The cave is dimly lit by the flickering glow of a fire in the center, casting shadows on the rough stone walls. Gaia sits near the fire, her dark eyes half-lidded, though the flames reflect the faint glint of her horns. Her form, though relaxed, holds a subtle tension, as if always ready to spring into action.
Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps echoes at the entrance. Fang and Isgram emerge from the darkness outside. Fang, the tall, stern elf, moves with purpose, his eyes scanning the cave to check on Gaia's condition. Isgram, the stocky dwarf, follows behind, muttering something under his breath, his axe strapped to his back, with a leather-covered handle that shows some wear in it.
He's been learning to swing an axe lately in case his mana depletes mid-fight.
Fang heavily sighed:
"That could have gone better."
Isgram cracked half a smile.
Tossing his bag down by the fire
"Could've gone worse, too. We're alive, aren't we?"
Gaia straightens up slightly, her gaze sharp as she watches them approach.
Her body is still sore but she has now regenerated enough mana to move her body a bit more easily.
She approached the fire too, seeing her two companions sit and warm up near the fire.
"Alive, but by the look of you two, not satisfied. What happened?"
Fang kneels by the fire, rubbing his temples for a moment before meeting her gaze.
"We found them. They were partly injured and one was heavily injured. He looked pretty young do that gave me a bit of a guilt trip... Anyways, we gave them the medicine."
Then Isgram felt the hesitation in Fang's voice and continued the explanation.
With a sigh, he said:
"We don't know what their response to peace will be. Their leader, Hans? He is the man who is in charge of this hunt after us. He said that He doesn't have any enmity towards us, yet He said pretty clearly we should prepare for war.
He will pass out the message of peace to the king, but he didn't give us any hint of the reaction we should expect from him."
Gaia started chewing her upper lip in anxiety, but she knew that they did their best.
"It sounds to me like "prepare for war" is a pretty big hint on what to expect... Yet, it seems he will try to convince their king to drop the matter.
No use in being worried, we should stick to our plan instead.
Meat and wood to the nearby villages, that should be our plan going forward as we agreed right?"
Fang tiredly nodded his head and felt his eyelids giving up.
"It won't be easy but yes..." He said almost drifting to sleep.
"Wouldn't be any fun if it was." Isgram light chuckle lightened the mood, making even the usually grumpy Gaia slightly smile and look at the firewood little sparks in the fire.
She continued the train of thoughts in her head and finally said:
"We can't afford to let them test us, not while we're this exposed. We'll need to lay low for a while... or take the fight to them before they regroup."
Isgram stands, stretching his shoulders, his muscles tensing as if eager for action.
He tapped Fang's shoulder lightly and helped walk him to bed reminding him of a drunk man stumbling to bed.
Once they reached Fang's room he let him slump away and Fang crashed face-first into the stack of grass-filled leather pillows.
Isgram let out a hearty chuckle, closed the door, and headed back to the main hall.
The rain outside resembled chirping birds, distorting the fact that it was nighttime.
When he reemerged into the main hall, his head popped first, and observed the horned woman sitting hugging her knees tightly. He could swear the skin around her eyes was red but she noticed him and wiped her tears fast.
"Hey. I thought you were off to sleep too. I think I will go to bed too if you need some alone time in the forge or something."
Seeing her fake light smile, he knew something was wrong as this is usually the moment she teases him or mocks him in somehow.
"I just wanted to talk a bit with someone, would you be ok with staying a bit before sleep?" He asked her with a carefree smile, and his eyebrows arcing upwards.
Her smile filled a bit more, which made that beautiful woman seem more alive than before.
'This war will take a toll on her, out of the three of us she has the least amount of memories from her past life. Fang has told me she's from Earth too since she remembered she lived in rural Germany but her age or anything that can give context to her past is nonexistent. We shouldn't let her bottle her emotions.'
Isgram sat next to her and although shorter than her in almost a head, he pulled her to a hug.
She was about to reject it but her eyes flickered and instant relief set on her soul.
Her whole body became limp and she raised her hands to hug him back.
A small whimper was faintly heard but Isgram didn't concern himself with that.
They spent time talking to the point that the logs in the campfire were extinguished before they went to sleep.
