All creatures prefer familiarity, so when their dwellings are taken over, desecrated, and polluted by those stronger they resist till all hope is lost. Only then do they move further into the lands, and do unto others what had been done unto them. The cycle of conflict continues until the weakest of them are run out of their homes. The weak carry their losses with them and like the Mark of Cain lay waste sevenfold in a bloody battle against the originator of said conflict until there is no clear victor, only death and shame.

This time, there was no physical enemy, but human nature, a sin – greed. Eventually, they would learn to stop fighting, to stop ravaging others for gain, but for how long would those who fought and those who remember the fight sustain the peace. Many generations later when they are all dead and the cycle starts begins a new no one would look to their past for answers, and history would repeat itself.

Broken out of his thoughts Drac looked down to Natravi, giving him a small nudge out of concern. Reassuring her with a shake of his head he reassessed their situation once again.

The task was simple – exterminate the monsters deep enough into the forest to ensure that the villages would be well protected when their contract was finished. From his assessment of everyone, everything should run smoothly, even with the surprise addition of his niece. Which meant there was a high chance of everything going wrong since he could not even trust his own judgements. His assessments never worked, no matter how much experience he had or how much he’d planned something always went wrong and he would be forced to deal with the fallout. Always. He had thought that perhaps this time it would be different since Natravi wouldn’t be with him, but the world seems set to make her suffer just as much as him.

The two leading the group, Volvo and Luvrit, had opted to move away from the natural path – to trek in a curve so that all the villages, near the white forest and the border with Alexandria, could be covered in one expedition. However, their pace was slow and the company’s atmosphere dreary – Drac suspected that it was likely due to Rose’s misgivings on Peter’s past courtship endeavours. Said blond didn’t seem to much mind her glares but was conversing rather too cordially for his liking with Natravi. Thankfully, the girl had the sense to converse lightly and with restraint against someone like him. She’d grown into a strong woman who was at the cusp of being proclaimed a proper noble but he still worried over her poor social prowess. He still had to look after her until she’d settled down and completed her studies.

The burden remained; the promise still unfulfilled.

To clear his mind, Drac glanced over to the passing forest line: the thick tree trunks standing tall with their lush branches spreading wide settled a sense of unease inside him. The moonlight could not penetrate so deep into the forest, and there was a feeling that they would be swallowed up by the darkness at any show of weakness – an old friend to the predators of the night.

He heard something.

If he wasn’t focusing so hard on the forest, ignoring the chatter of his company, he would’ve likely missed it like the rest of them. But what if all he had heard was a branch falling due to wind? He did not want to embarrass himself, he was better than that.

“We’re being stalked,” Peter called out jovially, he pulled out a sword but did not break his stride.

“Any idea what it could be?” Luvrit asked, placing a hand over his pommel.

“No, but they’re large enough to fit through there, one at a time,” Peter pointed at the gaps between a few disfigured trees which looked like the gaping maw of a beast waiting for its prey in the darkness. “That’s where they seem to be hiding.”

“Let’s move further away, and tread carefully now,” the other blond nodded to them. “We need to get to the first village before the moon reaches its zenith.”

After a few minutes, Brair and Fliss moved to the back to walk alongside Drac and Natravi. The young boy was very talkative with the redhead and soon had joined the importance of the choir of crickets in Drac’s mind, filling the silent night with melodious tales.

“And then I threw this giant rock at its feet-”

“-Tripping the bull walker over on itself, I get that,” Brair finished. “But it still doesn’t explain how you lost the horses we could be riding.”

“Oh, well after it fell the beast struggled a lot, while it was flailing it cut the ropes holding the horses nearby with its claws and horns. They ran away in fear.”

“You still kept the horses nearby? Freeing them would’ve been the first thing I’d do,” Brair frowned at the youth.

“It all happened so fast-”

“-We were very deep in near the border territory,” Luvrit interjected. “I thought little of the horses’ safety and more on how to deal with the Chimerean patrols and beasts roaming the Novermberg forest since we’d destroyed our identification papers.”

“And how did you do that?” Brair asked with a smirk. “It’s rare for you to mess up on so many steps, Luvrit.”

“Here,” Peter looked back with a smirk and threw a crumpled paper her way. She caught it with a displeased expression and frowned at him in question.

“Someone was a messy sleeper their first night,” he explained

Suddenly, Fliss snatched the ball of papers out of Brair hands and hid them under his cloak.

“We all had to sleep beside our horses, so I didn’t have it…my special blanket, with me that night. The nightmares returned, and I guess I ripped them a little in my sleep.”

“You didn’t just rip them a little, Fliss,” Volvo said with hidden anger. “You tore off the hard wax stamp, not only is that hard to do but it also could’ve been very bad for us had we not been ambushed when the enemy patrol found us.”

“Hey, Volvo,” Luvrit said with concern. He placed a hand over his shoulder and reasoned; “It’s alright, it’s in the past now, it won’t happen again.”

“And what have you done about it since then? We were lucky they were a bunch of simpletons but what if it happens again but with a more intelligent group?” Volvo huffed out. “As a leader, you need to learn from those mistakes and act so that it doesn’t happen again. Tell me: would there be a next time?”

“Volvo, there will not be a next time. Until his nightmares subside I’ll have him sleep with Peter as they used to in the early days, that should, no that will keep the nightmares away.”

“It’s been years since the incident-”, Volvo spoke up.

“- and the nightmares haven’t always been there.”

The two soon descended into a heated discussion which centred around an ‘incident’ with no explanation of what it was, thus offering Drac nothing but horse hay in knowledge.

