Aye, JWD here. You all know the drill at this point. Enjoy c: Chapter VII Avianna and I buried Daryn, again, near the sight of his death. We had a moment of silence for him, and wrote his name in the dirt. I was still in a ton of pain. My legs still had a few lingering bug bites, my back still had three big scars, although they were fading. My gut was still sore and bruised from being rammed by the Aquirietem. And now, I had taken a blow to the head, as three scratches were made across my face. Luckily, my eyes weren't hit, but my nose and mouth were both scratched bad. Blood was still oozing out from the cuts. "We need to fix you up." Avianna told me. I didn't argue. I gave her the one Flosan Flower I had found, and she told me it would be enough for a little bit of Santum. Avianna went to work. She pulled her backpack off, and pulled out two thermoses. She pulled out a small bottle as well, and poured a little bit of the two liquids in. One was clear, most likely water, but another was an odd yellow color, and seemed a little thicker. It couldn't have been honey, it wasn't that thick. I decided not to question it. Avianna pulled another item out of her bag, a cylindrical piece of wood. She then peeled the petals off the flower, one by one. She placed them on her hand, and crushed them with the wood. "Doesn't that hurt?" I asked. "Not really. I've done this many times before, so I'm used to it." One the petals were crushed into tiny pieces, Avianna dumped them into the mixture, and stirred with her piece of wood. The petals dissolved, and the drink became a golden color. "All done." Avianna said. I took a close look at the drink. It seemed to glow with life. Whatever kind of magic was used in the Flosan flower, it was amazing. "If the Flosan flower can create this, and heal pretty much anything, why is there still disease in the world?" I asked. "Well, the Flosan flower is incredibly rare. You were lucky to find just this one. It's not like we have an unlimited supply, and we can cure any disease imaginable whenever we feel like it." "Oh. That makes sense." "Anyways, here. Drink up." Avianna said as she handed me the glass. The glass felt warm in my hands. I took one look at Avianna, and then took a swig of the Santum. It tasted amazing, even better than last time. Heaven in a jar, I would call it. Avianna stared at my face, most likely watching the cuts close. Most of the pain subsided, although an aching lingered. I rolled up one of the legs on my pants, and found that the bug bites had disappeared completely. "I feel better. But I'm still sore." I said, as I rubbed my back, where unknowingly to me, the scars were nearly completely gone. "If it weren't for this stuff," Avianna said as she held up the bottle. "You'd probably be dead by now." A shiver went through my body. I had faced death multiple times so far. I didn't know if I could last another second in this forest. I felt as if there was nothing good in my life anymore. Was there any point? I was probably halfway through this quest, at the most. I'd nearly died multiple times. I still had over half this forest to navigate, defeat whatever was guarding Potastatem, and make it all the way back to Domum. It was either that, or death. Was all of this worth it? If I succeeded, I would be a hero. I could be famous. I could be loved. Was it worth all the pain I was going through? Was it worth all the battles, all the monsters? Was any of this worth it at all? Would death be an escape, or just giving up? Listen to yourself, I thought. This is absolutely crazy. This is for your freedom! This is for your life! "Ethan? Are you okay?" I was snapped back to reality by Avianna's voice. Even though I hadn't known her for very long, I still felt a different way about Avianna. It wasn't romantic feelings. As beautiful as she was, she was still a spirit, not human. She was also a lot older than me, even though she was only 16 in human years. They weren't romantic feelings, I just, cared about her. A lot. I felt the need to protect her. I felt as if on the entire quest, she had been the one leading me. I had to repay her somehow. I needed to be the one to lead. "Yea. Just zoned out for a second. Should we get going?" Avianna nodded. "We're about halfway to the Cave of Custos. Be prepared Ethan. You have not seen the worst. From this point forward, the creatures will only get tougher." I wasn't looking forward to that. The creatures I had been fighting were already deadly enough. And they were only going to get deadlier. I had no idea what I was going to face. We're there going to be more dangerous combination animals, like flying Panthers or something like that? Or would there be something I had never seen before? I unsheathed my sword, and together, Avianna and I plunged into the next part of the forest, ready to take down whatever got in our way.
