Richard Adams

Rex chuckled at the latest joke I hit him with. Jokes I had heard in the Underground didn't exist out here, so every brawdy joke I could think of got Rex's barking laughter. We were moving a lot slower compared to how casually Mimi pulled the wagon. I was still taking breaks every hour, but it wasn't about beating Mimi in a race. It was just about making it to the village and proving we would follow after her. Rex stopped suddenly, I tilted my head towards him, "Something wrong?"

Rex rubbed the back of his neck, "Red's asleep, I think. We might want to keep an eye out for trouble."

I shrugged, "It is daytime, vampires sleep more than Mimi does. I'm honestly surprised Red stays up as long as she does. Wait..." Something was nibbling at the back of my mind. "Why do you think we need to keep an eye out for trouble?"

Rex was scanning the forest, clenching his jaw. "A gut feeling mostly, but you have noticed the bugs move less whenever Red sleeps, right?"

I gave a small nod, Red slept differently. No, there was something about the timing. Why was Red falling asleep now? A slap echoed through the forest, "Fuck!"

Rex jumped, glaring down at me. "Doing that is bad luck, Richard." He went back to scanning the forest. Once he felt it was safe we started walking again, though Rex was looking around.

I followed shaking my head, "Today's the day that Mimi meets with the king of Eclipse. Mimi probably sent Red so she could focus on something else."

Rex tilted his head, "How do you know that?" He rested his hands on his hatchets, ready to draw them. Something was getting him worked up.

"Only if you tell me why you're worked up. Where's this gut feeling coming from?" I stayed right behind the orc.

Rex grunted, "Years of fighting, something in my blood is telling me there is something out there. I thought this place was watched by the nodes, or whatever they were called."

"Mimi isn't perfect, and she can hyper-focus on something. I'm sure Red would be up right now because Mimi would want to tell us how Ember is doing. The fact that Red passed out, well that just means she went instead of her." Rex paused, sniffing the air. I stood right behind him.

"I smell musk, it's old but something was here." I rolled my eyes at Rex's words, I couldn't smell anything but forest. "I'm getting a bad feeling. It might be nothing, but draw your ax to be safe. You never told me you could talk to the king of Eclipse, what's that like?"

I drew the ax, keeping myself from rolling my eyes. Rex just might want to start sparring early, since Red isn't here to watch us. "It's kind of shitty, and Mimi does it monthly. I thought I told you the king stole one of our daughters before exiling Mimi."

Rex shrugged, "I forget a lot of shit that ain't about fighting." We looked up to see the nodes hanging along the lower branches. The trees were shifting from pines to mighty spotted hardwood. Trees just as massive as the pines with a lot of lower and higher branches. They were supposed to be common in the East. The branches let the light filter down from above, but it made it difficult to see the sky.

"You should work on that, just so you know, I don't want to spar with you. We need to get to the village, you might be smelling a monster or something Mimi killed while doing her death march." I tried to help the orc relax a little, but he just clenched his jaws a bit more.

Rex gave a nod looking up, "Those black and purple hives are hers right?"

I let out a small sigh, "Yeah, Speckle trees are weird. They grow buds along their bottom branches, and those turn to speckle nuts. You can eat the ones with stripes, the others will give you a bad case of runs. Just use a knife to pry them open and eat the fleshy white meat, don't swallow the seed. They go great in soups and pair well with fish from what I hear. I've never been this far out before." Great, I was starting to sound like Mimi with all the information I dumped out.

Rex bobbed his head, "The tribes I've talked to always called these trees the Fiend's Paradise. Are you certain Mimi cleared everything out? That there aren't any fiends?" He relaxed a little.

I nodded, Mimi told me about clearing out a pack some days ago. I told Rex as much, and we continued on. I started to get why he was worried, with how close the branches crossed each other, they made a kind of mesh that would make it hard to see if any fiends were hanging above. They'd only attack if someone was using magic... I looked at my arms realized they'd be like a beacon.

Rex stopped again as some branches fell from above, something moved. I looked at the nodes, realizing Mimi might not have had the chance to check out above the lower branches. Mimi's nodes probably emitted magic since they were connected to her. Fiends would gravitate towards her nodes to see what it was. Before you know it, a whole pack might form around the curious bugs. I pulled out my ax as soon as I heard the roar accompanied by three more.

Rex gave me a looked, as he pulled out his hatchets. He dropped the coffin, "I thought you said she was keeping this place clean Richard!"

I rolled my shoulders, "We need to run, and wait until night. Red can help us then!" I took a few steps back.

