“Nine-hundred seventy one, nine hundred seventy two, nine hundred seventy three,” Ethan felt like he’d been walking for hours. With no discernible landmarks, he started counting his steps to track his distance.

After Grenat had vanished, he’d been left by himself in the mysterious Hearg of Life. He hadn’t seen any point in staying exactly where he was, so he picked a direction and began walking.

“Nine hundred ninety nine, one thousand,” every one thousand steps he turned left. He was working on making a square that he hoped would cover enough ground to let him find something in the empty, grassy field.

He stopped, bent over, and put his hands on his knees as he stretched out his back.

“This is starting to seem pointless,” he sighed and wiped sweat from his forehead. “But I can’t give up.” Since his meeting with Grenat, the determination of the earth had nearly taken him over. He knew he would pace for days and never give up. He would die on his feet, alone, in the Hearg of Life before he gave up and let his friends down again.

Ethan turned ninety degrees to the left and started walking again.

“One, two, three, four…”

There has to be something else here, he pondered to himself as he walked. David and Tae-Won were representatives of Grenat, that has to mean that the other Vættir are going to test me as well. Reás said that I could reestablish the bond we once had, it just wouldn’t be easy.

When he reached his thousandth step, he paused. He was back where he’d started.

“Now what?” He looked around having completed the square he’d been pacing and having found nothing.

With a sigh, he kept walking straight.

“One, two, three, four…”

He walked for hours. Every time he finished a square, he’d start off in another direction, increasing the number of steps.

“Five thousand, nine hundred ninety nine, six thousand,” Ethan legs throbbed in exhaustion. He was tired, he was hungry and he was thirsty. What few supplies he’d had in his inventory, he’d eaten and drank forty eight thousand steps ago. He kept hoping that he would find a stream or some wildlife, or even some plants he could eat. But there was nothing. Just an endless plane of grass.

“I’m not giving up,” since his conversation with Grenat, his strength of will had increased until it was all encompassing. He was laser focused on his goal, and the oath he’d made to the images of David and Tae-Won. He continued walking.

“Six hundred seventy, six hundred seventy-“

BOOM!

A resounding crack of thunder echoed across the planes from behind him, interrupting his count.

“What the hell?” Ethan spun around in time to see an explosion of white light, followed immediately by another boom.

He pushed his weariness aside and sprinted towards the sounds and light as a burst of black and red lit up the sky in front of him.

“He left us!” Sam’s voice echoed over the plane as a burst of purple flared.

Ethan pumped his legs faster at the recognition of his friend’s voice. He was close enough that he could see Sam, obscured in dark mist, attack another figure who was bathed in white light

“You’re one to talk,” Miguel’s voice rang out as the apparition of Ethan’s friend unleashed three bolts of golden energy. “You left first!”

Sam summoned a wall of purple flames that dissipated Miguel’s attack. With a violent push forward of his hands, Sam sent the flame wall forward. It scorched the grass in front of him as Miguel manifested an amber orb of radiant energy to block the indigo flames.

“Only because I couldn’t stand waiting around while he crumbled into a pathetic waste of space!” A dozen shadowy darts formed in the air in front of Sam before flying like arrows directly at Miguel.

A torrent of holy fire blasted from Miguel’s hands and incinerated the darts.

“That doesn’t mean you give up on him!” He shouted as he directed his spell at Sam.

“He gave up on everyone else!” Sam screamed back, leaping forward and slamming his hands into the ground. A jagged line of fel magic raced towards Miguel.

“He came back!” Miguel dove out of the way and conjured an enormous, golden sword in the air. The magical blade hovered for a split second and then plunged towards Sam.

Ethan ripped his seaxes free of their scabbards and leapt into the air. He slashed down on the flying blade, his own attack knocked it from its course and it flew into the ground. The gleaming weapon quivered momentarily and then disappeared in a puff of energy.

“Enough!” He howled as he slammed his blades into the ground. He hoped his Earthen Spiked spell would work as distraction to the combatants and give him a chance to calm his friends down.

But no stalagmites formed, leaving Ethan alone and visible between Sam and Miguel.

“You!” Sam shouted at him, summoning the inky black darts once again. “This is all your fault!” He sent the barrage of magic flying at Ethan. “We’re being punished because of you!”

Eldritch energy surged through Ethan’s entire body as the darts pierced his limbs. Purple electricity arced over him and he let out a shriek of pain.

“Leave him alone!” Miguel roared as he unleashed his burst of magic at Ethan.

The pain ceased immediately as Ethan fell to his knees panting.

