Last Life

“PLEASE, MAX! Don’t go!”

Sal fitfully grasped my forearm with both hands while I packed a backpack. Today at dawn, I would start heading back. Back home...

Out of the corner of my eye, I quickly scanned her energy system out of habit. Over the last twenty days, it had gotten a lot stronger. Then, I chuckled to myself in satisfaction. My lessons had not gone to waste. Sal soaked up my knowledge like a sponge.

I thought if she kept progressing at this pace, she would become a powerful mage and — why the hell not? — might even become the supreme keeper. At the very least, she had every chance.

I kept my word to Mongwo and helped his granddaughter undergo initiation in the main shrine of the people of Meemeeteh. She passed with flying colors.

The shrine was a huge cave formed by a very ancient earthquake. Either it was the will of the gods, or random chance, but in the cave’s interior a giant stone of power had formed, which radiated magic for several feet. The relict emerald was so giant that five natives could stand around it holding hands.

The first time I saw it, I couldn’t even believe my eyes. Its energy entered my body all on its own. It accelerated all processes in my energy system significantly. The emerald bruts I had absorbed were not even close to this resounding effect. No wonder then that Sal very quickly and easily completed the initiation.

Beyond the keepers of the shrine, other children of Meemeeteh were also in the cave with us. The presence of an outsider was viewed with surprise but no aggression. Plus, Mongwo had negotiated in advance with the Supreme Keeper about me, which assured me even more that this was an overly trusting people which had never met a bipedal enemy other than possibly some local monsters.

After the ritual, I realized how Mongwo had caught the Keeper’s attention — my seer gift. For the next several days, the chiefs of other tribes came to the shrine with their families and close relatives for me to render a verdict.

But that was not all. The news of the seer spread like wildfire through the lands of the children of Meemeeteh. And a mass pilgrimage to the Lao village began. Commoners from various tribes, even the most remote, came to have me look at their children. They were hoping for miracles. After all, perhaps the power of the goddess could be found in more than just the elite.

In the end, fortune did indeed smile on a few of them. I was able to detect a dormant gift in nearly twenty natives. Beyond that, I explained in detail exactly when they should visit the shrine to make sure it all went properly, and they did not present themselves to the giant brut before their time. I told them that because many of the people with a dormant gift had visited the shrine before to no result. I had to impress upon them that everything came in its due time, and touching the Heart of the Forest was only part of the process. The gift had to mature first. That news only increased the flow of pilgrims, but was I really surprised?

People brought all kinds of things as offerings. Meat, fish, healing plants, pelts, bones, stone knives and spear tips. I naturally gave all that to Mongwo because I couldn’t take any of it with me anyhow. The magic of the Barrier would destroy it all.

But there were surprises. On one such visit, I was brought a wide cloak made of red leather. At first, I paid it no mind and, as usual, gave it to Mongwo, but the old man caught me by surprise. He returned it to me and said the cave roarer pelt the cloak was made of was imbued with the power of the Great Bound, and I would be able to take it into my world.

Scanning revealed that the leather contained an energy system of its own just like the stryker armor and weaponry I’d seen before. That got me very excited. When I asked where else I could find monsters like that one, Mongwo told me there was only one creature in the lands of the Lao that possessed the power of the Great Bound — the River Terror. The giant snake that ate Sal and Togh’s parents.

Recalling the events of a week prior, I looked over at the big bundle of coal black snake leather, then the two curved snake fangs as long as my forearm. The River Terror was a tough fight, but it was worth it. Now I had enough materials to make my own armor and weapons. I would just have to track down a skilled, gifted weapon maker. But that was only if I could take it through the barrier.

Beyond the magic pelt and fangs, I had extracted from the creature two bruts — one crimson and one lilac. The crystals were about the size of my fist. Whereas the crimson one was no mystery, I had never touched a lilac one before.

My first experiment with the crystal’s magic brought no palpable results. The amber bruts were similar, though. Their magic dissolved into my energy system and only later, when my body encountered poison, did its effect become apparent.

Essentially, the lilac mana, much like the amber had yet to do anything. However, that didn’t stop me from absorbing a bit of it every day, slowly draining my one lilac brut.

And speaking of absorption... I added another new element to my “diet” — turquoise pearls. To my eye, they were the most valuable of all bruts. Mongwo was right. The little turquoise peas collected from the shells of mollusks that lived in a river far to the south of the Lao lands really did make my reservoir slowly grow larger.

It happened very slowly and with a great deal of pain, but at least it advanced the process from a dead stop. And I was willing to tolerate any amount of pain for progress like that. Beyond the reservoir, the water magic contained in the pearl made my energy channels grow larger. And that meant that very soon I would again have access to the more complicated incantations in my witching arsenal.

The tent flap opened up and Togh appeared in the doorway. The kid traded looks with his sister. I saw Sal shake her head no, which made her brother’s look turn sour.