Rex raised his hatchets, "You can't outrun a fiend, let alone a pack of them! Fuck, where in the hells is Mimi! We need someone to back us up here!"

I watched as the huge creatures leapt from trunk to trunk. The rattling knocked loose the speckle nuts. Each of the nuts were the size of my palm, all of them hitting like hail and leaving welts as I used the ax to shield myself from them. Rex's thick skin kept him from being hurt by the things. "That's why I said we needed to run! We need to buy time, fuck we have thirty minutes until Red comes back." I gritted my teeth, catching glimpses of the laughing fiends jumping around above us.

"Run if you want, but they're likely to throw heavy things at you! You need to stand your ground, I've fought these bastards with a tribe before, you just need to catch them in the neck!" Rex roared out his WAGH cry, slamming his hatchets together in a challenge. I saw the coffin right behind him.

Rex couldn't run and carry the coffin at the same time. A bitter cold ran down my spine as I realized my suggestion would have gotten him killed. I knew firsthand how happy a fiend was to throw things at a running target. "We need to get the casket into the shade, so they can't kill Red!"

The fiends thumped their chests at Rex's challenge while he looked at me. The fiends roared as we both grabbed the coffin and hauled it to the shade of a speckle tree's trunk. The fiends shook the lower branches, and I saw some of Mimi's bugs were falling from above. They weren't moving for some reason. Rex noticed but said nothing as he glared up and let out another WAGH cry.

We both bounced as the four fiends landed from above, branches and debris exploding under their weight as they thumped their chests again. They were snickering at us, their silverback boss licking his lips in my direction. The fiend that was just a bit bulkier, and making biting motions towards me. They hooted and hollered before lumbering towards us. I reached for my popper explosive, giving Rex a nod. He gave a nod, banging the flats of his hatchets against each other.

If nothing else, the fiends were amused by someone a quarter of their size not backing down. The smaller one thumped its chest while snickering down at the orc. "EARS!" I tried to say 'cover your ears,' but I was panicking. The Fiend roared and bellowed as I threw the explosive at its face. The others watched with sadistic glee as the small projectile arced towards their runt. I barely managed to close my eyes as I let the explosion run its course. There was a thunderous pop, followed by some smaller ones. Even with my eyes closed my vision went white as the fiends screamed.

Rex took the chance to lunge forward. I was certain he let out a "WAGH," but I couldn't hear anything. My ears were ringing, but I wasn't blind. Rex's hatchets tore into the runt's neck, as it grabbed him by the torso and pinned his arms to his sides. Rex roared with pain as I panicked and threw a smoke bomb at the runt's face. Smoke immediately washed in all directions, but it was enough to surprise the runt and make him throw Rex against a tree.

Rex was free, but he slumped when he hit the ground. I had to trust that his regeneration would take care of it. Two of the fiends were fighting each other because they had flinched and hit one another from the initial pop. My eyes went wide as I looked for their boss. I looked up far too late, as the silverback fiend landed right in front of me with a thump hard enough to make me bounce into the air. I scrambled, trying to grab the fire goo bomb, and fumbled. The vial fell to the ground as the silverback caught me with one hand in the air.

The fiend took a step through the goo that hadn't caught on fire yet. My alchemy suppressed it until the fiend slammed the hand holding me against a trunk. My head snapped back, as the ground below the fiend caught fire. It roared, squeezing tighter as I felt pressure on all sides. My bones groaned but didn't crack or break. The pain was mounting as I cried out, flesh starting to get crushed as the silverback fiend squeezed harder.

I started to tear up, from the pain, from the fact I was almost about to die to fiends. The same monster Mimi saved me from when we first met, the same thing she later killed and started all this. I let out the fire in my arm in a desperate attempt to buy myself a few more seconds. To take another breath. It loosened up just a little as I probably scorched the fiend's hand. Flames escaped upwards through the rugged cracks in its palms and fingers. I wasn't going to die like this!

My head whipped towards my shoulder pad, biting into the blunt of blue haze I had hidden there. I used the escaping flames for a light, glaring right at the silverback's ugly mug. I took as deep a breath as I could manage, forcing smoke into my lungs. I wasn't going to die here, not like this! Everything was fading away, it was all going black, then that darkness turned blue. I felt myself slipping, but I wouldn't let this be the end!

Di'Rex

I knew from the second the fiends dropped down that we'd lose this fight. It was smarter to run as Richard said, but I stubbornly refused. We couldn't rely on Mimi for everything, and now it would cost me. I had expected that monster to come and help us, I had been wrong. It was too late to say a damn word when I noticed her bugs weren't moving at all.

