her face with the back of one hand, and slipped her shoulder under his arm to help him stand. The movement sent fresh fire through his burned palms, but he forced himself upright. Together they crossed the short distance.

He stood over the two girls, Suzy still supporting most of his weight.

"Lila," he said. His voice was rough but steady. "We have to go. We can’t stay out here."

He meant the words. Sympathy for Nathia sat heavy in him, but daylight made every open space a risk. Even with the strength he had gained, a creature like the Frost Dire Wolf could still end them all. Remaining in the open was a slow form of suicide.

Lila looked up, eyes red. She spoke gently to Nathia.

"We have to hide. Nathia, we can’t stay here."

Nathia shook her head at first, still clutching the bloodied ground. Lila kept talking, soft and persistent, until the other girl finally let herself be drawn to her feet. The two of them began to move, Nathia leaning heavily against Lila, still crying in long, broken waves.

Rael turned toward what remained of Luke. He raised one ruined hand.

"I’m sorry if only I have come sooner." His expression remain neutral even though he felt regret.

"Fireball."

The spell formed smaller than usual—his control was poor through the pain—but the flame caught and spread. The body burned. The smell of it mixed with the already heavy scent of the ape’s corpse. Rael’s arms trembled from the effort. He did not look away until the fire had done its work.

They started back toward the cave in a slow, uneven group. Lila guided Nathia. Suzy kept Rael upright. Nathia’s quiet sobbing never fully stopped; it rose and fell with every step, a raw sound that followed them through the trees. Once, when the path grew steeper, Suzy leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Rael’s cheek.

"Thank you for coming," she whispered.

"No need," he answered. The words came out quieter than he intended.

They kept walking. The sun continued its slow slide toward the western treeline. Behind them the clearing grew smaller, the smoke from the two fires thinning into the afternoon sky. Ahead, the cave waited—narrow, dark, and for the moment still safe.

None of them spoke again for a long time. Only Nathia’s broken crying marked the distance they covered, a sound that seemed to belong to the forest itself now, as if the trees had decided to remember the dead.

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