This Is Not A Goodbye

The sun has faded to the far west. Dusk slowly waved its goodbye on the horizon as the darkness of the night swallowed the whole sky above. The cold air it brought crept in through the woods. The whole atmosphere gradually became bitter.

The moon shone and conquered the land with her sparkling luminosity. The stars twinkled in the sky, casting a magical glow on the dark canvas above. Exhilarating. The early hours of the night.

The duo, both who were very exhausted from the fight they had earlier, went back to the prison grounds and used it as a shelter to pass the night.

"Physis."

[

Name: Leif Twilight

Host Title: -altering- (time left: 24:20)

Health: 28 / 30

Mana: 6 / 12

Strength: 7

Defense: 3

Dexterity: 5

Insight: 8

Agility: 10

Ability Arts: 2

Skill Styles: 2

]

"As I thought..."

*** This Is Not A Goodbye ***

Leif's eyes focused on the number of his remaining mana. He always had this mannerism to check regularly his stats from his Physis.

"Mana management is a problem without those vials."

Unlike his health which regenerates when he rests asleep, the way he could only regain his lost mana was with the help of those vials. It was like fuel to keep the unusual powers within his body functioning.

Each vial replenished ten of his mana, a potency that was helpful enough to fill his mana capacity. Due to this, his wits thought about the number left of his self-brewed mana potion. That same vial that contained a green liquid... was now down to the last one.

He did have three before. Used one on the night of the prison raid and used the other one after the conjuration of the Sylvan Revenant which cost him the effect of a whole vial itself.

Utilizing what physical weapons he had in his prior encounters helped in conserving his mana. But with that last ambush, he was forced to use five of them. One to activate Melina and the rest for using Folium Dance twice. Now, having only one at his disposal made him cautious. That fact forced him to limit himself from using his abilities. Otherwise, he would again face the consequences of being weakened by mana depletion.

"I need to produce more..." said Leif in a low voice, keeping his thoughts to himself.

"At this state, we're pretty much walking on thin ice, Leif," stated Shiva as he tossed in the distance the empty sack of leather he had always carried since they started their journey.

"We did survive that ambush earlier, but this hunger might be the one who'll do us in," Leif answered back.

"Don't even jest about that. Even a piece of bread could satisfy me right now," responded Shiva.

They sat by a fire near the long house inside the prison. The warm embrace of the flickering embers emanated around them. The weak fire from broken twigs, hemp, and ground coal surrounded Leif and Shiva with a slight comfort. But it wasn't enough...

Whoosh!

Every time the cold wind of the night blew over them, the chill it left behind always prevailed. An unavoidable discomfort. The same chills even pierced through the makeshift coats the two had improvised from torn rags they could collect within the prison grounds. As they gritted firmly their teeth, the two braved the dire circumstances they faced.

Aside from the dilemma that the night brought them, they also lacked the supply of food. They lived through the past days with leftovers from the village they went to and stealing rations from the dead soldiers they found in the woodland. But now they're all depleted. Gone. As they sat outside, their will alone kept their hunger under control - one that panged both of their stomachs.

As he had enough, Shiva couldn't take it any longer. "There's got to be some leftovers here right?" He stood up and aimed to go inside the long house near where they built their fire.

"Quit it. Save your strength. We already turned this whole place upside down the first time we slept here."

"Ugh..."

Disgruntled, Shiva went back and sat on the log he seated upon earlier. His eyes were dissatisfied, but he couldn't do anything at this point. His gaze brought his attention to the sylvan revenant standing in the distance.

The revenant, since they arrived at the prison, had faced the broken gates and didn't move from its spot. It silently watched the prison's opening, as its creator had ordered it earlier. A lookout for the night. A perfect sentry for the security of the two.

"We didn't have a conversation about that thing earlier. But as far as I observed... it listens to what you tell it to do. I take it's one of your irregular skills, yes?" asked Shiva.

"Yes, apparently it was the ability I got after I consumed that black flower two nights ago. It was also the ability I was very puzzled by earlier because it doesn't work like an ability does normally."

"That conjuration phrase you always chanted in front of the dead goblins?"

"Yes... That one."

"So you're saying, that skill can be cast to anyone who is dead?"

"Pretty much so... I think."

Shiva curled his eyebrows as he thought of the extent that particular type of power could bring. "To resurrect the dead and turn them into those things. That really is powerful... You can make a legion of those things when you're on a battlefield full of dead bodies."

"Maybe. But right now, I can only conjure and command one of them."

"Hmm... So there is a cap to how many you can only have."

"Yes."

"So you can't summon those dead back to life, can't you?" said Shiva as he pointed his finger toward the pile of dead bodies in front of the warden's building.

CAW! CAW! CAW!

