-Callen-

  A hand lightly pats my shoulder, and I see Nightshade standing beside me.

  “Go,” Her word softly echoed to everyone in the clearing, and everyone moved without hesitation. The injured were dragged away by those who could move, and the battlefield was cleared as everyone left without question. Quietly I hear her whisper to me.

  “You may watch, but do not get close.” I ran for the helicopter, and that spurred the bear into action. It crossed the threshold of the wall and immediately was bound by countless vines wrapping around it. I put my helicopter in full lift, successfully moving out of the conflict zone. Hovering overhead, I watched the clash unfold.

  The vines had drawn the bear's attention, and it shifted focus onto Nightshade's avatar. The bear continued to move forward despite Nightshade's impedance. The entire field began to bloom with countless nightshade flowers everywhere, and blocking the bear's path into the town was a giant blooming flower nearly the same size as the bear.

  It wasn’t visible, but I could feel the nightshade begin harmonizing with the bear the same way I do when talking to her. The bear reached the giant flower and began tearing it apart piece by piece and pushing further past it. However, 3 more giant flowers emerged around the bear, sealing it between them.

  The bear lifted onto its hind paws and slammed them into the earth, causing the land to fissure and forcibly blasting apart massive swathes of the flower field. However, the large flowers resisted the impact and continued to block the bear, which began violently swiping side to side, breaking through again.

  I felt Nightshade reach harmonization and felt knowledge spill into the bear like an unrelenting torrent. In the same moment roots erupted from the two flowers the bear was trying to bypass, trying to drag it back towards them. Catching the bear's footing while it was unsteady from the mental deluge. However, the bear didn’t let that stop it. Now it didn’t bother with the flowers; instead, its sight was set on Nightshade’s tower.

  I adjusted my mind to try catching just what Nightshade was sharing and tapped into what were countless memories from the impressions of every day and untold amounts of trivial details. For more than I thought anyone could ever remember. That wasn’t the point, though, as I noticed the bear beginning to sway. One of the all-too-familiar signs of Nightshade’s poison.

  The Bear was entirely unwilling to give in and, despite all the interference, reached the tower. Raising a great paw, it slammed downward toward the structure, but suddenly I felt Nightshade reach through our connection, grabbing my affinity and my skill Void Shift. The paw passed straight through the tower like it wasn’t there. The bear was confused briefly, which gave Nightshade time to launch an empowered assault as more than 10 giant flowers had grown behind the bear. The vines lashed out, grabbing the bear from every angle and pulling it over onto its back.

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  The bear thrashed violently in protest, and I saw blood beginning to seep out from its orifices. However, Nightshade had propped it up at an angle that denied its ability to leverage its strength. The deluge of trivial knowledge reaching nearly 50 years now continued to be whispered into the bear’s mind as it was forced to listen. The bear weakly groaned as its thrashing weakened, and then the vomit started.

  Chunks of unidentifiable material spilling onto the ground and coating the bear and earth. Coincidentally it was this that enabled the bear to break free. The stomach acid had burned some of the key restraints, and the Bears' renewed struggle let it break the hold and roll. Back on its feet but clearly disoriented and scared, instead of trying to fight, the bear stumbled for the exit to town. It almost couldn’t walk straight, but Nightshade didn’t try to restrain it. She only continued to teach the bear how lovely the sunshine was 300 years ago.

  The bear swayed and bumped into a portion of the wall, knocking the wall over and nearly knocking the bear over again. It managed to catch itself with some side pedaling, but it continued to stumble in retreat as the forest parted, allowing it passage away. Gradually every flower in the clearing wilted and collapsed before decaying rapidly in the field.

  Silence once again descended over the field, and after appreciating all that had occurred, I lowered my helicopter down next to the Nightshade avatar that was slowly beginning to shrink like a human regressing in age.

  “Why did you let the bear go?” Knowing how much XP something like that bear meant would be significant even for someone at Nightshade's level. She quietly thinks and continues to regress in size to barely a 5-year-old and in her usual whispery voice.

  “The bear didn’t intend to disturb my garden again. My previous master believed that someone who shows mercy is someone to be respected and someone who can forgive their enemies is someone to be cherished. I won’t let the bear hurt my garden, but it won’t return.”

  Her statement had finished just as she regressed into a flower blooming in the ground. I silently thank her for reminding me about kindness, and I realize why she became my familiar. In that strange dream that I thought was earth, it was actually just the world she dreamed of, and I had connected deeply with it and, by extension, with her.

  I take a moment and just lie down next to her flower, staring off into the clouds peacefully drifting by, and feel my connection more tangibly than any meditation before ever has. A lot of people had suffered because of us, and there would be time for mourning, but I soaked in the rare peace that Nightshade was sharing with me.

  Funeral

  Ela, Nixie, Reesia, Rylin, Callia, and Callen all stood before a small tombstone before it was a hole and a casket. The body inside was unrecognizable except for the adamantine hand that, despite everything, still stuck with him. The other had been retrieved from the now cleared grounds where he had fought to protect Reesia.

  “Da . . . .da,” Rylin reaches for the casket, and Ela hugs him tightly. Rylin’s first word, but to everyone it felt like an acknowledgment of Marek and his dedication. For Callen and Callia, he had been distant and unsure of how to interact until they had grown. However, ever since his injury, he had dedicated all his time to them, and it had been felt and cherished.

  Most people in Port Town don’t have graves. Most bodies are unrecoverably damaged, but for the few who lived a full life or who could be recovered without risk, a small grave was built on the farthest reach of the Wither Tree’s island. Every knight who died in service of Port Town had a marker here, and now he would stand among them forever, guarded by the Wither Tree.

  The waves of the sea crashed against the rocks below, providing an ambiance that helped with the stifling silence. The grave was filled, and one by one those closest to Marek left gifts before boarding the boat back to town. Some had a drink, others a memento. Finally it was just the family left.

  Nixie went first, setting down a worn set of tools Marek had commissioned to help her. Then Reesia left behind the sword she had used to train with him. Callia and Callen went together, Callia leaving the stone they had used to train together, and Callen planting the flower that had brought him peace after the bear was driven away. Ela and Rylin were the last remaining, and Ela bent down, giving a soft kiss farewell onto the stone, wishing farewell to her beloved.