“SIVLY!”

  Emilia, Brad, and Troy let out a unified scream, too far away to hear anything said, they can only watch as a green sword pierces their friend from behind. Troy and Emilia run over to the sprawled forms of Sivly and Jaeger. Brad, still fighting with his treant, roars out, devastating the timber terror.

  “IMPERIAL MIGHT!”

  His body glows a brilliant gold, a ghostly echo from a multitude of voices accompanies his words as he grips his hammer two handed. With a mighty swing, he strikes the treant dead center, shattering its trunk. Without a second look, Brad turns and runs toward his companions, his body a shining beacon.

  “The rest of the rats’ scurry onto the scene.”

  Three more green swords cut through the air, whistling towards another target. Having seen what happened to Sivly, the others are not caught unawares. Troy meets his as a vanishing shadow, and the blade whooshes through him before dissipating and he reappears unharmed. Emilia spins into a crushing right hook that slams into the blade, and for a moment the magical sword meets her gloved fist and a stalemate ensues. One that won't last, though, as Emilia's strength wins out over the magic and the sword visibly cracks before shattering into shards of light. Brad does nothing more than lower his glowing shoulder and let the blade shatter on his golden mug as he moves to his fallen companion.

  “Ah, you're not just adventurers, well, at least I can see how my loyal swords and treants have been defeated.”

  “Reveal yourself! Starlight Reversal!” Troy shouts as he gestures with his hand.

  From the palm of his hand come what appear to be small spheres, dark as night. As they leave his palm, they fly into the air, rising higher and higher. As they do, they begin to glow, slowly brightening from candles to a false daylight.

  They reveal the battlefield around them and the voice in the darkness. Just out of range, the speaker is revealed. He is an older man wearing a mixture of wizard robes and knightly armor. He is an intimidating figure, made even more so by the weapons he carries. A gnarled, red-veined wooden staff in his left hand and a jagged and harrowing sword in his other. When these weapons catch the light, they transform the figure from philosopher-knight to magical blackguard in the blink of an eye.

  “And here I thought otterkin was your mage. This will teach me to make assumptions, won't it? No matter, you will fall just as she did.” The man said, a sneer audible in his voice.

  Taking the bait, Troy lunged at the culprit behind not only the bandits or his kidnapping, but also the potential death of his friend.

  Neither anger nor grief could cloud his skill, and instead of a clear frontal attack, he flashed around. He moved forward a few steps at a time before darting to the side, each move followed by a flash of starlight. When he was within dagger range, he disappeared, only to reappear behind the man, aiming for his throat. As his daggers reached out, they were met with a brutal counter and he was thrown aside.

  “I was hoping to get more than just the single rat, but one is better than none, I suppose.”

  After tossing Troy aside, the leader moved for the first time, blurring to Troy's side and thrusting his blade forward.

  “Be proud to die on the blade of Kadrin, leader and wielder of the Swords of Greenwood.”

  His thrust pierced Troy's chest and, anticipating the resistance and the sensation of flesh and bone separating, Kadrin stepped forward when he felt nothing. He stumbled forward, right through the fading image of Troy.

  By the time Troy got to the leader, Jeager, Emilia and Brad had finished checking and settling Sivly; they trusted Troy to buy them time.

  Her wound was fatal and none of them were healers, so the best they could do was bandage the worst of it. Emilia had not lied when she said she had no potions or elixirs that anyone else could use, and she deeply regretted it. Brad also had no potions or healing experience and could only watch over his teammate and friend. This left Jaeger with a choice to make.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  His powder horn might be able to heal the otterkin. But there were risks. He had no idea what it would do to Sivly. He had never used it on anyone before. For him, it was a burning sensation that coursed through his entire body before he recovered. For anyone else, it might burn them alive or blow them away; it was, after all, magically transformed black powder. On the other hand, she was almost guaranteed to die without it.

  He would have asked Sivly, but she wasn't conscious at the moment, so he took it to her friends.

  “Look, we ain’t got long, so I’ll be straight. I’ve got an item that might heal Sivly.”

  Emilia and Brad turned to him.

  “What do you mean might?” Emilia asked.

  “I have an item that heals me, but it's unique and I'm not sure what it will do for another person.”

