Mistaken for a Returnee

Sulika was sitting near the edge of the roof- her head was down, and her knees were pulled tightly against her chest.

Her body still ached, even after receiving treatment from Ralocan. But it wasn't her wounds that caused her to hang her head.

It was Derrik.

The old dwarf lay a few meters away. His body was wrapped in a tarp Zarud brought in case they needed to camp out in the forest.

Sulika had to stop herself from staring. She knew he wouldn't want her dwelling over him like this, but… A shadowy figure stood over her, shielding her face from the early morning sun.

"How're you feeling?" Faeyra sat down next to her, her body so close their thighs were practically glued together.

"Like shit."

"Yeah… You kinda look like it too- Ow!" Faeyra laughed quietly and rubbed her thigh.

Even in this state, Sulika could still slap with the best of them.

Faeyra slowly wrapped her arm around Sulika's shoulders and pulled her in. She rested her face against Faeyra's shoulder and the two of them sat in companionable silence-

"Sulika!" Max yelled, motioning for her to join him, Ralocan, Oladi, and Derrik over on the other rooftop.

A second after calling her name, he felt a chill race down his spine. He turned back, expecting to find a demon or something staring at him. But no, all he saw were Sulika and Faeyra walking towards him.

"I must be getting old." He shook his head. For a second there, he'd thought there was a demon or something staring at him.

A minute or so later, Sulika, Faeyra, Ralocan, Oladi, Zarud, and Max were standing in a circle, all with a half drank potion vial in their hands.

Faeyra had done her due diligence and passed out recovery potions to all of them. They wouldn't work as well as the spell, but they would do in a pinch and came with the added benefit of possessing more caffeine than three cups of coffee.

There was a slight issue of crashing once everything was over. But that wasn't a bridge they could worry about right now- not with the threat of demons still hanging over their heads.

… Actually, Sulika wondered what was happening with the demons. She hadn't seen hide nor claw of a demon since she'd woken up.

Of course, it wasn't like she'd been looking for them either.

It wasn't easy to maintain a clear head when your body was missing a substantial amount of blood and your head felt like a deflated balloon.

"I've already contacted the third scouting team," Max said while massaging his temples. "They're on their way from the northern tip of the island. Apparently, they also ran into a few demons, though nothing like the resistance we encountered"

"Were any of them injured?"

"I didn't get all of the details. I believe one of the twins broke an ankle, but aside from that, it's just cuts and bruises. The main force of the horde was too busy targeting us to focus on anything else."

Faeyra tried to stifle a laugh and failed.

"Do you have something you'd like to add, Miss Silverowl?"

"I mean… You don't really think the bulk of the demons were coming after us, right? They were after Aldritch."

"I don't follow. We haven't seen Sir Aldritch once since yesterday evening, so what proof do you have that he's even in the city?"

"What proof?" She asked, looking around at everyone's faces- even Sulika looked confused. "I know some of us have a reason for not seeing it, but surely you saw the giant Dragon head blasting apart the rooftops around the city?"

Sulika's eyes widened at that and looked out on the city… But what she saw didn't match what Faeyra was saying.

There was no smoke rising from the rooftops, and no matter which way she looked, she couldn't find any melted rooftops or destroyed buildings. Surely a dragon's breath would've caused at least some damage, no?

"Fay?"

"Look, I'm telling you I saw it. Aldritch is inside the city, he's-"

"Been wondering what you were up to." Aldritch said, pulling himself over the edge of the roof and slowly climbing to his feet.

"Oh, my gods…" Sulika whispered as she looked over the damage to Aldritch's body.

One shoulder was missing, his arm looked like it was a few tendons away from falling off, his white robe was dyed a dark blue color from all the blood covering him, and he was walking with a limp.

If Sulika looked like shit, Aldritch looked like the bottom of a swamp.

"Aldritch… Um… Maybe you should sit down and let me find a healing potion for you?" Faeyra said and stepped forward to intercept him.

She wanted to help him walk, but no matter where she looked, she couldn't find a place to grab without possibly injuring him further- Then she saw something not even Aldritch had noticed.

He had a three-foot long steel bar jutting from his lower back.

"No, I'll heal in a few hours, so don't bother… Actually, could someone take a look at my back and tell me what's wrong? It's been pretty stiff for a while now."

"You have a metal pipe in you." Faeyra replied in a dazed voice.

"Oh… That would explain why it was a bit difficult to turn. Would someone mind pulling it out? It's in an inconvenient place." He said, acting as if he were talking about the weather and not a wound that should have killed him.

His nonchalance sent chills down their spines. In a way, Aldritch was more terrifying than the demons they'd just fought.

