REVIVAL by Nick Venom (great book club books .TXT) 📕

Enix nodded, but he wasn’t satisfied with her words. He still blamed himself for throwing them into that situation… and nothing would convince him otherwise. 

“We’re only halfway there!” North shouted. “Ten more minutes and we’re there. Pick up the pace!” Enix and Jessica nodded, both of them running as fast as they could humanly move. 

In ten minutes, they would arrive and save Arson, Rex, and Natalie. They only needed ten minutes and the disaster would be over. All in ten minutes.

***

“Where’s Rex?” Arson asked, parts of his body charred by the dragon’s fire. “Is he safe?”

Natalie glanced at Rex, who she dumped behind a clump of trees. “He’s okay. I think he ran out of mana.”

“Hurts like hell, I was told.” Arson said.

“From Fred?”

“Yup,” Arson muttered with a smile as he looked up at the dragon. The dragon was playing with them, not using any of its real strength against what it considered as ants. It felt overconfident, launching small attacks that threw the formation in disarray. Arson was dealt the most damage as the attacks continued to char his skin, but Rex kept them at bay with his healing skill. However, when he ran out of mana, he couldn’t heal Arson any further and collapsed due to a lack of mana. 

With their healer gone, Arson sustained more and more damage. His chains grew weaker as his mana reached the bottom of the pool. He couldn’t materialize his chains as long as he used to and they didn’t spout out as much poison as before. Everything was deteriorating. 

“How long has it been?” Arson asked. “Think they’re close?”

Natalie shook her head. “Who knows anymore.” She had several burn scars littering her body, which was a collection of old and new scars. The scars could’ve been dealt with easily, but Rex had his full attention on Arson, who dealt with the near-brunt of the damage. 

“I hope they get here soon… or something will happen to us.”

Natalie nodded. “I’m almost out of mana. Well, it isn’t like my arrows have been able to do anything, anyways.” She remarked. “We could try to escape through the trees.”

“What would our master think? He spent almost all of his time training us, yet we disgrace him by fleeing? And what about Rex? We’re too tired to take him back.” 

Natalie nodded. “Then let’s hold out until they arrive.”

“We can’t do anything else aside from that, right?” Arson asked. He glared at the dragon who was staring at them, waiting for their next move. He was playing this as a game of chess, but he had the option to flip the table whenever he wanted.

“I’ll try to hit his wings again… I need you to hold him,” Natalie said.

Arson nodded his head. “I’ll do what I can.”

“That’s enough.”

***

North and the others reached the clearing, all of them springing into action. However, it took eleven minutes for them to reach the clearing through the dense vegetation. They arrived at their destination a minute late. 

Enix charged forward, passing North and Jessica, as they entered the clearing. The dragon turned his head towards Enix, noticing him instantly. It turned its body to face Enix and the others, almost grinning to itself like it was proud of the destruction it caused.

“Master!” Natalie shrieked. Enix looked around before seeing where Natalie was. She was kneeling in front of Arson’s badly bruised body. His body was charred and there was dried blood sticking to his attire. He was tiptoeing on a fragile line between life and death.

“Arson!” Enix shouted. He glanced at the dragon who turned his head to Arson before turning it back. It grinned larger as it stared into Enix’s eyes, taunting him. Don’t you dare! Enix thought to himself. Don’t you dare do anything else!

North stared at the dragon, sparking her ability awake. “I’ll take care of the dragon, you get Arson!” She ordered as energy soared through her body, clumping up at her arms. “Jessica, grab Natalie and Rex and leave!”

Enix and Jessica nodded, both racing forward. Enix’s body was sore, but he couldn’t feel it through the adrenaline being pumped into his body. Jessica, on the other hand, was losing steam. She has pushed her body too much, now beginning to crack down on her. She fell to the ground, kicking dirt up into the air. She lost all ability to move her lungs. She had burnt herself out by going too fast and not taking a break.

Enix glanced at Jessica but continued forward. He needed to reach Arson and Natalie as quickly as he could. He couldn’t watch them die in front of him.

Meanwhile, North faced off with the dragon. She charged forward, rearing one arm back before slamming it into the dragon’s head. The attack nearly split the dragon’s skull in half, managing to force it back a few feet.

“Damn lizard,” North muttered as she landed on the ground, glaring at the dragon. The dragon glared back before glancing at Enix. With another grin, it turned away from her and focused on Arson and Natalie.

“Like hell, I’ll allow you,” North shouted as she charged for another blow. However, the dragon took off, headed for Arson and Natalie. It moved quicker than Enix, reaching his subordinates faster than his tired body would allow him.

“Damn you, dragon! You will not harm them anymore!” Enix shouted. The dragon grinned as it raised one of its legs. It was playing games with them. 

“Get them out!” North shouted as she attempted to keep up with the dragon, but to no avail. The dragon was faster than them, teasing them with Arson’s death. It raised its leg high and played with Enix and North as it moved its limb up and down.

