In my head I could see the attack before it even happened. I jumped out of the way and turned as a stag hare charged past me, antlers poised to gore me. The critter kicked up the sod as it landed and before it recovered I thrust the spear at it. The pointed wooden tip glanced off the antlers and only managed to enrage the beast.

The stag hare reared back letting out its war cry, in the corner of my eye I saw Lin slip in behind it and drove a dagger into its neck. The beast’s cry was cut short as blood erupted from the punctured veins and it fell to the ground seconds later.

An ally has defeated a creature!

XP reward divided.

+10 XP to Josh

+1XP to LIn

“Thank love, I knew you were a good distraction.” Lin said. She wiped the blade on the fur of the fresh kill and went to sheath the dagger into her coat.

“Glad I could help, that was way easier than last time.” I said, wiping my brow.

Lin smirked and put her boot onto the back of the dead stag hare. She thrust out her chest and said coyly. “Stick with me kid and we can have you caught up to my level in no time.”

Perception : Success!

You have detected a hidden enemy!

“Lin watch out!” I cried, pushing her out of the way.

“Watch it-”

Lin was cut short as a dart flew past and bounced off a thin birch tree between us. Two more stag hares charged at us and on their back were two miniature guys. They wore long red caps on their heads and their bright red shoes had curly toes to match. Their wild and unkempt white beards fluttered in the wind as their deadly steeds bore down on us.

“Gnomes!” Lin said, she retreated to cover with me and looked to me. “Don’t get hit Josh, those blades are poisoned.”

Knowledge World : Failure!

Lovely, another enemy I had low intel on. I got behind a tree and stuck out the spear point towards them forcing the gnomes to dodge away. With their aggression halted they broke into the underbrush and tried to attack us at another angle. Lin’s ears darted to the sounds they made as she tracked their location and she threw a knife just as one broke out of the brush. The knife struck the stag hare in the top of the skull killing it on the spot and sending the gnome into the air.

The gnome took the opportunity to swing a wicked looking sickle with his air time at my neck. I brought up my weapon only to have it sheared in half in my hands. The gnome’s feet stuck me in the chest knocking the wind out of me but stopping his momentum. He fell with a surprised expression into a tangle of beard hairs and limbs as he tried to sort himself out.

Lin came in from the side grabbing him by the cap and swinging him around over her head. The gnome screamed as he circled over her and I think he threw up on himself from the motion. The brush exploded again as the other mounted stag hare came at us in full charge. Lin threw the gnome she had at the rider and he tried to force the stag hare to stop.

The flying gnome screamed as he was skewered onto the antlers of the stag hare and he bled out in moments. The stag hare's head lurched to the side with a snap from the sudden impact and died on its feet. The surviving gnome was knocked off his saddle from the force and landed onto the ground hard. He looked down at his empty hands and spotted his fallen spear inches from his grasp.

“I got him.” Lin sneered, stomping towards him. As her foot hit the grass there was a snap and she screamed in shock. “Shiiiiiit”

The cat girl was flung up into the air as a rope grabbed her foot and wretched her into the air suspending her several feet above the ground. Her hand vanished into her jacket and she produced another knife, quickly moving to saw at the rope. The thick fibres of the rope resisted her efforts and she started to panic.

The surviving gnome on the ground spat out a wad of grass and pointed a gnarled finger at the suspended cat girl, he bared his yellow teeth and screeched. “Poison orb!”

A green glowing shimmer of energy formed at the end of his finger and I knew I had to act before Lin took a direct hit. I threw the broken stick in my hand, hitting the gnome and dazing him for a moment. The spell however still shot out an orb and it went straight for Lin.

In a moment of bravery or stupidity I threw myself directly in the way of the attack. The gnome's eyes shot open as the orb exploded on my chest and created a gas cloud. The force of the impact caused a white hot pain to pass through my ribs and I heard a deafening crack. The force knocked me back several feet and the explosion was angled right at the gnome.

His choking screams filled the air as a dense green cloud descended on him and withered the grass around him. In mere seconds the grass turned black and the gnome's eyes went white as he grasped for air. His hand shot up and he twitched before succumbing to whatever heinous magic he had summoned.

