"What do you mean you can bring him back? You… you can’t do that."

  "Just watch." Laying my hand over Elias's chest. Mana begins to seep from my palm before I even speak the spell. With each passing second, the air in the room thickens, suffocating me in memories of the one I wish to see again.

  "Stop! You can't revive a Crowsong; it's forbidden!"

  My gaze never wavers from my task. "It's fine. He told me he was fine with it."

  "That doesn’t matter, this is wrong!" His words are like needles, piercing my resolve. But I can’t falter now.

  "Would you rather he rot!?" I snap, anger flaring within me. "Is that what you think he would want?"

  "Is this what you think Elias would want?!"

  There's a moment where my heart hesitates, but it's brief, and I proceed.

  "Reanimation." A small infusion of mana enters Elias’s body as a thin white strand of light flies through the air before slipping into the corpse. The body remains still, unmoving.

  As I stare down at Elias's body, my heart clenches with dread. I had thought I'd grown used to such sights by now. Obviously that was not the case.

  "What have you done, Clara?..." Clarence's voice trembles as he questions me. "He… he isn’t even moving!"

  "It’s fine," I mutter, raising my hand once again and pressing it against Elias's chest. "He just needs a little kick start. Zap." With a flick of my wrist, I ready the spell, and electricity surges from my hand and into my brother's lifeless body.

  Clarence and Elric watch in horror as I zap my brother's corpse once, twice, and then a third time. Each time the body spasms under my touch. To their astonishment, the body jolts upright, gasping for air. The sound is both relieving and unnerving at the same time.

  "Elias…" Clarence mutters, grabbing hold of Elias's hand, tears glistening in his eyes the entire time.

  A series of coughs comes from the body, cutting Clarence off.

  Elias’s eyes, once filled with warmth and determination, now hold an unfamiliar look to them. "I'm... not..." he wheezes, struggling to breathe.

  "He needs water." I say to Elric, who hurries away and returns moments later with a cup of clear liquid.

  Upon receiving it, he gulps it down greedily, his eyes darting around the room as if searching for something. Eventually, his gaze settles on a bloodied lump of clay that lay motionless nearby. A strange look crosses his face, as though he’s trying to piece together a puzzle.

  "Welcome back, Terra," I say softly, patting his shoulder. It was unsettling to see him in my brother's body, but there was no other way. I couldn’t afford to lose two allies in one day.

  "Is this... really alright?" Clarence asks hesitantly, his eyes flickering between us.

  "Like I said before, Elias gave his consent. He wanted to protect me, and he will. His body will, and… he can rest."

  Terra looks down at his new hands, flexing them experimentally. He doesn’t say anything, though I can tell he isn’t happy with the situation either.

  "Remarkable... truly remarkable," Elric mutters, staring at Terra in awe. "I had always heard stories of resurrection, but now I’ve actually seen it with my own two eyes. You Crowsongs really can bring the dead back to life. Why… this calls for a celebration! Tonight we'll honor your bravery and triumph over the curse that’s plagued our village!"

  "That would be nice," I say, smiling at his enthusiasm.

  *

  Later that day, we stand in a small clearing, gazing at the makeshift grave we dug for Terra's old body. He didn’t ask for it, but I knew he would want one.

  Terra looks on with an odd expression as we bury his former vessel. Each time a body is destroyed, the soul must relocate elsewhere. Each time this happens, you leave a bit of your soul behind in the last one. I only learned about this in my 48th life when Terra went through six different bodies. By the time he reached the sixth, he was a remnant of who he was before. It seems that the more it happens, the more exponential the damage becomes. So it’s important that he had a strong, sturdy body.

  I would have liked to crawl in after his corpse and pry the still beating witches heart from its chest, but I knew that Terra wouldn’t approve of such action. So instead, I offer him some words of advice to help him adjust to his new form.

  "Remember, Elias was skilled in cryomancy. With practice, you should be able to use it too. Just make sure to keep yourself cool enough so that his…your body doesn't begin to decompose."

  "I got it." Terra's response is short, but I appreciate the effort nevertheless.