“So what of the horses?” Brair asked.

“Oh, uh-the horses ran away, w-we tried chasing them but then we met the Chimeran patrol guards and…they never came back.” Fliss sniffled.

“Were you attached to yours?” she asked, comforting him.

“No, I mean I’m sad that he ran away but I’m happier that he’s free now, I never wanted to share him anyway, t-the horse I mean. We always changed the horses between us for a time like this.”

“That’s good, you shouldn’t let it get to you. You can try taming an animal to be faithful, loyal but in the end, they’ll fall to their nature and leave you when you need them most, its good that your learning this early unlike me.”

“…They were attacked, they were just trying to survive, it was instinct,” Fliss said angrily.

Drac felt a tug on his hand and saw Natravi beckoning him away, taking away his attention from the conversing pair. To a bystander, her face would’ve borne no emotions but he knew what the slight crease between her brows or the slight purse of her lips and tighter than necessary grip meant – she was worried.

“What is wrong?” he slowly asked in Ruvskian.

“What if it happens to me?” Natravi asked.

“Natravi, when it is between us you have no excuse. I expect you to speak properly. Now, what is it?”

“What if her misfortune befalls me as well?” She replied, the crease increasing. “What if my absence leaves him weak to the presence of others? What if he has already chosen to bed another.”

“Metaphors and euphemisms,” Drac sighed in exasperation. “That is all they are, nothing more.”

“I also noticed her clenched hands and pointed glare at the blond when she spoke of loyalty and betrayal, and his aversion from her eyes confirms that he was guilty. A betrayal of courtship is the only act I can think of in which a woman of her profession would not immediately duel him to death and remain glaring like that,” she hurriedly supplied. “She is hurt, what if it happens to me?”

“You should choose better books to read, Natravi.” Drac admonished. “And it is ignorant on your part to consider their problems - if those problems are indeed true - similar to your own. Your lives are not the same. Do you heed?”

“Yes, uncle I understand,” she replied with a frown. “Where did you gain such confidence in him? You did not trust him before.”

“Because he knows that if he commits adultery his punishment will be me.”

“…How can you say that if you ran away?” Natravi whispered.

“Natravi~,” Drac said with warning. He tried grabbing her arm but she manoeuvred out of the way and joined Fliss on the other side.

“Childish,” he murmured.

His comment, however, did not go unheard by Brair who sent him a questioning glare which he promptly ignored, focusing instead on the path ahead.

“Hey Fliss, it looks like they need some time alone. Come on,” Brair said, giving Drac a nod which he returned and Natravi a smile to which she whispered:

“Ansdrovean-”

“Natravi, do not stoop to the such a level,” Drac interrupted, stepping closer to her. After a couple of minutes, he tried “I do not run, Natravi. I bait.”

“…From who?” she hesitantly asked. “Whom would want to hunt you? Us?”

Drac slowed down, distancing himself from the others. He placed a gauntlet over her shoulder and gently rubbed. “Natravi, it is perfectly within your right to have doubts over your partner, being so far from him. But the next time you have them, think about what you have done for him which he might find others to do better. He will not find another better than you, he chose you. You are an intelligent girl Natravi, so remember these words the next time you feel doubt and uncertainty. Everything else is unimportant. Come now, let's join them before they get too far ahead.”

Natravi didn’t answer instantly as he’d expected of her, instead, her answer came in the form of a hum and a nod.

They continued walking for some time with the moon slowly reaching overhead – shining its bright light until it was snuffed out by a large passing cloud. That’s when he heard a quaint rustling sound before it was overwhelmed by the rustling in the trees.

“Stand!” Volvo hissed.

Everyone already had their weapons out and were scanning the forest line for an incoming attack, except for him. Drac bowed his head away from the forest and focused on hearing the creatures rather than seeing them.

“Where in the forest?” Volvo whispered.

“There. Over between the two trees curved like a circle,” Peter responded. He pointed at a corner of the forest where no doubt the distraction was staring back at them.

“I think they’re in the grass as well,” Peter said as sweat beads rolled down his nose.

“I hear that too,” Volvo confirmed, quickly rubbing an oily cloth on his armour before storing it in one of his pouches. “Luvrit, I’m assuming control.”

“But-”

“‘But’ nothing,” Volvo snapped.

“Mr. Volvo, I think it would be best to split up the forces on two sides,” proposed Drac. “Natravi, Brair and I shall take care of the forces on that side while your group takes care of the forces on the other side. This would keep them from overwhelming us and keep them divided, would that suffice?”

“You a military man Drac?” Volvo asked suspiciously when the moment passed he relented. “Alright, but remember to back away if the fight goes on longer than it should.”

“Fliss, support us from the back,” Luvrit commanded, glancing at the boy for affirmation and ignoring Volvo’s glare.

“Here they come,” Peter warned.

It wasn’t immediate, but sure enough, the creatures of night began to make their way towards them. The heavy movements of such beasts shook trees and felled weaker branches. The winds picked up, flattening the grass and carrying the leaves at the mercenaries’ direction.

One after another, shadows of large bests began to appear out of the treeline. The moonlit visage of the forest creatures showed thick-as-log arms supporting large branches over their shoulders, a fat, vertical body which connected to a horizontal one propped up on four legs, and no head.

“What are those creatures?” Natravi asked, splitting away with him and Brair.

“Natravi~” he warned her not to stray too far.

“What are those creatures?” she asked in Ansdrovean.

“Those, little princess, are Riding Geckoes,” Brair replied, gripping her sword harder. “Stay out of my way when they attack so we both don’t die.”

