~~~~~~~

Alejandro

~~~~~~~

Alejandro had no choice.

His baby girl was in danger and he had to act. It didn't matter what the cost might be. It didn't matter that the collar around his neck was digging screaming claws into his head, telling him to do nothing. None of that mattered.

The blade swung…

[Sacrificial Shield] Activated on Target(Anita Morales)

…and struck.

Warning! Deadly Wound Inflicted. Health Critical. Death Imminent.

The pain was worth it… it was all worth it when he saw and heard Anita crying… and unharmed. "I did it!"

Relief shifted into sadness as strength drained… "I'm sorry that I won't be there… for… you…"

You have Died.

Darkness closed in from all sides and Alejandro fell into oblivion.

…

…

…

An eternity or instant later…

Forced Race Evolution. [Runic Flesh Golem]

Error! Due to the Equipped Item [Collar of Freedom], this Change Cannot be Forced. You Must Choose. Y/N

Alejandro drifted in a sea of nothingness, his mind feeling faint and adrift. The words were distant and almost meaningless here, but a light still burned bright inside him. It illuminated smiling faces deep in his mind…

He managed to grasp onto one word as his mind continued to unravel… "Runic?" Alejandro knew that he was dying… or dead already… something…

He reached out toward the light. "Never give up…"

Forced Race Evolution Accepted.

New Race: [Runic Flesh Golem]

His mind abruptly pulled together with jarring and almost painful speed. "I am alive!" Alejandro tried to open his eyes, to move, anything! Only he couldn't feel his body… "Am I alive?"

His thoughts felt alive, and he could feel something else… Magic.

Alejandro followed the feeling and light reentered his world. He stared at the light… or observed? Felt? It wasn't something seen with eyes, rather something he had only ever seen during a Rank Up.

It was his Core… his broken Core.

The formerly active and vibrant orb of magic that resided somewhere in the center of his being, was now still and mostly dim. Cracks ran throughout it and a piece was missing, as if it was a glass ball that had been dropped on the ground and then someone tried to glue it back together without finding all the pieces… or tape it back together…

Glowing symbols covered the orb, wrapping around in every direction with bands of glowing light. "Lee…"

Alejandro could see threads of Magic trailing away from the orb. One thread looked to be bringing in Mana while the rest were sending it back out. He followed the threads, trying to figure out what was happening… and found his body.

The Core was in his chest and the threads were connecting it to his body… feelings from said body were coming to him in fits and starts as more threads found their connections and started pumping Mana.

He followed the thread with incoming Mana back up and found… the collar. "That fucking thing!" Only now it glowed white with two pulsing symbols at the front…

Alejandro pulled his mind back and tried to summon up his Notifications. Maybe that would explain more.

You have Died.

He felt cold… "I am actually dead. Or was dead…" Why they even had a Notification for that…

-10 Soul(Dispersed upon Death)

-10 All Base Attributes(Dispersed upon Death)

[Soul Tether] Removed.

More feeling was returning but it was taking a while. He kept reading.

Forced Race Evolution Accepted.

New Race: [Runic Flesh Golem]

Alejandro focused on his new Race and tried not to think about the fact that it never said he was alive again…

[Runic Flesh Golem](D Rank)

Generally Used as Slave Labor or Battle Fodder, the Flesh Golems are a Quasi-Race Created by Binding a Soul Into a Fresh Corpse.

Only Considered a Unique Race Due to the Characteristics that all Flesh Golems share.

Must Obey the One who Bound Them. N/A(Collar of Freedom)

Cannot Absorb Cores.

Cannot Be Healed by Standard Healing.

Cannot Regenerate Mana.

Requires Constant Mana Supply to Maintain Body Functionality.

"Lee… you crazy son of a bitch!" Alejandro thought as he read the Notifications, "You did it! You brought me back!"

