I ran toward Felix, who seemed to be at Yoboc and Godie's place. That was a good start. I was close when I felt great danger from Felix. Then there was great pain. Then I stumbled as I felt Felix die.

  Our bond died with him.

  I let out a mighty roar of pain and loss and sped to him, hoping to save him while knowing he was dead.

  I crashed through Yoboc’s front door, my void-sensing telling me there were two armed people upstairs and two downstairs, but I only had eyes for one thing. Felix was dead. His body was still, and blood flowed from a knife to the heart. It was a knife I recognised as the alchemically enhanced bone knife I had sold to Makara.

  I let out another roar of pain as my senses noted the other dead bodies. Yoboc and Goldie were dead. Goldie had her throat slit, but I couldn’t see how Yoboc died as he was lying face down in a pool of his blood. There were two other bodies I didn’t recognise that they had killed.

  My anger was exploding, my beast was letting loose.

  My bond, my buddy, was dead. The dwarves I thought of as my parents were dead.

  Then I noticed two other things. One was a void anomaly in the far corner, just like at the Duke's place or even harder to sense.

  The other thing I saw was Makara. She didn’t appear to be armed. She was saying, “Sorry, he only needs one…” but I was not listening.

  I roared and moved into a Lunging Maul when the second Bone knife came flying at me from the void anomaly. I had Damage Mitigation up, and the combined with my Tough Hide meant the knife penetrated my chest but didn’t penetrate into the heart. The power of the throw was strong enough to make me lose my balance as my feet weren’t placed correctly. I could not have thrown a knife like that.

  I fell to my knees as I went to all four feet.

  The void anomaly must be Dagger Dan. He obviously has Makara’s bone knives.

  I used Blood Clot to stop the bleeding, but the knife was still in my chest.

  Was Makara bribed or threatened? Did it matter? I was going to die here, as he only needed one. There was no negotiation.

  I was not going to die alone.

  My Cosmic Aura was already spread throughout the house, so I put all my Spiritual Strength into igniting the Solar Flare right on top of the void anomaly.

  For what it was worth, I let myself collapse into a ball as the heat and fire exploded through the house. I had no real desire to live; I just wanted vengeance for Felix, Yoboc, and Goldie.

  Heat and fire washed over me. I pulled the knife out and dropped it. I transformed into my bear form. I would rather die a bear. I can feel my fur burning off and my skin starting to melt. I refreshed Damage Mitigation for what it was worth.

  The wooden floor under me fell away, and I dropped to the burning floor below me. I could sense the anomaly, and I were the only things still living in the house, so I used my extra Spiritual Attributes from my Astrologist Class to keep Solar Flare burning.

  I washed my skin with Soothe Burn. I was not going to die before the anomaly, so I refreshed Damage Mitigation and poured everything else into Solar Flare.

  The Anomaly snuffed out. I was the only living thing in the house. I stopped Solar flare as I crashed through the first basement to the stone floor at the bottom. The Stone Floor was red hot.

  I waited in pain to finally die and join Felix.

  The pain continued.

  The pain continued.

  The pain lessened slightly. I assume my pain resistance was rising, but I couldn’t be bothered to check.

  The heat also lessened, and my fur had stopped burning. I wish I could turn off the resistances and just die.

  The Heat and Fire were not going to kill me, but the smoke might. It was hard to breathe. Wood and stone burned around me, and the smoke was intense. I could see because of Clearsight, but my breathing was laboured. I think the only reason I was still breathing was because Breath Control made everything more efficient.

  My body would not let me die. I wanted to die. Felix was gone. My quiet support was dead. Why couldn’t I join him?

  I coughed smoke out of my lungs.

  It appeared I was not going to die today.

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  I soothed the multiple burns on my body and extracted the impurities. I seemed to have slightly more Spiritual Energy and more Mental Strength to move. Of course, I did. I gained a level in Mass Executioner that strengthens both.

  I transformed into my humanoid form, but I left my now patchy fur and bear face. I am going to need to climb out of this pit.

  I coughed again. The smoke was worse when I stood. I dropped back to all fours.

  Then I saw my Astral bone throwing knives on the floor. Of course, they survived the Solar Flare—they were the only things that did. My steel knives and axe were a molten mess. The belts and clothes, including the enchanted knife sheaths, were burned to ash. I gathered all six knives. They were awkward to carry, but they were all I had to remind me of Felix, Yoboc, and Goldie. I would carve a monument in their memory in due course.

  I coughed again in the smoke. Then I decided to try to remove the smoke impurities from my lungs, and it worked, which meant that the Extract Impurities had reached Journeyman Level.

  I gave myself a boost of Revitalise.

