There were two kinds of death in Eliona.

One was the most common, experienced by players and certain Elionans alike. They'd get dealt a fatal blow, vanish into stars, and be Revived at their designated place, whether it be the nearest city (for players) or their clan House (for Elionans.) In some cases, players could choose to Revive at their clan Houses, which Severance had done according to his clan's wishes.

The second death was the true death. The final death. If one had seen it before, it was easy to recognize, because when the stars came, they came violently, full of fury and vengeance. They exploded, filled the sky with their rage, and then faded away into echoes of a life once lived. Only Elionans experienced the second death. And those that did were lost forever.

Severance sat on cold stone, back pressed against the wall that surrounded the courtyard. His knees were pulled up to his chin, and despite his best efforts to hide his face, Vast nudged his way in with single-minded determination.

The beast sat at Severance's side, his warm, furred shoulder pressing against him. His long tail curled around Severance's torso since he couldn't find a convenient leg to capture. It didn't make too much of a difference, anyway.

Severance was in no mood to go anywhere.

You're being silly, he told himself. You're in a video game, remember?

Yet no matter how many times he repeated those words, they rang empty. Because in the end, it still hurt.

Rasin was gone. Forever gone. And Severance would never forget Dhin's horrified, anguished face as long as he lived. Nor would he forget that awful, keening sound of sheer pain that Dhin had made. It was the worst thing he'd ever heard in his life.

How could that not be real? It was an echo of his own cry, his own terrible grief when he first got that phone call from Lydia. He's gone. I'm so sorry. How could a game produce such raw truth with such unerring accuracy?

In that instant, Severance hated the game. He hated Eliona for being wonderful and perfect and alive, hated the Veiled for caring, hated Rasin for dying and Dhin for crying and–

I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.

He hated himself. Severance sucked in a breath. It felt like losing Fenn all over again. No, that wasn't quite right. It was worse, because it was his fault.

He'd killed Rasin.

He'd spent a lot of time going over those last moments, and one thing stuck out in all its horrible, wretched glory. A mistake. His mistake.

If he hadn't Revived Rasin, if he'd just waited until they both had been killed, then both of them would have safely Revived at the House. Instead, he'd panicked. He used Precaution, which ate up the remaining charge in Rasin's Amaurite bracelet and–

Rasin was able to Revive once. But not twice.

Severance clenched his teeth and swallowed the noise that wanted to erupt. Why did he do that? Why hadn't he just thought about it a little more? If he'd realized, in that moment–

Rasin didn't deserve to go in such a way. Dhin didn't deserve to lose a father.

My fault.

Vast huffed and shoved his cold, wet nose against Severance's cheek. He managed to push Severance's head free from his arms and took that opportunity to drag his rough tongue across Severance's face.

Grimacing, Severance half-heartedly tried to shove the beast away. He failed. Even if he'd been trying with all his strength, it would have been impossible. Vast had only grown larger, and even though he was sitting, his head was almost at the same level as Severance's.

In the end, Severance gave up and let Vast have his way. He scrunched up his face, eyes squeezed shut, and sniffled. His face was wet, both from Vast's tongue and the odd bit of moisture welling from his eyes. It couldn't be tears, as this emotionless body was incapable of crying, yet a few drops of water seemed to seep free regardless.

He couldn't quite bring himself to care very much either way.

"I'm sorry, Vast," Severance murmured, not for the first time. Vast drew back, ears twitching, and Severance took the opportunity to reach out and grab a fistful of thick silvery fur on the animal's neck. He leaned over, resting his forehead beside his hand.

"I killed him. I was stupid and useless and now he's gone. What am I supposed to do?"

Vast leaned into him, almost squashing Severance with his weight. The sound of soft panting reached Severance, and he had the fleeting worry that the back of his coat was going to be covered in drool. Ah well, it was full of holes and blood anyway. What did it matter?

"Dhin hates me now," Severance told Vast. Furry beast that he was, Vast was a good listener. "I tried to tell him I was sorry, but he just... looked at me. Like he was empty inside. And then he turned away, like I was just a piece of dirt on the ground."

That had been a dagger shoved into his chest, even though he totally deserved it. Dhin blamed him for his father's death.

It's only right, though. Severance winced. The scent of Vast filled his nose, sharp and earthy, like blood and dirt mixed with the ozone left after a thunderstorm. It wasn't the most pleasant of smells, yet he found it oddly comforting.

"I don't know what to do, Vast."

Vast growled, a low rumble that vibrated deep within his chest. Pressed against the beast's neck as he was, Severance could feel it just as well as hear it. He grew very still, suddenly worried that Vast had grown tired of his weepy rambles.

"Well," came a very familiar, calm voice, "you can start by getting up and changing your clothes."

Vast's growl grew marginally louder.

"Oh relax, you furball. Sev, tell your creature to calm down, will you?"

Severance drew back from Vast's wonderfully soft fur and swiped at his eyes. Then he leaned around Vast to peek at the person who'd approached them.

"Hi, Maun."

Maun looked at him. Then shook his head slowly. "Yeah, I thought so. You're a mess."

Severance just stared back at him. How could Maun act so calm and normal when the murderer of his clansman was right here?

Vast's growling dropped to a soft, barely-there rumble, and he took the opportunity to lick the side of Severance's face.

Maun watched, both of his eyebrows lifting. "Now that's kind of disturbing. I'm not sure if he's trying to comfort you or is just enjoying the taste of blood."

"What?" What was Maun talking about?

The clansman muttered something under his breath, then stepped closer. Vast bared his teeth at Maun, growl suddenly growing louder, but Maun didn't seem bothered by the threat. He merely stretched out a hand to Severance.

