Chapter 4: Duty
"Alister...what..."
The assassin pushed the girl closer to the wall, making certain that he protected her from the barrage of attacks that came from behind. He cringed in pain as half a dozen drainlairs attacked his back, their sharp teeth drawing blood. Occasionally, he would feel the blow of an orc zombie's ax. Luckily for him, however, the somewhat hefty undead monsters lacked the necessary strength to take him down.
Despite his willpower to stay conscious, he felt his life force wane with each time something struck him.
"Why?"
"Huh?"
"Why are...you protecting me?"
The assassin tried his best to remain awake, at least for long enough to answer his charge's question.
"Because...I'm your bodyguard...It...it's my job. Even if I...don't...like you...that much...I...have a...duty to...keep you safe..."
The assassin collapsed on the acolyte, his strength nearly depleted. If he could keep her safe, then maybe everything he sacrificed in the past wouldn't be in vain.
His mind drifted back to a painful memory of failure. He wanted to be sure that he never repeated the same mistake again.
Just as he began to feel himself slip away, something brought him back. He could feel his body come back to life, as if something were restoring him from within. He opened his eyes to see a faint glow emanating from somewhere nearby, shattering the obscurity of the cursed cave.
Fully alert, he reached up to feel the gash across his chest, only to find that it had miraculously closed up.
But there was something else.
Right in the middle of what used to be a gaping wound were four, slender fingers, fingers which were attached to a small hand. It didn't take him long to deduce that this tiny hand was the source of the sacred glow that had brought him back.
"Kid?"
The acolyte looked up and smiled weakly at the assassin.
"Alister...just as it's your duty to guard me, it's my obligation as a healer to help those in need, even you."
Steel and amethyst eyes met, an unspoken understanding reflecting within. They both knew what they had to do, even without exchanging words.
Gripping his daggers, Alister stood and turned to face the horde of undead, a fame of resolve flashing in his eyes. The swarm backed off an inch, but still decided that these intruders needed to be punished.
The assassin was anything but reckless as he slashed through the wall of undead, the decaying bodies piling up. There still seemed to be an unending supply of monsters, but still the assassin refused to give up.
There were, of course, some attacks that he couldn't avoid, but the acolyte behind him was ready to back him up.
From the other side of the swarm, they heard a mystic sounding chant, which was followed by a bone-chilling wind. The two braced themselves as shards of ice and debris swirled at incredible speed, giving both the assassin and Acolyte minor cuts.
The magical attack had taken a large chunk out of the undead army, leaving only a few to dispose of. The crusader hurled his shield, taking out the few that remained.
The two souls surveyed the aftermath of the Storm Gust attack, neither of them surprised to see that the cave was now shrouded in utter chaos. The corpses of bats and undead orcs were strewn everywhere, leaving very little ground to walk on.
Meral looked at the others, searching for the acolyte she had been training with earlier. She saw the girl peeking out from behind the knight, and waved. Seeing that everyone else seemed to be fine, including the priestess who was almost swooning over the wizard, Alister rested a hand on Meral's shoulder.
"I think we've had enough fun for one day. Shall we head home now?"
The acolyte nodded as the assassin handed her a deep blue stone.
"Just one problem."
"Huh?"
"I don't know how to cast warp portal."