(Dyn)

  Death 6 - Soul Scars

  Each reset left its mark on Dyn’s soul, f a ear, a new gash—wounds that would eventually scar over. Souls were impossible to destroy. While they were incredibly resilient, they weren’t impervious to tampering, transformation, or damage. Each reset was a trauma, deepening the wounds in his soul, and one day, he would have to front the weight of those scars and the pieces he had left behind.

  [Time orb]: [Dejavu] triggered. Wait.

  A rge, leathery leaf spped Dyn across his cheek with a damp smack.

  [Time orb]: Twenty-nis remain.

  Instead of spping the leaf away, he reached in and twisted, breaking the waxy stem off at the branch. They were ba top of the ridge, where the air was humid and thick with the st of damp earth. And most importantly, everyone was still alive.

  “Stop!” Dyn said, throwing out his arms. “Everyoop. No one move.”

  Surprisingly, they listeen bodies buogether, frozen as if time had stopped. Only their eyes and ears moved, sing for the reason for Dyn’s warning. He retty sure most of them were also holding their breath.

  “What is it? What do you see?” Wedge asked, standing so still that even his clothes seemed frozen in the faint breeze. If Dyn didn’t know better, he could’ve sworn the unmoving lithkai was a statue.

  “It’s ing…” Dyn whispered, sounding much creepier thaended.

  Ru raised her eyebrows, slowly leaning toward him. “What’s ing?” She, along with the rest of them, searched the area, moving only their eyes.

  “The arc beetle,” he said, elig a collective shudder from the group.

  “Where? I don’t see anything,” she said. Dyn realized he’d given them an unfair task. Teically, it hadn’t arrived yet.

  “It’s going to walk into the meadht over there.” Dyn’s arm extended out to the right side of the meadow. Athrax shot him a skeptical look.

  “You don’t know that,” he said, eyes flig to the cliff, then back to Dyn.

  “Don’t even think about sliding down that cliff,” he said, pointing a fi the old soldier. Athrax looked up and narrowed his eyes at being called out by an initiate. Dyn swallowed hard as the cyberically enhanced wolf-man stared him down, but he stood firm. He wasn’t about to let Athrax die again.

  “And you…” Dyn shot another fi P’reslen. “The air pressure spikes just before the beetle attacks. It’ll knock you out of the sky. And…” He racked his brain, searg for something that might get through to the overfident drai. “It’s not what Lo’kai would do.”

  P’reslen’s head tilted, his bright yellow eyes narrowing on Dyn before he gave a thoughtful nod. fused, he asked, “How—”

  “I thought you ran the show, Ru,” Athrax interrupted. “Or are we lettin’ the pups have a go at it?”

  Ru wheeled on Athrax. “I suggest you think twice before attempting to goad your one and only mender,” she growled. “Try to divide this group again and I’ll have Wedge take your pce, and you join the pups in the back. Are we clear?”

  Athrax chewed on his response and then said, “Yes, Ma’am.”

  It was Dyn’s turn to have Ru’s full attention. “I don’t see or hear anything. If an arc beetle was around, I’m sure we’d notice.”

  “We ’t go down there.” Dyn poio the bottom of the cliff.

  “Daylight’s burnin’,” Athrax muttered. A gnce from Ru put him on the back foot. His ears twitched, and he shifted his weight, muttering something under his breath that no one caught. He raised his hands defensively. “Alright, alright.”

  “Please, I’m just asking for five minutes,” Dyn said. Ru hesitated, her tail flig slightly before she shook her head and opened her mouth to answer.

  But Wedge was quicker and calmly suggested, “Perhaps now would be a good time for a water break?” He g the group, letting the weight of his words do the work. She mulled over the idea. It had been a bit siheir st one.

  “Alright Dyn, you’ve got until the end of this break. Then we’re moving on,” she said, reag for her own everflow fsk.

  They spread out the best they could while stayihe top of the ridge. The damp earth smelled of moss and foliage, and the faint hum of buzzing is filled the air. Dyn plopped down uhe shade of a rge tree.

  Eury took a seat o him, which was unusual. Miss don’t-call-me-princess usually preferred to be alone.

