As flames billowed within the arena, Laryn jumped from the body of the void lord. With the monster no longer providing protection for the bloom, he dashed across the floor to the central stalk and climbed up.

  He reached the bloom, opening to the night sky. Spores covered its surface, and rippled in the gentle breeze. A few of them caught in the wind, lifting away from the bloom and floating into the night.

  Laryn began slashing at the nearby spores, bursting them. The thin material gave way beneath his sword, crumbling to shreds. Grub-like creatures fell from the punctured spores into the flames below.

  Heat swelled around him as the stem and platform of the void arena burned. Laryn wiped sweat from his brow, and worked more quickly.

  Hacking through the flesh of the bloom, he reached the void heart. The entire head of the flower tipped over, crumbling into the surging flames below as the arena crumbled, defeated.

  Laryn fell backward into the inferno. As he fell, he cast [Dart], sending a blast of water into the hot coals beneath him.

  Flames billowed and died, choked by the ashen dusts of the crumbling arena. A thick cloud of dust and smoke hung over the hextile, blocking out the night sky. Glowing embers flickered and faced within the smog.

  Coughing, Laryn stumbled out of the ruin, clutching the void heart in his arms.

  Kenna ran to him. Thatch and Jarik followed closely behind. The Orfswell men stared, astonished.

  Laryn wiped his face, smearing dirt and soot across his forehead. He grinned, taking in the worried look on Kenna’s face.

  “I’m fine!” he said. She insisted on checking him over for injury. He ordered Thatch to go find the others. “The danger is gone now,” he said. “We beat it. We burned the spores and conquered the bloom!”

  Exhausted from the fight, Laryn sank down and sat on a rock. Kenna used a damp cloth to clean dirt and grime from his face.

  “So this is what was sending out spores everywhere?” she asked. “We’re safe now?”

  Laryn nodded. “I think we should be. As long as none of them landed nearby and sprouted up. We’ll have to keep a look out.”

  Hela approached, barging into the conversation with her opinion.

  “No!” she said. “We’re never safe from the void!”

  “But,” Laryn countered. “To the north, we’re clear, for now. To the west and south are the elven lands, and to the east is human territory.”

  “And yet things got out of hand already,” Hela said.

  Laryn shook his head. “We dealt with it. But why has it gotten so bad?”

  “Perhaps,” Kenna offered. “Perhaps the goblins who used to live here and destroy voidblooms and spores really have disappeared, and that has let the void get out of hand.”

  “Spores can blow in at any time,” Hela said. “Never let your guard down. Always look to the north.”

  “So this land is our responsibility now?” Kenna asked. “We are too small. There are too few of us to cover it all.”

  Laryn grunted. “Then we’ll just have to grow.”

  Thatch returned through the smog, helping Thallon. The man’s leg dangled uselessly as he hopped, leaning on Thatch. Behind him Hober and Gall followed. When the Orfswell men spotted the figures, they cheered. Thallon raised his hammer into the air.

  Laryn sprang to his feet and ran to the men. “Widan?” he asked. “Where is Widan?”

  Heads shook, and eyes dropped to the ground.

  “Dead?”

  “I haven’t seen him,” Thallon said.

  “He was running across the arena with a spear, charging the voidlord,” Gall said.

  Laryn looked down at the massive void heart he held in his arms. He’d been clutching it against his chest without realizing it. The strange, soothing power of the stone, working on him subconsciously. He rejected it.

  “I need a bag!”

  One was procured, and he secured the voidheart inside. “Nobody touch this,” he said, then plunged back into the ruins of the arena.

  Cutting the voidheart out of the bloom had caused the arena to crumble, just like before. Dust and ashes mingled in the air, a thick, choking cloud. Laryn could hardly see one step in front of him.

  Fumbling his way forward, he found the void lord’s body.

  “Widan!” Laryn cried out. He felt around the great shell, avoiding the sharp spines that threatened to gut him open in the darkness.

  “Widan!” Desperation filled his voice. He was [Ruler]. He was responsible. He shouldn’t have brought Widan along…

  A weak cough nearby broke through.

  “Widan?”

  “Here,” came the feeble reply.

  Laryn felt his way forward. Wedged beneath the carcass of the voidlord, Widan lay, pinned to the ground. Most of his body was crushed beneath the thick carapace. Only his head and shoulder protruded, partially buried in soot and ash.

  A knot formed in Laryn’s stomach. Better for the boy to be dead than slowly dying.