Disturbed. It was the ravens, who still gathered around and ate what flesh was left on the dead bodies of both humans and goblins. A scavenger's joy. Their feast, as they picked off the blackened meat from the dead, filled their bodies with the energy and food they desired. Something the two young men in the distance didn't have at the moment.

But that might be changed as the two of them set their eyes on that swarm of birds gathered on the ground. Suddenly, Leif asked Shiva about something.

"You're not a picky eater, are you?"

"Heh... So we're thinking of the same thing..."

A dampened sound of a blade being scratched as it escaped its sheathe went off from Leif's left leg. Held in his right arm the dagger he always had wielded, he looked at Shiva... and asked him to a challenge.

"Catch your own dinner, alright?"

Shiva in return, also unsheathed one of his dagger and jutted it out as he aimed towards the ravens at the distance.

"You're on."

SCHUCK!

Several moments later, a couple of black feathers were being blown off by the wind in the air. Staked with a wooden stick, three undressed birds were suspended on top of the fire, supported by two uneven blocks of rectangular bricks as grill pillars.

"Lucky bastard... how come did your knife ricochet and hit another one?" grumbled Leif.

"You praised me back in the morning, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah... Don't eat the stomach, lest you want to have problems with your own."

A few minutes has passed. After several turns on the stick, the skin of the birds began to turn brown. The aroma of the meat being grilled filled the air - it burned the stomachs of the two with such a juicy smell.

"It's cooked now right?" hurriedly asked Shiva, like a child who is extremely excited to get something.

"Yeah, dig in."

Without hesitation, Shiva snatched one of the birds and took a bite right out of it. "It's pretty... bland," he commented. His thoughts weren't sure if he would be happy for the blessing, or dissatisfied with the taste.

"Be thankful we have something to eat." said Leif as he took his share.

Together, they chomped down on the late dinner they had. But before the both of them could even finish their food, the revenant in the distance reacted to something. Alerted. It walked toward the gate.

"Shiva..."

"Yeah... We got company."

"Kill the fire, quick." commanded Leif to which Shiva quickly abided.

Shiva kicked the ground toward the direction of the fire. The force sent clouds of dust that immediately extinguished the flames. The both of them then hid inside the longhouse and peeked through the broken windows.

There they saw Leif's revenant surrounded by soldiers in blue armor. An insignia of a black drum tower can be seen on the blue standard held high by one of those soldiers. It was the symbol... of Fort Benning.

"Why are they here?" A distressed question came from Shiva as he recognized the uniform of those soldiers.

"They must've seen the smoke... And here I thought the fire was weak enough to not create noticeable fumes," answered Leif.

"There are five of them... And they've surrounded your revenant Leif."

True. On all sides, the revenant was surrounded by the unexpected guests. Leif hoped that they could still escape with the revenant, but deemed that it would be hard to pull off now that his revenant was surrounded.

Inside his mind, he wished that the revenant could just create an opportunity and lead the soldiers away so he and Shiva could escape the prison safe and sound. "If only the revenant could make those soldiers follow itself inside the cave," he mumbled under his breath.

Suddenly, the revenant turned to his back and pushed aside the soldier who blocked it behind. It ran toward the pile of rotten corpses and started to hurl severed arms and heads at the soldiers who followed it.

"After that thing!" the standard bearer ordered the rest of the soldiers. Furious.

The revenant in response, went inside of the cave, to which everyone else followed. The two hiding in the long house were flabbergasted at what happened.

"Your revenant was quite smart... And heroic, Leif," praised Shiva. Leif wiggled his head to disagree.

"No, I whispered a command earlier and the revenant did it... even though it couldn't have heard me."

"What're you trying to say then? You both have the same mind?"

"Wait let me try again..." said Leif as he stood up and focused his attention towards the opening of the cave.

"Fight them inside there."

As he said that, an echoing shriek of someone came out of the cave's entrance. It sounded like an engagement was held inside.

"No way, it really worked," exclaimed Leif. Exhilarated, he smiled at the new fact he discovered on his skill.

"We won't forget your sacrifice here, dear revenant," said Shiva as he went out of the door and grabbed the sack lying on the ground. Leif went after him and decided to look back one last time towards the direction of the cave.

"If you're still alive at the end, come find us," he ordered his revenant inside the cave.

The both of them then swiftly left the area and proceeded to walk the night. As they ran into the woods near the road, they held a conversation about their destination.

"Where are we going next? The village?" asked Shiva as he took the lead.

"No. They might investigate that place next after this."

"Where then?"

"The sanctuary... To the west."

"But what if we encounter goblins there?"

"I'd rather fight them than well-equipped humans. We'll take that risk, Shiva."

"Alright. I'll lead the way then."

As they ran through the dim and eerie shadows of the woods, Leif's thoughts couldn't stop thinking about their ally whom they left behind as bait.

"This better not be a goodbye..."

.

.

.

"You've got to come back to us, revenant."