The Price

Christoph checked the pocket watch; there were only two minutes left until the mage left. Toki was looking worse every second, and Valentina was getting tired. They already had to stop once as the stomach medicine was wearing off, and Valentina got motion sickness. Christoph cursed under his breath, they were making good time for their condition, but it still wasn't fast enough. While the monsters only came in groups of two to four, they arrived often and with the traps added on to that; they were slowed down too much.

Christoph was torn; he didn't know what to do, they could certainly fight their way back up if the mage left, but Toki wouldn't last that long. If they wanted to speed up, either Ace or himself would have to help support Toki as they moved, but that would leave a single person to fend off the monsters. Against magic casting monsters, Christoph would be the best, but they needed Ace to detect and disable traps.

Before he could make a decision, Ace stopped him, "I'm at fault; I'll take the front. You help Toki," he stated with a bitter smile.

Christoph frowned, but there was no time to argue; he handed over his last potion to Ace in case of emergency. They had long lost their efficacy on Toki's wounds. The elf moved back and slung Toki's arm over his shoulders, lifting the bear-man higher, "You still with us? We're almost out, buddy," Christoph reassured, though he wasn't used to it.

"Yo-𝘩𝘢𝘬, you aren't getting rid of me so easily," Toki responded, his words sluggish and accompanied with a glob of darkened blood. Now that Christoph was next to him, he could hear him wheezing, likely a punctured lung, but thankfully a small puncture, it seemed. Valentina trembled under his other arm and said nothing, only focusing on moving forward.

Another monster encounter, another wound on Ace; he was quick and could dodge most of the magic thrown. At the same time, the other three braced the tower shield together to block stray magic, or perhaps magic that the monsters purposely threw at Toki.

Ace turned a corner but jumped back as several bolts of fire and ice smashed into where he was, cracking the floor and chipping the wall, "There's four of them, Christoph, I need help on this one!" He shouted. Christoph cursed under his breath and moved Toki over to a wall so he could support himself temporarily.

Christoph rounded the corner with Ace to deal with the group of monsters, but as they fought, a few monsters joined the battle.

Pale light came from Valentina's palms as she suffused energy into Toki's wounds, doing her best to keep him stable, "You'll be o-okay, we'll all be okay, we'll all go get food after this..." she muttered, trying to keep tears from flowing. As a healer, she knew better than anyone what Toki's condition was. With her focus on healing, she overlooked the clacking of bone against tile.

She was startled when Toki suddenly pushed her away, and when she looked up, another spear of ice had lodged itself in Toki's hip, "Toki! Christoph, help!" she cried. The ice spear dug deep and severed something important; Toki couldn't feel his legs anymore as he fell to the ground. The tower shield fell to the ground with a loud thud, and the shiny bauble fell from his pocket, bouncing a few times as it hit the floor.

"Fuck!" Both Christoph and Ace openly cursed, they tried to make their way back, but the monsters had encircled them.

"Ah..." Valentina shivered as three skeletons approached from where they came, their jaws clacking as if they were laughing while ice and fire danced across their marble palms.

They aimed their magic and began chanting, not at Toki or Valentina, but the shiny, cracked bauble on the floor. Before the eyes of Valentina, the skeletons launched a volley of magic at the fist-sized marble, but instead of grinding it to dust, the marble sunk into the floor and avoided the shots.

The skeletons became enraged, they had managed to ambush the pests and had the chance to destroy the object of their ire, yet it escaped so easily, just like last time. The ground wriggled with the marble burrowing through like it were sand. It popped out of the ground right in front of Valentina and tapped against her foot, where she felt some of the last remaining energy she had flowed out into the marble.

The marble regained some of its sheen, and with a flash of silver, the walls next to the skeletons fell under its influence, rods of stone extended from both sides and cleanly crushed the skulls of the three skeletons. Nothing was without a price; however, as the marble immediately dimmed and another large crack opened upon its surface, it stopped moving and returned to being a normal bauble.

Valentina sighed in relief but shouted again, returning to Toki's side with haste to try and fix him the best as she could. Fifteen seconds later, Christoph and Ace sprinted around the corner: the fight had dragged them further away, the monsters seemed to have planned for this.

Toki was still conscious but was now on the floor, trying his best to maintain a smile, "Took you long enough," he teased with a grin, his teeth covered in his own blood, "Are you okay, Valentina? I couldn't see what happened," he asked, trying to turn towards where the skeletons were.

Ace and Christoph looked over as well; three piles of bones were crumpled to the floor along with three thick poles going horizontally across the hallway, presumably where their heads used to be, "What happened?" Ace questioned.

Valentina pointed to the dull cracked marble, "T-the marble, it's some sort of magic item I think, the skeletons attacked it after it fell but it dodged and retaliated by using some of my energy to start manipulating the walls but it looks even more broken now..." she explained in a fast manner, stumbling over some of her words.

"Some kind of protection charm perhaps..." Christoph muttered to himself as he grabs the marble and places it in his satchel, then turns to Toki, "Can you stand?"

Toki laughs, coughing up a bit more blood, "I can't feel my legs, I don't think I can make it back in time," he explains, using his arms to drag himself up into a sitting position against the wall.

Ace's eyes widen, "What? No! We're getting you out of here; we're so close to the safe room!"

Christoph narrows his eyes and looks at Valentina. She shudders as tears start to form in her eyes, "We won't make it if he can't walk, and even if we did, his condition... Without some powerful artifact or very expensive spells, nothing can be done..." she speaks slowly, knuckles white as she grips her staff.

Ace doesn't back down, "What if-- what if we split up? I can make it to the safe room myself and send for help; if we sell the marble, surely we could afford treatment!" He says with exasperation.

Christoph purses his lips and places a hand on Ace's shoulder, "Ace, Valentina knows the best on these things; the most we can do is be here for Toki in his last moments..."

Ace shakes him off, "What, you're going to give up just like that?! I'm not going to sit still when I can still do something!" He shouts and sprints off towards the safe room. Christoph sighs and prepares his bow in case more monsters arrive. Without the small adrenaline boost from moving, Toki could feel his life draining away, "So much for a quick dive, eh?" He laughs, "Death happens, don't be too sad for my sake; it was mostly my fault anyway."

"Don't say that; you're not to blame," Valentina says quietly as she sits close to Toki. Christoph remains silent for a short while, then speaks up, "I-, no, hmm," he starts, a solitary tear rolling down his cheek, "I was taught that only other elves qualify to be friends, but you've proven that so very wrong," he says, trying to say goodbye was always his weakness.

Toki laughs, "Well, I can't say you've been anything less than a friend either. Hah, you guys won't last long without me; you should just retire and sit in a boring little store," Toki tried to keep up the facade, but it was starting to crack, his voice quivered, and his smile faltered.

Christoph opens his mouth, then shuts it, gritting his teeth. "Yeah, that would be nice," he finally says.

"Valentina, can I get a hug? I'm cold," Toki asks.

Valentina wordlessly hugs him, and with one last wheeze, the bear-man goes limp.