  He knelt, clearing away the debris. Widan gasped for breath, short and shallow in his compressed lungs.

  “Thank you,” Widan whispered, bright eyes staring up at Laryn. “I was about to suffocate.”

  “It’s okay,” Laryn said, placing a hand on the boy’s head.

  “Am I dying?” Widan asked. “I can’t move anything.”

  “No pain?” Laryn asked. “You’re pinned beneath the void lord. What were you doing?”

  Widan grinned. “I saw an opening and took my opportunity,” he said.

  “That was stupid, but at least you helped bring the voidlord down,” Laryn said, examining the ground for blood. He found none. Maybe the boy would be okay. "Next time try not to be underneath it when that happens. I’ll be right back. We’re going to try to get this thing off of you and see what the damage is.”

  Laryn returned a short time later with all the ablebodied men of Orfswell. They gathered around the voidlord’s carcass where Widan lay pinned and lifted together.

  Laryn dragged Widan out.

  Kenna and Hela crowded in, examining his injuries.

  Laryn stood back, fearing the worst. Widan could be permanently crippled. His back could be broken. His ribcage could be crushed, bone shards cutting his internal organs to shreds as he slowly died.

  He’d known Widan was going to be injured when the void lord fell on him. He’d briefly thought about rewinding time, and trying to redo the fight. But the ability to reset time was not the panacea he’d thought it would be.

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  It seemed so simple. Make a mistake. Skip backward in time, and make a new decision. Easy. How could anything ever go wrong with a power like that?

  And yet… The real world was messy. Sometimes the consequences of a decision weren’t revealed right away. Sometimes the new decision you made turned out worse than the original mistake.

  The crowd gathered around Widan cheered. Laryn, torn from his thoughts, raced over.

  Widan climbed unsteadily to his feet, Kenna helping him up. He’d passed Kenna’s medical examination. Laryn embraced the boy, grinning wildly.

  “Hey, be gentle!” Kenna protested. Widan returned the hug.

  “We’re in this together,” Laryn said.

  “You thought I was a goner,” Widan said. “You put on a brave face, but I could see it in your eyes.”

  “That obvious?”

  “Yep. Thanks for trying not to scare me, though.” Widan clenched his jaw, his eyes steely.

  “He’s fine?” Laryn asked Kenna. He felt terrible for the boy. He’d been through a lot recently; the death of his father in Jardensvale, the death of his uncle Coril.

  “Nothing broken as far as I can tell,” she said. “The ground cushioned him, mostly protecting him. And it’s a miracle that none of that creature’s spines struck him.”

  “Praise Ishtoran,” Laryn said, still beaming. “It is a miracle.”

  ---

  A stretcher was created for Thallon, and a splint for his leg. The only serious casualty of the expedition, he seemed in good spirits as they worked their way back toward Orfswell.

  The night sky twinkled with stars overhead, and despite being exhausted, people chattered rapidly to each other, reciting their own versions of the events of the evening.

  Without the influence of the void resisting them, they covered the ground much more quickly, and soon reached what remained of Orfswell.

  The core was gone. Nothing of it remained but a large crater in the ground.

  The pit in Laryn’s stomach returned. They hadn’t defeated the void bloom quickly enough. Orf had been unable to fight the influence of the void, and it had claimed his village, destroyed his core, and killed him.

  “What else was I supposed to do?” Laryn wondered aloud.

  “You couldn’t have helped Orf,” Kenna said. “He was already fighting a losing battle. He should never have roped everyone else into dragging out his life.”

  “Still,” Laryn said. “I would have liked to claim his kingdom core, at least.”

  They spent the night in the crumbling buildings of Orfswell. A luxury, compared to the sparse infrastructure of Vallor. Laryn considered his next moves.

  They needed to build up more infrastructure on the island. Houses, storage, workspaces. With threats cleared from the void to the north, and the elves to the south gone, Vallor was free to expand.

  If they could send someone to Townshold, maybe they could trade.

  And they should start building a monument to Ishtoran.

  The journey back to Vallor passed quickly, and the remaining Orfswellers opted to come with them. Unafraid of being waylaid by cultists or voidlings, Laryn and his people soon reached the river, and were welcomed by those they’d left behind.

  Gaten had worked constantly, sifting and adding essence to the core. In the two days that the party had been gone, he’d added more than one-hundred essence. Twelve Orfswellers joined the Vallorians that day.