Glenn would never rescue Azalea if he let himself become overwhelmed by fear or paralyzed by indecision. The little girl was not lost, not yet. He pushed past his horror and went right to what he needed to know right now.

“How do we know Azalea’s outside the walls? What if she’s playing Fade and Seek again, like she did the night we all thought she’d snuck onto that wagon to Lakebrooke?”

“She’s out,” Becka said grimly. “The Town Guard confirmed Azalea skipped right out of the gate a little under an hour before sundown, wandering south along the Safe Road in her little red dress with a yellow flower in her hair. She hasn’t returned.”

And the guard hadn’t stopped her because the Gods didn’t allow Town Guards to interfere in the comings and goings of travelers, even to save their lives. That poor Town Guard must feel horrible about letting Azalea slip away. Yet someone must have seen something.

“Did anyone else see her leave?” Glenn asked. “Has anyone seen her since?”

“No one,” Becka said. “All poor Logain could do was shout after Azalea until she skipped out of sight, then notify the first traveler to return home through the gates. That was Ziva Willowbraid.”

Of course Becka would know the name of the Town Guard who’d witnessed Azalea’s flight from town. Becka had always had an all but perfect memory, and moreover, she cared about people. Many found the Town Guards intimidating, given they literally wore [God Armor] and carried around weapons that could crack open carriages, but never Glenn. Town Guards made him feel safe.

“When did Ziva get back?” Glenn asked.

“Twenty minutes ago, just before the sun set.” Becka looked past him as if staring at something he couldn’t see. “Azalea’s been gone for more than an hour. I just volunteered to find her.”

Becka left unsaid why it was up to her and Glenn to find Azalea. The Gods did not allow Townsfolk to venture beyond the walls of their town after nightfall. To do so meant being turned to salt, and though Debra Whitetalon, Azalea’s mother, might be desperate enough to risk that fate, others in town would keep her alive. The people of Wolfpine looked out for one another.

Yet unclassed people like he and Becka, having been chosen neither as Adventurer or Townsfolk, could come and go freely day or night. Glenn focused on math and possibility. He kept a mental map of Grassea in his head at all times, one he’d developed over two years wandering its rolling hills and forests dispatching Grass Sprites, Gloamwolves, and worse. That map was vast and open.

“Azalea could be anywhere by now,” he said. “But the Safe Road’s her likeliest path. I didn’t run into her on my way home, so she may be heading toward Evolan.”

“I can track her,” Becka said firmly. “So you just follow me and watch my rear.” She smirked. “Which I seem to recall you doing anyway.”

Glenn glanced down at his feet, in boots, her feet, in soft shoes, and the Safe Road, which was absolutely covered in muddy footprints. “What are you talking about? You’re no Ranger.”

“Guess again,” Becka said, and revealed her Status Sheet for Glenn to see.

Glenn blushed despite the situation. Revealing one’s Status Sheet was something one only did with a dear friend or lover, and Becka was already quite dear to him. Yet though she’d revealed her full Status Sheet to him before, it never stopped feeling forbidden.

Yet they had no time for any of that tonight. Glenn focused on the Status Sheet before him.

Name: Rebecka Coldbreaker ==== Age: 15 Strength: 4 Level: 4 Divinity: 11 Class: Unassigned Luck: 6 HP: 60/60 Vitality: 6 Blood: 110/110 Wisdom: 11 Experience: 20146/22000 Prowess: 6 Gear: Common: [Seamstress Dress] Common: [Cloth Shoes] Common: [Commoner’s Dagger] Common: [Traveler’s Backpack] Common: [Smokeless Torch] Slotted Skills: Uncommon: [-Tracker’s Vision-] (Ranger/Dina) Slotted Blessings: None Known Skills: None Known Blessings: None Quests: Level 6 (Group): “Rescue Azalea Whitetalon!” (Uncertified)

Glenn could scarcely believe it. Becka had finally chosen her first Skill! He focused on the Skill and opened it to be sure he remembered exactly how it worked.

[-Tracker’s Vision-] — None — Ranger — Dina, Goddess of the Hunt — Uncommon: You may track any target your level or lower for one hour with unerring accuracy. Twelve hour cooldown.

Becka closed her Status Sheet and put hands to hips, smiling “See.”

Becka’s selection of her first Skill wasn’t the only surprise her Status Sheet revealed. “What are you even doing with an Uncertified Group Quest?”

“Debra Whitetalon gave it to me, of course,” Becka said cheerily. She pushed past him and hurried off a steady jog. “Now, are you going to let your comely Adventuring partner run off and rescue this lost child alone, or will you help me save her?”

Before him, words like those on parchment burned themselves into the very air. Glenn immediately recognized the language of the Gods. There were only a few Quests available to his Level, killing Grass Sprites or Gloamwolves in Grassea, and each could only be completed once. So in all Glenn’s life, he’d only seen two Quests from the Gods. This would make the third.