A gasping cough rattled me awake, as I saw the runt I killed. It had charged towards me in an attempt to finish the job. I jumped to my feet the second I heard Richard cry out, we were still in a battle! Only one hatchet was by my side, while I had no idea where the other flew off to. I picked it up, jumping off the runt's face to try and throw it at the boss' back. There was a pool of fire beneath it, then suddenly that fire erupted, singing hair and flesh alike.

The two fiends that were fighting immediately looked over towards their boss and started rushing over. What exactly was going on? This was a battle and I wasn't about to be left out of it. I lunged forward, burying my hatchet into the side of one of the fiends. It ignored me, as their boss bellowed in rage. It slammed its fist against the trunk of the tree, and I heard Richard laugh madly. "It won't work a second time, fucker!" His voice was hoarse and raw.

I grabbed the knife I always kept at my waist, burying it into the back of the fiend. I wouldn't let this one ignore me. I kicked, trying to get closer to its head, as it bellowed in pain. The massive creature rolled onto its side, forcing me to jump off and roll so I wasn't flattened. I heard another thunderous pop, as the cloud of smoke rushed at the two fiends from behind. The boss decided to try throwing Richard towards a trunk to knock him out instead of crushing him.

Richard let out a jet of flames from his legs, spinning in the air. Then he hit the tree with his feet before he started running down the trunk. Fire followed every step while he was missing an arm. The fiends were blinded by the smoke he pulled in front of them. My own fiend bellowed as it got back up. I wasn't letting this bastard get away. I jumped back onto its back, freeing my hatchet and chopping away. Whatever was happening, this fiend wasn't going to tip the scales in their favor.

My fiend tried slamming its back against a trunk, but I worked with the momentum. I lunged higher towards its head, I jumped off its back above where it would crush me, just barely avoiding the antlers from impaling me. Richard was saying something, as my ears finally healed.

"In Dark Fall, you can't spell friend without fiend. In all my journeys, I had never met a friendlier monster. The runt I was traveling with was frozen in terror through fear. They are such massive creatures, but they are so gentle towards children. They act as mentors to young dark elves and all children. My ward, the youth I mentioned earlier, Charles, came to love these goofy-looking monsters. Anyone reading this may think it the insane babbling of a master alchemist well past their prime. They may believe I have gone crazy, more so after publishing the monster manuals to protect anyone capable of reading. To you my apprentice, you shall gain the horrible truth."

What was Richard saying? I didn't have time to question it, as the fiend managed to dislodge my hatchet by rubbing its back against the bark. It buried my dagger deeper, but I was lacking a weapon near the monster's shoulders. The other two fiends bellowed out another cry attempting to lunge through the smoke that clung to their faces. The smoke itself stayed, smothering them and making them sluggish. Richard rolled underneath their legs, as he continued to babble. I held onto the antlers for dear life.

"Perhaps it is because I am old, that I still wish to have an apprentice. Perhaps I don't think Charles will truly ever let me go. We have been through so much together. These last chapters of my journal, aren't meant to disprove my monster manual. They are only meant to enlighten you, who I trust, to the true tragedy of Dark Fall. To let you know, that the monsters I now call the worst most terrifying of them all, were once the gentlest and most kind. How they work never changed, a fiend only gains the magic of those they eat. They only gain such magic after they eat someone that is willing to be eaten."

His babbling was madness, even while his voice was cracking with every word. He continued talking to himself, and I feared he had lost it. I regretted that we were forced to journey and fight this battle. My Fiend was rocking his head from side to side, jerking around to dislodge me so they could finish me off and help the other two. I held fast, looking for anything I could use as a weapon. Richard's cry had me snap my attention towards him.

"REX!" he croaked out, spinning with the ax of my tribe. It flew through the air, appearing as though it would be a few meters short. Then an explosion went off around the handle and bottom of the metal. It launched towards me, whistling as the fiend I was riding reeled back in surprise. Richard spun to face the other two fiends that were starting to wobble, a perfect sphere of smoke around their heads. There was no air for the monsters to breathe.

I hefted the ax of my tribe, catching the side of the monster's neck as Richard watched the two struggle as they started to fall on their stomachs. "They can still only gain magic through such means, as such they were merciful killers back in the prime of Dark Fall. They offered a peaceful way out, for a land that struggled so hard to provide even water to its population." Richard slicked his hair back, looking completely different as he bowed to the fiends, "Because of that cursed monster king, they must now seek out and acquire magic through any means. Their culture destroyed."

