The power of leg and fist,

To defeat all who resist.

The speed of foot and arm,

To escape from any harm.

The mind, solid and sound,

To have all thoughts profound.

The knowledge, new and old,

To hoard, tightly controlled.

The face presented to man,

To conceal the true plan.

The sum, together all,

To keep them forever thrall.

The sum, together all,

To keep them forever small.

- Thrall, unknown source, circa 1300

I open my eyes and sit up. It’s just after noon and I wish I could lay right back down and sleep the rest of the day away, like I used to do on the occasional lazy Saturday.

I don’t have that luxury, however. As tired as I still am, my friends have waited around for me long enough. I close my eyes and activate my skill.

I hop to my feet a few minutes later, my leg appearing as good as new. I’m even more exhausted than I was when I first woke up, the pressure of the skill sitting on my shoulders once again, but the sweet release from pain and the knowledge that sleep will only bring its return is enough to guarantee that I’m up for good.

Melete and Styx are scattered throughout the copse, seemingly content to let me take my time waking up. Melete is, as always, singing softly to herself while Styx is training dexterity with a homemade version of jacks. Pallas is missing, I assume on watch.

As they realize that I’m up Styx stands up to gather together food for my breakfast and their lunch while I make a quick trip to the potty bush.

Melete sighs for what’s at least the fifth time as we sit in a circle quietly eating. As annoying as it is, I agree with her -- I miss real food. There’s only so many canned and dried foods I can eat before I get sick of it. For perhaps the first time in my life, I'm actually craving a salad.

The food today is even worse than usual -- the chips bag we had found was already half open and mostly stale a week ago, but there aren’t any other options.

As Styx jealously watches me eat the last granola bar (they each finished their own for breakfast but saved one for me), she breaks the silence.

“You’re right, Atlas. We need to go to town. As long as everyone else is down, count me in.”

I keep a straight face and nod in her direction, refusing to gloat in having been right. Melete does my gloating for me as she releases a cheer.

“Woohooo!! New food!”

None of us can keep from grinning at that statement.

We’re once again at the fence cornering the field closest to the edge of town. There’s a slight risk entering at the same point that we first entered the town -- if the troll monsters are perceptive enough to notice our previous passing, they may be on watch. The troll monsters don’t strike me as the type of creatures too heavily invested in wisdom, however, and I figure the benefit of knowing the terrain is worth the risk.

“Are you sure you’re OK with this?” I ask Styx.

“For the thousandth time, yes. I volunteered, didn’t I?” She replies, exasperated.

“Yeah, but we can still all go in together. In and out, one trip, and we’ll have everything we need. No need for you to risk yourself all alone.” Pallas and even Melete nod along as I make my final argument.

“And we also all agreed it’s too risky.” Styx replies. “If a troll monster sees us in town, there’s no way we’d all be able to outrun it. And any noise may only attract more monsters. It has to be me.”

I hate to admit it, but she’s right. We did a dexterity test an hour earlier in the field, a simple footrace to get an accurate gauge on our max speed in case we need to run away. Turns out when Styx said that she was “fairly fast” before, she was underselling herself. By a lot.

Dexterity had always been one of my higher Numbers and I considered myself to be pretty quick. I had even been thinking about trying out for the school’s track team when the season started next semester.

Styx’s speed, however, is something else. Even taking her Numbers advantage into account, her sprints are ridiculous. I felt like I was moving through molasses when I saw her speed by me.

She’s fast. Really fast. But fast enough to outrun a troll monster? Maybe. But at least she would have more of a chance of succeeding than any of the rest of us. So rather than go in as a big group to grab all the supplies in one go, she’ll be going in by herself. It will take more than one trip for us to get everything we need -- at least two, more than likely three.

But she’s willing. Eager even. Once she came to the conclusion that it was the safest move for us as a group, she refused to even hear suggestions of any other strategy.

I hate her for it but I also can’t help but respect her conviction. Would I be so willing to put myself in so much more danger for the sake of the others? I’m still not completely sure.

I finally give in and sigh. “Well...good luck. And if something goes wrong…”

Styx interrupts me, “Nothing will go wrong.”

“If something goes wrong,” I repeat myself, “stick to the plan. We won’t leave you.”

Melete and Pallas nod on either side of me. Styx grins in response, steps out of the high grass we are concealed within and breaks into a lope to the nearest building.

“You got this!” Melete calls out, louder than we should be this close to town and I glare at her. She is unapologetic though, and I see Styx stick out a single hand with her thumb standing up before she rounds the corner and disappears from sight.

“She’ll be alright.” Pallas says.

“Of course she will.” I reply. I can almost make myself believe it.

The next half hour spent waiting for Styx to return teaches me a different type of pain to endure. I spend the time pacing back and forth, staring intently at the buildings, and straining my ears for any out-of-place noises coming from the town.

Pallas is keeping watch in the other direction, making sure nothing is coming through the fields or along the road into town.

I almost snap at Melete when I hear her start humming under her breath. I only restrain myself when I realize the tune is to ‘See You Again’.

When Styx finally comes out from behind the buildings, I exhale a huge sigh of relief and can hear Pallas and Melete doing the same behind me. Styx is hunched over under what is clearly a heavy backpack, but manages to make the final open run to the field faster than I would have been able to unencumbered.

“How was it? I ask when she finally arrives, sweating. “Any sign of monsters?”

“None,” she replies, dumping the backpack on the ground as Melete immediately unzips it and starts to categorize the supplies. Pallas mutely hands Styx an empty backpack as she continues, “but man was that stressful. I won’t be surprised if my hair is grey after this, but so far it looks like it’s all clear. Probably two more runs before we’re completely stocked up, I was worried the backpack would rip under much more weight.”