I just laughed at their little act. They had been assaulting me with pleas and reasons to stay with the Lao for good for the last few days.

I saw a small hand-made dagger on Togh’s belt made from one of the River Terror’s lower fangs. After hunting the giant snake with help from the brother and sister pair, the once easily spooked kid got a new lease on life. The death of his enemy, who embodied all his fears, had a positive impact on his psyche. The chief’s grandson was slowly finding his place in tribal life, though he was still cautious around water. And unsurprisingly, Togh had stuck to my side ever since that memorable day.

“The Lao need you!” Sal made her final plea.

I shook my head and, with a muted chuckle, tossed one of the backpacks stuffed to the brim with bruts onto my back. I sacrificed the wide cloak I’d been brought as an offering to make two backpacks, which I was using to store my magic loot as well as a short tunic. I couldn’t use clothing or backpacks made of regular pelts. The magic of the Barrier would destroy them.

“Trust me,” I snorted, tossing the second backpack with the snake pelt and fangs tied on it over my right shoulder. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Of all people, I am the last thing the Lao need.”

Outside, people were waiting for me. The whole tribe was going to see me off along with a few pilgrims who had caught me just as I was leaving.

Taking the river to the Barrier — an idea suggested by a pilgrim from one of the river tribes — seemed like a good idea to me. They meanwhile, after I uncovered a dormant gift in one of the hunter’s sons, gifted me a small narrow boat that reminded me a lot of a pirogue.

Now that pirogue was being loaded up with food and pelts by a few Lao hunters, who had volunteered to see me to the riverbank. Mak and Hass were among them.

Despite the previous night’s festivities in honor of my departure, people were still loudly shouting out wishes for good travel.

“So, they couldn’t change your mind?” Mongwo asked with a clever smile, nodding at his grandchildren.

I glanced at the brother and sister and, seeing tears in their eyes, smiled:

“No, but they didn’t make it an easy choice.”

I gave the old man a big hug and we patted each other on the back.

“Remember, you promised to return,” he whispered into my ear. “I hope I can see you again before I go to the land of the Great Mother.”

I gave a short nod at the huge snake skeleton lying on the lakeshore and said with a wry smirk:

“Poor is the hunter who leaves behind his most valuable catch. Look after these bones. They still contain a great deal of the River Terror’s power. I will return for them. And while I’m here, I’ll see you both off.”

Mongwo laughed and walked away from me, letting the others give me an embrace. Sal held on the longest. I could feel her heartbeat accelerate and her shoulders heave.

“I want to go with you,” she whispered.

“The Great Bound will kill you,” I whispered back, stroking her hair. “Your people need you. They will perish without you. And look after your brother and grandfather...”

Sal backed away sharply. Tears streamed down her cheeks. With unexpected pep, she stood on her tiptoes and clumsily tried to kiss me on the lips. After a short smooch, she turned and went back into the tent.

Mongwo looked at her sadly and breathed a heavy sigh. We met eyes.

“We’ll be waiting for you, Renard my friend,” he said, placing his wrinkly hand on my shoulder. “Remember, our home is your home!”

When my pirogue left the shore and the river carried me to the west, I spent a little while watching Togh’s gaunt silhouette running after me down the riverbank. Before he disappeared around a bend, I waved a final farewell and smiled. For the first time, he was not afraid of the river.

“I hope everything turns out well for you...” I whispered and concentrated on steering the pirogue.

* * *

The trip down the river was fairly monotonous. During the day, I paddled, and at night I stopped to eat dinner and get some rest. Before falling asleep, I would carefully smear wood toad poison from a bottle on the bottom and sides of the pirogue. Then, in the morning I would eat breakfast, wash up and start off again.

On day seven, I had to abandon the pirogue at a fork in the river, because it turned north. After that, I spent another two days walking through the forest with my clothing coated in poison. By morning of the tenth day, I finally caught a glimpse of the Dark Barrier. I had practically reached my destination.

Before heading out, I considered many times exactly how I would cross the Barrier. I decided against a direct mad dash. Where was the guarantee that I would not lose consciousness again after crossing the dark boundary and remain forever trapped in the gloomy storm cloud?

Carefully thinking through the situation, I decided to use an ebb. For starters, I needed to get back to where the strykers left me in a cage before. I was greatly hoping the Shadow had not yet ebbed there.

I knew approximately the direction so, when I reached the Barrier, I followed it. The closer I came to the location, the more lilac magic monsters I encountered. I even successfully hunted a few, netting another five small bruts.

I spent three days and nights like that, and near midday on the fourth, I started to recognize my surroundings.

“I think I made it...” I whispered to myself with relief, surveying the shore of the wide forest lake which had changed a lot over the previous month. There had not yet been an ebb.

The old trees and plants had disappeared under the influence of the alien magic. The barrier either destroyed them or initiated the transformation. The lakeshore had also sprouted a lot of new plant life. And the untamed mess of green undergrowth and branches was teeming with animals.