"How are you not dead?" Zarud shouted.

"My mother was a Giant."

"The fuck does that mean?" Zarud asked, unable to tear his eyes away from Aldritch's missing shoulder.

"Well, if he's anything like a full Giant. It means unless his heart or brain is destroyed, he'll most likely-"' Max growled before grabbing the metal bar and ripping it from Aldritch's back. "Survive."

"Oh, Sweet Mother…" Oladi gasped as she watched the wound in his back twitch violently, the hole shuddering as any bleeding stopped.

His body was already beginning to heal.

"Does that hurt?" Ralocan asked a second before reaching out and poking Aldritch's broken arm-

"Yes, it certainly does. Please don't touch it."

"Sorry." Ralocan took a quick step. "Want me to-"

"No, thank you. I appreciate the offer, but you and Faeyra should focus on everyone else right now. I'll heal eventually… Oh, speaking of: is anyone wounded? I thought I smelled blood."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Should you really be worried about someone else right now? I can literally see your organs through this hole in your back," Ralocan grumbled.

"I'll survive, as I always have," Aldritch looked around at the six people present and realized something was amiss.

"Where's Derrik?" Everyone went silent at his question.

The wound was too fresh, still too raw for them to comfortably talk about… And more to the point, no one wanted to admit that it was real just yet.

"I see." He nodded after a few seconds and turned his head to scan the nearby rooftops for any sign of his Kinsman.

He saw the tarp on the other roof and started making his way towards it.

"How long has he been dead?"

"What? Aldritch, wait!" Sulika yelled. She grabbed his non-injured hand had tried to stop him so they could talk about it-

It didn't work.

Faeyra, Oladi, Zarud, and Ralocan followed after him. Each had their own questions: Why do you want to know? What are you going to do? Why weren't you there to save him? Why wasn't he answering any of their questions- Which he found slightly irritating, considering none of them had answered his question first.

Aldritch quickly turned back- which caused Sulika to bump into his injured side… He sighed at the pain, "Max: time of death?"

"Approximately thirty minutes ago." The GM replied, also curious about Aldritch's intentions.

The Giant nodded and resumed walking over to Derrik's body. Once he arrived, he sat down beside the body and tore the tarp away from Derrick's face.

"What in the hells are you doing!?" Zarud yelled. He grabbed the back of Aldritch's torn robe and tried to pull him away from his friend's body-

Riiiip

Everyone froze as the back of the robe came free almost without effort. The robe tearing served as the catalyst for what happened next: Aldritch's armor- the protective layer he'd carried with him for the better part of seven hundred years fell could no longer hold on.

Like the robe was hanging on by a thread, the armor was only hanging on because of the robe. When the front of the robe fell over Aldritch's lap, so too did his armor fall off his body.

To Sulika's surprise, and Faeyra's amusement, Aldritch was quite trim for someone who claimed to weigh seven-hundred pounds.

He carried little in the way of body fat, which caused his pectorals, abs, and back to stand out in a way that seemed unnatural. But more than anything, it proved he wasn't lying about being part dwarf. No other species could have such a barrel shaped body without body fat.

He could see the concern in their eyes, and knew they were worried about what he'd do. Whether he'd be angry, sad, or even potentially violent over the destruction of his outfit.

He opened his mouth to tell them it was okay… Until something moved inside his robe.

"The Pocket…" Oakairo whispered, horrified by the realization.

Aldritch careful pulled at his robe until he could see the face of a fuzzy little creature.

"Have a nice nap, Synne?"

"You- You had her inside your pocket this entire time!?" Sulika's anger made her temporarily forget wounds covering Aldritch's body and she launched herself at him. Faeyra and Oladi grabbed Sulika by the arms and pulled her back before she could punch Aldritch… Or stab him with her broken sword.

The puppy's mouth opened wide to let out a silent yawn. Her eyes opened slowly at first, but the moment they landed on Aldritch they shot open, and her tail started wagging like mad.

"Aldritch," Faeyra said, getting his attention. "Where has she been?"

Aldritch shifted his hold on the puppy, allowing her to sit flat in the palm of his hand while he lifted his robes away from his body… Which allowed him to see a part of the pocket was missing, destroyed by the chunk of metal that nearly killed him.

He passed Synne to Sulika without a word and ripped the robe, and what was left of his armor, away from his body- inadvertently drawing everyone's attention to the stone amulet hanging from a leather strap around his neck, as the motion sent the amulet flying over his wounded shoulder.

Ignoring the stares directed at his amulet and chest, Aldritch turned the robe inside out to get a better look at the pocket.

