"We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression."

  Confucius, Chinese Philosopher

  “We stabilized her last night, but it’ll be a week before she wakes up,” Ying informed Milly as Milly sat at Rain’s bedside. “Her internal bleeding has stopped, and her fractured ribs are on the mend, though my team still has much work to do.”

  “And her leg?” Milly asked quietly as she stared at the mangled limb.

  “Thankfully, it will heal,” Ying answered, and Milly felt a weight lift off her shoulders. “Those fairy healers knew what they were doing. I’ll need to speak with their Chief about how we can share our healers and learn from each other.”

  “I’m sure he’d be interested,” Milly assured her. She tore her gaze away from Rain’s leg and looked towards the southeast corner, where a team of healers hovered over Xavier’s unconscious form. “And… Xavier?”

  “He’s in rough shape. My team was up all night repairing his skull and stabilizing him. I’ll spare you the gruesome details. He’ll make it, but he won’t wake up for a couple of weeks.”

  Ying waved her hand towards the eastern row of cots. “Rain and Xavier aren’t the only ones injured like this. We have a dozen other Freelancers who have badly hurt in the field. Healer’s Touch does wonders for mending injuries, but the process takes its toll on the body. I’m hopeful that there will be higher-tier healing spells that won’t have such a high cost to the patient, but it will be a long while before anyone is strong enough to pick them.”

  “He’s going to be angry when he wakes up,” Milly said worriedly. “All the time he’s losing, just lying there. He’ll fall so far behind everyone else.”

  “Better behind than dead,” Ying remarked. “Now, I’ve got to do the rounds, Milly. You can stay with Rain for the next hour, but after that you’ll have to go. We’ve had to space out our visitors to keep a sense of order around here.”

  “Okay,” whispered Milly as she gently held Rain’s hand.

  “Oh, and if you would keep that new Aura of yours active, that would be wonderful,” Ying added as she strolled to the team healing Xavier. “It helps us stretch our magic a bit further. I’ll have Tyrell pick that talent when he hits level fifteen.”

  Milly glanced down at the transparent pink aura that pulsed out from her feet in a steady rhythm, its complex symbols floating within the circle as if they were ducks on a pond. Healer’s Aura was the first talent she picked when she and Calista had leveled up. It was a second-tier spell that enhanced all other healing magics within its area, which was large enough to cover the entire medical floor.

  “I will. Thanks Ying,” Milly said gratefully. “For everything.”

  Ying left, and Milly stared out of Rain’s bedside window as she listened to her best friend’s labored breath.

  “I wonder if you’ll get to pick your class while unconscious, like I did,” Milly finally said, trying to fill the silence. “I want to hear all about it, so you’d better wake up soon.”

  She gently stroked Rain’s hair, working through the tangles that had become permanent fixtures for all three of them. Spotting some dried blood behind Rain’s ear, Milly weaved a tiny jet of water and gently washed the blood away, depositing it into a bucket a Rain’s bedside.

  “I evolved my water magic this morning,” Milly told her, uncertain if Rain could hear her. “From beginner to advanced. My water magic is more powerful, but I also have better control. That’s why I could… could wash away your blood like that. It’s simple to do now, but I would never have been able to do something that required that level of control before. You would have been soaked, as if I’d turned a firehose on you.”

  Milly coughed as she tried to stave off her sorrow. Rain lay skill, without sign she heard anything Milly said.

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  “When you’re all better, we… Cally and I… thought the three of us could go explore some of the nearby islands in the eastern ocean. A little vacation to get away from all the… all the fighting… just for a few days. Sapphire offered to guide us, and Samson – he’s a Farmer who is specializing in shipbuilding – offered to build us a fancy raft. I’ve never been on the ocean before. I hope I don’t get seasick.”

  Milly sniffed to choke back her emotions. “I evolved my Healer’s Touch to advanced, so maybe that can help with the sea sickness. And… and with Healer’s Touch and Healer’s Aura, I hope it is enough to keep you safe. I should have been able to keep you safe yesterday, Rain. I’ll do better next time… I promise.”

  Guilt clutched Milly’s heart. A tear built in the corner of her eye, which she wiped away irritably with the back of her hand. She desperately wanted to reach out and pour her newly advanced healing magic into Rain’s mangled leg, but Ying had advised against it.