His body was still powering up… or whatever was happening, but he wanted desperately to open his eyes. "How long was I dead? Wait, it says fresh corpse so it can't be that long. Did Lee kill them all? Are Maria and the kids…" His Skill had saved Anita... right? It had, he was sure of it. He had seen her, heard her crying…

[Sacrificial Shield(Initiate IV)]

Sacrifice Your Health to Shield Another.

Casting this Skill on Another will Transfer Full Percentage Health Damage They Receive During the Duration to the Caster.

Damage Received from this Skill is not Mitigated by Your Attributes or Other Skills.

All Damage is Taken by the Recipient Before Being Transferred to Caster.

Warning! Use with Caution. This Skill Can Kill The Caster.

Initiate Effects:

-0.5% Health Damage Received Per Skill Level

"It should have… I took all the damage from her." He hadn't leveled it much since getting the Class Skill… but as it said, and as he very well knew now, it could kill him. Despite all that, he didn't regret choosing the Skill, "Best choice I ever made, and I would do it again!"

In a further attempt to distract himself from what felt like an eternity of waiting, Alejandro next tried to see what had happened to the collar…

[Collar of Freedom](Linked)

A former Collar of Enslavement, this Collar has been Subverted by the Linked [Collar of Absolute Freedom] and become Anathema to Its former Purpose.

Charge: 95%

Equipped Effects:

Immune to All Movement Impairing Effects.

Immune to All Mental Impairing Effects.

Instantly Transports User to Safe Location at Will of Wearer When Charge is Over 50%.

Instantly Transports User to Safe Location on Imminent Death and Places Into Stasis until Charge Depletes or Status Improves.

Retaliation against any Active Control Bands Within 10 Meters.

Subverts Any Enslavement Collar Within 10 Meters. Speed of Subversion based on Proximity and Charge.

All Subverted Collars Will Gain Full Effects Over Time based on Proximity to Linked [Collar of Absolute Freedom].

"Nice one, brother." Lee hadn't settled for simply escaping, instead turning the collar into an active opponent against anything that would attempt to repeat the nightmare.

He did notice the Charge tick down another percentage point while he was going over the description… "Did he make the collar my Constant Mana Supply?"

Sound abruptly reentered his world, sounds of violence, and nearby. "Wake up already!" He also heard a small voice crying very close…

The Charge continued to tick down at the same rate despite his every effort to speed it up.

Until finally, his eyes snapped open.

Alejandro found himself flat on his back. Maria knelt next to him, the crying Anita in her arms as she rocked the girl gently and scanned the area, likely due to the screams and other sounds of battle.

"Ani…" His voice came out, but at barely a whisper. His mouth felt wrong…

Maria's eyes jumped to his and she visibly flinched back. Alejandro tried to get up but only managed to lift his head. He saw Gabriel on his other side, head down and fingers drawing something glowing on the ground.

Maria appeared in a flash next to their son, between him and Alejandro. Fear was in her eyes…

"My Heart…" Alejandro's heart ached at the look in her eye, but it couldn't smother the joy at seeing all of them safe. Inch by inch he forced his body to move, sitting up slowly even as parts of his body still couldn't be felt yet. What he could feel, felt wrong. Not like his body, rather more like a thick costume that he was piloting from within.

Gabriel noticed the movement and flinched as well. Whatever he had been trying to do on the ground exploded into dust and stone splinters, but he barely seemed to notice as his teary eyes stayed riveted on Alejandro. "Papa?"

Anita had noticed as well and was staring wide-eyed, even as Alejandro could see her pulling in a deep breath…

"My boy." Gabriel used to always call him that, until he started trying to act more grown up and fit in with the other children… "Ye…"

"You died…" Maria whispered.

"I id," Alejandro said, "bu ee…" He tore his gaze from his family and toward the last place he'd seen Lee… He wasn't there.

When he turned back, Maria was in his face, a knife in her hand but held back, not exactly threatening him. "Are you truly my…" Her hand touched him and Alejandro felt her Magic wash through him. She flinched at whatever she saw and the knife inched closer.

