Asema and I noticed a cave not far off the road we’d traveled before entering the forest. It was dark, and a cool wind picked at the hairs on my arms. With a single entrance, it would be easily defensible.

  Not long after, dusk had settled, leaving the fullness of a star-filled night sky as the backdrop to the wide, open world outside the mouth of the cave. Saise, apparently tired from a day of fighting, snored like the rumbling of a bear, and Vekrem, passed out from exhaustion, let out the occasional wince of a painful dream.

  Hearing his pain and seeing his arms, I knew what saving Saise had cost him. As before, the skin on his forearm was red and raw, scorching to the touch, but not exactly burned. Honestly, I don’t know how I would describe the wound other than magical in nature.

  He jostled in his irregular sleep, and I backed away, leaving him alone. Whatever substance he had used to summon fire, it also protected him from any lasting damage, but it was seemingly not without its own set of drawbacks.

  Asema, in an unusual act of kindness, handed me a bundle of white linen taken from a pack.

  “Wrap his arms,” she said, pointing down towards him, a small curl of a smile at the edge of her lips. “His skin will still feel as if it’s on fire for a time, but the linens should help a small bit.”

  Turning to wander off alone, she eventually settled at the mouth of the cave, gazing out into the darkness outside.

  I began wrapping Vekrem’s arms, as instructed. When finished, I found a place near her. She didn’t bother to even look over at me, but curiosity nagged at me as I asked, “I noticed the rot spreading on your cheek.” I pressed my hand to my own. “It happened after you ate that mushroom; the one that made you… stronger. What’s happening to you?”

  Asema’s hand went to her cheek, and she winced at the light touch. Sighing as if I had caught her in some deep secret, she replied, “It’s the price one pays for power. That I chose to pay. Certain shrooms can alter you. Change you. Heal the sick. Make you different… Give you powers. The black one, known commonly as a Void Shroom, more than doubles the strength of the one who consumes it.”

  My jaw dropped. “More than double?” I said. “That’s fucking insane.” A greedy thought crept into my mind. “Think I can—”

  “No!” she replied tartly. “Because of the price. For me, I was already sick with the Radiant Rot. My body, in its own way, was used to disease. Resistant. Now the rot spreads even faster. Soon, my entire body will be covered with it. The decaying of my flesh will be… painful. It won’t be a pretty sight, I’m afraid.”

  “And… what if I?”

  “The Void Shroom would kill someone like you outright. Maybe you would survive for a few minutes at best. Sure, the effects would be bombastic; you’d be near unmatched… but it wouldn’t be worth it. Vekrem, the alchemist he is, is capable of deriving a weaker version from the Void Shroom. Where the effects are of a more temporary nature. But—”

  Asema’s voice broke, and I finished her sentence for her. “But you didn’t want temporary strength. You know that this is just one of the trials we’ll face before the end. You want to be able to help; to not to be a burden.”

  Asema peered up at the stars outside, their glowing light twinkling in her eyes. “You speak as if you understand.”

  “Oh, I do,” I replied. “More than most. I know what it feels like to be weak. To be powerless. Like the world couldn’t care less about your continued existence. I was nothing before Dragon.” I forced a laugh to lighten the mood. “Hell, I’m still nothing without Dragon. Even now, the best I can do is try to help in whatever small ways I can.”

  “You have more power than you think,” Asema replied. “And this—this here.” She pointed a finger from her and back to me. “It stays between us. If you truly wish to make a difference—for our world to know your name—then when the time comes, choose humanity.” She stretched her legs. “And that’s all I wish to say for now. Sleep, I have first watch.”

  Looking back towards Vekrem for a moment, I stood, leaning on the mouth of the cave, looking out into a world illuminated by a vast moon. Mushrooms glowed molten silver back towards their master of the sky, showing that a world in dark is not bereft of life, but full of wonder itself.

  “I couldn’t sleep even if I tried.”

  Asema gave a humph, but said nothing as we enjoyed the silence of the night together.

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  ***

  I woke to the aroma of something cooking. It was accompanied by the soft sizzling sound of meat frying over an open flame. Opening my eyes, the light streaming into the mouth of the cave was enough to make my stomach turn as a migraine raged through me. Having stayed up most of the night, I was more tired than I wanted to admit.

