It was one thing to think of genocide as a solution to an issue. It was another to execute such a task. The labor that it would take to eliminate all of the Maedra from the Ravine certainly would be extensive and Jake had a feeling even he might burn out from such an ordeal. As he watched the Arachkin-type beneath him collapse, its body a lifeless husk as the mana within it evaporated due to the crystal being shattered, Jake felt the weight of the battle pull on his shoulders. The boy’s heart rate had been rather low and the fatigue had been mitigated due to magic but that didn’t mean he wasn’t tired from it all.

He looked up, his eyes taking in his surroundings. Bodies of Maedra, corpses, and dismembered limbs, lay scattered. They were dissolving, fading away, and rotting but the process was taking time. As it always did. The smell of death was fresh. The density of the mana in the air continued to energize his mana flow. But the rage within him had settled. There was nothing left to kill. Nothing left to take revenge on. Only the calm of the “after” remained.

Jake’s lips pressed firmly together as he went to wipe off his blades. He stopped, though. Just as he started to rub one of them against himself, he realized just how soaked through his clothes were with the remnants of his enemies. The grimy clothes he had worn were now layered thick with a mixture of blood, spittle, and fat. The boy frowned and sighed. Instead of using his clothes, he moved over to the mana pool and dipped both into the liquid. It was thicker than water but worked just fine. He ran his fingers over his weapons beneath the surface of the mana water, cleansing them with a mixture of the liquid and his own magic. The sheen of his weapons had faded and the edges dulled. The battle had taken its toll on his tools even with his magic protecting them.

“I’ll have to clean them up, won’t I…” Jake’s eyes slowly drifted to his right as he looked towards the base of the ramp leading to the exit. “...Darius?”

There was no body to look at. No physical trace of the Elf was left both due to the Maedra’s eating and Jake’s magic. However, Darius’s two blades had been blown to the wall. One was stabbing into the rock, the other lay on its side. Both were broken, shattered. The sight brought pain to Jake’s chest and he felt a bit of anger fester in the back of his mind. However, the storm remained calm. The boy finished at the water and sheathed his weapons. Then, he made his way over to pick up Darius’s swords.

Ignoring the fact that the blades were missing almost half of their length, they were noticeably light. The handles fit neatly into his grasp and they practically floated in his palms. Jake could feel his mana react warmly to them. As if the blades were calling for it. It was an odd sensation. Even more so when Jake failed to see an enchantment or rune of any kind along the weapons. Jake feed the blades some mana and watched as a faint blue glow began to emit from the edges. As Jake stared, he now noticed that he hadn’t ever seen them glow while Darius wielded them. Why was that?

“A lack of mana?” Jake mumbled as he relaxed his mana flow, cutting the connection and letting the mana dissipate. Darius had mentioned he couldn’t use magic, something Jake found to be strange. Now that Jake held the Elf’s swords, he wondered if there was a past where Darius could. Jake frowned again and looked down at a spot on the floor. Unfortunately, there would be no opportunity to ask such a question.

The time spent with the Elf was short. Regretfully so. He had spent likely less than a day or so with Darius but had learned so much from him. There was more to learn when it came to the Sword Singer style but Darius’s guidance had given him a strength he lacked. Darius had taught him balance, had taught him grit. The Elf had forced him to understand the physical requirement of a fight and had forced Jake to learn how to fight like normal warriors did. Jake was still a fledgling when it came to swordplay. His moves were unpolished and his experience scarce. Due to that, he would continue to learn and train.

Just as he hoped to make Chul proud, he would now do the same for Darius. The Elf had gambled on Jake. He had taken the chance of teaching the boy and even more when he brought Jake out into the tunnels in hopes that Jake would be an asset during the Nest battle. Darius had won that bet in the end but the price was his own life. To Jake, such an outcome could never be considered a victory. Yet to Darius, who always focused on moving forward, such an outcome was still a win. Thinking that, Jake refused to deny the weight of Darius’s sacrifice. If it meant the safety of many, one dead was a small price to pay.

Still, at the end of it all- there would be one less person sitting beside the fire tonight.

“You were meant to make sure I didn’t die…” Jake muttered as he knelt down beside the spot on the floor. “...but who was watching for you?” He felt his throat squeeze and the boy pressed his jaw shut. His stomach twisted and he felt his eyes grow heavy.