While Gaia and Isgram went to sleep, Fang's body went through changes.
A blue mist gathered around his bed, condensing into a vortex above his heart.
The spiraling mist became thicker and thicker and now resembled a watery mist.
As the mist condensed even thicker, a color change was taking effect and the mist turned dark purple instantly.
Forming into an orb, the now purple mana orb slammed hard into Fang's chest.
At the moment of impact, Fang's breathing suddenly stopped yet his body remained calm.
"Where the fuck am I?" Was the first words Fang had to say.
Looking around, he found himself standing in a graveyard with red carved stone tombstones.
The area surrounding the graveyard looked devoid of life, no birds in sight only wrinkled dead bushes and trees.
Looking around, Fang felt like his mind was playing tricks on him.
Then he heard a silent snake-like voice from behind him, with every S pronounced sharply:
"Where the birds don't sing, death is king."
Turning around trying to reach for his katana, Fang felt nothing on his belt.
The first thing he saw was a slender tall man, his eyes purple orbs just like Asu's.
He wore a pitch-black robe that reached his feet yet didn't cover the fact the man was barefooted.
His face reminded him of a skeleton, with his narrow cheeks and long face.
His skin was pale yet seemed... lifeless in some parts. Especially his hands, they looked as if death himself sculpted them with no color or any sign of blood coursing through them.
The silence was broken when the man finished examining Fang with a smile.
"Such good candidates Asu brings home, indeed a good job from dear brother."
Sighing Fang said figuring out the situation:
"Oh come on, can't that shmuck let me sleep? Tell your brother to leave me some time to sleep his task is time-consuming enough for me to not sleep enough! Fucking hell, what is the matter with you gods?"
Not expecting such a reaction, the god in front of Fang was visibly surprised but he then burst out laughing.
"Oh, dear brother knows how to pick them well indeed! I sometimes forget that you mortals are reliant on such meaningless needs."
"Listen, I don't know you and Asu is more than enough for me. I am usually much more polite but I had quite a hell of a day. I know you're a god too if you're Asu's brother but come on, can't a man get some sleep around here?"
"Such a comedian Asu is raising! Maybe having your tongue cut out will wake you up a bit?"
Feeling the God applying some mana into the air, Fang resigned and stopped joking around:
"Alright I get it, did you bring me all the way here to suffocate me???"
Loosening the mana pressure in the air, Osborne returned Fang's ability to breathe at ease.
"On the contrary dear child, I am here to give you a gift for your actions."
Seeing Fang's confused expression, Osborne showed a hologram of Gaia sleeping in bed.
"You see, dear brother isn't the only one with chosen ones. As you know, we can't provide our chosen ones with our magic natures but we do care about their progress. What do you know about Gaia?"
Fang was mostly clueless about Gais's past as she doesn't remember it.
"The only thing I know about her is she woke up without any guidance in a forest. She woke up and found out she could use spells from the get-go. From there, she mostly survived and she doesn't know how she got to this world though judging by your words you are the one who brought her here."
"Precisely. The girl lived in Germany on Earth before she died. I usually choose only those who embraced death or have seen enough death to sense my presence.
Unfortunately, she fits in both categories. She was a paramedic in her past life and she died when she was 24. her entire line of work was seeing death until one day she noticed the mana in the air.
The only human to do so in the last 500 years.
She was so sensitive to death mana that she managed to see it, A skill most killers and seasoned doctors can't awaken.
I used to follow her path for years, she was an angel of life in a world of death.
I envied her, so I let nature run its course.
And then it happened. A truck hit her while she was treating a biker who slipped on the road.
It happened so fast and for the first time in the last 300 years, I actually felt... guilt.
Such mortal feelings are the only connection I have to the living. Ever since then, I vowed to protect those who face death and value life. I now guard all medical experts personally on Earth and beyond.
This is my way to respect the dead and care for those who assist life. I have no control over life itself. I can only help delay the expiring of life, nothing more. On the same coin, I can also shorten life significantly. Sometimes a calamity is necessary to encourage life."