She’s rotating her shoulders, clearly uncomfortable from the heavy straps. “If there’s no sign of any monsters, maybe we should…” I start before Styx cuts me off.

“No, I’ll make the last two runs. We need to play this safe. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll head out again, we’ll be ready to go in no time.”

Fifteen minutes later she takes off again with the empty backpack over her shoulders, and another stressful half hour passes before she comes out from the buildings once again.

“I think this is close to good for now for food,” Pallas states, the food and drinks having been taken out of the original backpacks, categorized, and then re-packed nicely back into separate packs. Some of it is still sitting out, waiting for a quick trip back to our base for the wheelbarrow.

Styx replies, "Yeah. This next trip will be mostly just for other miscellaneous supplies. The map, some clothes, and there's also a portion of the gas station that has medical supplies. Nothing prescription strength, obviously, but even just some light painkillers would be nice to have."

I nod emphatically.

"I'll be back in a jiffy." Styx states before turning and jogging back into danger.

This wait is a bit less stressful than the first; I've come to accept that Styx is the best equipped to deal with the risk of the troll monsters and it's possible we overestimated the danger that is present in town. I've just started to relax a bit more and begin planning for our next steps after getting resupplied when I hear a roar originating from the center of town.

I immediately stand up and look toward the buildings, heart pumping in my chest. Did they find her? Or are some of the monsters just fighting for food again? I feel Pallas' hand on my shoulder, and when I turn I follow his outstretched arm to the road, where in the distance I see Styx, backpack hiked up on her shoulders sprinting for all she is worth. And behind her are three troll monsters.

I let out a muffled curse. Turning to Melete and Pallas I begin to give out instructions, only to see them ahead of me already running to our meet-up spot. Right -- the plan. Picking up my shovel in one hand and making sure my spade is tucked into my back pocket, I sprint after them.

As I run through the tall grasses, I keep one eye on the road as the troll monsters pursue Styx. They run like gorillas, a loping gait that uses all four limbs and eats up the distance separating them. They're gaining! I grit my teeth, unsure of what to do, when I see Styx slip the backpack off and drop it on the ground behind her, speeding up even more.

The first two trolls continue their pursuit, but the third stops to examine the dropped backpack, sniffing curiously. Hopefully it will stay distracted, but I can't afford to wait around and see. Styx has extended her lead, and is extending it even further, but I'm not sure how long she can keep up her pace. The troll monsters look as if they can run as they are forever. I have to get to the meet up point before Styx does.

I put my head down and pursue Melete and Pallas, hoping I'm fast enough.

Finally, we get to the small section of barbed wire fence we had marked earlier. It's nowhere near the road; I assume it previously marked the border between two plots of land. The important part of this spot is the posts of the fence. More specifically, how loose the posts are. Left resting, the barbed wire has enough tension to stretch above the ground like a normal fence, but if two people were to push each post towards each other hard enough, the barbed wire has enough slack to sag only a few inches above the ground.

It's not the best plan, but it's all we could come up with. Hopefully, it will be enough to give us the jump on at least the first troll monster. As for the others -- I guess we'll have to improvise.

I stuff strips of fabric into my ears and take my position at the left post with Pallas at the right, similarly deafened. In the few seconds we have left, I frantically think of how else to prepare.

In the days prior, I’ve spent time thinking about different ways I can use my skill, the different modifications which may help me out in a fight. Some small and simple, such as hardening the skin in various vulnerable parts of my body or hardening and sharpening my fingernails. Others large and currently not possible with my skill, such as increasing my muscle mass or growing a second set of arms.

But none of these options I’ve considered will help me in a battle against something like the troll monsters. And before I even have a chance to start brainstorming any new ideas, I see Styx’s head bobbing through the tall grass approaching us. Time’s up.

With a heave, I push my post towards Pallas while he does the same with his own post, causing the previously taut barbed wire to sag low. The posts are loose, but it still isn’t easy -- the tension in the barbed wire increases as the force we apply to our posts pulls on the posts to either side of our chosen section. I maintain my footing, careful to not let the post slip back to its normal upright position.

Then suddenly Styx leaps past. Her jump takes her significantly higher than the scant few inches needed to clear the wire, but I can’t blame her for being careful. The second I see she is clear I release my post and fall flat on the ground, seeing Pallas doing the same across from me.

I lay there facedown in the dirt, hoping the plan works.

WHUMP!

An explosion of dirt rains down on me as the post, just inches from my head, is ripped from the ground and flies through the air. The next set of posts along the fence are also dragged along, but the third set of fence posts, a full twenty yards on either side of me, hold strong, barbed wire stretched tight between them and a thoroughly enraged troll monster.

It ran full speed into the fence. Luckily, the wire held. The troll monster is on the ground, flailing in pain and anger, entangling itself even further into the trap.

It worked! Although the troll monster isn’t dead, for now it is incapacitated and unable to chase or attack. There’s no time to finish it off, as the second troll monster is barrelling down the same path the first ran down, eyes sweeping back and forth across us.

But this time, there’s no trap of barbed wire waiting to injure this troll monster. Styx has finally stopped running, bare-handed and gasping for breathe next to Melete. Melete stands with a knife in each hand, and as the second troll monster slows and roars I see the terror in her eyes. But as her knuckles whiten and her face pales, I see a hardening within those same terrified eyes, and she steps in front of the unarmed Styx.

In the face of the troll monster’s roar, I see Pallas pick himself up off the ground, Styx’s large knife clutched in his right hand. And in the face of the troll monster’s roar, with my friends preparing to fight beside me, I pick up my shovel and stand. And in the face of the troll monster’s roar, I let out a scream of my own, and charge.

S: 90

D:80

W: 203

I: 43 (+1)

C: 54

0

Skills: Adjust:Self