“If I recall,” Natravi began. “You surely humiliated yourself when you last tried attacking me.”

“Wow, look at you. You must be really smart to remember something so long ago.”

“…Zounderkite, your insults make no sense,” she frowned.

“Brair, Natravi. Focus on, that which is in front of you than each other,” Luvrit shouted.

“At your feet,” Drac warned. At the same time, from the other group Peter yelled over; “Shit, they’re already here.”

The callouts set everything in motion. While the girls had been arguing amongst themselves he’d been focusing on those sounds he’d heard when they’d first stopped. That small rustling sound of the grass before that of the tree branches overwhelmed it. The vsadniki-yashchery or ‘riding geckos’ as Brair called them were nothing but a distraction from the creatures that were sneaking towards them, protected by the swaying grass.

He was standing behind both women and remained at the back when Brair attacked whatever had made its way at her feet. A squishing sound filled the air as both Brair’s and Peter’s swords pierced the creatures, sending fluids soaring in the air.

“Dammit, they’re moss piglets!” they shouted as one.

“Don’t stab them, they spray acid. Get away from each other,” Luvrit shouted. “Here comes the rest.”

Drac looked up and saw the riding geckos make their way down the slope. He contemplated pulling Natravi away: she’d never been in a battle like this before, she didn’t know what she was fighting, but he needed her to understand what she was following him into. He needed her scared so she would return to safety, so he folded his arms and stood his ground, watching the battle unfold on both fronts.

Pride swelled in his chest as he saw her gracefully manoeuvre each step into the other, like a dancer on the blades of grass. She was efficient in her attacks and left little room for any unnecessary movement. She moved in a semi-circle around him, hacking and slashing with her sword at whatever ran up at them. Brair stayed beyond her to create the first line of defence, but he noticed that every few seconds she would retreat a meter. Looking over at the others it seemed they too were fighting in retreat, likely to create some more distance between the incoming beasts and the forest line for when they would clash.

Whatever the moss piglets were they were either in large masses or very fast, considering how quickly everyone was jumping in the grass and slashing in the darkness. He looked up and saw the moon being slowly uncovered by the dark clouds. As moonlight shone down, he focused on the fighting just in time to see a green bulbous creature jump out of the grass. It had multiple folds of fat across its body and moved with unnatural agility for someone its size. The creature had six short stubby legs to walk on and two more on the back acting as a tail, likely to jump with. It had two long claws protruding out of each of its legs which shone black under the moonlight. Its face was round and smooth with two folds running on each side of where its cheeks should’ve been. It was without a nose, eyes or ears, but had many small hairs poking out of its body at various lengths and angles. It also had a lipless hole for a mouth from which it whipped its tongue out to warp around Brair’s sword arm. She tried shaking it off but to no avail.

Soon she was screaming at the moon. The creature had begun sucking onto her arm, likely digging its small teeth into her. But before Drac could move in Natravi jumped at her and stabbed her sword through the moss piglet’s face folds, separating the head from the body. The creature’s body wiggled on the ground while its face remained stuck to her arm. However, during the time Natravi was focused on the head stuck to Brair’s arm another moss piglet attacked from below.

Fortunately, this time the redhead was ready – she pushed Natravi away and stuck out her arm, shoving the moss piglet’s head into the mouth of the other. Then she stabbed her sword in the ground and took a knife, from between her leather armour folds, to cut the tongue of the head still stuck to her arm in one swift motion. In the moonlight, Drac could see the red burnt skin encircling her arm from under the band of armour the creature had dissolved off.

“How many?” Brair yelled as she retreated, pulling off the sleeve of tunic hanging on her wrist.

“Probably 20 left, but here comes the cavalry,” Peter laughed. He switched his sword for a bow and took out 2 arrows from his quiver. Volvo thrust his mace towards the monsters and yelled;

“Come get some!”

“Kakakakakaka” “Kaakuu, Kaakakakkakuuu” the sounds of geckoes filled the air and the moss piglets grew even more aggressive, forcing those facing them to fight harder than before. Drac looked up at the oncoming forces and frowned. He had hoped Natravi had given up fighting the vodyanym medvedem by the time the vsadniki-yashchery had arrived but she was too stubborn, just like him. Although she carried herself behind the mask of indifference and didn’t have any bruises or cuts like the others, he could tell from her slightly shaking shoulders that she was too tired to fight the incoming attackers.

Natravi was not like normal women – she was weak-bodied. She physically couldn’t handle any large form of stress over an extended period. Her bones broke easily, her body exhausted too quickly, which was why it was a blessing that she was so gifted in the flow. She knew her limits; they’d discovered them together, so she should have known what would happen when she aimed her sword at those riding geckos. She was willing to follow through with it, he realized, he had underestimated her resolve.

“[…nubet ventus et unda meos interfice, fata ruinae-]-Ouch” Natravi yelped as he flicked her shoulder lightly. Rubbing it she looked at him towering over her, the moonlight glinting off those green eyes of hers.

“You did well, Naavi, leave the rest to me.”

A small, almost indistinguishable smile crept onto her tired face, but he didn’t have time to admire it. He noticed some movement off to the side and reacted quickly to bait his arm in front of her. When the vodyanym medvedem bit into his armour he barely felt its teeth touch his arm before he gripped into its fold and stroked it lightly. The creature immediately shrunk itself into a ball and released its grip on him. Its limbs disappeared into its folds just like its head and it fell to the ground, stiff. Drac quickly picked up the creature and threw it at the incoming geckos. It squished under their legs, its acidic blood bathing them under the moonlight, but it had no effect on them.