Fang stood frozen. The weight of his words hung in the air, sinking deep into his chest. His sharp, elven eyes, usually so perceptive and alert, softened as he processed the sorrowful tale. Gaia, once human, had lived among death, and it was only by sheer tragedy that she had left that world.
His posture slouched, ever so slightly, as if the weight of the story bore down on his shoulders. His mind raced through the implications—Gaia, this woman who appeared so confident and unshakable, had seen more death in her short human life than most would in their long years.
There was something in Gaia's story, the injustice of it, that stirred feelings of deep empathy in him. He could see her now, not as the powerful demoness standing beside him in time of need, but as the 24-year-old paramedic, running toward death instead of away from it, only to have her life cut short by a moment of cruel irony.
To save one's life by sacrificing another.
His brow furrowed in contemplation, and he ran a hand through his long hair, the weight of the revelation settling heavily on his shoulders.
"She… saw death mana?" he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.
Osborne sighed and straightened his chin prideful as if he was talking about his own child:
"An angel of life, yet fate dealt her such a cruel hand. To save others, only to be taken so abruptly…"
"You envied her? I can understand that. She was a beacon in the shadows, illuminating the very thing you represent. But what good is your protection if it comes too late?"
"Your vow to guard those who value life—it's noble, but it feels like a hollow promise. We are all at the mercy of fate, and no matter how much you wish to shield them, calamity still lurks around every corner. CALAMITIES YOU CREATE!"
Osborne was unfazed by his words as he contemplated those same words every single moment since Gais's death.
"True. Yet it is my job. To cleanse the earth. There is time to sow, and there is time to reap. I am called the reaper for a purpose."
The silence in the air lingered for a couple more seconds, as the air seemed to slowly lighten with every passing moment.
The life-taker god was the first to speak:
"Fang," the god of death began, his voice resonating like the toll of a distant bell, "you have shown great strength in your care for Gaia. Your bond with her is one forged in compassion and defiance against the darkness that looms over life. You've embraced a role that few would dare to undertake. She would have most likely killed you had you threatened her to join you. Yet you didn't. You gave her equal status in your new group. I heard my brother's plan. He knows this world is a powerful one and that the balance is our job to keep yet every messenger we sent to this world has harmed its natives. You are the first to offer peace in the last 9000 years in this world. That has not gone unnoticed in my eyes, I blessed you with my powers knowing you'll keep the balance of death in this world. But to do such things, you require much greater power."
Fang swallowed hard, his heart racing at the thought of what was to come. "You mean to reward me for protecting her? I didn't do it for accolades."
The god of death nodded, a faint smile ghosting across his lips. "Your humility does you credit, yet the actions you've taken deserve recognition. Your mana is a reflection of your spirit, and I see potential in you that goes beyond your current limitations."
Fang's brow furrowed, confusion mingling with curiosity. "What do you mean? My mana has always been sufficient for my needs. And it is slowly growing."
The god of death stepped closer, the air around him shimmering. "Sufficient, perhaps. But not maximized. You can expand your capacity, to harness a deeper well of power. This will not only enhance your abilities but allow you to better protect those you cherish."
Fang took a step back, caution flickering in his gaze. "What's the cost? There's always a cost."
"Only what you are willing to give," the god replied, his voice steady. "I offer you the chance to undergo a transformation, one that will deepen your connection to the life force around you. It will be a trial, a melding of your essence with your mana."
Fang hesitated, weighing the implications. "And if I fail?"
"Then you will return to your current state, no worse for wear. But if you succeed, you will emerge stronger, a guardian of life more potent than you can imagine. If I'm not mistaken there is a war on the horizon, isn't it right?"
The air thickened with tension as Fang considered his choices. He thought of Gaia, of Isgram.
The fleeting moments they had shared, and the weight of responsibility that pressed upon him. Finally, he squared his shoulders, determination igniting within him. "I accept. If this will help me protect my kind, then I will take the risk."
The god of death inclined his head, a spark of approval in his eyes. "Very well. Let us begin."
With a wave of his hand, the world around them shifted. Light and shadow intertwined, swirling in a dance of energy. Fang felt a surge of warmth enveloping him, a pulse that resonated with the rhythm of life itself. He closed his eyes, focusing on the energy flowing through him, ready to embrace whatever came next.