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Humphrey grumbled with disgust as he pulled himself out of the muddy crater that used to be a pack of phantofoxes. There were definitely cleaner ways to handle monsters, especially in the boggy region, but phantofoxes were dangerous to leave alive for too long. The illusions they cast were not particularly lifelike, but they had incredible aura strength for bronze rank creatures, and used it to manipulate the emotions of their prey into believing them. Killing them quickly was the safest option, so Humphrey had divebombed directly into the squelching ground, rather than waiting for backup. Now, he would have to go the rest of the day caked in stinking, half-decayed bits of plants. It would have been more bearable if Jason hadn’t been holding their entire crystal wash supply when he had died.
It would have been more bearable if Jason hadn’t died. Humphrey could just picture him sauntering into the freshly-made clearing, wearing sandals and a flowery shirt, complaining about the smell as he handed Humphrey a bottle.
Humphrey shook his head, flinging bits of mud along with the dark thoughts. It wouldn’t do to go getting lost in his own mind. He had team members out there counting on him, and they had a job to do. Emir had sent him, Stash, Sophie, and Neil out to locate an abandoned fortress with information that could lead them to answers about Sophie’s past. It certainly wasn’t in this section of the bog, though. He moved off towards the next area he’d been assigned, but stopped short at a faint sound.
He extended his aura senses, and managed to find the source. One normal rank aura, human. They were hurt, and scared. They were dying. Someone must have been in the area when he’d made his attack! He rushed to the source, and began frantically digging through the mud, until he uncovered a tiny face. It wasn’t breathing.
Humphrey pushed all thoughts out of his mind, as he focused on pulling the baby the rest of the way out of the bog. He cleared their mouth and nose as best as he could. He reached for the healing potion on his belt, then froze. His training had included basic healing for people of all ages, but he hadn’t needed to use it on anyone this small in real life before. He couldn’t remember whether potions were safe for babies. He wished he still had access to the party interface, so he could ask Neil.
There was no time to hesitate. The baby was starting to turn blue. With no other options, Humphrey tipped the healing potion into the baby’s mouth, then held it close. Either it would work, or it wouldn’t. The best he could do now was make sure the poor thing wasn’t alone or cold. He squeezed his eyes shut against the tears, praying to any gods who might be listening. It wasn’t enough. He felt the last of the weak aura fade away.
Humphrey slumped into the mud, clutching the tiny body, and began sobbing. He’d always known there would be people he failed to save, but this was different. This was his fault. He’d done this. He hadn’t been careful enough, he’d used too much force, and he’d killed an innocent baby.
Through his sobs, he heard another sound. Sophie’s voice, calling for him.
“Hump? You okay?”
He felt her aura brush against his own, and a discordant wave of calm washed over him. His horror began to fade, and tried to hold on to it. He didn’t deserve to feel better. The calming wave pushed further. His tears slowed, then stopped. A hand touched his shoulder gently.
“Hump? Why are you holding a dead monster and crying? Did it hurt you?”
Her words confused him enough to open his eyes. He looked down at his arms to find, not a human baby, but the body of a phantofox.
“I thought..”
Slowly, logic began to trickle back into his brain. Phantofoxes manipulated emotions and cast illusions. One of them must have survived the initial impact, only to be finished off with a healing potion designed for beings with souls. Obviously no one would just leave a baby laying around in the middle of a bog. It was absurd to think otherwise.
“I’m alright,” he told her. “It was just an illusion.”
He let out a laugh that was only slightly hysterical, and started crying again. The corpse in his arms may have been a monster, but it had still died slowly, in pain. The healing potion had been a mercy, all things considered. He once again felt the wave of calm, and realized it was coming from the woman next to him.
“That’s your aura?” He asked.
“Yeah.”
“It’s never felt like this before.”
“I’ve never wanted it to feel like this before,” she said, with far more sincerity than she usually used. He looked up at her. She was standing above him, the sun casting a shimmering glow through the silver hair atop her head. She was giving him the most gentle smile he’d ever seen her wear. Her hand was still on his shoulder, and the warmth of her body was seeping into his through the mud. It struck him at that moment just how extraordinary she really was.
“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked him. He shook his head.
“Maybe later. I should get back to work.”
“You sure? I don’t mind taking over from you.”
“You have your own area to search.”
“Nah, I finished mine already. You guys are really slow.”
He chuckled softly. Of course she had. She moved her hand from his shoulder, and reached out to help him up. It was a pointless gesture, but he accepted it anyway, relishing the excuse to place his hand in hers. Once he was standing, the pretense was gone. It was just the two of them, standing extremely close, holding hands. He ran his thumb along her wrist, and saw the way her pupils dilated. Her eyes flicked down to his lips. It would be so easy, in this moment, to close the distance between them. He closed his eyes, and another face came into view in his mind. That face was wearing an impish smirk above an overlarge chin.
He stepped back, dropping her hand. Easy wasn’t the same thing as simple.
“I can handle it,” he said. “I’ll see you back at camp.”
She nodded, and handed him a bottle.
“Just make sure you use this before you get in the tent. You’re kind of filthy.”
He looked down at himself, and suddenly remembered he was still covered in mud. He felt foolish. She hadn’t been thinking about kissing him. She was just waiting for him to stop touching her with his disgusting bog hands. He made a hasty retreat, stumbling through polite goodbyes before stalking off to finish his search. Tonight was going to be awkward.