It was a fairly large pocket considering it was hidden inside his robe: four inches wide and eight inches deep. But that was nothing compared to the countless magical symbols sewn into the fabric with golden thread.

He sent mana into his eyes and carefully inspected every inch of golden thread- a small, but consistent stream of purple mana was leaking from the hole in the bottom of the pocket.

Aldritch ignored the voices around him and instead focused on the pocket like it was the most important thing in the world… And now it was dying.

He carefully reached into the pocket and grabbed the only other thing inside: a small stone box covered in dark leather, the silver latch keeping it closed was warped slightly from someone opening it and closing it countless times.

He sat the box on his lap and allowed his gaze to fall back onto the pocket.

"You can make another." Oakairo told him.

"I know."

"He'd want you to throw away this old thing anyway."

"I know that too." He replied without taking his eyes off the pocket.

"Aldritch? Are you okay?" Sulika asked, her anger forgotten in the face of his strange behavior.

She'd never seen him act this way.

"Was the robe that important to you?"

Aldritch slowly shook his head. "The robe itself isn't anything special, but this pocket was given to me by the priest who raised me. It was something he learned to make from my mother." Aldritch explained in a strange voice, one filled with pain… Regret.

"Would you hold these for me? Just for a few minutes." He asked after a moment, holding out the robe and box to Faeyra

"Sure." She replied- Her eyes widened in surprise at the weight of the robes: they weighed more than her backpack!

"Now, I asked that you all take a few steps back," Aldritch announced, motioning for them to move away.

"Why? What're you going to do?" Sulika refused to move. She didn't know what he was planning, but she wouldn't allow him to do anything weird to Derrik's body-

"I'm going to revive him."

"... Come again?"

"You're going to what?"

"You're crazy!"

"Not possible."

"No, it's quite possible. However, the longer you delay me, the more problematic this will become. So, while I'm still being nice…. Be Silent." A wave of bloodlust flowed out of his body, driving Sulika, Faeyra, Ralocan, Oladi, and Zarud to their knees. Even Max had to take a few steps back due to the sheer density of it.

"Thank you," Aldritch nodded and turned his attention back to Derrik.

"He's been dead for nearly forty minutes."

"That's what Max said, but I'm going to assume it's been longer than that."

"And you're prepared for what's to come?"

"Of course."

"...Alright, you may proceed." Oakairo sighed: he wasn't looking forward to seeing this.

Aldritch nodded and closed his eyes.

"O' mighty Oakairo; my king and guiding light, let my words reach you on dragon's wings." Golden light began to spill from Aldritch's body, surrounding not only himself, but also Derrik's body too.

"I offer this flesh, willingly given, to besiege the vault of time." The mana stopped flowing and began to change.

The beautiful golden color they'd all grown accustomed to was losing its luster, its vibrancy- turning from a gorgeous yellow to a dark silver.

Sulika could see her own reflection in Aldritch's mana… Except, it wasn't her. The woman, rather, the girl in the reflection was younger- much younger. No older than six or seven years.

How was this possible?

And she wasn't the only one taken aback by what she saw. Everyone who looked upon Aldritch's mana saw not themselves as they are, but as they were and as they could be in the future.

Some found this fascinating. Some found it embarrassing… And one found it revolting.

"Respool the threads, let breaths be drawn anew, and Restore what Is, to what once Was: Chronastic Retrieval." The silver-colored mana suddenly lurched in two directions at once, swallowing Derrik's body whole and coiling around Aldritch's body until only his head remained visible.

Sulika wanted to scream and wanted to tell him to stop- but her voice betrayed her. She could only watch as the silver liquid continued to squirm around the bodies of her allies.

The group of five looked on in horrified silence for more than ten minutes. They could do nothing but watch Aldritch's expressionless face and the blob surrounding Derrik, as none dared to say or do anything that might interrupt whatever spell the giant was maintaining.

And exactly twelve minutes after Aldritch cast the spell, it finally came to an end.

The silver mana suddenly stopped moving and gradually broke apart, falling to the ground and dissipating until nothing remained.

Aldritch's head fell, his eyes closing as his chin touched his chest. A dark blue blood oozed from every wound on his body. It was pouring so fast; it'd quickly formed a puddle on the floor around him.

Everyone was staring at the Giant. They wondered what it was for, why he'd cast such a strange spell-

"Ugh… Whatever we were drinking last night, keep it away from me." Derrik grumbled and pushed himself into a seated position.

"What happened to ma shirt?" He asked, looking down at his shirtless, and woundless, torso.

Now it was his turn to be stared at.

"Aye?" He asked, suddenly nervous about the expressions on the rest of the team's faces.

"What'd I miss?"