“Unfortunate,” he said. In large strides, he walked up to meet the giant geckoes. He passed by Brair, who frowned and looked up from her massacre. It looked like she was going to stop him when another moss piglet interrupted her, Drac was quick on his feet and swiftly dealt with it in seconds. After that, Brair retreated to Natravi and gave him the wide berth he’d asked for this afternoon.

“What are you doing?” she asked Natravi when she joined.

“Resting,” Natravi answered, “He decided to join. It will surely be fine now.”

“What do you mean?” Brair asked.

“Form up!” Volvo suddenly shouted over the sounds of the geckos.

“Everyone, come together!” Luvrit reinforced. Drac continued his treatment of those little critters as he moved closer to the other group. It seemed the geckoes had taken a liking to attack them first.

“Provide support while I act as bait,” he ordered.

It was up to them to follow through, he’d warned them before.

Walking a small distance towards the monsters he reached around his red cape and dislodged the heaps of iron off his back. Slowly moving his hand out of the red cap he took a step back as he procured two large swords in each. Pair of intertwined serpents were carved into each blade. Their tips were pronged like a crab’s claw but sharpened on the edges and wider than the rest of the sword.

His swords were his arms, they weighed as much as him and were him. They’d protected him and will continue doing so until the day he gave them up. With that he threw himself into the fray, kicking an incoming ‘vodyanym medvedem’ with a start.

……………………………A few minutes ago……………………………………………………

Luvrit ran forward and skewered a piglet through its open mouth while kicking another with the point of his boot. Luckily the beast didn’t blow like the rest so it didn’t damage the boots any more than before. Thrusting his sword Luvrit threw the piglet off of it and swung it at the moss piglet’s head for good measure.

A spray of blood splashed against his chest as Volvo smashed a jumping piglet’s head in with a mace. The riding lizards were getting closer by the second and they needed to cull the monsters enough to be able to handle both beasts, so he cared little for how much his armour eroded in the process and acted more recklessly than his pupils. On instinct he moved onto the next target, unaware that two of them had snuck up from behind. When they jumped to attack, two arrows came out of nowhere and lodged themselves to their folds, splattering the green grass with blue coloured blood which sizzled the grass to mush. Volvo looked up from his kill and saw Peter reload his bow, the two shared a nod and continued on fighting.

Fliss had remained in the back and was providing the group with moments of respite in his [Sanitatem] chants, which alleviated muscle pain through ways he did not know, and moments of support in his [Sagitta] chants which increased the speed of the objects he threw to attack the monster as if he was shooting arrows, by continuously searching and reading off of the threads of flow that travelled across the night air around him. He kept away from getting involved in close counters unlike his other comrade in the flow, Natravi, who used her sword more than her gifted eyes.

“10,” Peter counted off. His legs were itching all over from the acid that’d been splashed on him, but the fear of having their suckers digging into his body kept him from crouching down to scratch.

“Ah!” Fliss yelped. Peter whipped his head to the sound and saw the kid on the ground, with one of the remaining moss piglets pulling his leg into its mouth. The creature pulled Fliss’s entire body with only a small grip on his boots. Immediately, Peter ran over and stepped on the two legs sticking out of its ass. He’d hoped that the pain of its legs snapping off would force it to let go, giving him enough time to cut it through. Although the creature let go, Peter was not prepared for what it did next.

The moss piglet used the force of his boots to jump off the ground, abandoning its legs and switching targets. It sent its tongue out, aimed for his eyes. Peter shut them just in time to feel the slimy tongue wrap around them in a band. A prayer was the last thing on his mind before the pain took over.

His hair burned. His skin sizzled. His eyes struggled to remain closed against the ghost impression of the piglet’s mouth slowly sinking between them. The weight of the creature pulled him down and he struggled not to follow, not there anyway. He jumped back, twisting in the air, and rolled away from the sounds of fighting, letting go of his sword in the process. Peter struggled around in the grass, resisting the temptation to pull it off out of the fear that it would only cause it to push in further. It wasn’t until he felt a sword in his hand did he push past the pain and act. He gripped the sword with trembling hands. He dug his nails into his palms to strengthen it yet they still trembled. He tried to push the sword-tip in between its mouth and his nose-bridge but his trembling hands kept it from happening. Suddenly, the weight of the creature’s body on him disappeared and a wiggling sensation began to dig into his side. He quickly rolled away but immediately stopped when he felt its head still attached to his face.

Bearing the white-hot pain, he tried stabbing the piglet’s head again. Maybe it was luck, or maybe it was fate, but the sword struck it at the perfect place between his nose bridge and its head to cut the slimy appendage in one stab. Peter punched the thing’s head aside and pulled its tongue off his face before climbing up to his feet. He kept his eyes closed until he was sure he’d wiped away all the acid on him throwing away his gloves when they felt wet as well. He cared for his prized senses, not his clothes or armour.

“Yah!” *curch*

“What’s going on?” he shouted over the sound of his heart beating in his ears.

“Peter, come over to me,” Fliss’s girlish voiced called out. Following his voice, Peter bumped into a hand which promptly gripped his tunic and pull him down to his knees. He tried opening his eyes but the same hands quickly covered them before he could.

“Keep them closed, j-just give me a moment,” Fliss told him before he went off into another one of his chanting sessions. He was reading the flow, but Peter doubted there was anything that could help him if his eyes had felt the acid’s touch. The pain he was feeling was too much for him to tell permanent damage from temporary damage. Slowly, he felt the muscles around his eyes relax and tears spill down his face. When the boy was finally finished he panted; “Open them.”