  “Unique? Is it designed just for you? Like Emilia’s elixirs?” Brad questioned.

  “It wasn't designed for me, but it was made for me.”

  Emilia raised her hand and cut Brad off.

  “Is this an item you brought over with from your world?”

  Jaeger's brow raised in surprise at the question.

  “How you’d know I was an Outworlder?”

  Brad snorted and Emilia tapped her chest.

  “Our party is made up of Outworlders, like recognizes like.”

  “In that case, yes, my item is from my old world. It wasn't a healing item, but it became one when I came here.”

  “Interesting, care to share the details?” Emilia asked.

  Jaeger mentally recalled the information on his Powder Horn as he considered her question.

  Powder Horn, A unique Outworlder item. Its original contents were deemed too dangerous, and its removal rendered its purpose useless. Therefore, its contents have been changed and its purpose upgraded. Where it once contained [REDATCED], it now contains a powder of similar granularity, with a similar purpose. When consumed, the powder burns internally, restoring body and mana. This powder horn is proof that destruction and restoration are two sides of the same coin.

  Soulbond: Jaeger Darkblade

  He was about to, but remembered Lisette's warning about others wanting it for themselves.

  “I can't. Someone warned me not to spread his details.”

  “Interesting. At least answer me this, does it mention anything about healing you specifically or being tied to you in any context?”

  “It’s soulbound to me, other than that, no.”

  Emilia opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off.

  “Then use it on me.” Sivly coughed out.

  Her voice was faint, barely audible. Emilia and Brad crouch by her questioning her condition. Given a moment Jaeger spares a glance at the battle, just in time to see Troy take a spear through the chest and disappear. He stopped moving and watched, hoping the star elf had planned this.

  “Solar Flare!”

  A flash blinded Jaeger, and as he blinked the spots from his eyes, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Reacting instinctively, he threw back an elbow, spinning around to grapple with his attacker.

  “It’s me, it’s me.” Someone said in a frenzied whisper.

  His forearm on the person's throat, his vision slowly came back and he saw that it was Troy. He looked a little paler than usual and was breathing deeply. Jaeger released him and looked around.

  “What’re you doing?”

  “He'll be blind for a moment and I'm running low on mana, that attack almost got me.” Troy rubs his chest, his hand coming away bloody. “I came to see what the problem was.”

  Jaeger nodded to Sivly, and Troy joined him as they moved toward the otterkin. Emilia intercepted them.

  “Sivly wants to risk your item. I do not wish to risk my companions, but she will die, either from her wounds or from the enemy.”

  Brad huffed out his agreement from beside Sivly.

  “I would kill to have a medicus, but I am no longer of the Legions and must make do. If you have used this item and trust it to work, then I place the same trust in you, my friend.”

  Jaeger nodded and knelt beside Sivly, gently taking her head and tilting it. He pulled out his powder horn, popped the cork, and offered it to Sivly.

  “It's a powder, but you have to consume it.” He tilted the horn and saw the moment the powder entered her mouth, so he tried to offer words of encouragement. “It'll go down easy. It's magic.”

  Having never offered this to anyone before, Jaeger tried to time how long he usually drank from the horn and stopped when she reached that point. Pulling the horn away, he put it away, laid Sivly's head down and waited. Moments after he laid her down, she shivered, her fingers twisting and flexing, her teeth clenched. A look of agony crossed her face and Jaeger feared he'd killed her. Just as he became concerned, she stopped shaking, her eyes flew open and she sat up.

  “It was the most uncomfortable feeling I have ever had, but I have also never felt better in my life.”

  She stood and grabbed her trident staff. Jaeger stood and picked up his axe to join her; when she was up, his horn worked. Emilia, Brad, and Troy took a second longer to move, stunned by her miraculous recovery.

  “Are you really better, Sivly?”

  “Yes, better than ever. I'm ready to wipe out everything in my path.”

  A green sword flies toward her, but this time she's not caught off guard and deflects it with her trident staff before retaliating with a spell of her own.

  “Stingray Strike!”

  She moved to hurl her trident, but instead of letting go, a watery replica shot out and flew to where the sword had come from. Kadrin, leader of the Swords of Greenwood, met the blow with a casual stroke of his sword.

  “A rat that bites back? How quaint.”