“How’s the knee?” Dasha said as she peered down a side street.

“I can walk on it,” Mirio replied with a wry tone.

“So if we get in a mess, are you able to use it?” she said with a tap at the sword on his side.

Mirio took a moment, and imagined opponents around them, one of the ghostly figures ran down the alley as two on the rooftops readied crossbows. A ghost version of Dasha pulled her blade and rushed up to greet the man in the alley, as Mirio looked up. Several ghost versions of Mirio split off and searched for a line of attack. The shadows all collected to a spot on top of a stack of crates. Mirio’s ghost form summoned forth the dagger of shadows and sent it spiralling through the ghostly crossbowman.

SWOOSH

His ghost shadow vanished from its position and appeared on the rooftop.

FWIP

As the crossbow bolt loosed from the ghostly bow, Mirio’s ghost form sliced through its form with his sword, splitting it in two.

“Hrmm, it’s borderline, I might be a bit slow”

Dasha nodded, “Slow?”

“Yeah, I just mean that when covering you something might slip through, so cover your blind spots. Other than that I’ve got your back”

Dasha pulled her sword, “Alright, good enough, you see this over here?”

Her armor jangled as she kneeled by a wooden crate covered by a dark and worn down rug. She tossed the rug to the side and pulled the crate out from the wall to reveal a thin sheet of iron.

“Looks like someone has been digging”

Mirio looked over at the crate and could notice worn spots where the crate had been repeatedly moved.

“Do you think it is a passage?”

“Use your nose,” she replied as looking up at him.

“Smells like bad eggs?”

“Mhm”

Dasha slid a dagger from her ankle and wedged it into the hatch to pry it open. She jumped in and made a splash. Mirio climbed down after her, carefully lowering himself into the ankle deep sewage.

“What do you think?” he whispered.

“Something has sealed off this area of the sewers and made their own entrance. Why do you think someone would do that?”

“To keep something hidden”

“Exactly”

“Shouldn’t we get backup for something like this, I mean there will be multiple entrances if someone really is trying to hide something. You know, so they can escape”

“Mhm”

Dasha stepped up out of the water and onto the walkway, and offered her hand to help Mirio up.

“Don’t use any flames down here” Dasha said with a serious glint in her eye.

“Got it”

“How are you at keeping quiet?”

“I used to sneak around goblin camps out in the woods”

“Alright, let’s take it slow then”

Mirio’s eyes flashed red and blue, as he whispered an incantation under his breath. A red mist glowed up ahead and off to the left.

“Something is up ahead, just around the bend, do you see it?”

“I see a left turn… Oh, btw, are you okay in the dark?”

“Not really, but I have a detection spell on”

“Ah good thinking, I am half elven, so I can see some heat coming off that far wall, and can see the passage clear enough”

“The Captain back in Gimly was the same, you see with infravision right?”

“Yeah”

“Wish I had that… Tactically it is just such an advantage, I heard that long ago when there were wars between elves and men, elven night squads were feared for just that reason”

“Fortunately not anymore” she said just before peering around the bend, “Fuck!”

“What is it?”

“Take a look”

Mirio placed his hand on the cool stone wall and peered into the darkness around the bend. He saw a distinctive set of black horns pointing out of a tall muscular creature’s skull. It turned around in the dark and sniffed the air, revealing its bat-like face and menacing clawed hands.

Mirio bent back around the corner and looked into Dasha’s eyes. She seemed hesitant, and looked to Mirio for his opinion.

Mirio cocked his chin to look over Dasha’s shoulder, a second red fog was approaching from where they had come from.

“No time to hesitate” he said as he pulled her by the hand behind him into the next room.

His form vanished into a blue mist, leaving Dasha to stumble a little as Mirio’s hand disappeared. A flicker of light stuck out from the back of the creature ahead before quickly vanishing. The creature slumped to the floor to reveal Mirio waving her over.

The second creature turned the corner with a grunt.

Mirio held Dasha to the wall as they tucked themselves behind a vertical drain pipe.

“How did Rageclaws get down here?” she whispered.

“These sewers lead out of the city right?”

“You think they just found their way in?”

“Looks like it”

“Can you do the flashy thing again?”

Mirio looked back at her with a grimace, “Only once more, but it looks like there are a bunch of them, so it is better to save it. Have you fought them before?”

