The inside of the goblin’s tree was not what Kai expected. With over dozens of goblins living there, he had imagined that it would be a lot more cramped, with people having to step over each other to get anywhere. However, when Kai entered the tree he noticed that there were only three goblins there. There were spiral stairs that led both up and down and soon after Kai entered two of the goblins were already rushing up the stairs. The last one had a large bundle of supplies in hand and placed it onto a suspended platform. He then started pulling on a set of ropes that were adjacent to it for a few seconds before rushing off up the stairs as well. A pulley system. In other words, there were multiple floors which ran the entire length of the tree.

Kai found himself pleasantly surprised. He always had dreams of building a house carved out of a hollow tree. Of course, after the Incident, it would have been impossible. Yet now Kai was looking at a dream come true. Maybe the magical fantasy world wasn’t so bad if it meant Kai could see places like this. A thought passed through Kai’s mind of wanting to show Vivi this place but it was quickly snuffed out.

The Elder motioned for Kai to follow him up the stairs. At the top of the stairs they entered a room filled with goblins sprawled out across the floor. There were 20 goblins lying down, not all of them moving. With a calm eye, Kai surveyed the scope of injuries they were dealing with as the sounds of groans, wails, shouts and hubbub filled the room. There were what looked to be two medics that had a handle on the situation and were giving out orders to the rest of the goblins. Eventually he spotted a younger goblin leaning over a goblin with a ripped arm. Hesitation and fear was plastered over her face as she fiddled with implements in a bag. Not waiting for disaster to happen Kai rushed over to them.

“Stop whatever you’re doing and just wait for a second, okay?” Kai said to the young goblin.

Placing a hand over the groaning goblin Kai used Empathic Link. He became all too aware of the fact that a giant chunk of flesh was missing from his arm. But that was all, no broken bones or severed arteries. They could work with this. Kai sent images of being in a sunny meadow under a blue sky to the groaning goblin as he turned to face the young goblin.

“What have you got your hand on there?” Kai asked while pointing to the goblin’s bag.

The young goblin pulled out a knife, realized her mistake and shoved it back into her bag only for the sound of cracking glass to result from her continued fumbling.

“Calm down! It’s okay, we’ll take it slow. What’s your name?”

“Xilana,” the goblin replied.

“Okay, Xilana. I’m assuming that you’re one of the medics since you’ve got a bag full of medical tools. Just leave it alone for now. Now, are you squeamish? Do you mind touching this guy’s wound?”

The goblin shook her head, but a look of anxiety still covered her face.

“So, just anxious, then. That’s fine. I’m here, so no need to worry. Now, I need you to disinfect the wound. Do you have any alcohol or...”

Xilana took out a jar from her bag and handed it to Kai.

“It’s spirit water,” Xilana said.

Kai took a sniff of the stuff in the jar and recoiled.

“Yeah, that’s ‘spirits’ alright. Just clean out the wound with a cloth soaked in spirit water and then we’ll wrap bandages around it. Easy peasy, right?”

With Kai’s help Xilana was able to do just that. She picked out stray bits of dirt, disinfected the wound and wrapped bandages around the injured goblin. In fact, Kai didn’t need to do anything. Xilana knew what she was doing and once she calmed down she worked with the careful precision of a practiced hand.

Once the goblin was patched up Xilana looked up at Kai with relief. But it quickly passed as her face curled back into apprehension.

“Do-do we need to put the salve on now? It should help with the healing, right?” Xilana asked.

Kai shook his head. “Xilana, you know more than me. When we first started this guy was bleeding a small creak from his arm. But now he’s fine. You did that. But you could only do it because you made a decision. Do what you know is right and you’ll be fine.”

Xilana nodded and after only a moment’s hesitation decided to apply a salve over that goblin’s wounds. The goblin’s breathing calmed and he seemed to be in less pain.

“Good! See, I knew you could do it.”

Xilana sheepishly smiled at Kai and was about to say something when the entire room was filled with the screaming of a goblin.

“NO! NO TAKE XIKANG ARM! XIKANG WARRIOR! XIKANG STRONG!”

Kai looked over at the shouting goblin who was surrounded on all sides by other goblins trying to hold him down. One of the medics had a saw in her hand.

“Hold that thought, Xilana. I’ll be right back.”

Kai walked over to the crowd and took a look at the shouting goblin’s arm. It wasn’t actually that bad. Sure it looked like a mangled dog’s chew toy and bits of mutilated flesh hung onto the arm by mere threads, but the bone structure was still intact. The goblins were surprisingly sturdy creatures.

“I don’t think you need to amputate it,” Kai said.

The medic with the saw looked up at Kai. She had blazing red hair and matching eyes to boot.

