Jason

Fallen Jungle

55th of Cycle 2, 1015

“Dave! Dave, wake up dammit!”

I had forgotten that lion tails had to be killed separately, and that blunder had led to my current situation. I searched through my bag for something, anything that could help right now, and found the antidote I had prepared earlier. I don’t know how much this is going to help with lion poison, but it would have to do for now.

I picked him up and put him over my back. If I can just get him to the dark elf village, I’m sure they will have the proper antidote there.

“You better hold out until I make it there, Dave.”

Rea

Fallen Jungle

55th of Cycle 2, 1015

“We should be at the village soon, do you think they already made it inside?” I asked, worried we wouldn’t make it in time.

“Less talking, more running,” Lola said coldly.

A short run later we arrived near the large wooden gates of the dark elf village. Atop the gates stood a dark-skinned guard with his bow drawn at an approaching elf. The elf had a body slung over his back, so I surmised that this must be our spy duo.

“Keep low and keep quiet,” Lola said.

“State your business, high elf," The guard shouted.

“I’m here to trade.”

“We don’t trade with your kind here, get away from the gates before I skewer you.”

“Would this change your mind?” The spy tossed a lion’s tail onto the dirt.

The guard’s eyes went wide, “Boss! We’ve got some high elf here who wants to trade a lion’s tail, should I let him in?”

The captain of the guards appeared atop the gate in a flash. He was wearing a heavy set of shining silver armor that was blindingly bright under the sun. “What’s with that corpse on your back mate?” He asked, pointing to the body on the spy’s back.

“He’s not a corpse, he got poisoned by a lion’s tail. I’m here to trade that tail for an antidote. Please let me in, he’s going to die very soon.”

The guard captain stood silent for a moment before commanding the guard next to him, “Go and check if the boy is truly poisoned.”

The guard jumped down and walked carefully towards the spy. When he got close he visibly recoiled and stammered out. “B-Boss! It-It’s a human!”

“And what of it?” The captain asked blankly. “Is he poisoned or not?”

“Y-yeah, yeah I’m pretty sure he’s poisoned, boss.”

“Open the gates!” The captain shouted. “And bring me the strongest antidote we have for lion poison!”

“Thank you so much,” The spy said. “You can consider the tail yours.”

“It’s been mine since the moment I laid my eyes on it. I’m only giving you an antidote because I’m interested in figuring out exactly why a high elf and a human are traveling together in this jungle,” The captain said as the gates swung open. “What’s your name?”

“It’s Jason.”

“Nice to meet you, Jason, I’m Edward, and I’m in charge of keeping this village secure. You start any trouble here and you gotta answer to me.” The captain walked him through the gate and their voices faded as the gates slowly closed shut.

Jason?

“I thought I remembered his voice from somewhere!” Jack said.

“I knew there was something fishy about the way he died.” Lola shook her head. “Adult elves don’t just get eaten by man-eaters.”

“What does this even mean? Why is Jason alive? Why didn’t he return to the village? Why is he with a human boy? Why is he-“

“Too many questions Rea,” Lola cut me off, “and too many irrelevant ones. Based on the information we have at the moment, Jason faked his death and made his way to a dark elf village. That paints a pretty clear picture, and I’ll be the first to say I think he’s defecting.”

“There’s no way that’s true!” I protested “Jason would never do that!”

“Don’t let your emotions cloud your judgment Rea,” Lola admonished. “Sometimes you just don’t know a person as well as you thought you did.”

I clenched my fist and glared at Lola, “Jason. Would. Never. Do. That.”

“Fine, be a fool. Whether or not you accept the truth presented to you is your choice.” Lola shook her head in disappointment. “We’re going to have to infiltrate the village at night to gather more information. If we find out Jason is leaking village secrets I will not hesitate to kill him, Rea.”

“All I ask is that you give him a chance to explain himself. If he’s truly a threat to our village, I’ll kill him myself.”

“Good. I’ll scout the walls to find a good entry point. You three stay here and don’t get caught,” Lola said as she disappeared into the trees.

A few seconds after Lola left, Jack said, “I bet you six gold pieces that he’s defecting.”

“Go fuck yourself, Jack.”

Dave

Dark Elf Village

55th of Cycle 2, 1015

I woke up in an unfamiliar bed. Did I die again? The last thing I remember was falling to the floor in the middle of a jungle, so this very well could be a third world I had been reincarnated into. I shook my head. Right now I had to find out where I was.

When I sat up and looked around, I noticed that there were other beds lined up next to me, with people groaning in pain on top of them. Most of them had bandages wrapped around their limbs, so I concluded that this must be a hospital of some sort. I stood up onto the creaky wooden floor and approached the door slowly in an attempt to not bother the others. The door led to a hallway and I peeked my head out to make sure it was safe.

My fears about having died were assuaged when I saw Jason frantically pacing back and forth, muttering under his breath.

“Jason?” I called out. “You okay buddy?”

He stopped pacing and turned to face me before rushing up to within a few inches of me and looking me over. “Am I okay? Really?” He shook his head, “Are you okay? I’m not the one who just nearly died.”

“I feel fine, although I could use a drink,” I answered.

“Why did you save me from the snake? It was my blunder that got us into that position, it should’ve been me that got bitten.”

“It was more of an in the moment kind of thing, but in hindsight, I think I made the right call,” I said. “I mean we’re both still alive, right?”

Jason let out a sigh as he took a step back, “Yeah I guess we are.”

“Where are we?”

“We’re in a hospital in the dark elf village. I carried you here and traded the lion’s tail for an antidote. You’ve been out for about an hour since then.”

“You were pacing back and forth in the hallway for an hour?” I grinned at him, “Thanks, it’s good to know you care about me.”

“I thought the part where I carried you all the way to the village on my back and traded an expensive material for a single antidote would have already given that away, but I stand corrected,” He said with a huff. “Let’s go, we have some people to talk to and some favors to pull.”

Finally! I’ve been waiting for ages to meet some new people. Well, it’s actually only been a few days, but it felt a lot longer. “Lead the way.”