  “Healer’s Touch accelerates the target’s natural healing,” Ying had instructed her. “But the source of the healing still comes from the body. Proteins, fat, and vitamins – the spell will take anything it needs to repair bone, muscle, skin, and organs. So if the body doesn’t get time to rest – and if it doesn’t get fed – the healing will eventually do more harm than good. So we have to go slow.”

  I feel so helpless. I’m more powerful than all the medics, but all I can do is sit here and talk to her.

  “Cally… Cally didn’t like her new Battlefield Commander class at first,” Milly continued. “But it turns out the class has a lot of diversity. It’s not just about battle. It covers everything that an army – and apparently you, me, and Cally count as an army – needs to travel the wilds. The class is as much about exploration as it is fighting.”

  Rain twitched, and Milly held her breath hopefully, but she fell still once more.

  “She picked a bunch of new talents,” Milly went on. “Wilderness Logistics lets her summon a mobile Tutoria Emporia and Mission Board to wherever we are, so we don’t need to worry about returning to the Castle of Glass to turn in missions or buy items. Enhanced Scrounging increases the gold we find in the wild by twenty percent and has a chance to increase the rarity of the treasure. Battlefield Communication allows Cally to telepathically communicate with her captains across a three-mile radius. She made me a captain, and… and she can make you one too… when you wake up… I’ll be like having cell phones. I never had a… a phone before.”

  Tears fell onto Milly’s lap as she abandoned her attempt to hold them back.

  “Battle… Battlefield Stabilization lets her put critically injured soldiers into stasis for a day, so they can be transported to a healer. I was going to take a similar talent from the healing section in the talent web, but her version was better. I wish… I wish we’d had it yesterday, so we could have saved you from this pain.”

  Milly felt her emotions begin to spiral as grief butted up against the joy she had found in Calista’s arms only hours before. The conflict fueled her guilt, and in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to be anywhere else but at Rain’s bedside. The realization added more guilt to her growing tangle of emotions.

  Stop being selfish, Milly. Rain… she needs you. Don’t leave her just lying here, all alone. And you shouldn’t be happy – its not fair to her if you are happy.

  “I… I made Cally take the same Regeneration talent I she made me take. And she picked a talent called Defensive Instincts that she’d had her eyes on for a while,” Milly spoke quickly, as she eyed the elevator. She wanted to leave, but her guilt forced her to stay. “And she took Improved Perception – that skill she gets from her Huntress’ Scrunchy – because she didn’t want to lose it if she stopped using the item. Turns out that the combination of the item and talent compounded together, so she’d at advanced level now.”

  Why am I so selfish? Rain almost died, and here I am wanting to flee her bedside. Are you going to be the self-centered, lonely person you’ve always been, Milly? Are you…

  Milly felt a gentle hand rest between her shoulder blades, and she jumped in surprise.

  “It’s just me, honey,” Calista comforted as she rubbed Milly’s back, spotting the conflict in her girlfriend’s eyes. “Did you tell her about the hand-to-hand combat skill I made you take?”

  “No…,” Milly said with a sniff. “I forgot about that one. Are you done already?”

  Calista wiped Milly’s tears away gingerly with her thumbs. “Elmer and Alison have it well in hand. They know where to find me if they need me. I wanted to be with you. Come on, love. You need some food in you. Billy has cooked up a lunch of boar and mushrooms – again.”

  Milly stared down at Rain, conflicted.

  “Rain will be alright with Ying,” Calista insisted, lifting Milly to her feet, and nudging her towards the stairs. “Rain wouldn’t want you moping over her. She’d want you out there, getting into mischief.”

  “I feel guilty leaving her,” Milly admitted.

  “I… I know, honey. At the end, with my dad, I would stay at his side in the hospital for hours and hours, even when his mind wasn’t there. It… it wasn’t a healthy thing to do, for me or for him. We’ll come back and see her tonight before bed, okay?”

  “Okay,” mumbled Milly. She already felt her tangle of emotions slowly being unwound by Calista’s careful touch.

  “Besides, after everything we’ve been through, I think we’ve earned some retail therapy,” Calista declared with enthusiasm. “Food first, then the Emporia!”

  “What’s retail therapy?” Milly asked.

  Calista’s smile was as broad as it could get.

  “Oh, this is going to be fun.”