Prayers [13]
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Blood flows from Dar's wounds as he clings desperately to consciousness. Several wounds caused by the wolf attack plague him. His arms hang limply beneath him as Gol carries him beside the mysterious metal cube.

"Hang in there, Dar." Tack whispers to Dar.

The three of them are unable to save Dar on their own, thus they seek aid from on high. Their creator may be the only one capable of saving Dar's life now. Gol sets Dar down with his back to the metal cube, and looks at him with his brows knit.

Dar's glassy eyes slowly look up from Gol to the clouds above. The sky looks so beautiful, yet Dar gets the inexplicable feeling that this is the last time he'll ever see it. He can feel a strange sensation spreading through his body; He assumes this is what death feels like.

"Oh... God..." Dar mutters as his dark eyes widen.

The ethereal form of a skeleton garbed in black robes hovers less than a meter in front of him. He can see blue flames where the eyes should be, and a black metallic cage in the creature's hand. Dar can feel his body shiver at the otherworldly sight.

"Stay with me, Dar. God will surely aid us." Tack says softly while gripping Dar's shoulder.

Dar doesn't answer him; The skeleton is floating right through Tack, and has its eerie cage held aloft mere centimeters from Dar's face. The experience is pumping adrenaline through Dar's weary body, but he refuses to let go in the face of such a monstrosity.

~

Three humans are sitting beside a large metallic cube, albeit one of those humans is being approached by an overeager soul seeker. The bleeding human reacts to the ghostly creature; It's as if he can actually see the thing, but that's impossible.

"They're calling out to me?"

Ben can hear their desires like a faint muttering in the back of his mind. He brings his attention closer to them, and finds they're praying to him directly. Ben's metaphysical heart twists at the sound of desperate voices pleading for his aid.

"It shouldn't be a problem to save just one life..."

Ben reassures himself while pushing a miniscule strand of divine power toward the humans. He's immensely delicate, and careful in his movements. Ben is still figuring out the details of his powers and doesn't want to accidentally kill someone he's trying to save.

Golden light shines all over the dying human, and the other humans step back in shock as he's filled with divine energy. The man heals rapidly, and the three humans praise their creator fervently as they press their palms together as a sign of respect to Ben.

"Oh no."

Ben's pride turns to despair as he feels the all too familiar tug of fatigue pulling at his mind. His mind slips into darkness as slumber forces itself upon him.

~

Cain hefts a rather large stone over to the incomplete fire pit. Nim has gathered plenty of wood scraps, while Col has dug out a small pit into the soil. Cain adds his rock to the ring of stones surrounding the small hole, and completes the firepit.

"Perfect. Go ahead and set the wood inside, I'll get the flint." Cain orders Nim.

Nim obliges with several small branches being dropped into the firepit; Cain brings over two small chunks of flint, and strikes them off one another to produce an unreasonable shower of brightly glowing sparks.

The sparks fall over the wood, yet nothing catches fire. Cain strikes his flint again; Nothing happens. The three of them stare dumbly at the firepit in silence.

"Maybe the sticks are too wet?" Nim quietly says.

"Perhaps. Let's grab some of the dryer stuff." Cain replies curtly.

The three of them gather anything flammable and dry they can find. Eventually there's a small pile of dry grass, reeds, and twigs sitting in the firepit. Cain takes a deep breath with the flint in hand before striking the two stones for a third time.

Orange sparks shower onto the tinder, and with a bright glow the flame catches. The dry grass and reeds are first to burn; They curl under the heat and turn to ash in mere seconds. The small twigs blaze quickly, yet they're turning to charcoal far too fast.

"Quick! Put some branches in!" Cain shouts.

The three of them scramble to toss sticks into the fire, and they manage to maintain a sizeable fire. The orange flame gives off the heat necessary for cooking meat, and they cheer. They don't have to starve any longer.

~

Dar's eyes tear up as he feels warm energy pulse through him. The skeletal specter vanishes in an instant, and healing power courses through his body. God had not abandoned him, no, he had answered their prayers and completely rejuvenated Dar's body.

"Praise be our creator..." Gol mutters under his breath.

The golden light fades as fast as it arrived, leaving only the memory of the spectacular event. Dar's first thought is how grateful he is, and his second is what he saw on the brink of death. That being felt far too real to be a hallucination.

Discussions about Dar's vision would wait until later, though. For now they had to reunite with Cara, and dedicate some time to thanking their god for his generosity.

"I knew this sacred relic felt close to God." Tack mutters with a grin on his face.

Gol nods, and Dar can't help but agree this felt like a sacred object rather than an odd cube. Dar is fully recovered, thus he and the others sit in front of the sacred relic and meditate. They reach out to their god, and offer their thanks.

They sit like this for several minutes. The birdsong and sunshine are the only sounds heard for this time, yet not one of the three grow tired of it. Eventually a nagging thought surfaces in their minds; Gol is the first to speak up.

"Let's go find Cara before it gets dark." Gol says.

"Yes. Hopefully she didn't run into any wolves." Tack replies thoughtlessly.

The three of them all stand up at once, and sprint off toward the lake with new urgency.

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