Hesitantly, Peter obeyed. What greeted him were the green eyes of the boy who’d saved his sight. A smile crept on both their faces and they clasped each other in a hug. The moment ended abruptly when he heard a rustle in the grass behind him. Acting on instinct and out of rage Peter pushed the boy away and turned just in time to see another piglet jump at him. He brought his sword up and slashed the creature aside before it could dart its tongue out. His sword didn’t cut deep enough to cut it in half but he quickly took care of that by slashing again, taking its head off in the process.

Peter helped Fliss up just in time to hear Volvo yell “Form up!” and Luvrit follow it with: “Everyone, come together!” The freaks had arrived. The skin around his eyes still stung but thankfully it didn’t affect his ability to see those hilariously fat riders jiggle their way over. He prepped himself for the fight when the Drac’s silhouette came into view. The man was slowly walking towards the incoming beasts, when he passed them by Peter heard him say; “Provide support while I act as bait.”

“…Either he’s got a brain the size of nuts or some massive jewels,” he smirked at Fliss. Looking over to where the giant came from, seeing Natravi and Brair looking exhausted from fighting all the monster all by themselves Peter felt anger swell in his chest. “Arrogant sack seed of a bastard.”

He looked over to the sight of his teacher saving ‘the favourite’ pupil from a blindsided attack in the grass and decided to finish off the rest of the flesh-eating piglets.

“C’mon ‘brains’, let's finish this on a high note,” he led the way. They joined the fray once more but were surprised to find even more critters than before. Curses and shouts were thrown left and right, and they all came from him, because as it turned out some of those creatures were female…and very pregnant. When they died under the deep cuts him and Luvrit served instead of bloody bludgeons Volvo dished out, live young began to pour out, and since there was food all around them they went into a frenzy. Needless to say, Peter was pissed.

“Oh hell, Luvrit!” he shouted. “I had ta bend over ta cut ‘em while they destroyed my boots. Thanks, fer making me give up trying ta save these!”

Throwing caution to the wind he set to stomping them. The creatures were fast and full of energy, but none of them was strong enough nor big enough to jump to his eye level.

While he was stomping his frustrations out Peter sneaked peeks at the armoured idiot’s progress and almost doubled over to see him keeping the 10 riding lizards occupied. A pair of large swords were swung in circles, keeping the geckos from attacking with their tongues. He assumed, from the scene where some were keeping more a distance than others, that some geckos had been stupid enough to try attacking, and no doubt had lost the tips of their tongues as a result.

While Drac was focused on weathering the clubs of the headless bodies, Peter focused on smashing as many of the little things as possible.

“You know,” Peter said to Fliss, “it wouldn’t make a difference if we kill all these critters ‘cause they’d just wiggle their way back to life. But you know what? I didn’t really care as long as I-ugh, *Cough*Cough* we’re far gone from here when they come back.”

After a minute or so, when too many corpses lay littered at his feet to tell the dead ones apart from the living he relaxed. It was only a matter of finding those critters: hidden between the grass blades, inside the soil, inside corpses of their parents, and under the dim moonlight. These creatures almost blinded him if not for Fliss’s quick thinking, so he was going to make a mush of everything beneath him if it meant that those suckers felt the same pain he did. Sparing another look at Drac, Peter almost laughed when he saw Drac freeze mid-stance after he’d tried cutting the fat body on top of one daring gecko in half. The ‘rider’ had exploded, leaving the man shocked and covering him in all its contents of fat chunks, acid and blood.

The dark armoured man quickly recovered, just in time to respond to an attack aimed for his head from another fat body. Drac dodged it - ducking underneath the swing while weathering a few more body shots, and spun his left arm in full swing, cutting halfway through the lizard’s face and neck. Using the prong points of his left sword’s end Drac vertically stabbed into its neck, cutting off the whole head before jumped out of the exploding fat body’s way.

He once again weathered the storm of log swings while he rid his sword of muck, fat, and more likely – acid.

“That’s some good armour,” Volvo commented. “It’s not even denting.”

Peter was about to respond when the other lizard with its exploded ‘rider’ charged at the man from behind. “Hey!” Luvrit yelled, interrupting Peter’s focus. When he looked back again he saw Drac jump onto the creature’s head and kick it into the ground. Everyone became frenzied and he struggled to fight off the attacks while kicking the gecko’s head, before eventually stabbing its neck off.

The rest of the riding geckos’ tone immediately changed – they began to shrink away, they shouted and hissed as they turned and scrambled back into the forest. Peter didn’t move, he kept his eyes narrowed onto the backs of the geckos as they climbed atop the small hill and came to a stop at the tree line. They might’ve turned back once more but with the moonlight blocked out once again by the rainclouds overhead it was too dark to tell.

“We need to get out of here,” Fliss suggested. No one disagreed.

“Everyone, we keep going,” Luvrit yelled. “Don’t stop here.”

Volvo sighed in surrender and led them to meet up with the girls who were seemed to be in a silent fight. When they’d stopped glaring at each other, Brair called out: “You coming, big guy?”

A few moments later Volvo was engaged in a mostly one-sided conversation with Drac in another of those accursed languages he hated so much. Finally, Peter couldn’t take it anymore;

“Volvo, can ya please speak in something we all understand?” Peter stressed.

“We were talking about that last gecko he killed,” Volvo explained. “It was interesting how they all retreated after it fell, wasn’t it?”

“A-assuredly, I take it he was their leader?” Luvrit asked, in that ridiculous accent he always adopted when he mimicked the ‘noble tongue’.

