Life And Death Decision

"Hey."

"Wow, you"re in a good mood." He said sarcastically, stepping in to take a seat beside me. "What happened, bud?"

I thought about telling him the truth, hesitating. I was about to let the words spill out of my mouth when I glanced out the open door and saw Tyme and Rose laughing across the hall. I held my peace, standing up and dusting myself off. "Call Tyme, let"s talk at breakfast." I walked out, stepping down the stairs and getting a table for us at the tavern on the first floor. I called over a nearby barmaid, placing my order before calling her over again. "Hey, uhh...is there a Church of Lumos nearby?"

"Religious one, are you? Well, there isn"t one here, but there is one in the next town over; Aitog. As for this town, there"s a small chapel to the Life-Giver a couple of blocks north of here." She said, walking away after I gave her a silver coin as a tip.

"The life-giver, maybe he"ll have the answers I need..." I muttered to myself as the others joined me at the table. Rose couldn"t bring her head up to match my gaze, still slightly fidgeting whenever she tried to look at me. Her body wasn"t visibly altered by the spell last night, but her demeanor clearly showed that she was wary of me.

"So, what happened?"

"It"s nothing. But I think I"ll stay in this town for a while." I said, looking down at the table as plates of cooked, smoked, and cured meats were placed down for us to dine on, along with some rice and bread. "I just have a lot to do. So I"ll catch up with you in Aitog. Take the cart with you and go without me."

"What? Are you sure about this?" Tyme turned to me, eyes scanning my face to try and gather what signs of my reasoning I was giving away.

"Take the horses," I said, reaching for a bun that I tore open to make s.p.a.ce for some cured meat. "I might be here for a few days." I looked over at the kid; she wasn"t eating.

"But what about the bodies?" Baz whispered as to not disturb the other patrons. "You"re the religion guy, what are we supposed to do without you?"

"I just learned that there"s a church for my G.o.ddess there, I"m sure Rose can tell you where it-"

"I"m staying with you." The kid nearly got me to choke on my food. She finally managed to look my way, her eyes aglow and resolute with whatever intent she had. Her face was hard to read for a child, but I guess that"s something she learned from her family"s bargains.

"We don"t have very long before we lose the bodies to decay. We need to get them to Aitog." I said, using any information I had to try to get some solitude. "I can buy us some more time, but I can"t keep that up forever."

"Then we"ll take them. Just take care of the kid, okay?" Tyme grumbled, calling over a waitress to get some veggies to balance out our meal.

"You"re okay with leaving her?" I asked, picking up another slice of meat.

"You"re the only one that can heal her. If something like what happened yesterday happened again, then Baz and I won"t be able to do anything." She stood up, reaching across the table to try to intimidate me, all the while handing me the diamond that I asked them to get for me. "If anything happens to her, I"ll kill you." She left no room for negotiation, returning to her meal while doting over Rose.

The four of us returned to the cart, their eyes trained on me as I moved my hands over the corpses" heads. I finished my incantation, completing the ritual; no magic took hold of the bodies nor traveled through my veins. Her radiance had left me; I was now just a man. I feigned satisfaction, turning to my team as I gestured toward the front of the cart. "We"ll catch up with you soon," I said, waving them off as they slowly made their way to the gates of the village.

"I felt it," Rose muttered the moment the others were out of earshot. "Did you lose your powers?" I only sighed, walking down the road in the direction of the chapel of the life-giver. It was a serene building, vibrant flowers blooming on the ivy that climbed up the outside walls. The entire street was overflowing with life for twenty or thirty feet beyond the boundaries of the blessed ground. Trees, shrubbery, small insects and birds; if it could grow, then it called this place home. I was about to walk in when I felt Rose tug at my arm. "Can I...stay out here? I don"t feel so well."

I pulled her hand off of me, peeling her fingers away with ease. I wordlessly turned, strutting inside while showing the emblem of her radiance with Humility. "May I?" I bowed my head before I was directed to one of the pews that faced a statue of Wiltop: The life-giver. "I...need help. What happened to her radiance? I"m so lost."

I could feel the wood of the pew I sat on gently thrum with his divine presence as vines crept up my leg. "She"s...conflicted at the moment. She will return to you soon, I promise. And I will try to ease her burden as best I can from here." A calming, child-like innocence crept into my mind. "Sage, she left you with a choice, and you made your decision. Do you have any regrets?"

"I... don"t know. Maybe..." I prayed. "That girl, that thing..."