"Ya…" His mouth still wasn't working, so he just stared into her eyes. "It is me, my love."

"Your eyes are glowing," Maria said, still on edge but he could see her softening.

"ee…"

"Open your mouth and hold still," Maria spat. The knife vanished and her hands were suddenly wrapped around his jaw as she shoved a finger into his mouth. Alejandro felt something strange and light shone from his open mouth onto her face. Then she tilted his head back and did the same thing to his chin.

"The knife… Anita!" Alejandro struggled in his wife's iron grip and managed to turn his head enough to spot Anita held in her brother's arms. She was still there!

His tear ducts must have finally started working then, because his vision went all blurry… "My babies…" he almost choked on the words and reached a hand out as Maria finished her work and let go of his chin.

Gabriel and Anita tackled him flat onto his back again with both of them screaming, "Papa!"

Alejandro held them tight. "I thought I would lose you!" He could feel Gabriel shaking and he squeezed tighter. "I'm okay! I'll never leave you!" he told his crying babies, and his mouth seemed to be working again.

The chaos was dying down around them and he blinked away the tears enough to see Maria standing over them. Her gaze was constantly roving as she alternated between looking around and staring at him, warily. Alejandro freed one hand and reached for her. "My Heart…"

She knelt and took his hand, another pulse of her magic going through him on contact. Maria could obviously see something had changed and Alejandro was curious about what exactly she saw, but wasn't sure if he should tell her that he might actually be technically dead… at least not in front of the children…

"I can feel it," Gabriel said suddenly, his hand on Alejandro's chest, "Uncle Lee's Runes…" Then he looked up. "They're in your eyes too."

"Can you stand?" Maria asked, her gaze still moving warily, and not just because of him.

"I… will try," Alejandro said hesitantly. His body still didn't feel right, but at least he could feel all of it now.

He was able to stand, and finally take in the aftermath of that hellish night.

The so called elves were all dead. He wasn't sure if their leader was among the bodies but at least he couldn't see any running around… A lot of humans were dead as well and Alejandro tried his best to keep Anita from looking that way as he clutched her against his chest. Gabriel was looking around with the same intensity as his mother and resisted Alejandro's attempts to pull him away.

He did recognize some of the dead humans… people who hadn't been collared, the ones helping Wilson and the elves… Alejandro could see the man in question, the traitorous bastard!

Alejandro closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Focus!" The monster wasn't going anywhere. "Where is Lee?" Alejandro asked instead, "Is he okay?"

"I don't know," Maria said, still eyeing him with quick glances to Anita in his arms.

"She is still unsure if I am myself…" Alejandro stepped closer to her and shifted the slowly calming girl in his arms. "Do you want to take…"

"Uncle Lee vanished," Gabriel said, "just poof! I think he used the collar…"

Alejandro turned his head just in time to see his boy squeeze his eyes shut in concentration, and vanish!

"Mary, Mother…" Maria exclaimed as she spun in place, looking for him.

"Three," Alejandro said, "it said a safe place, maybe he went…" He took a step in that direction and Maria put a hand on him.

"I'll go," she said and glanced around once more, "stay here." Her gaze jumped to Anita and then she met his eyes for a long moment. "Watch over her," she finally said, and sprinted away in a blur.

"Always!" Alejandro said vehemently, "Always and Forever! No matter what!" He hugged Anita tighter, but not too tight, and started to gently rock her. The poor girl must be exhausted after that night and it felt like she was falling asleep in his arms.

"Alejandro!" the voice behind him called, and he turned to see Saira walking slowly towards him. Being dragged along behind her was… Wilson.

