“Bad news.” The grey-haired dwarf approached wielding his hammer in his hands. I patted the wounded dingo on the side, and he growled up at me. The dingo couldn’t stand for his broken ribs so I was confident he couldn’t get ahold of me. I was trying to get him used to me by feeding him jerky and bringing him water. He was a hateful dingo though, so I left him to sleep under Shia as she slept in the sun. I stepped away from her as the dwarf approached, I didn’t know how deep she slept but I didn’t think it appropriate to stand and have a conversation right beside her.

I put a hand on the shoulder of the stalky old dwarf and guided him a little further out. “What was your name again?

“Thurnar,” he looked up at me for a long moment with his big brown eyes pondering something.

“You went straight to task in the battle last night. Have you fought before?” I asked walking a little further with him.

“I fought in the First Blood War.” He sat his hammer down on the ground and folded both hands across the handle. “Fought with an orc there too. Tough as a team of boar ox, arrogant and careless. He spent more time in the pits than on the ground, he did. Smelled a might more than a wet dog. Loved ta fight though. Bloodthirsty. I think he fought in the Second Blood as well, dunno, gave up fighting and went on to raise a family. Those are my boys back there.”

“Where is their mother?”

He sniffed. “She wasn’t with us the day the Shade took us. We were out staking new hunting ground the year the drought dried up the creek. She probably moved on by now. We’ve been gone for years. Mido wasn’t even an adult at the time.” Tears welled up in his eyes as he told me.

“Which one is Mido?”

“The quiet one. He don’t have a beard yet. He ain't spoke hardly a word in a year or more. Shade did a number on him. His brother Dredge only got more angry. Kept trying to fight the things, tried to protect his little brother. He was the last of us to give up.” He went silent staring at the violet sky with tears hanging in his eyes but refusing to fall. I watched Thurnar for several minutes waiting for him to say more. He had a rugged appearance. His face was covered in complimentary wrinkles that somehow made him seem more intimidating and hardened by time. I wondered if he was thinking of his wife out there somewhere.

“I’m sorry Thurnar. I’m glad I didn’t stay long enough for them to break my spirit. I can’t imagine what it has been like for you to be in that place with your sons.”

“You have any sons?” Thurnar asked.

A flash of bouncing red curls filled my mind for a flash. Orange sunlight shined through them and a beautiful little freckled face smiled at me. The memory felt so far away. Like several lifetimes ago. “A daughter,” I said.

“What’s her name.” Thurnar looked at me his grim spirit, lifting a little.

“Stella.” I said as the fleeting image escaped my mind.

Thurnar gave a faint smile, “It’s a very pretty name.” His tear finally fell from his eye and I was forced to look away. My own throat growing tight.

I cleared my throat, “you said there was bad news?”

Thurnar pulled a knife from his belt and handed it to me. I turned it over in my hands. It had a flaming eye in the center of the hilt. An orange eye in the center of a black handle. The knife looked simple like something to skin a squirrel with or whittle sticks with. “Only thing in the loot really worth keeping other than the gold of course.”

“Well, that’s disappointing.” I closed the knife and slipped it into my pouch.

Respawn Blade acquired

“Good find.” Tootsie buzzed in my ear. “Place this blade in the ground where you want to respawn at. If you die in battle you won’t respawn back into the midst of the battle and neither will those under your command.”

“How much gold was there?”

“Two thousand coin in all.” Thurnar scratched his beard. “Enough to feed us all with a good beer and a bed for a night in a town tavern. Not enough to change lives.”

“We will have to raid again then.” I patted Thurnar on the shoulder again. “We need enough coin to travel halfway around the world. I have a daughter to return and now a husband and sons too.”

He gave me the long pondering stare again. “You want to take us home?”

“With all my heart.”

The old dwarf dropped another tear and looked out at the horizon again. He sucked in a deep breath through his nostrils and held it. Then he really smiled.

I turned and walked back to the two dingos. The one with the broken leg was a bit more subdued so I wrapped his mouth in woven grass and pulled him up on my shoulders. Then I walked with him taking long strides and dipping down low to the ground as I walked. I could feel the burn from the old familiar exercise. It did well to distract my mind as I waited for Shia to wake. It also gave me time to think. We were raiders for now. It would continue to be difficult to gain much ground with Shia sleeping during the day and the rest sleeping at night. I looked back at the camp. Elves, dwarves a cat woman, some falconites. I laughed to myself. We just about all have extraordinary night vision. I looked back to the blue sun in the sky. I would miss that sapphire orb in the sky.

Strength 26

I laughed again. I could naturally raise my strength. No more spending points on that attribute. I wondered what other attributes I could raise and how. I sat the Dingo down on the ground.

“Tootsie how do I use the Kinetic Pull?”

“Make a fist out in front of you like this, then turn your wrist and pull your fist to your chest. While you focus on the object you want to move of course.”

I focused on a boulder three meters off and pulled. It broke free from the ground and slammed into my chest, knocking me to the ground. Dust billowed up around me and caused me to cough. I groaned and rolled the stone from my chest. That was stupid. I walked away from the stone, rubbing my chest.

Mana 0

“Just like that.” Tootsie laughed, “do it again.”

I glared at her. I tried to pull the stone again, this time with the intention of dodging it. It didn’t budge.

“Tootsie how do I replenish my mana?”

“You can raise the attribute, find the fruit of replenishing or meditate in your shelter.”

I would definitely have to spend some points on Mana at least until I figured out how to raise mana naturally. “Fine.” I grabbed the dingo from the ground and put him across my shoulders again. “Come show me how to meditate.” I walked toward the tents. I guessed it was about time I claimed one as my own.