  “Good, he’s awake,” Saise said, turning a stick over a small wood fire with what looked to be some type of sausage that had been skewered through. The food popped as the flame licked at it greedily, blackening the meat with its smoldering touch. “Thought you would just sleep the day away. It’s not like we don’t have rodrants looking for us. Oh, and a deadly horde of spriggan too. Can’t forget about the bandits we need to sneak past as well.”

  I sat up, rubbing the back of my sore neck. “I get it. I get it.”

  Sleeping on the ground was a particularly painful endeavor, and I found myself wishing for the softness of my couch back home in my own world.

  That, and a goddamn pack of smokes.

  “Well, when you put it that way… what are we waiting for?”

  Saise’s face lowered into a frown, and I sat straighter.

  “Wait… what are we waiting for?”

  “Him…” Asema said, adjusting to the side so that I could see Vekrem huddled in a corner.

  He was awake, and both his arms were still wrapped, but the white bandage had gone reddish brown. He looked ragged and tired, as if he hadn’t slept at all the previous night.

  “I’m fine!” Vekrem protested, but the raspiness in his words spoke otherwise. “At least, I’m fine enough. We need to keep moving.”

  “Vekrem…”

  “No!” Vekrem attempted to stand, but his knees buckled just as quickly, sending him back into the dirt. His arms shook with pain. “We can’t stay.”

  Asema, surprisingly, put a hand on his shoulder. “We can’t… but we can eat. So, let’s start there. Eat, and we’ll decide how to proceed afterwards.”

  Vekrem shot defiance up at her, but I noticed the strength with which she braced him firmly to the ground. She didn’t put her hand on him as a show of companionship, but as a show of force. Eventually, he gave way to her with a nod, unable to fight her inhuman strength.

  I stood, stretching out my limbs, moving to the fire. I sat next to Saise, and her red tail twitched as I accidentally brushed up against it. Hurriedly, she pulled it back, tucking it behind her on the other side of her as she growled at me.

  Placing my hands forward, I said, “Sorry.”

  “Tsk, humans,” Saise replied as she reached out, plucking one of the sticks from the fire and handing it to me. “Here. Eat.”

  I happily obliged as my stomach growled in protest. The meat was surprisingly sweet and had been charred to crispy perfection. As I bit in, the juices inside squeezed through my teeth and ran down my chin, each drop adding itself to my wrinkled and dirty clothing.

  “Shit…”

  Vekrem took a place next to me, and as he did, he tucked his arms, shielding them from the flames’ heat. Turning to me, he said, “Thank you…”

  “For what?” I replied, continuing to stuff my face full of the flavorful meat as if I’d never eaten before in my life.

  “For this,” he pointed around the cave, “for helping me here. For lending me your aid. You said you’re from another world, and yet… You fight so diligently to protect this one. You’re a noble soul.”

  Dragon smoldered with a sound like laughter far off in the back of my head.

  Vekrem’s words shamed me, and I felt forced to respond. “I wouldn’t go that far,” I replied. “I’m here on a quest to help Dragon. Remember?”

  Vekrem nodded. “Another selfless act.”

  “Not entirely,” I explained. “Back in my world… I’m nothing. A nobody. I have no girlfriend, no car, hardly any friends… no future to speak of. You say I’m here to save you—to save Dragon—but, in a way, you are both saving me. Saving me from a life where I was insignificant. From a life where not even my own family wanted me. You are… saving me from myself.”

  Surprisingly, my words broke at the end as emotions took hold. Emotions? I thought I was past all that bullshit. I’d long since given up on caring what the world thought of me… so why? Why now?

  I snapped my fingers; nicotine withdrawal, that had to be it.

  Still, Vekrem smiled knowingly, placing his bandaged hand against my shoulder. “Then we’ll save each other,” he replied.

  Asema interjected. “Will you both knock it off? Really, we’re barely any closer to finding a cure for the rot, and you two are acting as if it’s already a done deal. Get your heads out of your collective asses and focus on the task at hand.”

  Saise laughed. “Agreed. You two really are too much.”

  I nudged Vekrem. “Aren’t you gonna chide her for her language?”

  Vekrem blushed, pulling his hand away. “I just—”

  “I’m kidding,” I replied, assisting Vekrem in his time of need. “And we’re fine over here. Just reminiscing about the past, after all. We did almost die. If the rest of the journey is anything like yesterday, then we won’t get much more time like this to do so.”

  Despite their earlier words of condemnation, Asema and Saise nodded their agreement.