“The father actually,” Volvo replied. “They were all same colour pattern on top, similar nostril structure, and the same feet size and finger lengths as well. If what Drac’s told me is true, then they were a family of riding geckos out for some food.”

“How can you tell all that under just moonlight?”

“Jian Yi Ru Bu Wen Bai” Volvo spoke, to no one in particular.

“Hmph, indeed,” Volvo laughed lightly. “You wouldn’t believe it even if you’d heard it a thousand times, only seeing it for yourself would make you understand, Peter. Anyway, you surprised me today Drac, I didn’t expect you to know the western tongues so well. How did someone from Ruvskia learn a mountain language from the west so well?”

“When I was…travelling I met a ferryman taking refugees downriver, I picked up on the language from him. He was from the west and was looking for his son who he’d lost when the revolution reached Baralava. He thought he’d find him or learn anything of him from the people he’d take on the trips if he took enough of them along.”

“This was a few weeks after the revolution?” Volvo asked. Peter was…disturbed to see Volvo’s face loose colour so quickly. “I-I see….”

He coughed and focused ahead but Peter had seen alarm pass across his face and that made him feel very uneasy. He was going to whisper of it to Luvrit when Brair spoke up;

“What about the uh-all the moss piglets that were running about out there? It's not like they’re known for travellin’ with a bunch of riding geckos, right? How come there were so many of them there?”

“Not many go into the forest to look for those things so it isn’t common knowledge but they’re known for working together when food is scarce,” Volvo answered, his tone courser than before.

“What’re you guys looking at each other for?” Peter, being in the middle of the two, could feel their gazes sweep over him and frowned.

“Well, remember how a few hours before we got to inn me and Luvrit went to that book shop? We’d found a book on all the creatures living-”

“-inhabiting,” Luvrit had to give his two cents in.

“-right, inhabiting the white forest and I thought how good a combination of riding geckos and moss piglets would be. You know since they-uh”

“-They have complementing features,” Luvrit filled in.

“Complementing?” Peter asked.

“Oh, it means they’re really good together. The moss piglets got the acid, speed, and agility, while the riding geckos have hard skin-”

“Acid resistant,” Luvrit and Natravi said together. Natravi looked back and they shared a look of acknowledgement before turning back.

“Acid resistant skin, an extension of fat where the piglets can lay eggs since its cold and no-nutritious, and mainly a diet which doesn’t include the piglets since they’ve less meat than skin and bones.”

“Clearly, they weren’t a good match. They couldn’t even kill a few hardy killers, thieves, and fall-adventurous nobles.” Peter smiled, giving the boy a nudge to bring him out his thoughts.

“D-Don’t underestimate them, most of them were pregnant after all,” Fliss said.

Another few minutes later, when the silence had washed over them again Peter hesitantly asked; “…So~, anything about the Löwe’s living there?”

Luvrit and Brair threw him a cautionary look which he ignored. He wanted to know for the kid and didn’t have the patience to wait. He felt that the moment they reached the village they wouldn’t have time to speak like this.

“No,” Fliss replied sadly, “there was nothing there.”

Peter wanted to comfort the poor kid, but he was out in the open and needed both his hands on his swords if anything happened.

“The rumour?” Natravi asked, surprising him. “I heard the tale of a creature with eyes that burn with fire, whose heart is twisted with sinews, created by alchemists under anvils and from phyles. Is not the Löwe a story of fear for the children?”

“It isn’t a rumour!” Fliss demanded. “I-It attacked my home. While I was away, trading in the city, my village was attacked. When I returned to the ruins the people who were…cleaning up the bodies and burnt houses… told me that the village had been attacked by a large creature with a huge mane and sun yellow body. It must have been the Löwe because there were dead bodies of the guards ripped apart in shreds, nothing near us could do that. It's true that our village was close to the forest but nothing had ever attacked us before because it was rumoured that the Löwe lived nearby so it must’ve been it. I’d thought the same when I first heard the tales, but after that day I know that people or animals, even those moss piglets and geckos, couldn’t have done what I saw that day.”

“I understand that I have brought up some unpleasant memories for you, you have my sincerest apologies for that,” Natravi said before moving over to Drac’s side. Fliss moved ahead and replaced her beside Brair, much to the latter's pleasure. Sometimes Peter wondered Fliss’s intentions from how close those two acted with each other.

They travelled ahead some more, but his eyes were burning too much – the sweat was seeping into his wounds and he didn’t want the wounds to fester into a fever so he called a stop. It seemed that everyone had the same thought as they quickly settled atop a hill and took turns getting treated by Fliss and Natravi – the only ones who didn’t get injured during the fight.

Fliss wanted to wrap linen around his eyes but Peter talked him out of it. He’d rather stay with a constant burning sensation than stop seeing for even a second.

“Volvo, I’m sorry for acting like that” Luvrit apologized. “But you promised to let me prove myself if you don’t trust me to handle things like this then how can I prove to you?”

“You know how you can show me,” Volvo said tiredly. “It's only been a few months Luvrit, and after the border incident, you can imagine how that paints you. Prove yourself to the Duke and you prove to me that you’re capable of leading this team.”

Luvrit nodded solemnly, the atmosphere suddenly became too dreary for him. Looking over, he noticed Drac and Natravi were having a private conversation a few steps away and couldn’t help but overhear:

“Nadeyus' vy ponimayete chto vashi ispytaniya nachalis'-”

“Hey Volvo, you know some Ruvski?” Peter asked, hoping to distract the old man. Volvo nodded but before he could answer Peter began to whisper the words as he heard them.

