Tee took the flute from his mouth, which vanished into thin air. I could still feel my head pounding from overexerting myself from casting that massive fireball, but physically, I felt fine. I looked down at my body, and my injuries were gone, but not so much as a scar remained. As I glanced up, Tee was sitting on the ground, his face covered in sweat. This was the first time I had seen Tee not flying since I got here.

“Tee, what did you do?” I said.

“Something I probably shouldn’t have. I interfered with you, and I don’t know why. You're just another in a long list of caddies I've helped over the years, but those powers you have make you different somehow.”

“And here, I thought maybe you had just grown fond of me.” I rolled my eyes, it was always about these fucking powers. Everyone here wanted me simply for my powers. Whether they wanted me dead or they wanted me alive seemed to depend on which side of the power struggle for this world they fell on. Knowing an entire world was interested in my existence was a nice change of pace from my former life, but at the same time, knowing it wasn’t actually about me was depressing.

“It’s not like that, Brodie. I mean, you're not a bad guy, and I have grown to enjoy your company, but your powers make me think we have a chance at changing things. The Golfers have tied down my people for longer than I can remember, and if there is the slightest chance to change that, then I am willing to do what I have to do.”

“What exactly is it that you did? I thought you said the Nogs couldn’t interfere with their caddy directly?”

“we can, but that comes at a cost. I am no longer bound to you and no longer immortal. If I die now, I’m dead for good.”

The realization of what Tee had done to save me washed over. This person I met only a few weeks ago had just sacrificed eternal life to save me. Granted, it was a life of servitude, but it was still eternal life.

“Well, uh, thanks.” I didn’t really know what else to say, and my head was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to split open and spill its contents onto the forest floor. I just wanted to get back to camp and lay down. Struggling, I got to my feet and began walking slowly back towards our little abode.

As we approached the cave, I could hear coming from within. I put a hand up to stop Tee and crouched, pulling the club from my back. The last thing I wanted to deal with was another fight, but it looked like I wouldn’t be given a choice. Tee drew his flute from his side and placed it under his lips.

“I can assist you now.” He said

Tension filled the air as we slowly crept towards the opening. The noise continued from within; whoever or whatever was inside was not concerned with being quiet. With the end of the club slung over my shoulder, ready to hit whatever was on the other side, I pulled the vines back from the entrance. Halfway through my swing, I realized who it was on the other side: Duncan was here.

I managed to stop myself before I clobbered the closest thing I had to a friend in this world. I stood there, shocked for a second. I really didn’t think he would come back, and he didn’t have a reason to. Yet there he was, standing in the tiny cave Tee and I had made into our home over the last couple of days. He was different, though; something seemed off about him. That’s when I noticed the scars, millions of them covering every inch of exposed skin. They were tiny, almost like they had been created by a kitten that had been poking him with their claws instead of scratching.

“What are you doing here?” I said.

“I had to come back, and I didn’t have a choice,” Duncan replied.

“I mean, I feel like you had a choice not to leave, but you did. In fact, you knocked me the fuck out, drug me to this shit hole, and left me here to die!”

To my surprise, Duncan didn’t smack me for cursing.

“You’re right, and I’m sorry I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Damn right.”

“That’s not important now though. I messed up, and I own that, and for whatever it matters to you, I'm sorry. We have more important things to worry about now, though. I think I have a way that we can still overthrow Aqua and take this place back.”

“I have been practicing while you’ve been gone. I figured out how to make a wall of fire with the club, and it proved useful in hunting one of those pig creatures the other day.”

I don’t know why, but I wanted Duncan to be proud of me. I never had much of a father growing up. He was either too busy working or too busy drinking to be concerned with what I was doing. Add to that that I was a massive nerd growing up, and he was a typical blue-collar, hunting and fishing sort of guy, and we didn’t have much in common. I guess because Ducan was so much older than me in some way, I wanted to make him proud in a way I never could my own father.

“Good, but a simple firewall spell isn’t going to be enough to deal with Aqua and her forces; you need to do better.”

“Yeah…”

“I'm just trying to be honest with you, Brodie. This fight is going to be the hardest thing you’ve ever done in your life, and there is a real chance all three of us may end up dead or worse.”

“No, I understand, and trust me, I'll continue to train every day until I can take her on by myself if I have to. You said you think you might have found a way to defeat her even with just the three of us?”

“Yes, to the north of the forest, there is a mountain range, and amongst those mountains, there lives a nomadic race known as the Shartor. The Shartor are peaceful people, crafters, and builders. Years ago, they agreed to construct the temple of Yoganoth for Chud. I believe they may still have the original plans used to build the temple. If we can convince their leader to give us the plans, we might be able to sneak into the temple and take Chud out without having to face his followers head-on.”

“You’re talking about an assassination?”

“Call it what you will, but things have changed now that Aqua attacked the village; as far as I am concerned, that was a declaration of war on all the people of the water realm. I tried in the past to convince the Shartor to join my cause, but their leader, Kreguer, is not one to get involved in conflict. I’m hoping to convince him to at least allow us to see the plans now that things have changed and blood has been spilled.”

“It’s a better plan than Tee and I came up with.”

“What was your guys’ plan?”

“Stay here until we die,” Tee interjected.

“OK, so it’s settled then. We will rest this evening and leave first thing tomorrow. It’s about a two-day hike from here, so we will have to do some foraging for food and secure some water before we leave.”

Ducan turned to head out of the cave to begin gathering supplies for the journey.

“Hey, I wanted to ask, how the hell did you get those scars?” I asked as he walked past me.

“That’s really none of your business,” Duncan said as he smacked the back of my hand. I smiled slightly as I rubbed the red mark left on my hand by the blow.