"Oh, Tosh…" I whispered as I stared down at the curled up man.

He was a few feet from the door to the church. It looked as if he had run out and tripped, maybe hit his head…? But…

Kneeling down, I pulled his head back a little to stare into his eyes. They were open, his pupils not fully focused… but not fully broken either.

"Tosh… my poor friend, what happened…?" I asked the man who was broken. Inside and out.

I recognized those eyes well. Though it had been years since I'd last seen them on anyone. Tosh's mind had shattered. The kind of broken that… well… no one usually returned from.

Shaking my head, I stood back up and glanced around. The place was a mess. It looked as if the cultists had been gathered for a meal, and had been in the middle of it… and then chaos had broken out. Judging by the scattered bodies, and the puke on most of them, it was safe to assume Tosh had used his normal methods.

He wasn't strong. Not a warrior. Not in the ways most understood. He used other methods, some considered them underhanded. I considered them tactical.

He had poisoned their food. Their drink. What he had done so with, I had no idea… but it had obviously been very effective.

It was obvious, by the smell and sight, that it had been several days since the event. A few of the bodies even showed signs of being eaten by the forest animals, and birds. Odds are a few had already been dragged off by bears or something, too.

Glancing down at my friend, who was still motionless, I bit back my worries and looked away.

He was alive. For now. That was all that mattered.

Walking into the church, I frowned and paused a moment.

Hm…?

Had a monarch been here…?

My eyes narrowed as I glanced around, in search for whatever it was I was feeling. I didn't sense a heart, but…

Yes. There had definitely been some kind of divinity here… but it was distant. Old. Faded. Probably too old to have been the cause of Tosh's mental break.

Plus why would it do that…? It would have just killed Tosh. Eaten him, maybe. There was no need to break him in that manner… was there…?

Walking deeper into the church, I scanned the bodies lining the floor. Most of the ones in here had not died from poison. They had wounds. Head wounds, mostly. Form an axe, or something like it.

Odds are some of these people had survived the poisoning, but had been weak. Infirm. Unable to defend themselves… so Tosh had simply walked in and finished the job.

"Well… you took down another cult at least, Tosh," I said as I counted nine bodies. There was probably a dozen or so outside, so… he had likely got them all. Most Epoch church's didn't have much more than that. They weren't able to grow too large. They always succumbed to infighting and betrayals once they did.

So… what was this? His thirteenth church? Fourteenth? He should get a medal.

The others didn't like that he was doing this. They found his methods, and the general idea of it, utterly disgusting. But I didn't fault the man.

They had taken the love of his life. And had brutally tortured her, in some vain attempt to call out to a god that no longer listened. In my perspective Tosh had every right to do what he was doing.

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I didn't fault Tosh at all for his actions… though I did wish he had waited for me, and…

Pausing at the end of the church, I frowned at a man who had at one time been chained up. He was a mess now, and judging by the way his body and arms were all melted and gooey, Tosh had been… rather cruel. I wonder why. Tosh killed, but usually not so harshly. This man must have been doing something to rile up Tosh's anger. Either assaulting a woman, or…

I glanced around, to see if said woman was around. I didn't hear or sense any life, other than Tosh's, but… I needed to make sure.

I didn't find any, so I left the church and picked my friend up.

Sitting him up a bit, I waved a little in front of his face. His eyes followed my hand, and he even blinked… but that was it.

"If you're there Tosh… know it's me. Vim. I'm here. Just… take your time, okay? I'm going to take you somewhere safe for now," I said gently.

Tosh didn't look at me, or respond, but I figured he wouldn't have.

The people who got like this sometimes never regained their sanity. Though they usually did get a little better, for a short while at least.

Sighing at my friend, I hefted him up as to put him down elsewhere. I needed to burn this place before leaving it.

I placed him down next to a tree, in the sunlight. He didn't say a word… just stared blankly out into the distance. I gave him a gentle smile, and a pat on the shoulder, before stepping away.

He also usually had a bag. One full of supplies… I should probably find it too. Just in case something in it was important to him. Maybe a memento or something from his girl. What had been her name…? Vex something. Gosh, I need to start paying more attention…

Sally would know. I should take him to her. Where was she…? Lumen?

Finding his bag, I quickly set the church on fire. I made sure to gather up all the corpses first, since they were poisonous. Didn't need the whole forest to die just because Tosh had poisoned them for his revenge.

Once the church, and the cultists, were burning and burning well… I nodded and went back to my friend.

He was still sitting against the tree… looking completely empty inside. I thought of all the laughs and conversations we'd had over the years, and it hurt a little to see him so… empty. But this was honestly not the worst he's looked lately.

Ever since his wife had been killed, Tosh has been… hurt. The kind of hurt that made him angry. Angry and distant.

He hadn't been my friend lately. Not that he'd ever been rude to me or really anyone… but since her death Tosh has been a different man. He didn't talk with me, to learn or debate or tease and joke… When we talked nowadays it was only about one thing.

The cultists. And how to kill them. What had been the last thing he had asked me to teach him…? How to make a fancy crossbow or something…

Maybe I should have taught him more. Maybe by doing so we could have avoided this…

"I warned you, Tosh," I said to him gently, as a loud pop came from the burning church. I heard a beam snap and break, and part of the roof collapse inward into the flames. I ignored it all though as I stared at the dead eyes of my friend.

"But it's okay. I know how it feels. I've been there too," I said softly as I reached out to grab him. I picked him up, putting him on my back as I stood back up. I shifted him a little and nodded. "Let's go see Sally, Tosh. You okay with that?" I asked.

I got no answer. Not even a single finger twitched.

I nodded. "Sally it is. She's actually really angry at you, you know? You better prepare yourself. She's such a gentle hearted woman, I don't know why you keep breaking her heart like this," I said.

Although I wanted to tease him, and to bring up the fact that Sally all this time had been waiting for him to notice her feelings… I bit my tongue and didn't do it.

Because Sally wasn't waiting for him anymore. Though who could blame her…? Tosh was broken. And I didn't just mean mentally, here and now. He had been broken even before this. And as good of a woman Sally was, she wasn't willing to love a man who wasn't the same anymore. And no one could blame her. I didn't blame her.

"Honestly I always figured I'd just find you dead," I said as I left the church of Epoch.

Hopefully that wasn't what this was. Hopefully he wouldn't just… pass away on my back, or in the middle of his sleep in the coming days. Hopefully he regained his senses. Returned to himself. Somehow.

It might take time. A lot of time… but Tosh might one day wake up. He might return to us.

I just hope when he does… well…

"Take your time Tosh. Take all the time you need. If anyone ever has a problem with that… well… I'll let them know what's what," I said. Tosh didn't answer as I kept talking to him. I made small talk with my friend, who likely didn't hear me at all, as I carried him out of the forest… and took him home.

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