  "Hey, it’s to meet you, Terra," Clarence chimes in, offering a hesitant handshake.

  Terra eyes Clarence’s hand before turning away. "You can shake my hand when you learn to stand by your comrades on the battlefield."

  "Abandon? You let that guy grab my face! This hasn’t even been treated yet, what if this gets infected!? It’ll be your fault, and Clara said that it’s good that I ran…"

  Clarence continues to defend himself till the bitter end, and my gaze falls to my own wounds. They had gone untreated for a day already, and infection would set in soon. We’d have to find that healer again.

  The three of us make our way back into town, and we’re stopped by the very same healer that was tending to Elias’s wounds before he passed. Upon seeing Terra, he frowns.

  "You Crowsongs truly are just as the stories say. I know there’s no way I could have saved this young man, yet here he is. I must know, just how did he acquire such wounds?"

  I knew that it would come to this sooner or later. People are nosy. It’s in their nature to want to know things, and if you don’t tell them, they’ll make up their own stories.

  "Last night there was an attack on the Crowsong household. Many of us died, and we’re currently on the run."

  The healer’s jaw falls agape. "W-Who would dare?..."

  "It doesn’t matter, but we’ll need provisions for the road. I also have a perforated wound on my left hand, third degree burns on my right forearm, possibly fourth degree. Second degree burns on my right shoulder, a hole in my lower back, and I believe one of my lower ribs is fractured. Can you patch me up?"

  The healer approaches me slowly, as if he’s afraid he’s going to break me just by touching me. He holds his hands out, and stutters out, "C-Come with me, I’ll get you taken care of!"

  "I also need you to tend to this one's face," I say, grabbing a hold of Clarence’s arm as we follow the healer.

  "O-Of course! I would have sooner, but so many are still weak due to the effects of the curse," He stammers, looking us up and down as we follow him.

  We spent quite some time at the healer’s clinic. It was a small place, but he was able to clean our wounds thoroughly, apply salves, and mend our bodies to the best of his ability. Between his healing magic, and everything else, at the very least we shouldn’t get any infections.

  "I’ll let the elder know about your situation, we can have everything you requested by tonight if that’s alright," he says, giving me a warm smile as he finishes wrapping a bandage around my forearm.

  "That would be great, thanks a lot," I say, making my way to the door and heading out.

  As we wander through the village, we receive thanks and praise from the local townsfolk. We sit by and watch as a seamstress sews shut the holes in Terra’s shirt, her fingers moving swiftly and expertly through the fabric. It’s my turn next, and she frowns at me.

  "Your clothes are a mess too, come here girl!"

  "Alright, alright, I’m coming!

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  The sun begins to dip lower and lower through the sky, and it’s touching the horizon line now.

  "Thank you for saving us," a passerby shouts to Clarence, who simply nods. A thick array of bandages now wrapped around half of his face.

  When I thought about it, I’m pretty sure Clarence didn’t have any experience dealing with people other than family before. But he accepted their gratitude with a nod and a smile.

  The evening settles in, and we are led to the local inn where a celebration awaits us. The room is filled to the brim, and a sense of warmth and camaraderie fills the air. Our presence seems to bring hope and joy to these people, but I don’t allow myself to bask in it.

  It was the first meal we’d had in a long time, and probably the last for a while. I think back to the past day, and try to shake away everything that had happened in such a short time. Just two days ago I was going to war, and the day before that…

  I blink, and a man is sitting across the table from me. A large frame, with long, blonde hair and a suit of shining armor to match. This wasn’t just any man, but Terra. Not Terra of this life, but my last one.

  "Terra, what are you doing here?..." I ask, barely managing to ask the question

  "You already know what I’m going to ask," Terra says, his expression stiff as he forces a smile. It only lasts for a moment before his lips fall once more.

  "What?" I look down to my hands, and my eyes widen in surprise. They’re my own. I’m not trapped in that tiny, weak body anymore. I feel strength fill my frame, and I trace a scar along the length of my forearm. I squeeze my hand shut several times, testing it over and over just to make sure that I’m really here.