“That is not your place to say, outlander,” the redheaded goblin said. “We must amputate the limb before any evil spirits can infect the body. It’s either that or he dies a slow, painful death.”

“Yeah, I know. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can disinfect the arm, bandage it and wash it every couple of hours. Sure, it’ll be a pain but he won’t lose his arm.”

“LISTEN TO OUTLANDER! WISE OUTLANDER! WISE WARRIOR!” The goblin on the floor shouted.

“Shut up, Xikang! And you outlander! Don’t rile him up anymore. Your plan won’t work. Besides I have many others to tend to. I cannot afford to baby Xikang.”

“Well,” Kai said. “You might not be willing to tend to Xikang but I know someone who will. Hey, Xilana! Come over here.”

Xilana came running over to where Kai stood. Kai noticed that she positioned herself behind him, away from the red headed goblin.

“Xilana? You would have Xilana tend to Xikang?” the red headed goblin asked.”Xilana cannot even keep track of her own feet, much less care for the wounded. You would be better off leaving Xikang on the forest floor.”

Kai stole a glance back at Xilana. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. Kai took a step closer to the red headed goblin.

“That’s where you’re wrong, actually. Xilana just did a great job of patching up the guy over there with a chunk of his arm ripped out of him. If she can do that then she can certainly take care of Xikang here.”

Kai noticed there was an edge to his voice that he tried too late to hide. The red headed goblin looked past him at the goblin Xilana had patched up. It was obvious she was trying to find some fault with Xilana’s patch work but could find nothing. In the end, she turned away and thought for a moment. The red headed goblin shook her head.

“No, one person infected with evil spirits endangers the whole tribe. That is common sense. The arm goes off.”

The red headed goblin then kneeled over Xikang and raised her saw about to-

“Enough!” the Elder’s voice boomed. Though he wasn’t as loud as Xikang, the whole room went silent after hearing the Elder shout. “Xitana, let it go. You have become too obsessed after your mother left and it is clouding your judgment. Let Xilana tend to Xikang. I do not want to repeat myself.”

With that the Elder whirled around towards the stairs and went up a level.

When the Elder was gone from sight, the red headed goblin, Xitana, threw her saw against a wall and marched off to tend to other patients. The other goblins also got off of Xikang and went about their own business leaving just Kai, Xilana and Xikang in the corner of the room.

“Well, we should get to work, huh.” Kai said to Xilana.

The two of them then crouched next to Xikang and started treating his wounds like with the other goblin.

After awhile Xikang shouted, “XIKANG THANK OUTLANDER! XIKANG HAPPY! XIKANG IS WARRIOR! XIKANG WILL BECOME WARRIOR FOR OUTL-”

“Xikang shut up or I will come over there and rip your arm off myself!” Xitana shouted from across the room.

“XIKANG WILL BECOME WARRIOR FOR OUTLANDER! XIKANG MAKE YOU PROUD!”

“Well, Xikang. You can make me proud by not making a fuss while you’re healing. Also remember to thank Xilana cause she’s the one patching you up.”

Xikang nodded. “OKAY! XIKANG THANKS XILANA!”

Kai looked over Xilana’s bandaging of Xikang. It was all professionally done. It was hard to imagine why Xitana was so adamant on not letting Xilana patch up wounds. It must have been for personal reasons, then.

“Alright, now the hard part is up to you, Xilana. You just have to make sure his bandages are cleaned and his wounds are disinfected every few hours. It might get better but it might get worse. If it gets worse what do you do?”

Xilana looked stumped by the question. Eventually she gave up and said, “I don’t know.”

“Exactly! That’s right. You don’t know until you are looking right at it. Don’t be afraid of not knowing. You have a whole bag of tools to use when you do have a problem in front of you. Trust in yourself and if you need help call me or the Elder. Got it?”

Xilana nodded. “Thank you, outlander.”

“The name’s Kai and you’re welcome.”

Kai stood up and let Xilana focus on her work. The rest of the room seemed to be handled as well with Xitana weaving between beds with the other medic. Out of the 20 goblins that had been injured only two had sheets and crying bodies sprawled over them. From a pragmatic point of view it was not a bad outcome as the situation could have been much worse. But Kai knew he only thought that way because he didn’t know these people in a true sense. They were strangers and while the goblins regarded him with gratitude and awe, there was still a distance that they put between themselves and Kai.

Kai was about to head up the stairs to search for the Elder when he felt a hand tap him on the side. Looking down he saw an older male goblin who was adorned in many red markings that spiraled up and down across his body.

“The Elder went down to the Sanctum as he often does when he is tired. I can bring you there,” the red-marked goblin said.

Kai motioned for the goblin to lead the way but instead of going up or down the stairs the goblin instead took Kai to the pulley system. He then told Kai to stand on the platform, face the opposite direction and to jump off the moment he saw blue. Not knowing quite what the goblin meant, Kai got on the platform and prepared himself. The goblin then started pulling the ropes at the pulley’s sides and Kai descended further into the tree.