Jake waited there, staring at the blank space for a few more seconds before his mind calmed. The emotions passed and he took in a slow breath. On the exhale, he stood up and turned away. Jake walked up the ramp, clearing the rocks with his magic and repairing the gap. He moved to the entrance and then cleared it, opening the tunnel once more. As light from the cavern spilled into the pitch black tunnel, Jake saw two silhouettes standing just at the edge of the light. A faint glowing pair of eyes peered back at him.

“It’s done,” Jake said solemnly. “They’re dead.” However, even at his word- the two remained in the dark.

“Who are you?” A soft voice asked- Helena. She called out to him, maintaining the distance between them. Her eyes stared at him, unblinking. Could she see something he couldn’t?

“What do you mean?” Jake asked. He was him. He was Jake. Who else would he be? Unless they had come across Maedra that could mimic humans? Was that possible?

“Your mana,” Helena said. “It’s… vile.”

Oh, was that what she meant? Jake pressed his lips together and then looked down at his hands. He felt his lips curl downwards again into another frown as he struggled to explain himself. He somewhat understood her concern. The mana he used wasn’t normal. The mana he had been gifted had long been broken and shattered, replaced once by Dragon Essence and now entirely by something else. Something birthed through the combination of Arachkin mana and Dragon Essence. It was quite… unique. If her eyes could see it, he wondered how he looked to her.

“All I can say is that without it, I’d…” he paused, bitting down on his lip a bit. “...I’d just be a boy playing in the sand.” His hands squeezed onto the elven blades as he lowered them. She didn’t say anything else to him and the two continued to stare. It seemed now that he was free from the restraints of the mana binding sigil and had run amuck, their trust of him had been expended. He felt too tired to try and argue that right now.

“Darius is dead,” Jake said, meeting Helena’s eyes. “There’s nothing left except these. The Maedra got him before I could help…” Jake’s voice trailed off as he felt a glob of pressure push up into his throat. He squeezed his teeth together and lowered his eyes.

“...I tried to get to him, Helena. I tried, but I… I wasn’t fast enough.” Jake felt himself starting to shake. Just like with Chul- he was too slow. Too late to stop the Maedra. Too weak to save him. Killing them all didn’t make him feel any better.

Helena finally took a few steps forward, her feet carrying her into the light of the cavern. However, she maintained a space between them. Lydia remained in the shadows, her outline barely visible. Jake couldn’t meet their eyes anymore. He could barely even look at Helena’s legs without feeling pain in his chest.

“I’m sorry for not being good enough,” he said. His lips twitched. His hands squeezed the last remnants of his teacher. His friend. Helena took another few steps forward. Jake turned his head away and closed his eyes. He flinched when he felt her hand rest on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, young one,” she whispered. Jake felt the tension in his shoulders slide away. “You did your best, didn’t you?” He bit the inside of his cheek, his teeth pressing so hard that he thought he might break the skin.

He nodded.

“Then you did what you could,” she cooed. She leaned forward and placed her hands on top of his. With a gentle squeeze, she eased his grip and pulled the weapons away. Jake’s hands opened, empty, but still so heavy. He heard the metal of the swords hit stone as she dropped them. Then, he felt the warmth of her arms as she pulled him into her bosom. The boy kept his eyes closed as she eased him down to the floor.

“There you go…” She whispered to him, her fingers slowly running through his slick hair. Jake felt his heart give and his shoulders began to shake.

“I tried… I tried so hard but the damn sigil…” Jake’s voice quivered as he relived the moment- the moment he had collapsed while trying to break free from the seal on his hip. Helena hushed him, her fingers slowly dragging over his scalp.

“...I’m sorry, Helena.” He squeezed his eyelids together as they grew wet. He sniffled and his arms went slack at his sides. With each stroke of her fingers, he felt more tension fall away.

“It’s okay, Jake… Breathe,” she whispered, coaxing him as he began to sob. “He knew the risks, we all did.” She cooed, her voice like honey as she cradled him. As Jake sat there, the tears began to run. The tears from losing Chul. The tears from losing Darius. It never felt like he could ever do enough. No amount of training was saving his friends. No amount of effort seemed to protect those he cared for. No matter how many Maedra he killed, people were still dying. It was all so hard.

He just wanted to go home.

“Why did… h-he go all the way do-down there…?” Jake mumbled between sobs. Helena hushed him again, her hands and soft hums helping Jake’s mind remain calm. It reminded him of his Auntie and how she would lull him to sleep at night when he was little.

