Chapter 133: Fortitude

My foot and hands were covered but my face wasn't safe from the thorns. My armor and protective gears had claw marks all over and my body was definitely not in the best of shapes: I was missing a lot of skin and clothes too. I couldn't believe that I could move around.

The old man was carrying most of my weight but he too was injured. Jowy on the other hand was princess carrying Brenda. His strength was supernatural but I suppose that's the merit of becoming a half-dead. But I never saw his eyes glow red at night. Maybe he wasn't one? But if that were the case then how come Lianne was?

I had questions but no apparent answers.

"What happened last night? I don't remember you being so busted up," I asked.

The old man wasn't that injured this badly last night. Something must have happened afterward.

"Where do you think we were? There weren't any undead but there were goblins, remember?"

That explained their condition. Alisa was following us but something about her felt odd to me. She was sad and streams of tears ran through her cheeks yet she was relatively calm somehow. Maybe she was too shocked?

We continued walking and I tried to sense the angel's presence but I couldn't feel a thing apart from the sting all across my body. The forest was dark like the ones I had seen before but unlike them, this one had fewer undead; there weren't any goblins inside either. The undead that were around just ignored us. This gave me at least some hope.

Maybe that thing hadn't made it out here yet.

The old man sat me down. We took a breather. "This is odd, if there were undead here, then how come they didn't attack last night?" The old man thought hard but he didn't have an answer.

Jowy sat down but he still had Brenda in his arms. She was unconscious. "I think last night Damsel, the lord of ice attacked us. He was said to have been the God of ice, and according to some customs he had the strength of a lion and the heart of a crocodile. Although he looked rather different, I think he somehow kept all the undead at bay."

"Well we at least knew he was a grand monster and that meant… Wait, how did you know he was a God?" I didn't tell anybody about that thing being a God.

He kept the undead at bay? Huh! That damn monster! I didn't believe it even for a second. God or no, that thing was a monster.

"You were the one who said it, remember? So I surmised it was probably him." Jowy didn't even bat eye.

"Did I?"

Something seemed out of place. According to the old man, not many people knew that gods were dead. But Jowy didn't seem bothered by it. He'd traveled the world like us, so maybe he heard rumors before?

I suppose I shouldn't pry into your life any more than necessary.

Jowy was always a suspicious character. But I didn't let it bother me too much. After all, he was always backing us up.

We continued. The path was thorny but we had to walk it. For the sake of our friend. For the sake of my friend!

After walking for a few more hours we rested again. It was merely half of the forest. I and the old man were panting heavily. The rotten air was enough to set our lungs on fire, and on top of that the injuries were just too great.

The old man's wrinkles were visible. He might have been old but I never saw that many wrinkles on his face at once. "That makes half. Only half more to go."

I grunted, hearing that. Brenda was way past her limit. For the last hour, she couldn't even breathe properly. She didn't have consciousness and yet she was groaning and breathing from her mouth. My heart pounded and it hurt. I didn't know if it was from the lion's claws or just my heart.

"Is there anything-" Alisa said.

"You can eat the mushrooms…"

"I don't mean-"

I didn't let her finish. She was just a little child and she shouldn't have seen what she saw last night. Besides, we never had breakfast and now it was noon.

"It's okay," Jowy reassured her and handed over some mushrooms to her.

She was just a little girl and we weren't in the mood of eating. There was a person dying and all of us were heavily injured.

However, Alisa wasn't injured. She was munching on those raw mushrooms with guilt written all over her face. I knew what she meant. But I didn't feel like talking to her about that.

I watched her and felt at ease; at least she was alright. At least we managed to keep someone safe.

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"Daarc, I don't think-"

I didn't let the old man finish. I knew what he was about to say but- "Don't say that. Even if we can't find the statue we should hurry to the city," I said.

Things weren't looking good and we didn't have time. My body didn't want to move but I forced myself. I got up.

"You're right but-" Jowy didn't finish.

"Can't we make use of the potions?"

The old man shook me by my shoulders. "Face reality! She's beyond saving!"

My eyes watered up again. In the deepest corners of my mind, I knew that but I just didn't want to believe that.

I know that…

Brenda was impaled in various places. Her lungs were compromised and so were a lot of her other vitals. She was beyond saving.

We resumed our journey and hoped for the best.

"Brenda, Brenda. Hey Brenda!" Jowy suddenly stopped and started yelling.

"What's wrong Jowy!" I looked back in horror.

"She's falling asleep! If she sleeps now then…"

"We need to hurry," the old man said.

Even in that condition we ran and ran some more. It was more like a forced fast walk than an actual run though.

"Daarc, guys… stop," Brenda managed.

We didn't want to stop but that was it and we knew it. She was going.

"What is it Brenda?" I held her hand in mine but they were cold.

"Thank-you everyone. It was fun…. Sorry, Daarc, I don't think I'd be able to go the moon anymore with you…" Her voice was smooth. She was forcing herself too much.

"Don't say that! I give you my word! I'll take you there!"

"Then-" She closed her eyes and didn't open them. Her breath was gone: She was gone.

My eyes leaked and I just stood there. Alisa cried her heart out. Our time was short. Very short.

"Don't cry lad. Let us pray that she would go to heaven." The old man patted my shoulder.

What god! What devil! What heavens!

This world is messed up!

"Let's keep moving. We should bury her after we get out of this forest. If we stay inside the forest for too long, she might turn into an undead," Jowy said.

Jowy's word brought reality back to me. Brenda was already gone but I didn't want her to suffer for an eternity.

We didn't want to spend a single moment in this forest. Something bad would happen, something very bad. And we didn't want that.

I didn't know how undead were made nor did I care but our dead friend turning into one was the last thing I wanted.

We walked. My eyes didn't have any light left. I didn't know what I was doing anymore. I didn't know what was happening and I didn't know what I wanted. Just like that two more of my well-wishers left me from this world. This always happened. Every single time I got attached to someone, they'd leave me. Family, friends, acquaintances.. Everyone.

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