“No”

“They are agile, and really fast with their claws. But the first attack is probably a wild charge. If you draw it to you, step out to the side and slash with your sword, I’ll come from behind it”

Dasha nodded and gripped onto her sword.

CLANK CLANK

Her boots stomped onto the hard stone floor, as she pointed the tip of her sword at the Rageclaw.

With a snort of air, the beast charged with its horns lowered and claws held out to the side.

TAP TAP TAP

Her feet pitter pattered as she worked her position out to an angle.

FWOOSH SWIP SWIP

Slashing her sword in a wide arc she leapt out from the line of its attack. Her eyes opened wide as it lunged forwards with swipes of its claws, each one slicing off strands of hair hanging down in front of her face.

CRUNCH

Mirio’s blade broke through the beast’s chest. He flicked the blade out, and let the body tumble to the floor.

“This is actually really fortunate” he said as he kneeled over and hacked at the base of the horns of each of the creatures.

“Why is that?”

“Black ivory, a friend of mine was just looking for some”

“Ah, lucky him then”

Mirio smiled as he wrapped the horns up in fabric and fastened them to his waist belt.

“Do you wanna keep going?” Mirio asked as he stood to his feet.

“Ha, why not, I’ve got a country boy along with me after all”

“Hey… No fair, here I am, still half injured, killing off monsters for the damsel in distress, and I’m still not good enough” he replied stroppily before giving her a playful wink.

“Damsel? Is that how it is?!”

Mirio raised his hands in surrender, “Teasing, teasing, you did good with that last one. Do you feel better with them now?”

Dasha gave him side eye before responding, “Yeah, I guess, how is it you make them seem like no big deal?”

“My blade gets through their hide cleanly. If it didn’t I’d be much more cautious”

“It’s just an empty runesword though” she said as tapping it with her blade to inspect it.

“Yeah, but I keep it sharp”

*Shit, I think I said too much, I shouldn’t be bringing attention to my sword*

“Hrmm, still haven’t got mine yet” she replied with a grumble.

“They short on them?”

“Yeah, the head smith takes a few months on each sword, and there is a backlog”

“That sucks. Your sword looks good though, it’s not just ordinary steel”

“Yeah, its an iridium and bauxite alloy”

“I’ve heard of iridium, its for magical quality, but never heard of bauxite”

“Yeah, it is like mithral, it makes the blade lighter and more balanced”

“Well, as much as I like comparing swords, the sewers smell like shit… So should we get a move on?”

“Yeah” she replied with a nod.

…

Yuta knocked impatiently on the innhouse door.

“Open up! I need a room!”

“Bugger off lad, the lassy told me about ya, find a pen to stay in, I won’t have you here”

“You what? Now listen here! I’m a paying customer, you can’t turn me away!”

“I can do whatever I please, and I won’t be having yer kind here”

“And what kind is that?”

“Bleedin fools”

“I don’t need to take this from you”

“Yeah, exactly right, bugger off now”

“Unbelievable…”

Yuta shook his head and looked around the cobblestone streets for another inn. A small green shrub poked out by the very edge of the inn with a small red flower blowing in the wind.

“Guess he won’t be needing this” he said as he snapped it off and shoved it into his pocket.

He roamed through town, pulling flowers, and small roots as he searched for another inn. A small man grumbled as he tended his garden.

“Be gone with ya, you thieving little plod, don’t you wander over here. I seen what you been doing”

“Whatever old geezer” Yuta replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.

*Wait, is that Samanthum and Blue leaf?*

“I mean, sorry good sir, I am just an admirer of nature is all!”

“Admire them where they are, don’t be plucking them, I put them there for a reason, so the damn wabber goffels have something to nibble on as they pass through”

“Wabber goffels?”

“What are ye deaf or something, I said wabber goffels”

“Water gerbils?”

“Ah, just off with ya, don’t have time for the likes of your kind”

“You have something against humans?”

“Not humans, like I said before, thieving plods”

“What the hell is a plod?”

“You not even know when you being one, ha, that’s about right”

“Say, would you be willing to sell some of that Samanthum and Blue leaf?”

“No, bugger off!”

“Are you sure, I mean I’m an adventurer, I could deal with those wabber goffels for you?”