“He did what any warrior would do,” Helena whispered to him. “He went to the front. He was our shield.”

“But he knew…” Jake muttered. Helena nodded.

“He did… but sometimes you have to go anyways…” Helena whispered. After, she gently pulled herself away just a bit and nudged him to look up at her. He did so, slowly and hesitantly. Her two, glowing white eyes stared at him gently. Her dress was stained with the grime from his clothes but she paid it no mind.

“Jake, why do you think he did this?” She asked. Jake shrugged at first and lowered his eyes, staring at her belly as he mulled over it. Though she gave him little time to think before she answered the question herself. “He did it for the village,” she whispered. She placed a hand on Jake’s cheek. Her fingers lifted his chin as she coaxed him to meet her gaze.

“For you, and for me,” she said with a light smile. “He put himself there to keep us safe, to protect us from the Maedra if something went wrong. To give us time to run if we needed it.”

“But he didn’t have to do that… If I had my magic-” Just as Jake began to argue, Helena placed a finger to his lips to shush him. The boy’s words stopped at the tip of his tongue.

“What did he want you to learn, Jake?” She asked. Her finger lifted after her question.

“How to fight without magic…” He muttered in answer. She nodded.

“He wanted you to fight without magic. He wanted to see you learn that you don’t have to rely on that power. He wanted to teach you that there is more to life than magic, that you can do anything if you try it and learn.” Helena’s hand returned to his head and she brushed his hair once more. Slowly and gently.

“I didn’t release that seal on you, and I should have. That was my fault. Not yours. Don’t apologize for a mistake you didn’t make,” Helena said with a smile. Jake’s mouth parted to contest but she was quick to push his head down, forcing his eyes to dip. “You did just as he wished for you.”

Jake swallowed his words, his emotions boiling over as he sobbed. The emotions of not being able to help someone, of the Maedra taking another friend. Helena held him and waited, patient and gentle, as Jake trembled in her arms. Lydia eventually emerged from the tunnel. Helena noticed and coaxed the girl to also join the embrace. The Halfling did. She knelt down beside Jake and Helena, and then leaned into Jake’s side as she too began to cry.

The cavern was quiet of the cries of the Maedra. But the cries of life echoed in its place.

“How do we keep the Maedra from coming back?”

After the tears ran dry and the need to carry on returned, Jake stepped up to the edge of the cavern entrance. Helena joined him at the ledge and peered out into the empty space. Lydia didn’t join them, as she went to fetch their packs. The Halfling didn’t want to cry again and it seemed just being inside of the cavern made her upset.

“We need to drain the air of mana, shatter the crystals, and empty that pool,” Helena said as she pointed out their tasks. Her understanding of the Maedra was quite nice to have. Jake thought he was alone in his knowledge and having someone who was experienced with clearing such places to keep the Maedra from festering again was helpful. He had a feeling it would come down to dispelling the mana. The issue was how.

“And we do that how?” He asked. There was the possibility that Jake could just use up all of the mana in the air, creating a massive spell or something until it was all gone. The problem with that was that his stamina would probably give out first. There was enough mana in the air and lodged in the crystals to fuel Ewana for weeks without any concern of it running dry.

“Do you remember that paper?” Helena asked, looking down at Jake as the boy kicked a rock off the ledge.

“I do,” Jake muttered. Yes, the paper that was supposed to help them with the nest. Only for it to be torn in half.

“That sigil was a purity spell,” she said flatly. “This mana is raw, unfiltered, dangerous. The sigil Lydia drew will turn this mana into Life Essence, which can be used by the World to replenish what the Maedra have taken.”

Jake felt it weird to hear the terms she was using- Life Essence. Raw mana. Maedra. Thus far, only Chul had said their name. Only within the Library books had he read about Essence. Only from his own experience had he discovered that the mana within the Ravine was unfiltered and deadly to the surface. For Helena to know such things, Jake had a feeling she was more than just a casual mage. Her magic, her runes. Her staff. Her eyes. Lydia’s knowledge of the sigil. The canister. There was a shroud over his eyes and not enough actual information about these people.

Even so, there was trust there. He could believe in Helena, in Lydia. Their task within the Ravine was the same task as his- kill the Maedra and protect the village. Though their numbers were only three, now two, Helena and Lydia faced the odds to complete their objectives. With Darius gone, the nest still needed to be cleared. Helena looked determined to carry on the task and complete it, even with the loss of her friend.

