Eliona's War 2: Veiled Healer

Chapter 37

There were two kinds of death in Eliona.

One was the most common, experienced by players and certain Elionans alike. They'd get dealt a fatal blow, vanish into stars, and be Revived at their designated place, whether it be the nearest city (for players) or their clan House (for Elionans.) In some cases, players could choose to Revive at their clan Houses, which Severance had done according to his clan's wishes.

The second death was the true death. The final death. If one had seen it before, it was easy to recognize, because when the stars came, they came violently, full of fury and vengeance. They exploded, filled the sky with their rage, and then faded away into echoes of a life once lived. Only Elionans experienced the second death. And those that did were lost forever.

Severance sat on cold stone, back pressed against the wall that surrounded the courtyard. His knees were pulled up to his chin, and despite his best efforts to hide his face, Vast nudged his way in with single-minded determination.

The beast sat at Severance's side, his warm, furred shoulder pressing against him. His long tail curled around Severance's torso since he couldn't find a convenient leg to capture. It didn't make too much of a difference, anyway.

Severance was in no mood to go anywhere.

You're being silly, he told himself. You're in a video game, remember?

Yet no matter how many times he repeated those words, they rang empty. Because in the end, it still hurt.

Rasin was gone. Forever gone. And Severance would never forget Dhin's horrified, anguished face as long as he lived. Nor would he forget that awful, keening sound of sheer pain that Dhin had made. It was the worst thing he'd ever heard in his life.

How could that not be real? It was an echo of his own cry, his own terrible grief when he first got that phone call from Lydia. He's gone. I'm so sorry. How could a game produce such raw truth with such unerring accuracy?

In that instant, Severance hated the game. He hated Eliona for being wonderful and perfect and alive, hated the Veiled for caring, hated Rasin for dying and Dhin for crying and–

I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.

He hated himself. Severance sucked in a breath. It felt like losing Fenn all over again. No, that wasn't quite right. It was worse, because it was his fault.

He'd killed Rasin.

He'd spent a lot of time going over those last moments, and one thing stuck out in all its horrible, wretched glory. A mistake. His mistake.

If he hadn't Revived Rasin, if he'd just waited until they both had been killed, then both of them would have safely Revived at the House. Instead, he'd panicked. He used Precaution, which ate up the remaining charge in Rasin's Amaurite bracelet and–

Rasin was able to Revive once. But not twice.

Severance clenched his teeth and swallowed the noise that wanted to erupt. Why did he do that? Why hadn't he just thought about it a little more? If he'd realized, in that moment–

Rasin didn't deserve to go in such a way. Dhin didn't deserve to lose a father.

My fault.

Vast huffed and shoved his cold, wet nose against Severance's cheek. He managed to push Severance's head free from his arms and took that opportunity to drag his rough tongue across Severance's face.

Grimacing, Severance half-heartedly tried to shove the beast away. He failed. Even if he'd been trying with all his strength, it would have been impossible. Vast had only grown larger, and even though he was sitting, his head was almost at the same level as Severance's.