  “My sister says, ‘Adventurers aren’t fearless. They just decide not to let fear tell them what to do anymore.’” She leaned in slightly, l her voice. “It’s okay to be afraid.” Her eyes shifted to W’itney and Hay’len. “We all are.”

  Eury sat with her legs folded underh her. Both of them reed against the tree, its bark rough against their backs. Dyn rubbed his thighs absently, his fingers brushing over the numb muscles as he tried to shake off the lingering tension.

  “I didn’t imagi. Ihan five minutes, a five-story tall bug is going to step into the meadht over there,” he said, pointing with the stem of the rge leaf that spped him. Her expression suggested she was unvinced. He picked at the stem, tearing off a small k of the leaf, and watched as it fell to the jungle floor.

  “Does your ability show you the future?” Eury asked.

  ‘Shit, I don’t need a Double-Deathlht now,’ he thought. The st one had nearly broken him. Things would get mighty plicated if they found out about his restricted ht now. He had to choose his words carefully. The leaf tio shrink in his hands as he ripped it into pieces, his mind sifting for the right answer.

  “Something like that,” was all he was willing to admit. Sated by his revenge, he tossed what remained of the leaf.

  “That sounds like an incredibly useful ability,” she said, unscrewing the cap of her everflow fsk. She took a drink from it and looked out past the ridge toward where he’d told her to expect the arc beetle to show.

  Three mier…

  Ru stowed her everflow fsk with a decisive snap and got to her feet. The rest of Tome & Key followed her lead, refreshed and eager to move on. Eury gnced over at Dyn and gave him an apologetic shrug before leaning forward and uncrossing her legs to stand.

  “It’s too soon,” Dyn said, getting to his feet. His exhausted legs didn’t respond to the urgency he felt in his chest. He looked at Wedge, pleading for support.

  “It appears our break is over,” Wedge said. Athrax stood with half of his foot over the ridge, ready to start down the cliff. He looked to Ru, waiting for her signal to move out.

  Dyn scrambled, pushing his way through the group. “Hey!” “Stop pushing.” “What are you—” “That’s my foot!” He didn’t let any of them stop him from reag the edge, dangerously close to going over.

  He turo face them and said, “If we go down there, we’re all going to die.” Athrax gred at him. Others were also giving him dirty looks, but he didn’t care. He spread his arms and legs wide, taking a goalie’s stahe wind whipped at his cloak as he teetered on the edge, every muscle in his body straining to keep his bance.

  “Brave, I’ll give him that,” Athrax said, scoffing.

  “Move,” Ru told him, her voice low and her patiehin.

  “No,” he said firmly. He pnted his feet, rooting himself to the cliff.

  “Wedge…” Ru called for him. The group parted quickly, giving way as the lithkai stepped forward. He didn’t expect Dyn to dodge as he reached for him. His stony hand closed around a fistful e cloak just as the ground quivered beh them, sending a ripple of uhrough the group.

  “Get back!” Ru barked, ushering them back toward the tree line.

  A satisfied smile crept up Dyn’s face, and he said, “See, I told—”

  The minor quake was enough to cause the edge of the cliff to give way, cutting his words short.

  Wedge still had a tight grip on his cloak, and it caught around his neck, halting his dest with a painful crack. Dyn’s vision blurred, his lungs burning as the fabric tightened against his throat. Uo breathe and overwhelmed by panic, he filed, trying to free himself.

  Slipping out of his cloak, he was now free; finally able to gasp for air even as he tumbled down the cliff.

  His dest started feet first, like Athrax had dohe jagged edge of the cliff scraping his boots. An exposed root quickly ged that, snagging his foot and flipping him head over heels; a sharp wrench, twisting his knee.

  He tumbled untrolbly, dirt, sticks, and stoearing at him as a small ndslide followed him. His dest ended abruptly with a siing thud as a rge rock broke his fall—and his arm.

  Falling dirt, stones, and other debris caught up, pinning him against the rock. Pain radiated through his body, sharp and uing. Not that he could move, but he was certain he’d broken one leg and dislocated his other knee. Half of his face felt slid warm; it stung wheried to open that eye too. But at least one of his arms still worked.

  A couple of small rocks shot past him, the st vestiges of the ndslide. He was stuck looking up at the cliff. After only oempt, he gave up trying to look behind toward the unbidden kaiju. The sharp pain and the grinding it caused uled him.