Meanwhile, Natalie saw what was happening. She drew her bow and her final arrow as she was nearly out of Spiritual Power and mana. She pointed it at the dragon’s head, counting down. “3… 2… 1… This is for our future!” She declared as she released the arrow, piercing the dragon’s leg. Natalie smiled as she saw the result of the arrow. However, her final attack wasn’t enough to stop the dragon as the damage didn’t disable it from using its leg. It looked down angrily at her before slamming its leg on the ground… exactly where Arson’s head was.

Enix watched from afar as the dragon killed Arson with one slam. The dragon grinned as it picked up its leg, showing the gruel details of Arson’s death. His head didn’t exist anymore, now only a mushy puddle of blood, skull fragments, and brain matter. 

“You bastard!” Enix shouted, enraged by the death of Arson. He closed his eyes as he pointed his palms at the dragon, muttering a chant under his breath. He finished the chant in world record time, flashing his eyes open with anger. “Frozen Wave!” He shouted. A large wave of ice sprung up from the earth and slammed into the dragon, encasing him in it. The wave reached a height greater than the tallest tree in the forest and width that nearly consumed the entire clearing. Fortunately, Enix’s anger continued to recognize North and the others, purposefully avoiding them with the ice wave. His anger, however, didn’t recognize the dragon as an ally. He slammed all of his might into the dragon, killing the dragon instantly. 

North stared at the dragon now encased in ice. She analyzed the dragon’s color and its few markings to deduce what type of dragon it was. “A blood dragon, mistaken as a wyvern due to its smaller size. The more damage a blood dragon takes, the stronger it gets. However, if its blood is frozen, then it gets weaker. No blood and it’s defenseless.” She muttered to herself.

“N-North?” Natalie cried out. North turned to face Natalie who crouched over Arson’s body. “H-H-He’s dead?”

North bit her lip before nodding her head. She then turned to face Enix who was approaching the dragon. He touched the dragon, feeling the cool touch of the ice instead of the heat of the dragon. The dragon had been smothered by the ice. 

“What are you going to do to it?” North asked him.

“... This.” He muttered as he pulled his arm back before launching it at the ice. It crumbled instantly, less because of his strength and more because of his affinity towards ice. It bent and cracked at his will.

With the dragon now in shards and pieces, Enix turned towards Arson and rushed to his side. He dropped to his knees as he surveyed the damage. His head was gone, smashed into little bits and pieces. He couldn’t be saved, yet Enix cried for the impossible. “Is there a way? There has to! Can Rex’s skill save him?”

North approached Enix, placing a hand on his should. She shook his head while biting her lip. “I’m sorry… he’s forever gone. No healing skills can return life to the dead. He’s gone, Enix.”

Enix nodded, turning back to look at Arson. A tear rolled down his cheek, falling on Arson’s body. “I-I’m sorry A-Arson,” He mumbled. “I… I failed you… I FAILED YOU!” He screeched as tears rolled down his face. Arson was gone and there was nothing he could do to revert it. Enix’s tears wouldn’t save him, but that didn’t stop him from crying on top of Arson’s headless corpse. 

It was a sad day for all.

***

“Today, we see the mortal departure of a friend, Arson. He was a young man who strived to excel in everything and even risked his life for others. He is the reason why some of us can comfortably stand here. He risked his life on a gamble and I’m sure he doesn’t regret it.” North declared, standing to the side of the grave. The grave had been dug six feet and a tombstone was carved out of rock. Arson’s body was carefully placed in a coffin that had been crafted for him with several names on the coffin - a tradition that every Citrate citizen used for the death as the signatures were said to bring relief to the souls that depart, almost as a way to say that they were loved and blessed. 

Enix didn’t believe in the tradition, but he added his signature anyways. Natalie, Jessica, Rex, and Melina did the same, all adding their signatures. None of them believed in the tradition, but it didn’t matter. 

Enix, tearing up, stood in front of the grave while others stood around it. He stared at the tombstone with regret. I did this. I’m the reason he’s down there and not up here. I killed him.

“Enix?” North asked.

Enix snapped out of his thoughts, looking up at North. “Y-Yes?”

“Would you like to say the final words?”

Enix gulped audibly before nodding his head. He took a step forward, now able to peer into the grave. He saw Arson’s coffin at the bottom of the grave, littered with signatures from everybody he knew and didn’t. 

“I… I want to apologize to him. I… I…” He stopped himself as his voice trailed off. “I wasn’t a good mentor to him. I m-misjudged their abilities and jumped t-the shark. I believed that I could show M-Merlin that…” He wiped a tear from his cheek. “... that I was f-fit to be their mentor. That I could train them and make them into i-incredible versions of themselves. But I failed. I failed him and everybody else around me. I failed myself. Rest in peace, Arson. I’m sorry for everything.” Enix said before turning around and walking away from the open grave. Everybody stared at him, noticing the tears erupting from his eyes. It wasn’t hard to notice as it became apparent quickly. 

North, meanwhile, looked back down at the grave before at two gravediggers nearby. She ordered for the grave to be filled up and they responded quickly.

With the burial process started, North turned away and walked in the opposite direction of Enix. She wiped a single tear that sprung from her eye. “I failed him too.”

With anybody