-Rebecka Coldbreaker wishes to share the Level 6 (Group) Quest “Rescue Azalea Whitetalon!” (Uncertified) with you. Do you accept?-

“Yes,” Glenn said immediately, followed by, “And of course I’m going to help you!”

A small tingle on the back of his neck assured him he’d now acquired this new Quest. Glenn easily caught up with Becka, and this time, Becka kept their synchronized pace to a steady jog. Yet Glenn knew the big pack was taxing her low Strength.

“Give me your pack,” he suggested. “I’m stronger.”

Becka shrugged the pack off and handed it over, but kept the torch. That would free Glenn to use his sword. Glenn strapped on the pack with one strap only, to ensure it wouldn’t block access to the sheathe on his back. The pack was barely an encumbrance with his above-average Strength, and Glenn matched his pace to hers. He understood why Becka jogged, and he didn’t try to leave her behind.

If either of them exhausted themselves before they found Azalea, they’d be in no shape to defend Azalea from even Grass Sprites. They would just die, and both he and Becka were beyond the Age of Resurrection: 13 or younger. If he or Becka died tonight, it might be the forever death.

Becka’s pack barely weighed anything at all, and Glenn frowned. “What’s in here, anyway?”

“Three more [Smokeless Torches],” Becka said. “Two [Light Healing Potions]. And Azalea’s stuffed tribbit, Mister Squeaky.”

“Just in case she needs something to hug on her way back.” Gods, Becka was so thoughtful. “How did you afford all this?”

“Borrowed it all from Father’s shop,” Becka said. “While the Gods might not let him leave the walls after nightfall, they have no laws preventing him from giving me everything I might need.”

Glenn nodded at Becka’s foresight. They would save Azalea tonight, for while the Pantheon freely resurrected all mortals under fourteen if they died before they could Level, such resurrections were not without cost. The cost of such resurrections was not one Glenn would wish upon anyone.

Children, as defined by the Pantheon, were blessed by the Gods in Balarel. Any mortal less than 14 years of age could not die, not permanently ... or so the Church of Celes claimed. Even if Azalea somehow died tonight, the Gods would bring her back.

Yet Azalea had died before.

Three years ago, Vulpor, Grassea’s Elite Gloamwolf, somehow broke through the Safe Stones projecting the Safe Road. As Jack Whitetalon returned home from collecting crafting resources, Vulpor attacked and devoured him, his horses, and Azalea, Jack’s then six-years-old daughter. Yet while Jack Whitetalon was gone forever—there had been no body to [-Resurrect-]—the Pantheon, in their wisdom, brought Azalea back three days later. She emerged from the Chapel of Celes unharmed.

Though it took months for Debra Whitetalon to accept the reincarnated Azalea as her daughter, she did, eventually, with the help of the entire town. Yet the cost of Azalea’s resurrection had been steep. She lost all memory of Jack Whitetalon, her own father, forever.

The Church of Celes and Wolfpine’s Spiritualist, Richard Deepscar, preached that memory loss was one cost of resurrections so costly they taxed the Gods. So if Azalea died again tonight, when she emerged from the Chapel of Celes three days from now ... Azalea might not remember her mother.

Glenn doubted Debra Whitetalon could survive another tragedy like that.

So he and Becka would find Azalea no matter the risk, and he would keep Becka alive no matter the cost. That was what an Adventurer did, but more importantly, that was what a good person would do. Glenn’s father, Hal, always said that proof of one’s goodness came in deeds, not words.

And tonight, Glenn would prove his desire to protect Wolfpine’s people through his deeds.

====

While children below the age of 14 will always be freely resurrected by the Gods, mortals of 14 years of age or older—known in Balarel as common age—forfeit such protection. They can be killed. Yet even death does not have to be the end of one’s journey in Balarel.

After any mortal falls in battle, they become an ensouled corpse. For twelve hours, their soul remains trapped in their fallen body. Provided their body is not devoured, burned, or otherwise destroyed, fellow Adventurers can seek out a Spiritualist to resurrect them before twelve hours elapse.

Any Spiritualist who has reached Level 30 and gained [-Resurrect-] can restore an ensouled corpse to life. Yet Spiritualists who remain in town are few and far between, and furthermore, [-Resurrect-] has a twenty-four hour cooldown between uses. It also consumes reagents that can only be gathered in high-Level zones by high-Level Adventurers, and only Chapels of Celes stock these rare items.

Mortal resurrection is both very expensive and, should too many people die at the same time, often impossible. Should twelve hours elapse after one’s death without a Spiritualist casting [-Resurrect-], one’s soul departs one’s body for the afterlife. Thereafter, the body is a desouled corpse.

To the people of Balarel, this is known as meeting the forever death.