"Come on. There's something you need to see, but you can't go looking like that."

Severance eyed the hand curiously, wondering about whether he should take it, but then decided that anything had to be better than just sitting here pouring out his miserable heart to Vast. Even if Vast was a good listener. And if Maun decided to take him into the forest and stab him a few dozen times, then so be it. He deserved it.

He took the hand.

Maun pulled him up and Vast quit growling. Though he kept close, prowling close enough for his tail to constantly brush against Severance's legs. Maun led them inside the

House, and then on to the laundry room.

"Get those rags off," he told Severance, before leaving the room.

"Severance looked down at himself. Okay, maybe Maun had a point. Though he felt kind of sad that his cool coat was reduced to such a state. Those Free Traders really had done a number on him.

But you survived. Rasin didn't.

His breath stuttered to a halt in his lungs, and his eyes blurred with that odd moisture once again. It wasn't tears, though. He didn't cry in Eliona. Couldn't cry.

Maun returned with a pail of warm water and a rag and found Severance hadn't moved an inch since he'd left. But he didn't say anything. He only came over and gently undid the two buckles holding the tattered remains of the Battle Dancer coat closed. He helped Severance shrug it off, then let it drop to the floor.

Next came the shirt, which was pretty much strips of torn material at this point. It was easiest to just pull the pieces apart, which Maun did, and then he tossed them onto the coat. Then he reached down into the bucket and came up with a warm, wet cloth.

"Here, can you wash your face?" He held it up, a quiet question in his eyes.

Wordlessly, Severance reached for it. He took it in his hands, feeling its warmth, feeling water run over his fingers and drip through to the ground below. He felt oddly numb, though part of him recognized that Maun was being quite kind, even though Severance had just gotten one of his clansmen killed.

Did Maun hate him like Dhin did? Was he angry?

He didn't deserve this kindness.

He swallowed, feeling a heavy lump settle in his throat. It burned and ached, a ball of guilt and shame and grief, and it was just like Uncle Fenn all over again. He raised the cloth to his face and water seeped down his cheeks.

Maun gave a quiet sigh. He took the cloth from Severance, dipped it in the water once more, then wrung it out. For a while, the only sounds in the room came from the cloth being rinsed in the bucket of water and wrung out, water plinking as it fell.

Severance stood motionlessly like a rock, unable to bring himself to say or do anything. Vast had sat at his side, and somehow, Severance's fingers had found the short soft fur on Vast's head and rested there.

Some time later, Severance was clean and dressed in the simple black trousers and tunic of the Veiled clanspeople. His own boots were still in good condition, so he kept those, tucking in the trousers, and buckling the boots up to his calf.

Maun gave him an appraising look, then nodded. "Better. Now come on, they'll be waiting."

Who was waiting? Severance was afraid to ask. He wasn't sure he wanted to face anyone else from the Clan right now. Yet he followed silently, figuring Maun would just drag him along anyway. One never really did tell a Veiled Clan member no, after all.

Oddly enough, he found that last thought amusing, and his lips twitched. Wasn't that how he ended up here in the first place?

To his surprise, Maun led him to the gates of the courtyard. The clansman braced himself against one of them and leaned, shoulders hunched, head bent, and with a great heavy sigh, the one gate swung open several feet. He gestured for Severance to go out first.

Severance did, then turned to see Maun come through after him. Maun made no effort to push the gate closed, which Severance found odd.

He gestured. "Shouldn't you close it?"

To his surprise, Maun let out a sudden laugh. "The first words you say in twenty minutes, and you ask about that? You're an odd kid, Sev."

Severance frowned. It was a legitimate concern in his opinion. "But–"

"Don't worry about it. No one can see this place unless they're part of the clan. Olen made sure of that. Now let's get going, it's a bit of a walk."

With that, Maun strode ahead, following a worn dirt road that led off into a densely populated forest of pine-like trees. They rose straight and narrow to over a hundred feet tall. Their lower branches had died and fallen, leaving solemn gray columns flanking the road, while their upper branches wove together to block out most of the sun and leave only darkness beneath.

Despite the quiet, dark atmosphere of the forest road, Severance found it almost soothing. A few songbirds warbled high above, their gentle songs drifting down to the forest floor.

"This is part of the Northern Forest," Maun said quietly. "If you go straight north, you'll reach what we call the Flats, which is kind of an ironic name considering it's all rock and mountains over there. It's actually the north tip of the Ironback Mountains, though. That's where Vast comes from."

Severance glanced down at the vastlhidan prowling at his side. Vast moved like a predator, his muscles rippling beneath his fur with every stride. There was lethal grace and power behind his movement, and the way his tail, ears and eyes constantly moved about told of his alertness.

It would have been unsettling if it hadn't been obvious that Vast was, for some ridiculous reason, quite attached to him. The beast reached just above Severance's knees now, and Severance had a feeling that Vast would be quite a bit larger before he finished growing.

"It's a pretty harsh country," Maun continued, though Severance had said nothing in response. "Not many people venture there. If the cold doesn't kill them, then the beasts will. Plus, there's not a lot of vegetation there for food. Mountain sheep will eat lichen, bugs, and moss to survive. Predators like Vast rely on the sheep, though many will happily eat whatever carcass they find. Of course, that's just simplifying things, but you get the idea."

Severance listened as they walked. Maun talked on, but Severance didn't really hear the words. Between Maun's random facts and the dark tranquility of the forest, he found a sort of fragile peace. Just for a short while, he could lose himself in the moment and forget everything else.