Ash

  Her arm hurt. So badly. Excruciatingly badly.

  It was worse than anything she had ever felt. But her dad didn’t need to know that. He was playing the tough guy to help her get through this. And she would get through this.

  That was something she had decided, right at the same moment she had stopped believing she had already died. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. After she had become sure she wasn’t dead, she had briefly entertained the idea that this was somehow some kind of game her family had managed to concoct.

  She was very sick. The cancer was worse than it had ever been. She knew that. They knew that. But it was something they didn’t voice, and giving her one last weird adventure, that was something she could see her gentle giant of a father planning.

  At least, she had thought he was gentle. She had thought he just played a tough guy. But no, that wasn’t true at all, was it? He’d had a whole life before them. He wasn’t even from Earth.

  None of that mattered. He was her father, and he was here protecting her. That thought steeled her focus against the pain, even as her jaw bit down hard, hard enough to crack the stick in her mouth.

  Her vision swam as she felt a burning pain accompany the knife work until the last bit. But then her dad finished closing that final circle, and a strange, fuzzy feeling replaced all that terrible torture. She was having trouble holding her eyes open as the new feeling swept across her body.

  Everything relaxed as she drifted off into a deep sleep. Somehow, despite the hard ground below her and the tree as her pillow, she was more comfortable than she had ever been since the spiders had taken her from her bed.

  That magical symbol, while painful, was damn impressive. Could she get more?

  “Well, that’s interesting. You aren’t a weapon, nor are you one of mine.” A deep voice rumbled through Ash’s dream. There was no accusation in its tone, just a mild confusion.

  She opened her eyes, joining the voice in its confusion. Gone was the forest full of spiders. She was in an altogether different forest.

  In front of her stood a strange, dark brown creature. While it had the shape of a human, it was at least twice the size, and in place of hair, there was something that looked far more like fresh spring leaves. The colors matched the new forest she found herself in.

  All around her, lush, vibrant greens of different plants filled her vision. A small pond rippled slightly nearby as large deer leaned over it, drinking calmly. Somewhere in the distance, the faint sounds of a beautiful bird song reached her.

  Oh no. Had she died? The large creature, still looking at her, made that seem unlikely. There was something about it that felt alive in a way she had trouble putting into words. Plus, there was the life she felt coursing through her body.

  No, she hadn’t died. She had gained some new connection to this place. She could feel it now, but how?

  “Uh, hi. I’m Ashley Miller, but everyone calls me Ash. I have no idea who you are or where I am or how I got here, sorry.” Her voice trembled as she forced the words out all at once. Sense of peace or not, it was hard for anything to override the lingering fear she had felt these last few days.

  “Hello Ash. I am generally called Stalplaht, by your people. May I see your right arm? I believe it holds part of the answer as to how you are here.” His question came with the same rumble as before.

  It reminded her of a mall Santa Claus she had seen when she was six. His presence felt safe, almost like her own father’s, but magnified. There was something more to him, and to this place, which she couldn’t quite put her finger on yet.

  She held out her arm for him, noticing the change as his eyes were drawn to the spot. The symbols her father had so painfully carved were now a rainbow of colors. Each circle glowed as the colors shimmered and shifted across the spectrum. Was that how she had become connected?

  “Fascinating. This shouldn’t be possible. This glyph doesn’t function outside of certain materials. Flesh is one of the many things it does not work on. It’s one of Marjara’s works, or at least it’s a copy of one. How did you come to have this on your arm, young Human?” Stalplaht asked, not raising his head from her arm.

  He had run twig-like fingers over the circles, tracing each one slowly as he spoke. The colors had shifted faster as he touched them. With that change also came a noticeable change inside herself. There had been a surge of energy, a sense that her vitality wasn’t quite as bad as it had been.

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  “I don’t know exactly how to explain. But I’ll try,” Ash said nervously. So much of her father was now a mystery. She still found any of it hard to believe, and deeply wished it had all come with some sort of tutorial. But life rarely had those. Sometimes you just had to deal with the shitty hand you were dealt.

  “So I’m really sick. I’ve got cancer, and it’s probably terminal. But my dad thinks we can use the System, levels, and classes to save me. This all happened as we were working to do that. A spider bit me, and then Dad tried to copy one of the symbols on the handle of his giant sword onto my arm to help contain the damage. I have no idea how or why that would work, but I’m here, so I think it did something.”

  “I believe I begin to partially understand what is happening. But only partially. This still shouldn’t be possible. Could you do me a favor while I ponder on this matter more?” He asked, finally drawing back from her.

  “I guess. What do you need?” What could he possibly want from her?

  “The deer have been curious about you since your arrival. The ones over there at the pond,” he said, pointing at several of them. There were more than the last time she had locked over there. “Could you go introduce yourself? It should calm them. The last thing I need is a herd of spectral deer interfering with my star forge.”

