CHAPTER 38: 38: LIFE AND DEATH

Chap 38: Life and Death

Mike kept talking to Drake, trying to keep him awake as Chad pushed every ounce of power he had into saving his friend.

Drake lay bleeding and broken, his guts nearly spilling out as Chad pressed his healing blade to his wound, trying to heal him, ultimately saving his life.

Chad was sweating; it poured down his face as he focused on saving Drake. It was already getting late. They were stuck on the road, with Drake injured, unable to do anything if they were attacked. It was a dangerous time.

They had been lucky so far. Nothing had come out of the trees. They hadn’t seen bandits either. The problem was that it would start getting dark soon, and they were out in the open.

Mike looked up at the sky and voiced his concern. "It’s going to get dark soon. We need to find a place to hunker down. We can’t do that here in the middle of the road.

Drake didn’t want to be the reason they all died on the road. He felt that he needed to try to help. Letting his eyes glow, he looked around them. He could see a clearing in the distance. If Mike carried him, he could place the cabin when they arrived there. He just needed to stay awake long enough to do it. Drake knew that the sword Chad was using was keeping him alive. There was still too much pain to determine if it was actually healing him, though.

"T..Th..That way," he wheezed, trying to point his finger, but was not strong enough. "Cle..Clearing."

Mike understood, though. He looked up at Chad. "I’ll carry him while you try to continue. We need to get to safety, or all your attempts to save him will be for nothing. It’s life or death. I want to live. I want you to live, and I want Drake to live."

Chad nodded, then Mike carefully stood up with Drake still in his arms. He slowly walked in the direction that Drake indicated while Chad kept the sword on his wound.

It was a slow trek through the trees. Chad had to be able to keep the sword pressed to Drake, and Mike had to be careful not to jostle Drake due to the severity of his wounds. A wrong move could mean death for Drake.

The twin suns were setting as they approached the clearing. It had taken a long time to get there because of their slow pace; they had to walk. In the clearing, Mike turned his body so that Drake could see the clearing clearly.

"S..Sit..I..N..need both hands," Drake ordered. His voice was broken, having difficulty talking.

Mike did as he was told. Once they were on the ground, Mike had to help Drake move his hand so that he could take out the storage book. When he swept it out of the cuff, the book was on the ground. "R..Ri..Ribbon," Drake spoke. He needed the page turned to the cabin. The ribbon was pulled to that page so that it would be easy to find if they needed to get to it fast.

Using one hand, he opened to the page with the ribbon. The cabin was clearly seen on the page.

Drake swept his hand. It was barely, but still enough for the cabin to materialize in the clearing. After Drake replaced the book in his cuff, Mike carefully stood up and carried him to the door.

With his free hand, Chad tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t open. Mike already knew he couldn’t because he had tried in the last clearing. "Chad, move Drake’s hand to the door handle and help him open the door. I’m pretty sure he’s the only one who can open it."

With one hand still on the sword, the other, he gently grasped Drake’s hand and set it on the door handle. Covering his hand with his own, Chad opened the door. They sighed in relief. They weren’t sure what they would do if they were unable to get into the safety of the cabin.

Chad backed in first, keeping the healing sword on Drake’s wound. Once in, Mike followed, with Drake in his arms. They had to move in a circle so that Chad could reach the door to close it, set the lock, and hang the bells.

Before they decided where to go next, Chad quickly closed the shutters next to the door and hung the bells. He was happy that they left the shutter locked in the rest of the cabin. It took a few minutes because he had to do everything with only one hand.

"To his bed," Mike stated. "Unless it’s easier for you to use that sword on him on the sofa."

Chad looked between the bedroom and the sofa. "Sofa."

Since the location was selected, they set themselves up there. Mike sat on the sofa with Drake on his lap, stretched out on the sofa.

Chad was becoming pale, his sword starting to fade. He was quickly running out of energy. "I wish you could use a life token like you did on Chad," he grumbled.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the soft voice of the system spoke.

{A member of your cohort requests to use a life token. Do you accept?}

{yes or no}

Drake didn’t hesitate. "Yes," he responded to the system.

Immediately, his body began to heal, and his wounds started to close, the flesh and skin knitting together. It was fast enough for the eye to see. The burning pain he had been experiencing was slowly fading.

Drake slowly turned his head, looking up at Mike. He was too weak, and the pain was still there, although it was much less than it was before. "You saved me. I know why I couldn’t use one before," he started. He had to take a few slow breaths before he continued. "I used the first token, that’s why it didn’t give me an option. You spoke it and the system understood. It used it on me," he continued, then took a few more slow breaths. His head slowly turned toward Chad. "You are the only one who can use a token now. There is only one left. If you can heal with your sword, don’t waste it unless it becomes too much." Sucking in a few more slow breaths, he continued talking to Chad. "If an injury is too much for your sword, that’s when it should be used. This road is too dangerous."

***

The Dimension Master watched the screen with his two friends. As soon as the blond archer saw the computer monitor, he called the third and final member of their small cohort. He needed to know that Mike was in danger, too.

Each of the three men had their own heir. Drake was the Dimension Master’s heir, Chad was the blond archer’s heir, and Mike was the bulky, muscular man’s heir. Drake’s survival meant the other two boys would survive. If he died, so would the other. They were all bound by the system and the dimension.

When Chad’s sword started to fade, they knew it would be the end. It wasn’t doing enough to heal Drake, only enough to keep him alive.

The three men heard everything. When Mike stated that he wished they could use a token on Drake to save him like Drake did for Chad, the three men had one thought. "We wish he could, too." None of them knew why the system wasn’t offering it.

Moments after Mike’s words, Drake’s body began to repair itself. Of course, with Drake’s sharp mind and deduction skills, he figured it out and voiced it immediately. Now they knew it wasn’t someone messing with the system; it was that each boy could use one token to save one of the others.

"They aren’t even halfway to the cave. How are they going to stay alive if the beasts aren’t even in their territory? That beast should have been on the other side of the bridge." The brown-haired swordsman asked. He was worried. There was only one chance left to save one. There was too much going on that shouldn’t and they couldn’t find a loophole to get involved.

The three men refused to leave the confines of Drake’s bedroom, back at his home in the ordinary world. So much was happening that they were afraid to look away. They had all brought in sleeping bags so they could find a spot on the floor or Drake’s bed. It was convenient that Drake had a large room and chose not to fill it with crap.

As they watched, the three boys went in for bed.

***

Mike carried Drake, not taking any chances that he wasn’t completely healed. He still looked pale. He had stopped next to the hearth so that he could shoot a flame into the logs, so he could cook something for them to eat. Chad was exhausted from trying to heal Drake, so he was sent to the bedroom with him. After Drake and Chad were settled, he went to make something for them to eat, making sure it was light enough for Drake to handle.

Mike ended up making a stew, using the ingredients Mary gave them on the first morning in Draco Town. He sat in front of the hearth as the stew cooked. His features grim. The longer they stayed in this dimension, the more he hated it. There were only two people his age he cared about, and both of them nearly died in a matter of days. One of them, twice.