Zav, having just witnessed Vorgarn’s defeat at the hands of a golden angelic figure in a mere matter of seconds, held his breath for what was to come. He knew what he had just seen was abnormal. Beyond the pale. Unheard of. Others near him, both fresh faced and veteran [Players] alike, whispered in hushed confusion at what they had witnessed. There would be tales of what happened here. The [GM] of one of the most prominent guilds defeated like a cocky novice. Beaten worse than even he had been.

  [Players] had begun to gather around Vorgarn. His body was still sprawled out in the snow, and he shuddered, staring face up at the sky. Then, suddenly, Vorgar’s hand moved. He was alive! Somehow, he had survived being flung into the side of a building, which now groaned as wind whipped through the interior. I guess they didn’t call Vorgarn Deathless for nothing.

  “Someone heal him,” a woman cried out.

  “I don’t have any spells,” another replied. “Anyone have any potions?”

  For the first time, he noticed Ashryn standing nearby. Hell, he had forgotten about her entirely. She held a hand to her mouth, with a shocked look on her face. Tears welled at the edges of the black-haired elves’ eyes. She was barely holding it together as she stared upon the [Waygate] that the golden goddess had just escaped through.

  She appeared reluctant, but ultimately she slapped herself on the face as her silver chalice appeared in her hands. She raced over to Vorgarn.

  “Step aside,” she demanded.

  A few of those who crowded Vorgarn looked at her curiously, but stepped aside as told.

  One individual, in light-blue leatherwear, eyed her up and down, standing in her way defiantly. “What do you think you can do for him?”

  In a flash, Ashryn had a knife in her hand, pressed against their throat. “If you want to help, then you can lend me some of your blood. If not—Step! Aside!”

  They held up their hands in defeat. “Y-Y-You can’t hurt me here. No [PvP] is allowed in safe areas except dueling.”

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  Ashryn seemed to give a forced laugh. “You’re right,” she said. With a quickness, she sliced the palm of her own hand with the small blade, putting the chalice under, and letting the blood flow freely into it. She murmured a few words before tendrils of blood crept from the chalice onto the snowy ground, crawling towards Vorgarn like some sort of parasitical being.

  As the blood touched Vorgarn, it wrapped itself around him, pulsating, slithering, and stretching around. It looked disgusting, and he had to choke down hot bile. But, eventually, Vorgarn’s wounds began to knit closed, and when all was said and done, the multiple bloody cuts he had suffered had been sewn shut, with only a few small scars of red remaining.

  Ashryn went to one knee as Vorgarn heaved, turning and vomiting onto the lovely white canvas. It was a bloody heap. The man had likely suffered internal damage of some sorts. He wondered if Ashryn’s blood magic had healed even that?

  Zav ran to Ashryn, kneeling beside her. “Are you ok?”

  She pushed him back as he touched her shoulder. “I’m fine. I just need a moment to rest.”

  Vorgarn wiped bloody spittle from his mouth as he stood, straightening his armor, and sheathing his sword, which still glowed with a dark, shadowy edge.

  “Don’t expect thanks,” he said, walking away without a backward glance.

  “What an asshole,” Zav murmured, loud enough for the man to hear.

  Vorgarn paused for a moment, but eventually kept trudging into town, disappearing behind another building, as if nothing had happened.

  Slowly, the crowd began to disperse around them. They all looked at Ashryn as if she were some sort of leper. It was the manner in which she healed. He knew it. Even he felt a certain disgust about it. How the blood had moved. How she had manipulated it. It was… unnatural, even in a world of fantasy such as this.

  Ashryn suddenly stood, wandering back over to the [Waygate] and ignoring the gawking onlookers.

  “You should sit down maybe—”

  “I missed my opportunity,” she said suddenly. “She was right there and I—I missed it. Stupid. I was stupid and dazed. I didn’t expect… I didn’t expect her to be here. I hadn’t prepared. Now she’s gone again. And who knows if or when she’ll be back. Perhaps I’m out of my league here. Perhaps—”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zav said. “But if you know that woman—the one with the golden armor—then I know where she went.”

  Ashryn’s eyes lit up with bliss and avarice in a strange tangle. She grabbed his coat, pulling him close. “You do? Where? Where did she go?”

  Zav swallowed hard, not sure what sort of mess he had just gotten himself into.