  “Uh, sure.” Pushing herself to her feet, Ash found that the well of energy she had felt earlier had permeated her whole body.

  She felt good.

  No, she felt great. The last time she could remember her body working this well was during the camping trip her family had taken three years ago. God, she hoped Mom and Rich were okay. If she managed to live through all of this, only to lose the two of them, would it even be worth it?

  Those thoughts hit her hard, but not so hard as to distract her from the wonders around her. The air had a hint of lilac, mixed with other pleasant flower scents she couldn’t identify. The bird song grew louder with each step toward the pond.

  All of the deer raised their heads and stared as she approached. “Hi deer. Not really sure how I can make you more comfortable, but I promise I don’t mean any of you any harm. Your pond seems very nice.”

  “What are you?” the largest of the deer, a buck with huge antlers, asked.

  “You can speak? Actually, don’t answer that. I don’t know why I’m surprised. Every part of my life has changed recently, so why shouldn’t deer be able to speak English, especially in a magical place like this? I’m Ash. I’m a Human, from Earth.”

  “Strange. We have never seen one of your kind in our grove. Why are you here?” the same deer asked.

  “No idea. I think that’s what Stalplaht is trying to figure out. Where is ‘here’ anyway?” She wasn’t sure the deer could actually answer that question, but she figured keeping up the conversation was for the best.

  “He enjoys his rumination. Everything is a puzzle that must be unlocked for him. But he is also a mighty forger within the cosmic realms, so perhaps he is correct in his methods. As for where you are. I have already stated as much. Here is the grove.”

  “I don’t really know what that means, but okay. Where is this gr…” she started to say before the voice of Stalplaht cut her off.

  “Human Ash, I apologize for how long it has taken me to think about this situation. But please return. I believe I know what should be done next.”

  She quickly walked back over to him, confused about his apology. It had only been a few minutes. Hadn’t it? Some of the leaves on the trees in the distance had started to change color. Within the greens were now splashes of oranges and reds.

  That couldn’t have happened in a few minutes. How long had she been with the deer?

  “Thank you for calming the deer,” he said as she neared.

  “It was no problem. Um, how long have I been here?” She was worried about how long she had been away from her father.

  “That isn’t an easy question to answer. This place doesn’t really exist for someone like you, not in a normal sense. It is a pocket of reality carved from a sliver of a pleasant dream I once encountered. This is partially why I was so shocked to see you here at all.”

  “Wait, am I just dreaming then?”

  Was it all a dream? All the way back to the spiders?

  “You are, and you are not. Which is one of the key problems I had to ponder. I worry that when I return you to the waking world, the memories of this place will destroy your mind. Perhaps if your body were stronger, maybe another thousand levels or so, it could handle the transition, but that is not the case.”

  “I’m stuck here?” she replied, her eyes going wide. No matter how beautiful this place was, she didn’t want to leave her family.

  “No, you can’t exist here forever either. The time in this place would destroy you in much the same fashion if you were to leave my presence. But you wear my symbol now. And while it never should have been placed upon a human, it has. The cancer inside of you has somehow stabilized the inscription. Sadly, it is not strong enough to cure you, and I suspect that by the time it would become able, you will have either found another cure or succumbed.” He sounded genuinely sad at this revelation.

  So what did he want her to do? She couldn’t leave. She couldn’t stay. What were her options? “I don’t understand. What am I supposed to do then?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady, despite the panic that was welling up inside of her.

  “Human Ash, I fear I have caused upset. That was not my intention. I have solved the problem of returning you. I will strengthen the bond between myself and your glyph. In doing so, I will be able to turn this into nothing but a fading dream. One that I hope returns to you one day when you are ready. It has been long since I last had a presence within the great games. It seems fate has decided to force my return.”

  Stalplaht finished his speech by holding a branch in front of Ash and gracefully snapping it in half.

  “Goodbye, Human Ash. Please try to find a way to survive. I would like to meet again.”

  Ash woke up. The haze of her dream vanished as the new mark on her arm burned lightly. “Dad,” she called as she opened her eyes.

  “Oh my god, I love him. He’s amazing. Thank you both!” Ash yelled as she hugged her new dog. Both of her grandparents looked on with smiles.

  “What are you going to name him?” her mother asked.

  “Sir Floofington, First of his Line.”

  Memories of Ashley Miller before the integration.

  ? My 100th Life Will Be My Last ?

  by Asher Teivel

  Clara Crowsong has already lived and died ninety-nine times. This life is her last.

  My 100th Life Will Be My Last is a slow-burn progression fantasy featuring regression, necromancy, dungeon-diving, Divine Aspects, and the mystery behind Clara’s curse.