“Ty khochesh' vernut'sya? ... Eto byl moy test? ... YA pozvolyayu tebe razvlekat'sya, igraya v avantyuristka, no teper' vse koncheno. That’s all I got.”

“Well, your pronunciation's horrid, but uh I think I understand,” Volvo said as he scratched his growing beard. “What are you trying to do boy?”

“I hate it how they can get away with speaking in tongues around us, they got no respect for us and they’re likely to be plotting something!” Peter whispered, ignoring the look Luvrit gave him. “Also, I wanna know why he didn’t help the girls during half the battle, didn’t you notice?”

“I did,” Volvo nodded. “Hmmm, Drac wants her to go home ’cause he thinks this’ll be too much for a wee little girl her. He purposefully didn’t help her out ‘cause…I think ‘cause he wanted to scare her with how dangerous the fights’re going to be.”

“That fucker,” Peter growled under his breath as he made to get up.

“Hey, hey, calm down,” Volvo held him down by the shoulder. “They’re Ruvskians, why do you care what they do amongst themselves?”

“Normally I wouldn’t care what they do, but he risked that girl’s life over nothing but a scare. I can’t not care about that. Tell me you don’t think that’s wrong,” He whispered.

*Sigh* “Peter you’re a thief, you’ve killed both man and beast, are you really going to argue that you care for a Ruvskian’s life just because you like the girl,” Volvo rubbed his temples in frustration.

“Volvo, I know I am many things and one of those things means that I care for every girl out there,” he motioned around him. “No matter her race, beauty, or personality, as long as she’s got the goods she is to be protected.”

“Hmph, now he’s a fuckin’ comedian,” Brair snidely commented.

“Listen, boy,” Volvo said. “Getting involved in their problems would mean risking our lives. We’re tired from the fight so imagine how we’d fare if we get attacked again along the way to Asphil and Drac decides to betray us because we angered him over how he treats his family? When it's between mercenaries the guild don’t give a shit so don’t do anything stupid boy, you’ll get us all in trouble.”

Peter didn’t respond, instead, he whistled a tune and laid between his comrades. He looked at the stars but kept a deep frown as he travelled deep in thought. He may be a thief but even he had honour. He loved women and didn’t want to see them hurt. He knew he couldn’t protect all women but at least he could protect the ones that crossed his path…he couldn’t let this go.

It was after a few minutes when everyone was getting ready to leave when he called Drac over, a little way away from the rest.

“I wanted to say thanks, for keeping those geckos off of us,” Peter said as he shook Drac’s hand. “But also to warn you, if you endanger those women again like that and we’ll have a problem. Ya, understand?”

“If you had a problem with that then why did you not come over to help?” Drac asked. “You speak of problems but do nothing to stop them? Is it not you who is wrong?”

Without warning, Peter punched Drac with all his might. But even his best strike was only able to dent the helmet an inch. He immediately jumped back and raised his sword to defend himself. But the expected strike never came, the warrior simply grunted in response and walked away. Heaving a sigh of relief Peter sheathed his sword and joined his comrades who stared at him in varying emotions between disbelief and anger.

“You better not have fucked us over,” Volvo hissed before going over to join Drac and Natravi.

“H-hey, what is he talking about?” Fliss asked. “Why did you suddenly hit him like that?”

Luvrit placed a hand over the boy’s shoulder, “Let it go, Fliss, you didn’t see it but Drac had neglected to help for over half the fight. Brair and Natravi could’ve gotten killed because of his action. Peter just loves the women too much to care about the nobility killing half his family or being backstabbed during a fight.”

Fliss looked at Luvrit confused, “He wouldn’t do that, would he?”

“Forget about it,” Peter responded with a smile. Fliss was about to argue, but Peter interrupted by lifting his bleeding knuckles for him to heal.

“You all fought to protect each other,” Peter had a feeling that it was mostly for him that Drac was shouting his responses. “I just did my part. In that sense, we are all indebted to each other. It is better to simply let it go.”

“Hmph” Peter huffed, “There he goes with diplomacy.”

He trailed off to mumbling words, not wanting Fliss to hear but it didn’t stop the little tyke from speculating.

“Peter!” Fliss hissed. “The skin around your eyes hasn’t properly healed yet; you can’t stretch them too much.”

“Is he alright?” Luvrit asked. Before Fliss could delay them any longer Peter spoke up; “Yeah, I’m fine Luvrit. We goin’?”

“Yeah, Alright! Let’s go, everyone,” Luvrit shouted, leading the way. Fortunately, the village was only a few hills over. Spread out nicely atop a large one was the quiet place; the houses were placed at random providing little hiding space between them, the fenced pens, goat houses and chicken coops surrounded the houses facing away from the forest.

Some houses still had their lights on so once the group came closer, the residents came out to greet them. Most were young men around the age of 20 or so, except for the old man leading them. He wore a bright coloured tunic, in contrast to the beige and white coloured tunics of others, which stretched down to his knees, and Peter doubted he wore anything underneath. The old man introduced himself as Chief Tabutz.

Luvrit and Volvo engaged the chief in their boring rounds of introduction so Peter let his eyes wander to the small crowd around him. A thousand times he’d seen those eyes, on a thousand faces, and in a thousand places – a look of hope being clouded with doubt. Many times he saw their stares travel over to Fliss and that cloud grow larger.

In his early years, he would’ve challenged them and proven himself, but it only hurt their reputation in the long run. Some idiot would complain about their behaviour and then their reputation would suffer. Now, he just let their doubt wash over him and pushed the thoughts at the back of his mind – it was good rage material during battles.