The elderly halfling stood to his feet and put his hands on his hips. Squinting one eye he scowled at Yuta.

“If even one leaf be missing in the morning, you’ll regret it lad! Now off with ya!”

*Stubborn little bastard, but his flowerbed is probably the only thing of value in this town, he can’t possibly keep guard all night, and I’ll leave early morning anyway*

“Fine fine, enjoy your gardening sir”

The old halfling kneeled down back in the dirt in front of his house and grumbled as he continued to prune his shrubs.

Yuta wandered through town the rest of the day until he ended up at a small stable at the end of town.

“Hey there young lad, you look a bit lost, can I help you?” the stablemaster said as he came out of his workshop.

“Yeah, I’m looking for a place to stay the night”

“Inn is on the other side of town”

“It is getting dark, is there anything closer?”

“Well if you aren’t averse to sleeping in the barn I got a place for you. I’d be happy to have you so long as you have something to barter, or are willing to lend me a hand nailing in these shoes”

“Uh, how about I make you a potion? It is about all I know how to do worth anything”

“What kind of potion?”

“How about one that will give you energy and help you wake up in the morning?”

“I suppose that’ll do, Gilly is slow to rise, you got a deal”

“Do you have any black bean around?”

“There should be some sprouts out in the paddock”

“Excellent, is it alright if I get you the potion in the morning”

The stable master nodded, and tossed Yuta the barn door key.

“Its the red one, go up the ladder into the loft, when the need arises”

“Thank you sir”

…

“Ugh, what are these corpses?”

“Look like what brought the Rageclaws in, wererats”

“You gotta be kidding me, why does this one look like it can stand like a man?”

“Just how they are, like goblins and kobolds, just more dangerous because you can’t cut them with ordinary steel”

“Will my sword do?”

“It has magic properties so it’ll cut fine”

“Sorry if I’m asking stupid questions, I don’t usually find monsters in the city. Adventurers usually have them cleared out for miles”

“You grew up in the city?”

“You can tell?”

“Ha, shut up. I just mean, what was it like?”

“Not the best… You might have noticed the city is split into different districts”

“Mhm”

“Well, my mother had a rusted old copper badge, which was passed down from her mother and so on. And well, there came a day when the guard no longer let her through the town gate. In this city, if you don’t have a badge you could be one of the slaves, so they keep you in district. Things got worse and worse from there, so my childhood wasn’t the best. My mother turned to begging, and pretty woman that she was, it brought attention of the wrong folk”

“Oh… I’m sorry to hear that…”

“So I had a new papa every few weeks, I was too young to know what was going on. But I knew my mom wasn’t doing well… She used to cry all the time…”

“My mother was a bit like that, so I can relate”

“Yeah, until one day she stopped crying, and told me she’d found me a job”

An old emotional wound came to the surface for a moment and lingered in Dasha’s words, before vanishing.

“I was brought into an old warehouse in the slums, where this old creep looked me over. Asked me if I knew how to scrub a floor, and then if I thought it was much different to wash my mother’s back, and then what I thought about washing a stranger’s back… Then there was a knock at the door. A royal knight came in with a warrant and shut the place down. Saw me and my mother, and helped us to get a new badge. Saved us… Or me anyway”

Mirio stopped walking and touched Dasha’s shoulder, “I’m sorry, really”

“Nothing to be sorry about, just saying the city is a bit different to out in the countryside, while in the trees you are surrounded by resources like trees and wildlife, in the city all you have is people. And people are either nasty, or preyed upon. Unless there are folk who are willing to step in when the going gets tough”

“Is that why you chose to be a knight?”

“Something like that” she replied with the faintest of smiles.

“There is movement up ahead, can you see them”

“Four of those rat things I think” she replied as she focused her elven vision.

“If you see four, there are probably a few more close by… Do you think you can take them?”

“They aren’t like Rageclaws right?”

“Hrmm, more like a tougher version of Hobgoblins”

“I don’t know your country boy rating system, I’ve never fought a Hobgoblin”

“Well, I suppose they are like an early arena combatant, or a reasonably capable bandit”

“And you are fine taking on four at a time? Are you nuts?”

“Well, I’m not fine with it, but they are swarm fighters”

Dasha gripped tight onto her sword and glared at the wererat shadows ahead, “Alright, I’m ready”

“Let me get in closer first, I can’t run” Mirio said as sneaking his way forwards.