  I found the stone stairs to the basement. The lower part was intact, but the upper section was melted. I cleared the impurities from my lungs, took a breath, and started climbing.

  When the stairs melted, there were plenty of ways to the surface from the molten rock. It was awkward holding the knives, but it didn’t take long.

  The Solar Flare had completely melted the stone walls of Yoboc and Goldie's house, and half the walls had melted into the neighbouring houses. The only reason it didn’t go further was that everything was made of stone. Fires were burning in the houses, the road was molten, and the building across the road was damaged.

  People were running around trying to save people and property. I saw several wounded lying out of the fire who had been rescued. I didn’t know if I had killed innocent people in that flare. I hadn’t thought about it. At the time, I was just out for revenge.

  I decided I had better leave the city. The gate was just there, and the guards were distracted, helping put out the fire and keep people organised.

  I walked out of the gate. A junior guard tried to stop me, but a growl and a pulse of Dread stopped her.

  I walked into the wilderness. I was quite badly injured. I had a knife wound in my chest that was closed but not healed. I was covered with burns which were soothed, but not healed. I had no healing potions. If I were to heal, I would have to do it the slow way.

  Night was falling, and I left the road and just kept walking. I stopped at a stream, drank, and washed my wounds. It also removed the stench of smoke from me.

  I walked into the wilderness. I didn’t try to hide. If I were attacked, I would fight, but I still quite liked the idea of dying. Unfortunately, there were probably no strong monsters this close to Jern.

  The Revitalise wore off, and the lethargy set in. I kept walking anyway.

  Near dawn, I found a small cave. I ate the inhabitant, changed to my bear form and curled up to sleep. Sleep was a long time coming.

  I woke with the sun high in the sky. I had to change into my humanoid form to carry the knives. I needed to make a belt or something, but that was too much effort.

  I kept walking.

  I was numb. I missed Felix. I was angry. I …. I don’t know. Just keep walking.

  I avoided all civilisation.

  I walked all day. When I was hungry, I extended my aura, froze the heart of the nearest small animal, and ate it. Then I kept walking.

  I had a number of skill increases. Breath Control went to Journeyman, so I could hold 40% more air and use it 40% more efficiently with my current stats. Syncing that with Extract Impurities meant I didn’t suffocate in that basement.

  Revitalise was now at Journeyman Level as well, so I could use it through my aura. Not that there was anybody here to share it with. It did speed my recovery, and I needed that, so I used it, walked off the lethargy when it finished, and then used it again.

  My burns hurt, and they were not all visible. The hot air burned down my throat. Soothe Burns was essential, and I used it all day. I didn’t get it to Journeyman, though, as it started significantly lower than the others.

  This all earned me another level in First Aid and Field Medic. Even learning the most basic skills to keep somebody alive meant I didn’t die when I wanted to, and now my body was slowly healing itself.

  My resistances had jumped up. Heat was now at the top of extreme, and Fire had jumped up to the bottom extreme. That and the fact that I curled up away from the Flare were probably the reasons I was not blind.

  I guess this was the time to push for an active healing skill, but I didn’t want to. My mental state was stuck on dwelling on my losses. Felix. It felt like a piece of me had been ripped out. Yoboc and Goldie had taught me so much, despite Goldie’s horrible limericks.

  I kept walking late into the night. I didn’t bother looking at my Map or Navigation Skills to see where I was. It didn’t matter.

  I had killed everybody. The only one I questioned whether I should have killed was Makara. Did I also kill some innocent passersby? I definitely wounded some. Maybe I am too dangerous to be in a town.

  I was attacked. My revenge was … it was a lot.

  Eventually, I found a small depression in a clump of trees, turned into my bear form, and slept. It was lonely and cold sleeping alone. I remember the first night at the Dwarven mining camp, when Felix came and slept beside me.

  It started to rain. The rain was cold and soothing on my burns.

  I drifted off to sleep anyway. Cold and lonely.

  When I woke, it was still dark, but the rain had stopped. Some movement had woken me, but I was not really interested in getting up to see what it was.

  Soon, Hearing Aid picked up light footsteps, and my Void Sensing identified Kiri and Pānihi. She must have deliberately made the footstep sounds because I knew she was better than that.

  I lifted my head to watch as they came through the trees. She was dressed and equipped for hunting. She had a large pack on her back.

  I didn’t get up. She stopped by my head, and I felt her eyes looking over my bear form and cataloguing my injuries. She didn’t say anything.

  She put her pack on the ground and lifted my head, pouring a healing potion down my throat. She then got a sheepskin blanket out of her pack, draped it over me, crawled under it, and lay against me. Pānihi lay on the other side of me. I drifted back off to sleep, feeling a little less lonely.

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