Leo fiddled with the small golden ring in his palm, staring rigidly at the memento Zeld had left him. Once more his world had been turned on its head. Feelings of solitude and helplessness churned within him. He hadn’t been able to do anything in this situation, other than to watch as his friend went to die. A piece of him wanted to believe the old man would return, that if he waited here long enough, he would hear his barking laughter echo through the garden, indicating an end to some elaborate prank.

His grip tightened on the ring in his hand, the piece of solid evidence that ground away his fantastical thoughts. Zeld never would have let this ring leave his finger if he believed he would survive this duel.

The sad reality of the situation tamped out any embers of curiosity he might have had toward the item’s unknown effects. He gingerly tugged the ring onto his left index finger, the band automatically adjusting its size to fit snugly against his skin. The wedding band’s flawless condition was a testament to how much Zeld had treasured the item—if Leo let so much as a scratch befall it, he would be dishonoring his teacher’s memory.

A long sigh escaped his lips, the invisible weight of burden and grief bearing down on him. The old man had been a lighthouse in the ocean of chaos that made up this world; with him gone, he didn’t know which direction to trend. The nation of Erreth had lost its final cornerstone.

The will of a nation remains as long as there are those who live by its principles, called Amira, her voice gentle yet saddened. Her giant body was nestled on the ground, gaze transfixed on the dancing ruby lights of the Radiant Hearts. Or have you already forgotten the foremost principle Zeldorth tried to beat into you?

“Strength in union,” Leo murmured in answer, as Pride and Sparky slowly padded up alongside him. Their features were smeared with a mixture of dirt and soot, and he could sense a reflection of his sorrow emanating from their bond. Still, their presence felt like two anchors keeping him from being swept away.

Work together, not apart, support, do not subvert. A flock does not fly alone and if you hunt, I’m sure you’ll find other hatchlings of a similar feather, searching for a place to nest. It was the same advice Zeld had given him—find other Arrivals like him and work together to defy their fate.

A moment of silence descended on the clearing before Amira spoke once more. Speak. I can feel the questions that trouble you.

Leo clenched his fists at her words, anger breaching the surface of his sorrow. “Why aren’t you helping him? Why is he alone out there fighting, and if he knew this was coming, why didn’t he prepare for it!” His voice rose in volume until he yelled out the last part, feeling frustrated at his own helplessness in the situation. “He told me ‘Most fights are over before they even begin,’ after all…”

“You question why she and her kind didn’t die a pointless death?” snorted Reign as he paced his way over to them from across the clearing. The air around Pride’s horn began shifting with power as electricity arced across Sparky’s feathers at his approach. “Do you think the Order of Lazarus is so weak that it would be threatened by anything that old man could rally forth? Vizon singlehandedly wiped this nation off the map when it was at the peak of its power, and there are four others with a strength incomparable to him. Your thoughtless remarks only serve to shame those-”

Reign was interrupted by a massive surge of lightning that shot across the garden mere feet in front of him, sundering the ground around it into molten dirt from its intense heat. He paused mid-stride, his face paled for a moment before he schooled his features and set his foot down behind the line that had been carved in the earth. He glanced at Amira and crossed his arms. “Your threats are hollow. We both know that if you kill me, my master would be honor-bound to seek revenge.” He spoke with cool certainty but Leo noticed his feet stayed firmly planted behind the line that had been drawn.

Amira huffed and shot out a smaller bolt of electricity that made the boy jump in agitation as it splashed harmlessly at his feet. As much as I hate to admit it, his viewpoint is sound. We simply do not have the strength to fight against Lazarus, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t prepare in a different way. She turned her attention back to the Creeping Horror, the massive behemoth that had still shown no reaction to today’s events.

The Radiant Hearts! Leo realized, hope blossoming in his chest with the realization. If they couldn’t beat Vizon in a fight, then they could reverse the damage he caused after he left. Did that mean they could bring back Lila and the others too? Just how many flowers had they been able to harvest?

One, Amira reluctantly answered his unintentional question, causing his train of thought to falter. And it nearly cost us our lives to do so.

Her answer blew away most of the excitement from this turn of events, but it was still incredible news! All they had to do was wait for Vizon to leave, retrieve Zeld’s body and…something wasn’t right. Amira’s mood was far too somber for what she had said. Then it hit him, everything finally clicking together in his mind. He dropped to his knees from the guilt at what he had done, feeling crushed by his part to play in Zeld’s death.

I’m sorry, little one, Amira tried to soothe his quaking nerves. He made the sacrifice willingly, always remember that.

Leo’s body trembled with the knowledge that he was the one who brought about his friend’s demise. The flower that had saved his life when he first entered the garden had cost his mentor his own! How could he have been so foolish in thinking he had a chance of harvesting the ingredient when he first saw it? “Abyss take me,” he hissed between clenched teeth, slamming a fist against the mud. He wanted nothing more than to knock a shred of caution into his past self.

His companions, sensing his anger and guilt, tried to send him their mental support, but he ignored their feelings. It couldn’t end like this, not when he was the one at fault. There had to be something he could do, anything to help reverse the situation he had helped create. He looked over to the Creeping Horror and its plethora of red flowers that shone like a wall of rubies. If he couldn’t retrieve one by force, maybe he could through negotiation. He owed it to Zeld to at least try.

There was a thundering crack and a billow of exploding earth as the cavern was struck with the force of a meteor. The dust settled to reveal Vizon’s black form. His black cape was in tatters, his left sleeve torn off, and his neatly groomed hair a disheveled mess. He held a large object in his hands, but before Leo could get a good look at it, he vanished.

He reappeared towering over Leo, lips arced in a cruel smile. He held out his left hand, revealing the battered and bleeding form of Zeld’s corpse. The old man’s eyes that were always filled with mirth now lay sightless and empty. His pristine white robes were stained crimson from the blood that seeped out of several deep gruesome wounds. Vizon uncurled his fingers around the corpse’s throat, leaving the body to crumple unceremoniously to the ground.

Leo felt a wave of nausea and dizziness engulf him as his eyes refused to turn away from the ghastly image of his friend, the rest of the world quickly fading into the background. He heard a muffled laugh and meaningless words about breaking someone before a hard smack on his cheek brought him back to reality and sent him tumbling down in the dirt. He lay there for a moment, reorienting his spinning sight before his brain started up again and he managed to clamber to his feet.

Pride and Sparky stood protectively in front of him as Vizon gave him a smirk and planted the heel of his boot on Zeld’s pale face. Seeing the way in which his mentor’s body was mistreated erupted the anger boiling within him. He clenched his fists hard enough for his fingernails to draw blood against his palm, knowing he was too weak to do anything.

“Now this seems to have been enough to ignite the rage within your heart. I want you to take that anger you feel and use it as fuel to grow stronger, cling to the futile hope that you will one day be able to surpass me and get your revenge.” The reaper’s charcoal eyes glowered in anticipation, as if he could already imagine their final fight. “We expect great things from your kind, do not disappoint us.” With that he gave the body a kick, sending the corpse barreling into Leo and his beasts and knocking them to the ground with the corpse draping over them.

“Reign, we’re leaving.”

Leo gently pushed Zeld’s body aside as his nausea finally burst out of him in a painful torrent from their proximity. He finished vomiting just in time to see the bright pillar of red that symbolized the Order’s departure.

It took a moment to catch his breath from his expenditure before he found the strength to stand up and walk over to Amira. I will lay him to rest next to his wife and son, she said gently as Leo passed her by.

No, he replied, firmly staring up at the nightmarish tree before him. Not before I’ve done all I can.