The man was wrapped up in vines that sprouted from Saira's flesh. Some of the vines were obviously pierced into the man and he looked bad… like almost a mummy, bad. Saira looked fine, great actually, if lightly speckled with blood…

"I am glad to see that you are not…" Saira said after getting closer, and while studying him with obvious confusion, "...dead?" She frowned and he felt what he was sure was her life sense pulse. Her expression did not improve. "What…" Saira glanced at Anita, "What happened?" she said instead of whatever she had been going to say.

"Lee saved me," Alejandro told her and some of the confusion left her face. "But what does your Skill say? Am I…" He checked to make sure Anita was truly sleeping, she was. "Am I alive?"

Saira's eyes widened. "I… you are… something I haven't seen before." She smiled reassuringly. "But you are not dead. And I am very glad to see it!" She turned toward the strangely silent man behind her. "What do you want to do with this…" Another glance at Anita. "This Trash!"

Alejandro felt a weight ease in his mind at her words. "I am alive!" But the relief was short-lived. Wilson was squirming as his mouth opened and closed repeatedly, but no sound emerged. Alejandro saw something moving under the man's skin… vines. He shuddered but quickly steeled himself. This… monster, had almost cost them everything!

"They were going to breed us," Saira said while glaring at the captive, "I was there while they discussed it. Breed us like animals, and then sell our children to the highest bidder!" Wilson squirmed and his mouth opened as if he was trying to scream. Vines filled the gap and he made choking sounds as blood bubbled up around them.

"Not yet," Saira said in a venomous whisper, "don't die yet." A flash of green light and the vines stilled. "This fu… this one wanted me," she continued in a hiss, "as a reward for his help!" Her eyes were a blazing green. "He told me all of his twisted little plans of what he would do to me!"

Alejandro didn't need anymore reason to hate the man, but it didn't hurt. He wanted nothing more than to shred the traitor into pieces, an inch at a time… He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling Anita calm and asleep in his arms. "Do whatever you want to him," he said, looking at the man one last time, and then to Saira, "As long as he never has the chance to hurt anyone again."

Alejandro turned away, making sure that Anita's head was too low to see anything if she woke up. Bradley was walking towards him, his feet thumping on the stone below. Only the man's face was visible, while the rest of his body was covered in rock. The rocks around his hands and feet were red… and dripping.

There was a dry croak from behind him…

Attention Greenfield Village Fort! The Fort Commander(Wilson Chambers) is dead!

Bradley's face paled and he turned aside, and promptly threw up. Mar appeared next to him, her hand patting awkwardly on his stone back, before she too went green and vanished. Alejandro neither saw or heard anything from her, but splashing sounds came from off to the side… He looked at the rest of the Notification.

The Vice-Commander… is Unavailable. An Interim Commander may be Selected.

The Top Five Ranked in Fort Contributions May Vote on Interim Commander.

1st. Lee Cascade

2nd. Bradley Summers

3rd. Saira

4th. Maria Morales

5th. Alejandro Morales

Cast Your Vote.

Alejandro only just finished reading the list when…

Alejandro Morales Promoted to Interim Fort Commander.

Congratulations! You are the Interim Fort Commander of [Greenfield Village Fort].

The Vice-Commander may Challenge for Leadership when Available Unless you Reach 1st Place in Contributions before that time.

"Guys…" Alejandro started, and then saw Maria come around the corner at an almost but not quite sprint. She slowed on seeing him and Gabriel came around right behind her. The poor boy looked like he had probably gotten a scolding if not more, but his face brightened and he sprinted past his mother to reach Alejandro, who managed to catch him without waking Anita, barely.

"I was right!" Gabriel exclaimed, "It took me to the apartment!" His face fell as he continued, "Uncle wasn't there though…"

Maria caught up and after a brief hesitation, she wrapped her arms around all of them. Alejandro freed one arm and returned the embrace with desperate urgency. "My Heart…"

"Never do that to me again!" Maria hissed angrily, then her voice cracked, "and thank you for saving her!"