  "Clara, this is important," Terra says, and my head snaps back up only for his expression to be far more grim this time. "Your placement of the Snowfall Eiraschade is completely off." His finger moves across a map on the table and my eyes widen as I follow it.

  It was the war table.

  That’s right, I was in charge of troop placement for the coming war with the Seven Kings. I was the General, Master of Logistics, and Strategist for this battle. With Terra at my side, of course.

  "You want them to surround the Fourth King? All of our textbooks say that he’s immune to magic based attacks, so why would you have the Eiraschade’s of all people be there? It’ll be a bloodbath."

  "The Fourth King, Klyntaros, otherwise known as the Juggernaut. A seemingly invincible titan with no weaknesses. Whereas he is entirely immune to magic based attacks, once he’s had his fill of mana, his weakness will reveal itself. The Eiraschade’s are exactly where they need to be. They’re the only ones that will be able to slow him down long enough for him to consume enough mana."

  "So this is your masterplan?"

  "It’s war. Sacrifices must be made."

  "Do they know that they’re being sent to their deaths!?"

  "This isn’t something I want to do, Terra! I don’t want anyone to die. I never wanted to be a part of this fight, I don’t want the Kings to come, but they will come, oh they will. And when they do, no man, woman, or child will be spared. No, I’m the only one that can do this," I shout as I droop low into my seat, holding a hand to my head.

  "I can’t say that I approve of your way of waging war, but I will follow you regardless. I’ll talk to the other advisors about this matter, see if there’s a better way to deal with the Fourth King," Terra says, and he sets a collection of papers on my desk.

  As he makes his way to the door, the soft pitter patter of footsteps can be heard coming from the other side. Terra opens it just for a small boy to burst through the door. Dark, stiff hair just like his father's, and bright baby blues, just like his mother's.

  "Whoa there Gabe, slow down," Terra says, clearing the way for the young boy. But Terra is ignored as the boy makes his way to the center of the room.

  "Mommy, when can we play? You’re always so busy!" He holds a small wooden sword in his hands and pouts at me from across the room. I feel a smile growing across my lips as I see him.

  For as many mistakes I’ve made across my lives, Gabe was not one of them. He was my proudest achievement for no reason other than the fact that I made him. Not of clay, or corpses, but of my own flesh and blood. My son.

  Nothing else could scare me as much as the thought of losing him. That’s why my heart drops in my chest when I see a blinding white light fill the window. The First King, Astralaith, the Flame That Went Bad. The temperature in the room begins to drastically increase as the miniature sun closes in on us. I stand from my chair immediately. I have to get to Gabe, I have to protect him, I-

  But each of my limbs twist and contort as black, sickly appendages wrap around my frame. An inhuman creature clings to me, shadows and muck oozing from its body. The Second King, Nyxaris. I feel my mana drain in an instant, and that sun draws closer now. Of course. A preemptive strike by the first two Kings. Why hadn’t I thought of this possibility?

  "Mom?..." Gabe says, dropping his wooden sword to the ground.

  "Terra, protect him!" I cry out, only to find another pair of arms wrapping around me. A golden barrier forms around Terra and I.

  "What are you doing?... Gabe...I said protect Gabe! Not me, Gabe! Protect Gabe, you fucking idiot" I pry at Nyxaris and Terra’s appendages. I’ll protect him with my own body if I have to.

  "Animasculus Ex-" I try to invoke the forbidden spell, but Terra’s fist connects with my jaw, and my world begins to spin.

  "Terra, please, you have to…"

  Terra and Nyxaris, neither one of them gives me so much as an inch of ground.

  Dazed, I watch as the window explodes from the heat. Shards of glass shoot across the room at my baby boy. His wooden sword is the first to be set ablaze, along with the rest of the room, and then I watch as he turns into nothing more than a black outline on the floor.

  [You have less than 10% of your total Karma remaining]

  This message is the only thing that causes me to find myself in reality again. I blink my eyes open to see several concerned faces around me. My hands are on Terra’s collar, and I have him pinned against a wall.

  "Why couldn’t you just protect him?! I told you to protect him!"

  Terra does little to fight back, and merely holds onto my wrists lightly.