On the way he caught glimpses of various rooms with mixed levels of activity. There was a kitchen with bubbling pots and pans that smelled of a meaty lobster stew. There was a weaving station where workers were busy crafting bandages for the injured above. There was a storage area where goblins bounced between assorted crates and boxes of fruits, nuts, fabrics, metals, glass, gold, tools and everything else beneath the sun that all came together to form a veritable hoard many times higher than the goblins themselves. There was an armory where spears, arrows, blades and armors were being hammered out in front of a small forge. There was a sleeping area where rows of hammocks were tied from poles around a circular room and in them goblins nestled into rocking rhythm as they slept suspended in the air.

Then Kai spotted a hint of blue coming from the direction he was meant to face. He prepared to jump, but found that his stop was only the size of a small hallway, barely big enough to accommodate him. Squeezing into it, the platform went further below and Kai was left with only one way to go. There was a blue light emanating from glowing mushrooms that grew along the walls and going further into the hallway they became more numerous. Eventually, after walking in what appeared to be a curved loop, Kai found himself at a metal door. On the door was a carving of a screaming man, seemingly encased in the metal of the door. It reminded Kai too much of Leandros and instead of lingering he opened the door and stepped inside.

Beyond the door was a room encased in total darkness. The only reason Kai could see was that he could sense the Elder in the center of the room and through his eyes Kai could see clearly enough. Kai walked further into the room and closed the door behind him.

Though the room was dark, it wasn’t empty. On the floor there were markings painted in dried blood. They had access to other paints now, but for this one room they exclusively used blood in deference to the Ancestors. Though normal eyes couldn’t see them, there were also carvings that ran all along the ceiling of the room. Just as Michelangelo painted frescos across the ceilings of churches to depict divinity, so too did the carvings depict events which transcended their material. Death was the main theme that ran along the walls. The room was not so much a room as it was one massive gravestone.

“So you have come, Uluanwen,” the Elder said. “Though you do not have eyes like me, I can guess that you well enough, no? Come, sit by me.”

Kai went over to where the Elder sat in the middle of the circle of blood. Despite the creepiness of the room, Kai found himself not as disturbed as he expected himself to be. It was because there was something in the Elder that was more than just sad, but Kai couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“I brought you here to ask the Ancestors to find the item you seek,” the Elder said. “I know that you have come from far away. I felt your arrival in the weave of the world through the Ancestors. Three portals, two men and one object of great power. One of the men died but a few days ago while the other wanders in search of what he has lost. Am I right, or am I missing something else? ”

“Yeesh, why don’t you tell me my fortune and guess my blood type while you’re at it? Did we really make that much noise entering this world?” Kai asked.

“Yes, it is likely that there is no single entity who has power in this world who does not know of your arrival.”

“Well, that’s not reassuring.”

“No, it isn’t. You will have many forces contesting against you for the object you seek. Thus, since you have helped my people, I will help you. Take my hand and we will commune with the Ancestors.”

The Elder reached out a hand and Kai took it. Though the room was surely blocked off from the outside, a chill wind began to swirl around the room. Energy crackled through the air, not electricity, but something more primal and chaotic. The smell of burnt, rusted iron filled the room as whispers began to form on the edges of his mind. The Elder was channeling them, the whispers and the spirits that laid behind those whispers. He was sifting through them like grains, trying to pick apart the bad ones from the good. In time the air calmed and only a few choices voices could be heard.

It was time. The Elder nodded towards Kai and they began to sink into the voices, but something was wrong. The Elder looked around him in confusion as the spell around them was broken and two of them fell further than the Elder had anticipated. Further into a sea of never ending blackness void of all light. It was too late when Kai realized that what they were doing was not a ritual. They sat before a gravestone trying to connect an intangible line between those who lived and those who passed on. In other words, a prayer. But, again, the realization came too late as the last thing Kai saw before he was enveloped in darkness was a screen appearing in front of him.

Unique ability, Prayers for the Fallen, has activated.

Status Update

Name: Kai Walker

Health: 54/54

Mana: 120/120

Class: Empath

Abilities: Empathic Link, Prayers for the Fallen

Skills: Survivalist (lvl.4), Trap Maker (lvl.2), Poisoner (lvl.1), Black Spear Wielder (lvl.3), Medic(lvl.1)

Magic: None

Collected Memories: House Leandros, Ximati Ancestors (Processing)

Status:

Strength: 5

Agility: 5

Dexterity: 5

Endurance: 10

Intelligence: 5

Wisdom: 5

Charisma: 6

Ravenous points: 39

Debuffs:

Ravenous (lvl.3)