  Dyo spit out the dirt that had collected in his mouth, the briny taste reminding him of fk. It came out bd red. “That’s not good.” His voice was hoarse and barely audible. There wasn’t much he could do now, but wait.

  ‘At least they’re safe up there,’ he thought, closing his eyes as he smiled. He did his best to ighe pain. The quakes tiheir rhythmic beat and grew stronger as the beetle approached.

  A worried thought crossed his mind. Opening his eyes, he sed the edge of the ridge, the memory of Quinten sacrifig himself to save P’reslen fshing vividly. “And they better stay up there too,” he said. He was going to be pissed if he had to do this again.

  “Goddamnit,” he grumbled, watg Quinten poke his head up over the ridge. He tried to shake his head to tell him “no”, but the pain in his neck was too much.

  “Don’t you dare.” He gred at the easygoing elf. “Don’t you fug do it.” The st thing he needed was for any of them to be a goddamned hero.

  The low, rhythmic thrum of the beetle’s approach made him sleepy, lulling him to rest his eyes. He k robably a cussion and he should stay awake. F his eyes to open revealed there were now two Quintens peeking their heads out to watch him and the beetle.

  He wondered, ‘Why are there two of him?’

  He reached up with his good arm to touch the wet side of his face, holding it out at arm’s length for it to e into focus. “Oh, that’s why,” he whispered to himself, looking at his slick red fingers. He caught himself before his eyes shut pletely, willing them to stay open.

  His eyes remained open, but the darkness came anyway. Lurking at the edges of his vision, it quickly worked its way to the ter. He took so knowing they were all safe, even if it was only for now. It was a bummer that he’d have to do it all ain. This time, he’d try to catch the leathery leaf before it hit him.

  Dyn flirying to avoid a damp smack that never came. He awoke to find himself face to face with a very ed looking husky. Ru crouched beside him, shading him from the sun. Most of the pain was gone. Except for his dislocated k was still pinned and twisted.

  “We’ll dig you out shortly.” She kept her cwed hand on his shoulder, her touch steady and grounding.

  Movement from the cliff caught his attention. Tome & Key, along with Wedge’s group, were carefully desding, their steps slow and deliberate to avoid sending stray debris tumbling toward him. Ru must have used an ability to reach him so quickly. The rumbling tinued, but eae softer tha.

  The team gathered and dug him out by hand. He had to cover his mouth as they raked their hands along the sides of his body to uh him. He was ticklish and pinned in pce, introdug him to a new kind of torture. Once he was free, Ru touched his shoulder and used her mending ability to fix his twisted knee, now that it was free to realign.

  Hay’len stepped forward and held out Dyn’s shotgun. “You dropped this.”

  “Yeah, you should be more careful,” W’itney said, earning a chuckle from most of the group. Dyn mustered a weak smile.

  They appeared to be one short. Dyn quickly sed the group, his ay rising when he realized who was missing. “Where’s Quinten?”

  “Keeping an eye on our new friend,” Ostello said, rarely saying more than necessary. Despite the day’s trek through the jungle and the grueling dest down the cliff, not a sihread of his tailored outfit seemed out of pce. Dyn didn’t uand how the intense elf looked as though he’d stepped out of a portrait rather than a jungle.

  “He’s got the best escape ability out of all of us, but it works best when he’s alone,” P’reslen added.

  Athrax strode up to Dyn, his heavy steps g against the dirt as he leaned in close. “How’d you know?”

  “Yes. How did you know?” Ostello asked, his gold-flecked eyes narrowing slightly, scrutinizing every word he said. The rest of the group wore simir questions on their faces, their gazes fixed on him expetly.

  Dyn’s brow furrowed; this was not a problem he repared to deal with. He’d just resolved ohloop and was already fag a new one. Of all people, Ru would’ve bee he’d expect to save him.

  “Impressive intuition,” she said, turning toward the dire of Quinten and the beetle. “Speak up if it happens again.”

  ‘Is it always going to be this way?’ he wondered. How could he expin knowing things that hadn’t happened yet? And it’s not like he could avoid the question forever. Maybe he should say he had an ability, like the one Eury suggested. But lying wasn’t his strong suit—omission was about as far as he could go. He decided those were all problems for Future Dyn.