I was only a foot away from the edge of the green cloud and as it started to settle on the ground the area it covered grew. I rolled away and screamed as my rib cage was compressed on the hard ground. I forced myself away and looked up to see Lin was safe from the magic. Crawling back several more feet and spitting out a wad of blood I was finally out of the reach of the poison and looked back.

The poison cloud vanished and I surveyed the aftermath of the battle. A ten foot circle of dead withered plant life stood out in stark contrast to the lively forest around it. Three dead stag hares and two dead gnomes were in clear view, their dead bodies filled me with a sense of dread as I felt I might join them soon.

Lin finally cut herself free and like all cats landed on her feet gracefully. She sprinted towards me and slid to reach my side, kicking up grass and destroying a berry bush in the process. She hit her shoulder on a tree beside me and took my face in her hands as sweat beaded on her brow.

“No, no, no. You don’t get to die yet Josh, this will taste awful but you have to drink all of it!” She said, as she lifted a small dark red bottle to my lips.

I spat out more blood clearing the way for whatever medicine she was trying to give me as tears welled up in my eyes. I put a hand to my chest and felt an indent into my rib cage where bones should have been. I probably had one, or even both lungs punctured and panic started to set in.

The bottle's contents entered my mouth and broken bones became the least of my worries. The most awful taste I had ever experienced drowned out the pain completely. My mind blanked as it tried to comprehend the revolting taste. If I had left expired cough medicine, fish paste and barbecue sauce together to ferment in the open air for a month I think it would have been easier to stomach than this.

My body rebelled as I spasmed trying to spit up the contents but Lin’s fist came into my field of view as she yelled something. The hard hit blacked out my vision and I was knocked out before I fell to the ground. The last thing I saw before I did lose consciousness was a pop up.

The party has defeated the encounter!

XP reward divided.

+60 XP to Josh

+10XP to LIn

…

I finally came to and noticed the light had grown dim. At first I was worried it was my vision, but it was only because it was now dusk. The air had a slightly rancid smell to it and at the edge of my vision I saw the circle of destruction a stone's throw away. Lin was beside me, busying herself with sifting through a small pile of trinkets beside a small campfire.

“We…won right?” I asked, expecting pain.

There was only a slight amount of tightness in my chest as I spoke. I put a hand on my chest feeling my ribs were exactly where they were supposed to be. I flinched and determined I was slightly bruised but otherwise unharmed.

Lin grabbed my face turning it side to side as she inspected me for what I presumed was damage. The light headache I had was a blessing considering how hard she had slugged me.

“That was a stupid thing to do, I’m tough enough and you didn’t have to throw yourself in front of me like that! You could have been killed!” Her voice rose as grabbed my shirt and shook me.

A cough racked me and Lin stopped, instead she gently cupped my head against her chest as she waited for me to recover. I took small shallow breaths as I let my body ease into breathing.

I was even surprised at myself, typically I froze up from confrontation but twice during the fight I had taken action when it counted. I looked down at my hands, still roughed up from the first battle I had. My hands turned into fists as I resolved to stay like this, decisive in the heat of battle and doing what I needed to do.

“Well…” I said, shifting up in a sitting position and pulling myself from her embrace. “Couldn’t have my new pal end up like some dumb gnomes. I might have also underestimated his attack.”

“Gnomes are magical creatures and pretty deadly to boot. Not bad for your first real fight, egghead.” Lin said, tapping my nose with a finger.

Lin’s smile made all the pain worth it, it wasn’t a question anymore if I would do it again. She was the first friend I made here outside of my band of minions, and I would make sure she stayed safe. I tried to tell myself it was for my safety, because we were a team and so she could train me. But when she turned and crawled towards her loot pile, her ass shook in my face, distracting me from my train of thought.

She was like one of those attractive young fitness girls I saw at the gym all the time. Working out to get their bodies in shape then working mostly just to make their ass look better. The difference with Lin was she looked just as good but had a punch like a heavyweight boxer, for some reason I found I liked that even more.

“These guys must have been looting a crypt nearby, there's all kinds of coins and rings.” Lin said. She brought the pile over and set it down in a heap. “I think we should split it seventy-thirty.”

“I beg your pardon?” I asked, I put on my best eyebrow raise. “I think you mean fifty-fifty.”

“Well I tracked the stag hares down.” Lin said raising a finger, she counted out on her hand as she started a tally. “Gave you a weapon, saved you from a charging stag hare and grappled that gnome that kicked you. Not to mention I opened up the last guy too.”