The flora and fauna were both cautious when they detected me. The smartest creatures were scared by the poison on my clothes, while the dumbest wanted to test my edibility, so I killed them. Very quickly, all the stupid creatures died, and a vacuum formed around me. I found myself a nice shelter in the wide crown of the very tallest tree in the area and settled in to wait for an ebb.

The next four days were exactly alike. It was like I lived the same exact day four times in a row. I ate, slept, and slowly absorbed bruts. But on day five, something extraordinary happened.

I had seen it before, only from the other side of the barrier. All local animal life started to slowly retreat into the forest away from the lake. Lots of crustaceans and creepy crawlers started slithering out of the water. Like a thick moving carpet, they all headed east, clearly in search of another safer body of water.

“I think it’s starting,” I whispered silently and began quickly removing my poison-saturated clothes. Time to change into something the Barrier’s magic would not destroy.

At first, nothing changed, but then a cold wind blew in from the dark storm cloud. The surface of the lake burbled and squelched.

Wearing the backpacks, I came a few branches down and looked around. Apparently, I was not the only one waiting for an ebb. I spotted a few long dark bodies below. A pack of some big-toothed creatures that looked like giant wolves were hiding among the bushes. I counted up seven. Scanning revealed that all their energy systems glowed with dark lilac and amber energy. The very largest creature, clearly the pack alpha, had three colors in his energy system — amber, lilac, and crimson.

I had heard many times that a lot of magic plants and animals were left behind by ebbs. And this pack seemed to be aware of that. Either that or they were here to hunt the people that would come for loot after the ebb. Curious...

Finally, the wall of darkness started moving and, like the last time, picked up speed. Less than a couple minutes later, it reached the edge of the forest I was hiding in.

And before the darkness overcame me, I looked over at the giant wolves. They were all pressed down on the ground as if waiting to jump while their bodies were enshrouded in a purple haze.

A second later, I was in darkness, but not total. It was similar to fog. Thick and soupy. The wind settled as did all other sounds. At first, I thought I’d gone totally deaf.

Lurching a bit forward, I was able to make out a bizarre pattern on the bark of the tree I was sitting on. When I switched to true vision, I shuddered. That was when I realized the darkness had a color. Lilac... I also saw that my hand and the rest of my body were giving off a silvery aura-like haze.

So that was why I didn’t pass out this time. It was all down to the energy from the purple bruts I’d absorbed. My passive defense against magic had increased, but just a bit. I wondered what would happen next.

Today, I would have a unique opportunity to witness the magic of the Barrier altering defenseless objects and plants.

First, I checked my things. The snakeskin, fangs, and leather backpacks all passed the test. All of the bruts were still there, too and hadn’t been damaged. But the regular clothes and items the Lao gave me for the road had already started to disintegrate along with the tree I was sitting on. I watched the lilac magic swarm the bark and wood like a cloud of tiny parasites, then start to devour it.

When I looked down, I saw bright lilac spots — the giant wolves were having no trouble with the ebb. Hopefully, they would not notice me and start hunting. That would make things tough. I wouldn’t be able to stay up this tree for long. With the destructive magic, it would topple before the wolves got tired of waiting. If that happened, I had just one way out — I would have to dive into the lake. I would not be able to take on all seven of them.

Around one hour later, the purple haze blew away, and a moment after that my eyes were stung by the bright rays of the evening sun. I even covered my face with an elbow in discomfort. After the dim shadow sun, the regular one seemed extremely bright and huge.

The air had also changed. It was fresh and invigorating. After the stale, heavy air of the jungles, it was intoxicating and brought my whole body to life.

Surrendering to the euphoria, I didn’t notice right away, but the shadow creatures had disappeared. I looked around, and finally spotted them. The alpha was leading the pack around the lake. Watching their dark backs as they receded, I breathed a sigh of relief. But still I was in no rush to come down the tree. Its trunk was still holding strong.

I checked all my things again and decided to descend an hour later. Hopping to the ground, I adjusted the leather tunic, and tossed on both backpacks. After that, looking around, I headed the opposite direction of the wolves.

But I was not able to get all that far. On the opposite side of the lake, I saw riders and wagons coming from the valley. Instantly falling to the ground, I crawled on my knees and elbows to the wide trunk of the nearest tree, which was shedding its bark like a snake would its skin.

Hiding behind the tree, I peeked out cautiously and looked at the opposite shore. Hm... Old friends... The Wild Duke and his band. Next to the Duke’s horse, I spotted a big white cat. The lutine was there, too.

Finally, they came to a stop and people started piling out of the wagons. Among them, I saw a few of the men that had gone with me to join the Shadow Patrol. It was immediately apparent that they were scared. And no wonder! They were probably seeing shadow creatures around every bush.

And no sooner did I think about shadow creatures than the wolves all howled in the distance. The lilac wolf alpha had caught scent of prey... And a moment later, giant wolves started appearing on the shore one after the next, half surrounding the people.