“Sam…” Ethan groaned before an inky bolt of shadow struck him in the chest, throwing him backwards.

“What are you doing?” Miguel rushed towards his prone body, laid his hands Ethan’s chest and again restored his health.

“He abandoned us,” Sam growled menacingly, his eyes completely black as he sauntered towards Miguel and Ethan. “He cost us our chances of going home!” He crossed his arms over his chest, his hands glowing red, “He deserves this!”

Crimson claws of eldritch energy manifested in the air above Sam and slashed down on the pair of them.

Miguel whipped his staff forward in a flourish and slammed the butt of the weapon into the ground.

Golden stars formed a barrier around them as the claws bounced harmlessly off the shield.

Sam is right, the determination Ethan had felt after his encounter with Grenat was waning as he heard the truth in his friend’s words. I drove him away.

The magical claws crashed into Miguel’s barrier again and the radiant barrier shattered.

“Sam!” Miguel stood up and sent a blast of holy magic at the Warlock.

He easily deflected the blast with his bare hands as he advanced on them.

“Ethan took away my hope,” tendrils of inky void erupted from his body and shot towards Ethan. “I’m going to make him pay.”

Thick black chains wrapped around him, constricting his movement as they raised him into the air. His flesh burned where the conjured chains touched him.

Sam clenched his fists and jagged spikes erupted from Ethan’s bindings. He could feel his life slipping away.

“Sam, stop it!” Miguel’s voice sounded hollow and distant to Ethan even as a burst of holy energy healed him.

“Sam…” Ethan whispered as a chain tightened around his throat. “I’m sorry…”

“You’re sorry?” Sam shrieked and the bindings constricted more, Ethan felt the bones in his arms break from the pressure. “Sorry isn’t enough, haven’t you learned that by now?”

Ethan fought to remain conscious through the pain and suffocation, his only tether was Miguel’s relentless healing.

“If you want to kill me to punish me, do it,” Ethan managed to hoarsely whisper. “But we came here together, you swore to me that we’d leave together.”

“You left us first!” Through his haze, Ethan thought he saw tears leaking from Sam’s darkened eyes as he screamed. “You left Tae-Won to be tortured and then you left the rest of us for a woman!”

“You’re right,” Ethan coughed, realization finally hitting him. He wasn’t here to fight his friends to prove himself to them, he was being tested by the Vættir. He had to show them that he was worthy.

He had been so driven by the gift of determination by Grenat that he hadn’t realized the significance of who he was seeing. If Sam and Miguel were here, then this was Bríse’s challenge. Strength of will would only get him so far, he had to find a different solution.

Sam wants to kill me, Miguel wants to save me, he tried to reason through the situation as agony seared through him. Miguel has always stood by me, and Sam has always been driven by what he wants. How do I reconcile that?

At last he understood.

“Miguel,” he whispered. “Stop healing me.”

“What?” Miguel looked shocked, but did not stop his healing spells.

“Sam needs this,” Ethan looked at the Warlock who was now openly sobbing as he channeled fel energy into Ethan’s chains.

“When I saw you coming from the bar with Kevin months ago,” Ethan struggled to speak to Sam. “I was so angry and scared you were going to leave us. But you assured me we were in this together.”

“And then you left!” Sam screamed at him, his fists clenched at his sides. The chains binding him loosened slightly and the pain lessened.

Ethan coughed violently as air gasped air back into his lungs.

“I was wrong,” he panted through the pain as oxygen returned to his body. “I let my own insecurities, with Alera, with Tae-Won, with the game, take over and push me away from you all.”

He sighed with what little breath he had.

“Miguel,” he turned towards his other friend. “Let this happen, I’m begging you. Stop healing me.”

The golden aura surrounding Miguel dimmed and the priest looked at him with tears in his eyes.

“He’s going to kill you.”

“Maybe,” Ethan nodded. “But it’s what Sam needs. He deserves to be heard and get his own anger out.” He looked back towards Sam. “I owe him that.”

The pain instantly magnified as Miguel’s spells ended.

“Sam,” Ethan gritted his teeth, relying on the gift of Grenat to carry him through the agony. “Let it all out, brother. Do what you need to, I deserve it.”

“You do, every second of it,” Sam’s eyes darkened and purple energy crackled his hands. The chains tightened once again, crushing Ethan’s body.

He gasped and choked as his lungs instinctually tried to suck in any air they could. His vision began to cloud over as pain wracked his body.

I will still find a way to make this right, his oxygen deprived last thoughts returned to the promise he’d made to the specters of David and Tae-Won. No matter how long it takes, how many respawns, I won’t break my oath.