“Raaaaaar!”

FWOOSH SWIP SWIP FOOSH

EEEEEK!

WOOSH WOOSH SLASH

The wererats dived out of the way of Dasha’s first blow, catching her out the corner of their eye and with a flick of their ears. They scattered in all directions around her, running on all fours while startled, before standing on their hind legs with claws drawn and teeth bared.

Dasha leapt towards the closest one with sharp thrusting jolts of her blade, followed by a slash at neck height which the rat just barely ducked. It screeched for help from its fellow wererats causing them to lunge in. She spun around with flashes of her sword, sweeping both left and right, to fend off attacks before landing a clean slice across a wererat’s neck. It fell to the ground clutching its neck and quivering in shock.

She turned her head behind her and raised her rear hand.

Crystal like shards formed in an instant, and then grew into a dagger sized icicle.

FWOOSH SPLAT

A wererat stumbled backwards as the shard of ice stuck through its chest, and then collapsed with its back to the wall.

She spun back around and elbowed another in its snout, while she booted the other in the guts.

RAR!

The one hit in the nose snarled back as it slashed its claws across her face. Dasha’s head whipped to the side from the force of the blow. As she turned back to the creature her face was half covered in blue ice, with only the slightest cut drawing blood.

YAH!

She screamed and drove the tip of her blade through its chest.

She turned to her rear, and let go of her sword and drew her hands out to her sides, extending long ice like claws from her fingertips.

“Come on”

The wererat leapt onto all fours and bounded onto the wall before springing towards her. Dasha and the wererat tumbled together along the stone floor. Each struggling to drive their claws into each other.

Mirio glided into the alcove like a gust of wind, his blade flashing in a figure eight, as blood splattered across the walls and the floor, as five more wererats fell to the floor, clutching at their wounds.

Dasha, slipped her shoulder inside the wererat’s arms and then wrapped her arm around it, locking it in place as she drove her head into its snout. It reeled back screeching as she flicked her fingertips like a whip, sending the shards of ice flying. The wererat spit up blood as the icicles stuck out of its body.

“Nicely done” Mirio said with an appreciative nod, “Four on your first go, that was better than me. I struggled with one of them for over an hour”

Dasha stood up and dusted off her armor, “I’m going to have to get the smith to buff this out”

“I trashed my last armor”

“I heard about that actually, they said you were peeled out of it by the beast by one of its blows”

“Saved my life though”

“I don’t think these rats will get through plate”

“They don’t need to, they are pretty accurate” Mirio replied, nodding at the scratch on her cheek.

“Nothing I can’t handle”

“I don’t mean to be one to complain or anything, but how long are we going to roam around the sewers looking for whoever made the hatch? I mean, surely it is abandoned, I don’t think anyone would set up shop down here with these rats around”

“You underestimate the level of desperation in the city, come on, it won’t be much further”

They made their way around several bends until light shone in from the tunnel opening up ahead. Light shone in between large metal bars. Just off the side from the opening was a patch of stone that looked a little less dirty than the rest. Dasha knocked on it and heard an echo sound back. She stuck her dagger into the cracks and peeled back the sheet metal cover to reveal a hole dug out into the rock.

“Smugglers, like I thought,” Dasha said as she stepped into the passageway.

Inside was a small room with a table and a few chairs, while another hatch opened up out to the wastes.

“I don’t get it, how’d the monsters get in while the bars are still here?”.

“Probably another outflow is busted, but this is the one the smugglers are using” she said as she kicked a lid off a small crate.

“What is it?”

“Masking elixirs”

“To get past the monsters?”

“Uhuh”

“That is actually kind of clever, do you think they are still using this route?”

“No doubt, I’ll get some more men down here and we’ll clear out the bodies, and lay in wait for them,” she tapped Mirio on the shoulder, “Good work, I appreciate the assistance”

Mirio pulled up a stool and slumped down onto the table, “Can you get me one of those elixirs? Might be handy to have”

Dasha tossed him a vial, “Sure, why not”

“So, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah?” Dasha replied

“I am trying to make sense of a girl dropping me like a rotten potato when I didn’t fit her expectation”

“Mhm… Yeah we do that”

“What the hell does it mean for a girl to have an expectation of a guy?”