"It"s tough, isn"t it?" He spoke to my mind as the vines continued to wind up my body. "Not everything is as black and white as it would appear at first glance. Take some more time to think it over, at least that"s what I would do."

"I see... What would you do?"

"I would..." I could imagine the statue"s face contort in deep thought. "I don"t know. And neither does Thalis." He spoke with a bright tone. "That is something that the would decide, as well as those directly involved, like you." The vines had grown up so rapidly that they wrapped around my throat, though it felt like a scarf instead of a stranglehold. "But I will give you some help, at least until Thalis gets back on her feet." I felt a cool breeze blow through the building as the vines receded back into the wood of my seat. "Any child of faith, no matter what kind, is a child of mine. Good luck, Sage."

Leaving an offering of one of Rose"s flowers as thanks for his time, I made my way back out to find the girl crouched down and holding something in her hand. "Rose. Get up." I said, grabbing her attention as she turned to me with her grip on a small bird. It hopped around on her palm, tweeting happily before flying away.

"Sage. Can we walk around town today?" She walked up to me, stopping right before the lush gra.s.s that surrounded the chapel. "I mean...if it"s okay with you."

I placed my hand on her shoulder; she shuddered. "I don"t see why not." I reached down to feel my pouch of coins, lighter now that I bought more spell materials, but still enough for what I had planned. "And I"m sorry about last night."

"No...no I know that I"m not supposed to be like this. But if you really have to do it..." She took my hand in hers as the two of us walked through the village. "Bury me with my family."

"I"ll try..." I said, gazing down at her. Would it be right to take this from her? It wasn"t hers in the first place, but would it be right to pry it away from her? I pushed those thoughts back into the recesses of my mind, guiding her to a store that I"m sure Tyme would bring her had she enough time. "Excuse us."

"My, how adorable you are, little girl! You"re positively glowing!" The woman manning the store ran up to us with the forced excitement of workers that weren"t getting paid enough. "What can I do for you and your daughter?" Daughter? I suppose that we do look like that. I gestured simply, using my head to direct her attention toward Rose as the girl wandered around the room. "What gorgeous hair you have, I know just the thing for you."

"If you find anything you"d like, just tell me, okay?" I told her as I walked around the store myself. It was a simple clothing shop, though most of it was geared towards women I did find some unis.e.x shirts made of cloth or cotton. Rose gazed up at a completed outfit of a simple green skirt with a burgundy sleeved shirt. She called out to me as the worker returned to us with a frilly dress with earthen colors. Rose"s eyes widened with excitement as she took the clothes into a separate room to wear them. They fit her nicely. If she really was my daughter, I"d have been proud to see her with the wide smile she wore with the fabric... Maybe I was proud, even if she wasn"t related to me. She looked at herself in the reflection of my armor, smiling before frowning. "What"s wrong?" She got up on her tiptoes and I bent down, letting her whisper something in my ear.

"Is anything the matter?" The worker approached us as Rose finished whispering.

"Can we have another design of these clothes in addition to these? White and light blue, if possible." I asked, handing over both the dress and the completed outfit. "I"ll pay for it, now."
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"No problem sir. I"ll get to work right away." She took them back, also getting some large spools of fabric. "So, for all of it, in addition to the commission, it would add up to five gold."

I gave her the coin she required, leaving the store to pick it up later in the day. Rose smiled, looking around the village with wide eyes. We walked to the town square, hearing the tune of a traveling bard as we approached. She began skipping instead of walking, dancing happily as we joined the crowd that was enjoying the music. We spent the rest of the day dancing, the bard finishing his act by sundown. I went to pick up the clothes and we both went back to the inn for the night. "Thank you for today, Sage. I"m ready..." She shut her eyes as she bowed her head my way.

"Ready? I..." My stomach dropped as I placed my hand on the top of her head. I was faced with another choice, another difficult choice. "I see..." I shut my eyes as I felt Wiltop"s blessing flow through my blood, giving my hand a calming green glow. A cooling breeze circulated in the room.

"I"m...still here."

"Well, Tyme lives up to her threats. I don"t want to die." I smiled, relaxing as I slouched my shoulders. It"s been a while since I relaxed. "Is there anything else you want to do here?" She shook her head at me, smiling before she wrapped my waist in an embrace.

"Thank you!" I put her to bed for the night, shutting the door behind me as I returned to my own quarters. We were going to follow behind the others tomorrow on horseback so I had to get some rest. I don"t know how long we"ll be on the road, so I hope it goes well.