The beast leaped back as Commander Thalysar lunged. With the shadows lifted, Winston could take in the whole cave. Dozens of bodies littered the stone floor, each one leaking blood. At the back of the cave, several Caltherans seemed to be using healing magic on injured warriors.

  Winston inspected the commander, finding that he was only Initiate 7. The number felt…wrong. Too low. How was he holding his own against the beast? In the parentheses next to his race, it said ‘Serath.’ Earlier, a warrior had shouted that he was a Serath, claiming that they were saved.

  Winston and the rest of the warriors watched the battle from afar. The Nightrender had begun to force the commander back, but for each hit it landed, Thalysar landed two.

  Eventually, the movements of the Nightrender began to slow. Strikes that had once been so fast that the eye could barely follow were now dodged with ease. As Thalysar moved in to finish the job, tendrils of darkness launched out of his own shadow, restraining him.

  In the split second that the commander was immobilized, the Nightrender chose neither to attack him nor flee. Instead, it turned. Toward the wounded. Toward those who had no hope of fighting back. Its entire body began to glow.

  Countless razor-sharp hairs tore themselves from its body, each pointed towards a Caltheran warrior.

  Eyes wide, Thalysar broke free of the shadows, lunging to stop the Nightrender. A hundred streaks of black and purple launched forward from the Nightrender's body. Thalysar launched an orb of light, shattering most of the hairs. But not all.

  A dozen hairs pierced through the explosion of light, shooting into the ranks of the helpless warriors. Winston looked on in horror as a hair shot straight through the skull of an archer.

  Another flew towards him, but this one was different. Winston could see it. It was headed straight toward Roderic.

  He leaped forward, activating [Consume]. He would stop it. He wouldn’t let Roderic die like this.

  [Skill level not high enough to Consume this item.]

  Nothing happened. The purple hair shot past, piercing through the air as Winston looked on in horror.

  Time seemed to slow down as the hair, nothing but a streak of light, flew closer and closer to its target. The healer tending to Roderic dove to the side as the projectile neared.

  Eyes wide, Roderic tried to push himself away, instinctively using his right arm. But there was nothing there. Nothing but a stump. The hair shot into Roderic’s stomach, lodging itself deep inside his abdomen.

  Winston whipped around once more as he heard the roar of Commander Thalysar. “Where are you, goddamnit?”

  Thalysar stalked towards where the beast had just been, spear raised. But there was nothing there. In the moment that Thalysar had spent blocking its attack, the Nightrender had fled.

  Winston just stood, unmoving, as Erynd scooped him up and darted toward the body of Roderic. Dropping to his knees, Erynd set Winston down next to him.

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  Roderic looked up and smiled at Winston before facing Erynd. “I’m alright, don’t worry. I may be crippled, but I’m not so weak that I’d die from that.

  “Erynd, I’ll be out of commission for a while, so I want you to take over for me as squadron lead—”

  Roderic convulsed, coughing up a clot of blood. His breathing quickened as a thin, purple vein snaked its way up his neck.

  “Help me check his stomach!” Erynd cried as he tried to pry Roderic’s chainmail away. Several more warriors darted over to help, eventually exposing Roderic’s stomach. There, lodged deep into his flesh, was the hair. All around it, the skin had gone from vibrant blue to purple and black. Pulsing veins spread in every direction.

  Winston felt numb. He’d failed.

  Roderic convulsed again. Even the crystals adorning his body seemed tainted, their color dulled.

  Erynd began to call for the healers, but Roderic stopped him. “No, Erynd. There’s nothing you can do for me.”

  “Why are you so calm?” Erynd half shouted, half whispered. “You…you knew what was happening, didn’t you? Why didn’t you tell us? We could’ve had healers here a minute ago!”

  “That is exactly why! I was dead the moment that thing touched me. It was different from the normal hairs on the Nightrender’s body. It was charged with mana and poison. There is nothing you can do for me. I have a minute at most.”

  Erynd looked like he was trying to cry and scream at the same time. “How are you so calm about this? Just let the healers help you!”

  Roderic just sighed, “No! What do you not understand about this? I’m already dead,” He coughed again, a trickle of blood dripping down his chin. Looking at the healers, he spoke. “Go. Help those who can be saved. And you, Erynd, you know that I was well past my prime when I was selected to enter the Tower. My body wouldn’t keep up long enough to get me to a high enough rank that it could. I made peace with my death in this place months ago, Erynd. Go.”

  “Please, just let them try; they can fix you,” Erynd begged, his voice cracking as Roderic’s breath faded. But even as he spoke, Winston could tell he was just trying to convince himself.

  Winston and Erynd stayed by his side as the healers reluctantly dispersed. Winston nuzzled up to Roderic as each of his breaths became shallower and shallower. The warrior put his good arm around Winston, gently stroking him until he stopped moving altogether. Norra arrived a moment later with the rest of Roderic’s squad, the gash on her side fully healed.

  A moment later, Winston extracted himself from Roderic’s weak embrace, letting the others pay their respects. He sat in silence against a cave wall, staring at Roderic’s unmoving body. Eventually, Commander Thalysar, who was making his rounds to pay his respects to the dead, arrived.

  Winston watched mutely as the commander knelt before the unmoving body. His shattered ribs had been healed a minute earlier by a passing healer. He didn’t know what to do. He’d barely known Roderic for a day, but he had grown attached to him. He felt so…helpless. Despite his efforts, there was nothing he could do when real danger came. Roderic and Erynd and Norra could’ve stayed back with the others. They could’ve waited in the light until Thalysar came to save them. But they came to help him after he had so foolishly let himself get captured. And now Roderic was dead.

  Winston stared up at the ceiling of the cave. Watching glistening droplets of water slide down the stalactites hanging from the ceiling. A drop rolled down and landed on his nose. It was as if the cave itself was grieving for the deaths of Roderic and so many others.

  Winston would’ve given anything to return to his life before the Tower, but he knew it was nothing but a distant dream. If he was going to survive, he had to grow stronger. So that he didn’t end up like Roderic. So that Erynd didn’t end up like Roderic. So that his humans didn’t end up like Roderic. He couldn’t forget that, despite Erynd’s kindness to him, his first priority was, and always would be, to rescue his humans.

  As Roderic’s body was carried away on a stretcher, Erynd strode over and scooped Winston up. Winston rested in Erynd’s lap as the Caltherans sat with their heads in their hands. He watched them as they broke down in tears over the bodies of their friends.

  It was then that Winston made a vow. He would never let this happen to those he cared about. Never again. He knew he would fail at times, but he couldn’t stop. He wouldn’t allow his limits, the limits placed on him by the System, to hold him back. He would train, and he would fight, if only so that the next time something like this happened, his skills wouldn’t fail.

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