Alejandro thought she would break down, but she only shuddered as Anita woke up in the crushing hug. Maria took the girl into her arms when she started crying and reached for her mama. Gabriel looked like he wanted to cry as well, obviously picking up on the mood but he was fighting it back and trying to be tough. Alejandro wrapped an arm around him and pulled Gabriel close. He felt the shudders and his shirt got damp where Gabriel's face pressed into it.

It had been a long night for all of them.

Alejandro wiped his own tears away unabashedly, they were all going to be okay…

"Three is dead," Maria said into the silence as Alejandro noticed a rather large crowd gathering around them, while at the same time trying to give the family some privacy.

"It's not… not dead!" Gabriel said with only the tiniest of catches in his throat as he furiously rubbed a sleeve over his face, "There is still Runes in there!"

"Almost dead," Maria said, this time in English for the confused onlookers, "I scratched the walls and bent a railing. The Mana is also gone," she finished with a significant look at Gabriel.

"But," Gabriel started, then saw the look on her face and subsided.

"Lee is gone," Maria continued.

"The Runes are there," Gabriel muttered.

"But not dead," Maria said with another look at Gabriel.

"I'm still his Apprentice!" the boy in question said proudly. Maria sighed and looked around at the others expectantly.

Bradley chimed in first. "The walls are no longer Runed, so we can't count on the defense we had before… also we have some prisoners…" he said the last bit while looking at Alejandro. "They were helping Wilson," Bradley explained, "but surrendered when the fighting started…"

Alejandro closed his eyes and took another deep breath. "Keep them detained if you can." They would have to have a trial... or something. Bradley nodded and Alejandro continued, "I'll need to know who we have left to defend the Fort, an accounting of our food supplies, and… Bradley, I'm promoting you to General."

Bradley Summers has been Promoted to General.

"I'm placing you in charge of our defenses. Can you handle that?"

Bradley looked spooked and very tired, but he nodded. "I will."

"Saira," Alejandro turned to her, "can you find out our food situation? I don't know how much we lost…"

"They poisoned all of my plants!" Saira growled, "but I can grow something if necessary," she added, while looking around at all the bodies, "plenty of fertilizer if…" She looked at Bradley.

He nodded, "Whatever magic they froze the ground with is almost gone. Once that clears up just let me know where you want them."

"Thank you," Alejandro smiled but it felt strained. "Everyone else should gather… not here, we will need to talk."

People moved off and in the lull Maria held something out to him. "You… dropped this."

Alejandro reached out and took the glowing item.

[Attribute Chip(Common)](D Rank)

+1 Strength

His hand trembled and he wasn't sure whether to be upset that it was only a Chip, or glad that it might mean he'd lost less… Or Lee had acted fast enough… The worst part was that the shape of it perfectly matched the missing piece he'd seen on the orb inside him.

He didn't know if he should absorb it, or…

Alejandro held it out to Maria, "It is a piece of me, my Soul maybe, I want you to keep it. That way I'll always be with you."

"You're a hopeless romantic," Maria said, and rolled her eyes. But she still tucked the Chip carefully into a pocket. Maybe Lee would be able to repair it when he came back…

Maria pulled him close and kissed him briefly. "You have no heartbeat," she whispered after the kiss, "and there is a rock inside your heart."

"I know," Alejandro said softly as he held her. He was ready to let her go if she pulled away, but she held on. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Hush," Maria said, "we still live and that is the only thing that matters."

"I will help too!" Gabriel proclaimed, and they both turned to see him holding the staff Lee had made for him. It held only a single Rune now, one of Gabriel's, but that Rune glowed with the same brilliance as his smile.

"Yes," Alejandro smiled, "we will all help, together." His whole family, well most of it, Lee would be back! "He is not dead." His brother couldn't be stopped by something like this.

Alejandro would have to ask the others but he suspected that the Magic Lee had pulled off might be on the larger scale of things. Maybe requiring a rest afterwards... "I will keep your home safe while you rest, Brother."