  "When I tell you to protect someone, that doesn’t mean ignore me and protect me instead! I…I am not important! I do not matter! As long as someone else can make it to tomorrow, then my life doesn’t matter. I’ve lived too much, and for too long. I promise you, my life does not matter, Terra."

  I can tell that my words mean nothing to him. He hadn’t lived the lives I’d lived, even though he was there. He had no idea what I was talking about. How could he? My grip on his shirt loosens, and I look away from him. "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to grab you, I just…"

  "Someone close to you betrayed you in the past, didn’t they?" Terra’s arms wrap around me, the same as they had in that memory, but I welcome them now as I nod into his chest. I was the one that called Terra’s soul here, so he and I had a special connection. He could feel my feelings to a certain extent. It was likely he could sense my distrust of him, but still, there was no way he could know its source.

  "I’ll prioritize the safety of whoever you tell me to, don’t worry."

  His words are relieving to hear, but they hold little weight. The reason being, that he said the same thing last time too.

  "Come on, let's finish eating," I say, wiping the tears from my eyes.

  The crowd around us disperses, and after eating with the two of them, everything feels just a little better now. Being in my current reality is much better than reliving nightmares.

  That's when Terra's gaze shifts to the entrance, and I follow it. A couple enter the crowded inn, wearing the familiar garb of Crowsongs. Except they aren’t any Crowsongs that I know.

  Just what kind of scene had Gabriel and the others caused to make them move this fast?

  Clarence is the last to notice their arrival, a chicken drum still in his mouth as he speaks. "Stygians... wearing our clothes..." Clarence growls under his breath, rising from his seat, he clenches his fists.

  "Clarence, wait!" I whisper, grabbing his arm. Terra grabs the other, and we drag him away from the gathering, moving through the throng of people to the back of the inn. There, Elric and the healer had been gathering supplies for us.

  "So soon? Take these," Elric says, handing each of us a satchel filled with herbs, food, and other supplies to aid us on our journey. "And go. Quickly."

  We slip out the back door, the night sky regrettably, gives off a good amount of light. As we make our way through the countryside, we encounter another man, dressed just as we are. He opens his mouth to call out for his fellow assassins, but I’m faster.

  With one hand I send a jolt of electricity coursing through him, while the other grabs my blade. It’s an easy kill now, and I thrust forward Trinity’s Thorn. It pierces his throat, and he crumples to the ground silently.

  We run for quite some time throughout the night. We make our way to the forest. Clarence, his voice low and cautious, breaks the silence first.

  "Where are we headed?"

  I paused for a moment, my thoughts racing through the events of the day. "We're going to Wraithwood-Hollow. You and I need to reach our second Requiem."

  "So we need to exorcise a Withered Dryad?"

  "Either that or a Gloomhound. Both are equally annoying to hunt though."

  Soon enough we find our way to a collection of trees and underbrush. Our camp for the night. Our blankets were just thick enough that we’d be somewhat comfortable. It would be chilly, but if absolutely necessary then Clarence could act as an impromptu furnace.

  "I can keep watch while you two sleep."

  "No, you were dead just earlier today. You need to rest."

  Terra is reluctant, but eventually nods, and curls up in his own bedding.

  "In a few hours, I’ll wake you up and then you’ll keep watch, alright?"

  "Okay, I can do that," Clarence agrees, settling down to sleep as well.

  I sit there, alone with my thoughts as I look to the dark sky above. I relive that nightmare in my mind, over and over, wondering if things could have been different. If my Gabe was alive, if I had won the war, then would I be with him right now? Playing make-believe in our own little world?

  But time moves onward, relentless and unforgiving. And so, too, do we.

  The moon moves on too, floating across the sky slowly. After what seems like an eternity, it’s time to get some sleep.

  I shake Clarence awake. He groggily sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before propping himself up against a tree trunk.

  "If anything happens, just shout."

  "Of course," he replies, his gaze somewhat alert.

  With a weary sigh, I close my eyes. I expected to see darkness, but all I see is my son burning. Just how were you supposed to grieve for someone who doesn’t exist?