Eventually, they were led deeper into the village, towards a large house in the middle. He was the last one to enter and gave one last look at that gathered crowd before closing the door behind him. He followed Fliss into a waiting room on their right where they sat on a long table with only 5 chairs. Drac immediately leaned against the fireplace on the left wall of the room but when Natravi moved to join him Peter interfered.

“The lady should rest, I can stand,” Peter persuaded. After a nod from Drac, Natravi relented and took the place beside Luvrit.

“I’m sorry I only thought there were going ta be four of you,” the chief said in a thick accent.

“No need fer sorries, just keep it moving,” Peter interrupted. He leaned on the opposite edge of the fireplace and waited for the old man to begin.

A couple of candles were lit on the shelf above the fireplace, giving the room an eerie atmosphere. Everyone was tense in anticipation. For what? Peter had no idea, he himself enjoyed a few seconds stretching and hearing the cracks of his joints before he listened to what was going on.

“Uh, Asphil, sir,” the chief sat opposite the fireplace so his features, showing his old age, were greatly emphasized by the large dark wall behind him.

Volvo took out a parchment and looked at it momentarily before asking for a quill and ink. While the Chief went to look for the requested items Volvo laid a parchment down. Peter could make out the village’s name alongside others next to a long set of lines, one line for each village.

Volvo took the offered quill and wrote down his name on the line next to Asphil’s.

“There,” Volvo exclaimed, “once we make a round of the forest you’ll have to sign here as proof that we did the work promised for your village.”

“Yes, yes, of course, sir,” the chief was fidgeting in his chair. “Where would you like to spend the night?”

“Whatever is available is good,” Drac spoke over Volvo. Volvo cast him a glare before he relented and nodded.

“Well,” the chief said nervously. “I-I am sure I can offer a good lodging fer tonight. Please wait a moment while I check with the others,” he quickly left them.

“He seemed quite fidgety,” Brair commented as she leaned back and crossed her arms.

“The village is poor. They have only their livestock to support themselves, and living near the forest doesn’t seem to help,” Luvrit explained. “What I don’t get is why don’t they move?”

“Did you see the road leading up to here?” Volvo asked. “Opposite to it is arid soil, you can’t grow well there, but closer to the forest its easier to grow on humus soil.”

“I see…”

“Fliss,” Peter exclaimed. The boy awoke with a small yelp and fell out of his seat. When he realized where he was he apologized and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before he struggled to get up.

“Easy there,” Peter said, helping Fliss in his chair.

“Oh, sorry about that Peter,” Fliss rubbed his eyes and yawned. When he stretched his chest rose greatly, oddly resembling breasts.

“Alright,” Brair suddenly slammed her fist on the table as she stood up. “I’ll take Fliss out for some air, that’ll probably help.”

“Uh, okay,” Fliss nodded sleepily.

“Is ‘he’ a ‘she’?” Natravi asked when the two had left.

“Absolutely not,” Peter laughed. “We would never accept a girl in our group. Fliss is just gonna hit his puberty late.”

“Bringing a girl in the group would ruin our teamwork. Peter for one, would be chasing after her instead of doing work-”

“Hey!”

Luvrit nodded tiredly, “Fliss may look like a girl but he isn’t one, we already went over this when we first met some years back.”

After some time, the village Chief came in and escorted the group to a house not far away. It seemed to have been cleared just recently for them, evident by an angry couple waiting for them outside. The house was small with only 3 rooms in total, each room furnished with the bare minimum; a bed, a few sheets and blankets. The only thing notable was a large cupboard in one of the two bedrooms, to Peter it seemed like they had children, but a lack of them waiting with their parents outside meant either they’d gone to live their relatives or they were dead. He hoped it was the former. Each room was connected by a large hallway which ended at a small storage like space. Fliss and Brair were already waiting for them inside, the former lying in bed with the latter sitting on its edge.

“You’ll have ta share the rooms,” the husband said.

“It’s alright, thank you for the living space.” Volvo turned to the couple outside who nodded in return and went to argue with the chief.

“What's going on?” Fliss asked from the bed.

“Seems like their children didn’t survive the animal attacks,” Peter responded. He sat on the edge of the bed and nudged the boy back. “Guess this'll be our room.”

“Natravi, share the bedroom with Brair,” Drac ordered as he joined them from the hallway.

Luvrit and Volvo had taken the makeshift beds in the last room and were quickly snoring up the house. Peter waited for some time, desperately fighting the sleep until he could hear everyone breathing steadily.

“It's now or never,” he whispered to himself. Careful not to wake up Fliss he slowly stood up off the bed and sneaked out of the room. Even with his good eyesight, it was too dark to see anything in the hallway but he braced himself and walked confidently towards the middle bedroom.

“Guh” Peter suddenly felt a vice grip on his shoulder as he approached Natravi and Brair's room. He was suddenly pulled back into his room before being slammed against the wall. Surprisingly no one had woken up. Gripping what seemed like a hand around his neck, his eyes adjusted to show a large black helmet staring back at him.

“What’re you doing?” he choked out.

“You have a bad habit of sleepwalking into other people’s bedrooms. I want to fix it,” Drac’s voice came out in a growl and his left eye began to glow red.

“Hel-” Peter tried yelling but his vision began to blur and he blacked out.

When he came to he was lying in bed, with Fliss on his side and the house still filled with snoring it seemed like it was all a dream. Looking over at the door he saw Drac’s slumped form fast asleep under the moonlight. When he peered deeper into the darkness he felt it was staring back. That’s when he knew he was not going to sleep well that night.