The fiend I chopped into let out a gurgling bellow, forcing me to jump back to avoid being grabbed. It landed on its side, hot steaming black blood falling onto the ground. I lunged to avoid it rolling over me, panting and tired. Richard continued talking as his fiends entered their death throes. "They were guardians of Dark Fall, beloved monsters that made the world brighter. They sacrificed themselves so that other monsters could flee to the bandit city of Eclipse. These secrets are not to be shared, but the true monsters do not have black blood."

I limped over towards Richard, exhausted as he kept the sphere of smoke on the fiends. "Want *wheeze* to tell me what that was about?"

Richard tilted his head back, looking at me over his shoulder, "The sphere?" He squinted, his eyes dilated. He was shifting around, unable to stand still. "Everything has a set space around it that cannot be interfered with by the magic of another. Unless something's soul is much stronger, like a dragon's soul compared to a human's. Then overpowering it is an option. The sphere of smoke was made by Oswald, my former master. He described how it worked with gas, and I just figured smoke would do the same shit. Doubly so since the fumes are toxic."

I just looked at him, "What are you talking about?"

Richard rolled his eyes, looking back at the fiends, "Just make a sort of bubble outside of the interference and force more and more smoke in without letting it escape. If I force too much in, someone's lungs could rupture, their head could explode. A whole host of nasty stuff, it's so easy to kill with magic when you get the principles down. I still don't like killing though, this isn't a victory, this is a tragedy. These fiends could have been so much more." He waved his hand and spun pointing at the bodies. "These are children!"

I gripped the man's shoulders, "Richard, snap out of it. They were trying to kill us! These are fiends!"

Richard glared at me, "Listen here, dipshit, I'm not Richard. I'm Ace, Firefist. Ace." He slugged me in the chest. "I come out whenever Richard hits the haze."

I took a few steps back surprised by the force he managed to hit me with, how did he manage that? What was going on? I stared at him, blinking with my jaw dropped. It took me a few seconds to catch my breath, then a few more to let the words sink in. He fought just like he did when the vampires were invading. "What haze!?" If this wasn't Richard, then I wouldn't let him strike me without some payback! I stomped towards him, aiming to deck him in the jaw, hoping to knock him out of whatever this was.

He turned to catch my fist with his forehead. Smoke rose in a small puff as he made it clear my punch did nothing. "Shut the fuck up, and listen." He straightened up, "Try that shit again and I will put you on the ground. Now, the fiends aren't dead. They are experiencing an acute form of asphyxiation. They can still recover, albeit brain-damaged, if I let the smoke off them. Until I can gain control over their lungs, they aren't dead. If you need your ass kicked, then you need to wait your turn."

My teeth creaked as I gritted them in frustration, "You think you can put me down because you took drugs!?" I put my fists in front of myself, ready to prove him wrong.

Ace rolled his eyes, "I lost my arm, the skin covering my calves, a good three kilo (6.6 lbs) of fat and still had enough to put down two fiends and toss you an ax to do your job. I don't think I can put you down, I know I can. Just as easily as the two fiends dying right in front of you. Magic is a tool, and any tool can be a weapon if you understand it well enough. Words can inspire people and move kingdoms. Runes can be manipulated to release a pulse of energy that disintegrates anyone that comes into contact with it. A hammer can be used to chisel stone or smash someone's fucking skull open. When I say lay off, you fucking back down."

It might have been the way his eyes glowed like stone smoldering with magic fire. It could have been how much lower his voice got with each word, the look in his eyes that told me this man was dangerous. Regardless of the reason, I took a step back and lowered my fists. Each word struck with a weight I had never imagined coming out of Richard's mouth. Somehow, it was more intimidating than Mimi.

We stood in silence, as the fiends with the smoke spheres twitched and spasmed. Ace took a long deep breath, "Richard is going to need this body healed up. I'm always watching through Richard's eyes, I'm always here. If you give Mimi any shit for what just happened, I will make you pay for it. I don't exist as far as she is concerned, I'm just Richard's mind on drugs while caught in a haze." He waved his arm around letting smoke fill in for the other.

I gave a curt nod, while Ace marched himself over to the shade of a tree. "Does Richard need blue haze to bring you back out again?"

Ace squinted at me, "No, this was the last dose needed to solidify my existence. I'll come out if the kid needs help. At the end of the day though, I want him to surpass me. Neither of us is fit to stand as Mimi's equal, but the kid has a chance. Once he gets over the fact that he can't just not kill shit."

Ace leaned against the tree, before slumping. Richard groaned in pain, just before the coffin rattled, "WHAT DID I MISS!?" The bugs were moving around, as I was left with explaining what the hells just happened.

I could have tried, but lying was better than trying to explain it all. "I went berserk, and we killed some fiends." It would have to do.