Abruptly, the chains released him.

Ethan’s body crashed to the ground as the spell ended. His broken limbs failed to support him and fresh pain radiated through him.

“I… can’t…” Ethan twisted his neck and saw Sam on his hands and knees in front of him. The dark aura surrounding him had completely dissipated as sobs wracked his body.

“Sam,” he tried to pull his mangled body towards his friend, every movement sending waves of agony through him. He tried to use either of his self heals, but the intense pain wouldn’t let his mind focus. “I shouldn’t have left.”

“But you did,” tears rolled down Sam’s cheeks, falling into the grass under him. “And I hate you for it!”

“You have every right to,” Ethan reached out his shattered hand to grasp Sam’s. “I was wrong, I let you down.”

“That doesn’t make it better,” Sam whispered, wiping tears from his face with one hand. He lifted his head and locked eyes with Ethan. “You have always said that we’re a family, that we’re in this together, but when one of our own was literally being tortured, you left him to suffer!”

“I let myself get consumed with my own issues. Alera-“

“She doesn’t matter!” Sam shouted, rising to his feet. “You’re letting her be an excuse because you failed!” He grimaced and held one of his hands to his face momentarily, trying to calm himself before speaking again.

“You should have relied on all of us, the same way we relied on you.”

“You’re right,” Ethan winced through the pain as he tried to raise his head to see Sam. “If I had… I just… I should have come to you instead of pushing you away. Sam?”

His friend was gone. Ethan saw only an empty grass field.

A burst of warmth surged through his body. With audible snaps, Ethan felt his bones reset themselves and mend. The pain immediately eased as several more bursts of healing washed over him.

“Dude, I thought he was going to kill you!” Miguel grabbed him by his freshly healed arms and helped him to his feet.

“Where did he go?” Ethan spun his head, trying to find Sam. “What happened?”

“I don’t know, man” Miguel shrugged but did not look concerned that Sam had vanished. “He’s just gone. But good riddance, right?” He elbowed Ethan in the side with a grin, “he was being a major asshat.”

“No,” Ethan frowned at his friend. “Sam was right, he had every reason to be mad at me. I shouldn’t have fallen so far.”

“That doesn’t mean he should have tried to kill you,” Miguel scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “We all knew that you had problems with depression. With everything that happened, it’s no wonder you had a hard time.”

“Is that why you were so quick to forgive me?”

“Bro, there wasn’t anything to forgive,” Miguel shrugged. “You were literally by my bed at the worst point in my life, there’s nothing that you can do that would push me away.”

“I’m sorry I left you, Miguel,” Ethan pulled him into a tight hug, grateful for the first comforting touch since he’d entered the Hearg of Life. “I shouldn’t have pushed you away.”

“Heh, you came back, man,” Miguel squeezed him hard enough to crack his back. “I never doubted you would.”

A flutter of feathered wings behind him caused Ethan to release Miguel and turn around.

“Hello, Bríse,” Ethan smiled as he greeted the extra large brown and white hawk standing on the ground in front of him. “Thank you for returning.”

“I did nothing,” the Vættr of Air blinked their beautiful brown eyes and ruffled their feathers. “You put forth the effort to show me you understood what shattered our bond.”

“By stopping the fight between my friends with words, instead of violence?” Ethan smiled as he finally understood the test that had been set to him. One of the gifts from the spirit of air was intelligence, he felt proud of himself for coming up with a creative solution to end the battle.

“No,” Bríse scowled at him. “You came to an understanding with your friends.”

“I don’t get it,” Ethan frowned at having once again embarrassed himself to one of the Vættir. “There wasn’t any understanding between me and Sam, he just vanished.” He looked back at Miguel, not at all surprised to see his other friend had disappeared as well. “And nothing changed between me and Miguel.”

“But you understand your one friend’s anger at you” Bríse blinked their eyes patiently. “And why your other friend will always stand by you.”

“Well yes,” Ethan shrugged. “Sam felt like I turned my back on them and Miguel loves me.”

“Understanding is not the same as a resolution,” the Vættr of Air flexed their wings sending a small gust of air towards Ethan. “That has the possibility of coming later. You know how your friends feel about you, what you choose to do with that information rests solely on your shoulders.”

“So is any of this real?” Ethan had had hours to think while he paced, searching for anything in the empty Hearg. He had wondered nearly the entire time if his interaction with David and Tae-Won had any repercussions on his friends outside the Hearg.

Bríse focused their eyes on him momentarily, spread their wings again and took off in a rush of air.