“Lydia!” Helena shouted. She turned towards the tunnel entrance, her eyes leveling on the Halfling. Lydia sat on their packs, her eyes low as she twiddled her thumbs to occupy her mind. “Could you make another purification talisman?” Helena asked, walking to the tunnel. Lydia’s eyes didn’t raise but her head did bob slightly. The Halfling slid off her pack, fished around inside a side pouch, and retrieved a small piece of paper.

“Does only Lydia know the spell?” Jake asked, curious as to why Helena wasn’t the one to draw the sigil. Helena seemed capable enough.

“No, but it is good practice for her. It also gives her purpose,” Helena said softly, quietly as she watched and waited. Jake stared at Lydia, watching the Halfling scribble on the paper.

Purpose. Jake wondered what it meant to have such a thing. Did he have a purpose? He had reasons for fighting the Maedra. He had reasons for defending Ewana, and for trying to save Darius. He had ideals he wished to carry and dreams he wanted to fulfill. But… purpose. Were reason and purpose the same? What did it mean for Lydia to have a purpose?

“What… What does that mean?” He asked. Helena blinked a few times as she glanced down at him. She let out a soft hum.

“Lydia is much like you. She lost her parents to the Maedra,” Helena explained in a whisper. “Delmuth took her with him to get her revenge and after watching him fight she decided she wanted to travel with him. She wanted to do her part to ensure the Maedra hurt as few people as possible so no other child would have to go through her pain. I taught her how to make the talisman shortly after I joined them. Ever since, she’s made it her duty to make them seeing as she can’t quite fight like you or I.”

Jake stared at the Halfling, his view of her now much different than before. She knew pain, the pain of the Maedra. She had experienced what it was like to lose those most dear to her. She had faced these beasts time and time again, dedicating her life to hunting them alongside Darius and Helena, and whomever else was joining them. How long had the Halfling been fighting? How much had she seen and experienced? How many others had she watched die?

“She’s strong, isn’t she?” Jake asked. Helena nodded and smiled.

“She tries. But, she is young. Like you it is hard on her. But her desire to protect Delmuth, myself, and others she meets keeps her going,” Helena muttered. “If that is what it means to be strong, then she is far stronger than I.”

Lydia finished the talisman just as Helena finished and raised it into the air. The woman strode over to fetch it and then Lydia quietly curled up over the top of her pack. Helena gave the Halfling a gentle touch on the back of her head before returning to where Jake was waiting.

“Here.” Helena extended the paper to Jake, who took it and eyed it inquisitively. “Apply your mana to the paper. When it begins to react, toss it out into the cavern. The spell will handle the rest.”

Such a small paper was supposed to purify an entire cavern? It seemed a bit far-fetched but Jake would trust them. He walked to the ledge and did as he was told. He pumped mana into the paper and fed the spell the fuel it needed to trigger. Though, he quickly understood just how powerful the sigil was. It didn’t budge, glow, or react at all as his mana poured into the paper. As if it were a bottomless pit, sucking his mana dry, Jake filled the paper with more and more mana until he wondered if he was accidentally just missing entirely.

However, eventually, the paper reacted and the sigil on the front began to shimmer. The boy continued to feed more mana into it until finally it flared to life. The paper shined brightly between his fingers, burning into his eyes with how strongly it glowed. Once the paper would no longer take any mana, Jake figured the spell was ready. He flicked his wrist and tossed it out into the air. The paper, as if carried by wind, spun rapidly and fluttered out towards the middle of the cavern. His mana began to spill out everywhere but the sigil’s glow remained strong. The paper eventually stopped moving, its spinning continuing until the paper tore itself apart.

The glowing sigil appeared in the air briefly after. It spread out wide over the entire cavern, the light pouring over the rock. The mana crystals all began to glow the same color as the sigil. The mana pool flared to life and the air began to glisten as the mana within it reacted to the spell. The sigil spun slowly, radiating its light as the mana in the cavern changed colors from a dull blue to a soft green. Unlike the crystals, the mana pool lost its color entirely as the mana within it was pulled out and expelled into the air. The mana in the air remained but the color shifted from a flickering blue to a soft white like snow. Jake could feel the air grow lighter until the pressure on his mana flow was gone entirely.

