Ash blinked. The sun shone bright above her. Too bright. Her head ached, a great throbbing welt taking up a large part of her attention on the left side of her forehead. Her body felt heavy and it was hard to breathe. No, wait, something heavy was atop her, pressing down on her midriff and legs. She groaned, trying to rise, to push what was atop her off or extract herself from beneath.

  Whatever it was, it was heavy, but flexible. A person. It was a person. She managed to wiggle one leg free and sat up. The thick muscular torso, the heavy armour. It was Eric. But,,. he was injured. His clothes splattered with blood. She scrambled up, pulling her foot free of him and climbing to her knees.

  “Eric!” She cried “Oh my god you’re hurt!” She reached for his injuries, looking to apply pressure, find some bandages, anything. He didn’t stir. His face, pale and lifeless beneath his cracked skullcap. “Eric?” She tried again.

  “Its no use Ash.” Came a voice to her side “He’s… gone. I checked.”

  Ash turned, spotting Hestia. She was in the middle of tying a bandage around Stavos’s midriff, blood clearly still seeping through. The villager with the pitchfork was tending to Jori to one side, apparently the man had just been knocked unconscious like she had. Aside from those four, all around them lay the dead. The carpenter with the mallets, the archer and around six lizardmen lay still on the ground. And Eric.

  “No, Eric… How… How did…”

  “How do you think?” Stavos spat out a gobbet of blood “He died protecting you, idiot girl.”

  “Stavos!” chided Hestia.

  “No, Hestia. She’s a curse! Those damn lizard bastards only showed up once she arrived! First Thalia, now Eric and Sasha. At this rate we’ll have no specialists left in this sorry excuse for a settlement!”

  “No!” Ash stood, legs trembling. “I had nothing to do with it. I-”

  “Begone cursed girl!” This voice came from behind her. “I saw you before the attack, skulking around. You’re with them, aren’t you!” It was Livey, emerging from the main hall with a few of the cowering villagers. “Take your foul disease and never return!”

  “No! I’m not-” She started. But the truth was, she was cursed. Ash stumbled back, then almost tripped over Eric’s lifeless arm. Her breath caught. She sobbed. First that dream with her uncle… Now this. It was all too much.

  Ash turned and ran.

  She heard Hestia call after her, but she ignored the words, keeping running straight through the village, back through the stakes and out into the jungle. Ash did not stop until she reached her shelter, wrenching out her door-branch and locking herself inside.

  She sat on her bed, curled up, and sobbed. Eric was gone. He had saved her again, it seemed, but this time was one too many. Sure, he was just an NPC in a game… but… Now, she knew, so was she. If she felt that she was a person, then so was Eric. And now he was dead. Gone. And it was all her fault. She should just go and die. Throw herself to the ants. It would be so easy. She was on a whole… she checked her bar, a whole 4 health. Two bites would do it and it would all be over. She moved to stand, but the strength fled from her limbs.

  She couldn’t even do that. Her tears streamed down her face. Tears for Eric, tears for the others who’d fallen. And, behind it all, tears for herself. For her loss. Her life, her real-world life, was gone. Her family, her friends… She would never see them again.

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  Ash cried until her eyes felt dry and sticky. She lay there, falling in and out of fitful sleep for she didn’t know how long.

  She was roused from a fresh stupor by a faint but distinctive sound. A voice, distant and muffled. She listened harder. Yes, it was a voice. Feminine. It was Hestia, calling for her into the jungle.

  Stupid woman, she was going to attract the ants to her. Then she’d die too.

  Ash didn’t want to respond. Wanted to just lie there. But... I can’t be responsible for another person dying.

  “Hestia” She called out her voice weak and raspy “I’m in here.”

  Somehow, that seemed to transmit because Hestia’s voice grew closer.

  “Ash? Ash where are-”

  “Here” Ash croaked.

  “What? Like, in there?” The faint light inside her room dimmed further as the woman stood before the crawlspace, peering in. “Damn, I can’t believe you even fit through there.”

  “I’m like super scrawny, if you hadn’t noticed.”

  “Yeah, I suppose you are.” Hestia responded, chuckling awkwardly. “Look, about earlier…”

  “You don’t need to tell me. Don’t worry, I won’t go back to the village.”

  “What? No! That’s not it at all! I wanted to apologise. What was said to you was wrong!”

  “But… I got him killed. Eric. He had to save me, again… And now he’s dead.”

  “Eric… He died saving all of us. Just as you nearly did!” Hestia responded firmly “You should be welcomed in as a hero! You helped kill two of the bastards and, if I’m not mistaken, you took out another one even before that! If you hadn’t stepped in, maybe none of us would have survived.”

  “It was just a recruit.” Ash muttered

  “Sure, but what if it had gotten in behind us, or slaughtered the defenceless tradespeople and children in the main hall.” Hestia retorted. “Even before all this, you’ve been doing your best to help out. You know we’ve actually been running low on food supplies this entire time. Your drop off of fruit kept us from having to ration. Sure, we’ve shared a potion with you in return but you’ve given us far more to work with than we’ve returned. I intend to change that.”

  “Hestia. Thanks, but there’s no need. The antivenom-”

  “Oh yes. That. I found your basket by the way” Hestia spoke over her “Those balm roots are enough to brew 10 doses of antivenom. I’ve already got 4 doses brewing. But you brought me some intact plants so I’m going to re-plant the rest of them, eventually meaning you’ll have provided the village with essentially an infinite stock.”

  “Okay, okay. I get it.”

  “Well, if you get it then come out here and eat some dinner with me. I brought enough for both of us.”

  Ash wiped her eyes clean and slowly extracted herself. Hestia had brought back her basket and club, which she now realised she’d left on the battlefield. She’d also brought a full waterskin, filled with what Hestia explained was watered down beer that the villagers mostly drank.

  Together, they talked. Hestia reminisced about Eric and Ash shared the few memories she had with the man. They wept together a little but mostly toasted his memory. She told Ash the story of how she met Eric, forming a small adventuring group with him and two of her friends. About how her uncle, Stavos, had told her of this opportunity to create something new in the unexplored jungle. She had convinced Eric to join her. Ash had to spend a good while then, persuading Hestia that his death was not her fault either. The whole experience made her reflect on how stupid it would be to blame anyone for his passing aside from the actual lizard-men who killed him. Eventually, the food was eaten, the skin was drained, and the light was fading.

  “Look, I wish I could invite you back with me, but Stavos… He’s going to need a little longer. I’m bring him around, hopefully tomorrow. Will you be okay until then?”

  “It’s okay, you don’t have to push. I know tensions in the village are high. I’m sure I’ll be okay here until that healer can check me over.”

  “If they ever arrive! They’re still at least a few days away, but we’re clearly sorely missing them. If only we’d been more prepared and Thalia, our last healer, hadn’t been caught off guard like that…” Hestia sighed. “I joined this expedition for a new start on life… but now I’m wondering if it was a mistake. This jungle is far more dangerous than we anticipated.” She looked away, then up at the fading sun. “Anyway, I should go. I’m sorry again about how you’re being treated. I’m going to make sure that changes for you soon.”

  With that, Hestia set off to the village and Ash crawled back into her home. She fell quickly into a far more restful sleep.