“After which you stepped on the most obvious trap in the world and was completely helpless to a magic attack.” I counted. I took her hand and put it onto my chest where I had been hit. “I then bravely threw myself in the way so the helpless damsel in distress was saved.”

Lin retracted her hand and made a sound halfway between a hiss and a purr. “Which I then had to expend a healing potion to save your life. So that last point of yours, despite having merit, is null.”

I left my mouth open as I failed to come up with a counterpoint. I had no grasp of how much potions cost, but if it took me from death's door to a light bruising then I was fearful at the cost. She had made a fair argument, but I needed the money. I wasn’t sure how to exchange it back at the dungeon but the shrine did say it had a cost for materials with it.

“Sixty-forty then.” I said.

Lin stuck out her lip and pouted, remorseful at having to divide the pile. “Fine.”

I had no idea the value of the pile of trinkets and coins she put into my hands but I knew it was better than my current amount of zero. I stuck it into my backpack and my hands touched my spell book. Fear took over me as I fished it out worried about the pages inside, I didn’t even think of it till now but it must have gotten soaked during the water crisis.

The spell book was perfectly dry, not a single sign of damage to its cover, the pages or the ink. I narrowed my eyes in confusion for a moment and got a pop up.

Knowledge : Arcane Success!

Spell books are minor magical items designed to hold the formulas for intricate spell work. All true spell books have low level enchantments added to them to protect them from wear as well as from environmental effects. This includes but is not limited to… sunlight, water damage, tornadoes and lightning storms.

+1 XP gained.

“Something wrong?” Lin asked, concern crept in her voice as she started to look at my bruises again.

I waved her hands off and laughed it off. “Yeah, I was worried my spell book got wet but just learned it's protected. Hey Lin, I think I have a treat for you since you saved me.”

Lin’s ears perked up when I said the word treat and her pupils grew as I held out one of the chocolate bars I had gotten from work. It was one of the small snack sized ones for handing out at Halloween.

She handled the small bar with a great deal of scrutiny trying to figure it out and looking at the shiny package with confusion. I took out a second bar and opened it to show her. She sniffed at the chocolate in my hands and her face lit up with excitement as she tried to open hers. She grabbed either side and heaved, ripping the package in two and sending the bar into the air.

“Damn it!” she swore.

Lin crouched and watched the arc of the bar, dashing towards its destination. She jumped up, twisting in the air with her mouth wide open and her tongue out. She perfectly intercepted the bar before hitting the ground. She chowed down on the chocolate and it vanished into her gullet in a second.

She laid on the ground completely still for several seconds only to start kicking and punching the air. She turned over and crawled towards me, leaning back on her feet with her tail wagging behind me.

Excitedly she bounced on the spot and clasped her hands to beg. “Ohmygods, ohmygods, ohmygods. Those are so amazing, please can I have more?”

“Maybe later, I only have a couple…” my voice died in my throat as the cat girl’s face dropped and tears welled up in her eyes. “One more then, these are supposed to be a treat you know.”

I tossed one more to her and before it made it a foot away from me it was gone. Vanished to the void like it never existed. After Lin was done chewing and swallowed, she spat out of the wrapper.

“This part doesn’t taste as good.” she said, holding the slobber covered package.

I threw my head back and started to laugh, only to wince in pain. I struggled to hold onto my side as I went between being in pain and trying to be merry. Lin scowled at me as I laughed at her expense but soon she let up and joined in.

“Alright egghead, if you can make fun of me you can walk. Let’s get the hares back to base and make a plan for tomorrow.” Lin said.

We collected the stag hares and our treasure. Lin had secured the rabbits onto a branch and we put it onto our shoulder sharing the burden. It took a bit to get back to the house and by the time we returned it was dark. The moment I was in range I mentally commanded the minions to remain underground and I was greeted with a slew of notifications.

The minions had been busy while we were away and I was grinning ear to ear. A sense of accomplishment filled me as I felt great at the progress we got today, between my experience, getting more food and a pile of treasure.

“Someone’s happy to be home.” Lin said, grinning ear to ear herself.

“You have no idea.” I replied.

As soon as she went to sleep I think it was time for a quick rendezvous with my minions.