Once complete, the sigil’s light dimmed before it faded out of existence. The mana in the air fell to the floor. In the more dense areas where mana had fallen, green moss began to grow on the walls and over the stones. The harsh floor cracked and turned to dust, sand, and dirt. The water reflected the ceiling like a mirror. Clear and pure. The crystals pulsed slowly, their purified mana energized and steadily feeding the foundations of life into the cavern.

“It is done,” Helena said. Jake nodded and admired the work of the spell as the woman turned away. “Though there is mana, the Maedra cannot live here any longer. It is much like poison to them.”

“Is that why the spell was meant to be cast after the catalyst?” Jake asked, turning to look at the woman as she made her way towards the tunnel.

“Yes,” she answered. “After the catalyst explodes, we are to cast the spell and allow the spell to clean the air. The Maedra die on their own shortly after, unable to exist in such a place. It suffocates them and melts their very flesh.”

“Who made such a spell?” Jake was full of questions for Helena and though he doubted she would be so patient to answer them all, he hoped she would at least feed him the minor details of things. Enough for him to understand things a little better. With no Darius, Jake feared these two would continue on their own.

“Delmuth’s kin,” Helena admitted as she stepped into the tunnel.

“The Elves did?” Jake asked, blinking a few times from how strange that sounded.

“Indeed. Dealing with Maedra has long been a task for them. Circumstance has brought their races together many times and the Elves have developed plenty of ways to deal with the Maedra.” It seemed that the Maedra and Elves had quite a history. Whether it was due to their living situation or not, Helena didn’t share. But from what it sounded like- they were intimate with one another when it came to living close by. If Jake had to guess, he figured the Elves were a powerful magic race of some kind, and the Maedra were attracted to that. Or maybe the Maedra lived underground near where the Elves lived. That would explain the long conflict if it were true.

“So, the Maedra really are everywhere,” Jake mumbled as they reached their packs. There were four. Seeing that made him grimace.

“Wherever there is mana, there is Maedra,” Helena said as she grabbed for a pack- Darius’s. She popped open the top of it and began to empty it of its contents. She then grabbed the other three and redistributed the weight of the gear. She gave the food entirely to Jake, refilled their water cans, and then spread the rest to each of the three packs. When it was empty, she set it aside as though she was going to leave it behind. She had a bit of a pained expression as she set it against the wall.

“I’ll take it,” Jake announced. Helena looked at him for a moment before a soft smile spread over her face.

“Thank you,” she said softly. Jake nodded and took the empty pack. He used the straps to tie the pack to his own and evened out the weight. Then, he sat down in front of the pack and slipped his arms through the straps. He pulled down to cinch the straps to his body before rolling to his feet.

As he stood up, he adjusted his weight a bit and shifted the pack around slightly so it was more comfortable. While Helena and Lydia readied their own packs, Jake returned one last time to the cavern. There, on the floor, the Elven blades were still waiting. Jake knelt to grab them and dropped his pack so he could place them inside it. He would need Hulgrok to repair them before using them again. Their lengths meant he could still use them for daggers, maybe.

“We’re ready,” Helena called out as Jake was once more getting to his feet. The boy peered over the ledge, taking a last look towards the now empty nest. The air was soft and warm. The glittering of mana erased any traces of the vile presence of Maedra and Jake could only wonder what this place may become in a dozen years or so. With how much moss was already growing, he wondered if there was even a chance of flowers growing. Doubtful since there was no sunlight, but life worked in mysterious ways.

He then looked toward where Darius had fallen. The boy smiled softly and grabbed onto the straps of his back.

“See you, Elf,” he muttered. His soft smile grew into a wider one. He could practically hear Darius calling him a mutt.

He left the cavern quickly, striding into the dimly lit space around Helena and Lydia. The woman had cast a small trio of Light Ball spells to illuminate the air and then sent two forward to light their way.

“Do you know the way back to the village?” Jake asked.

“I do. It is quite a ways but it should be safe now,” Helena answered as they stepped off. Lydia walked quietly to Helena’s side, her hands also grabbing at the straps of her pack. Runes glowed at the bottoms of both Lydia’s and Helena’s packs, the weight being sapped away to make them easier to carry. Jake did not have such a rune and carried his burden with a raised head.

“If not, I’ll handle the Maedra,” Jake said as he stepped up to their side.

“We will handle the Maedra,” Helena corrected. After she spoke, Lydia reached up and grabbed onto Jake’s shirt. The boy looked down at the Halfling to see her smiling up at him.

Jake couldn’t help but return the smile.