The man turned to Avryn.

  “You recognize me?”

  Carolus turned to him, waiting for an answer. Avryn nodded.

  The man known as Agilla was unrecognizable. He had lost a tremendous amount of weight. His spear which was nearby was broken and battered after many battles. The cave he resided in was lived in. He went and sat down. Avryn came up to him.

  “What the hell happened to you?” he asked.

  Agilla looked at the ceiling. Too much. Too much had happened. It was supposed to be the usual patrol mission. It was raining. The ground was muddied, but they went forward. There was a strange air around that day. There was the ogre. They were ambushed. Its roar still echoed in his ears. Kiflan was torn apart before their very eyes. Leandros tried rallying them together despite having seen such a gruesome sight. Marten was the next to die, he got crushed by the ogre’s club. Leandros told Agilla to run, so he did.

  Agilla shuddered from having to remember. His hands shook, his breathing got heavy as if he was gasping for air. Carolus pat him on the shoulder. Agilla jerked from the touch.

  “No, don’t! Don’t touch me,” he begged.

  Avryn pitied him. Perhaps words would comfort him. He told Agilla that he and his squad had vanquished the ogre. He also had possession of Leandros’s longsword. The worst of his fears had come true. Leandros was dead.

  “Oh, no, no, no, no. Not Leandros, too,” he covered his eyes with his still shaky hands.

  “I think you should be discharged and be treated for PTSD, mate,” Carolus suggested.

  Agilla turned his head to him.

  “Treatment…yes, maybe,” he muttered to himself.

  Avryn’s Scribe rang. The sound of it made Agilla jump.

  “What’s the situation over there?” it was Rinna’s voice.

  “All clear, we found Agilla,” Avryn assured.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “You all should head out there. Right now,” she urged them.

  “Why?”

  Before Rinna could answer, a roar echoed into the caves. Agilla heard it and ran for his life, deeper into the caves.

  “Prepare for a fight,” Carolus twirled his swords.

  “Here,” Rin twirled her sling.

  Magic swirled around Carolus’s twin swords and imbued it with the power of frost and flame.

  “Thanks, love,” he looked at her.

  A paw stepped forth from the light outside. Three heads emerged afterwards. A Corpse Cerberus. Avryn and Carolus both shared a smile to each other. Leifren smirked as he loaded his rifle with special ammo. The dog heads bared their fangs, each one had a different color. From left to right, it was freezing blue, venomous green, and fiery red.

  “I wouldn’t want to get bitten by those,” Leifren cocked his rifle.

  Avryn and Carolus charged at the cerberus. Their swords both caught in two of its three jaws. Rin slung a fiery bolt that jolted the middle head. Leifren fired off some key shots to its body. The dog used its sheer strength to shake off Avryn and Carolus. Avryn was sent flying to the nearby cave wall. Stalactites nearly hit him. Carolus used his body control to rebound off the cave wall and charged at the cerberus once again. He bobbed and weaved through its attempted bites and parried at the right moments.

  “You alright, rook?” he called out to Avryn.

  The man stood up and dusted himself off.

  “Yeah,” he exclaimed.

  “Wolves incoming,” Rinna told Avryn through his Scribe.

  Avryn looked to the exit. Packs of hungry wolves were at the mouth of the cave. There was something odd about them. They weren’t targetting the group. They looked to rush past them.

  “Crap. Agilla,” Avryn realized.

  They needed to finish the cerberus now and then handle the wolves. Carolus read the room and shared a look with Avryn and Leifren. Rin was already ahead of them all and casted a spell. A wall of frost separated them from the wolves, and blocking entry to the cave. The wolves were still vicious. They threw themselves to the ice wall in hopes of breaking it.

  “Now’s your chance,” Rin told them.

  Carolus unleashed a flurry of slashes, driving the cerburus on the defense. Leifren shot at each of the heads. Avryn run up and summoned magical orbs that appeared near the cerberus. He pulled the trigger and the orbs exploded. Each head faced a violent whiplash before exploding on impact.

  “Nice finisher, kid,” Carolus praised.

  “It’s not over just yet,” Leifren pointed to the ice wall.

  Fighting was heard from the other side. The rest of the group had caught up with them. Carolus stretched his fingers. He was deep in thought.

  “How many wolves do you reckon will make it past them? Fifty?” he asked.

  Cracks started to appear on the ice wall. Carolus twirled his swords, lying in wait. He entered a state of deep focus.

  “I’ll make sure none will pass,” he assured them. “You two grab Agilla,”

  The cracks grew bigger in size and finally forced the wall to collapse. The moment it did so, Carolus used his skill with his blades to cut them down. The pile of corpses grew fast. Avryn was in awe of him again. This was Carolus at his best, and he got to see it. Leifren called Avryn. They needed to grab Agilla, and quick. Avryn nodded and went deeper inside.

  The cave was a maze, but they managed to find the way to Agilla, who was in a fetal position. Avryn offered his hand to him and lifted him up on his shoulders.

  “Don’t worry, this’ll be over soon. Leifren, watch my back,” he said.

  They made their way out of the cave. All of the wolves were dead thanks to Carolus and Rin. Avryn filled the others in on the situation with Agilla. It was a depressing note to end on but at least hope still lived on in him. They hopped back onto their dualcycles and back to the outpost.

  They reported back to the major and explained the situation. Agilla was given the discharge and treatment for his condition. They debriefed for the day.

  Agilla came up to Avryn.

  “Do you…still have the sword?” he asked.

  Avryn nodded and went to grab it. He unwrapped the cloth and handed it to Agilla. He traced his fingers on the handle and bowed his head to it.

  “Thank you…Leandros. My friend, my brother,” he gave the blade a kiss goodbye.

  He returned it to Avryn.

  “I should go now,” he told him.

  The two nodded and gave each other a handshake. Avryn wrapped the longsword back up in its cloth again. The last chapter of Leandros and Agilla was bittersweet.