“Well, you know, we have ambitions and aims, things that seem nice to us at the time. Sometimes a guy fits that and we get curious, but we dig a little deeper and we find something uncomfortably familiar so we drop the guy”

“Why though? What about getting to know a guy? Surely it matters to spend more time and hear a person out?”

“Sure, it makes sense from a guys perspective, but girls have to be a bit more savvy than that, otherwise everyone that approaches will be able to take up her time”

“Oh, true, but that only explains rejecting guys initially, not so much treating them so weird when you are getting to know them”

“Yeah, you think it is weird? Really?”

“I don’t know, maybe not, I mean as a good fighter, I get a bunch of people looking for free lessons, I suppose I am just as temperamental. But mostly because I am looking for the signs that the person can take the things I say seriously”

Dasha smiled faintly, and put the lid back on the box, “See, that is what is good about you though”

“What?”

“You don’t linger on that confused state like other guys do, you almost immediately jump to seeing it from another point of view”

“It’s a habit of mine, when I first started learning how to fight I was watching from the sidelines. I had to put myself in other people’s shoes because it was the only way I could practice. And then as I got better, each different opponent, and each different monster all fought differently, so you have to spend time in their head. So now I just kind of jump to different points of view. I don’t get how women think though, I can only kind of get the idea of having a way to screen people. Is that what it is?”

“Yes and no…”

“Ooh, mysterious… Ha, good thing I like mysteries”

Dasha stopped fussing with the box and pulled out a stool and sat across from Mirio, placing her sword on the table.

“How do you think we think?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never really thought about it”

“Look in my eyes, and try to think about it”

Mirio slid the elixir into a pouch on his belt and then leaned forwards to look into Dasha’s eyes.

For some unknown reason he felt a swirling of emotions, like winds fluttering through the rocks of the wastes. He felt emptiness, and beyond it a song carrying on the wind. He felt a confidence and level of intensity in her eyes that he only saw in men’s eyes as they fought with him. He could feel a swirl of connection, like the moments before a strike and the brunt of force from a blow. There were many things he could sense behind her eyes, but not one of them said anything he could understand.

“I don’t…” he stammered.

“Keep looking, and try”

“I… It feels awkward though, to look”

“Look”

Mirio’s eyes drifted for a moment as he processed his hesitation and prepared himself to do as she asked. His eyes shot up at her like daggers, peering deep into her. His facial muscles relaxed, and his gaze was deadpan. Still like the gaze of a warrior facing life and death.

The sparkle of color in her irises blew past him, as his soul shot like a spear into the darkness. As though stepping into the realm of Akur, he could feel a sweeping wind all around him, as energy pulled at him from all sides.

“Ah!” he said as he jolted back to reality, “I ah, shouldn’t do that… I might hurt you”

Dasha gripped onto his hand, and rubbed his palm with her thumb.

“It is okay to be startled, but do not pull away, just… Try”

Mirio scrunched his brow and then raised his eyes to Dasha’s, this time gentler than before but with the same depth of intensity. His pupils widened and his lips opened a little as it felt as though his eyes were like that of an eagle, locking onto a mouse in the field, as it soared through the skies. It felt as though wind was rushing past his face, as he stared deeply into her, his breath now flowing in and out as he softened his gaze to look deeper.

Dasha rubbed his hand warmly, helping to steady him as he finally found a foundation within the strange place he had found himself within. He gently placed his hand over Dasha’s and breathed in slowly before sighing out.

“I don’t quite get it all yet, but I think I see your point”

“And what was my point?”

“That we look away, we are distracted, and we never really connect. And if we never really connect, then how can we ever learn”

A wry smile drew back upon her lips, “You just gave me chills”

“Haha, sorry, I mean you kinda forced me. But how does this relate to girls dropping guys?”

“Well, if no one can see or understand you, how patient would you be?”

“I dunno, I just act distant when people don’t understand me”

“Was she distant?”

“Well… Yeah actually, she was… Wait, I thought she was just kinda drunk and too dumb to notice she was hitting on me too forwardly”

“She knew what she was doing”

“She did?”

“Mhm”

“Wait, girls see that much?”

“Does this conversation strike you as one you could have with a person who didn’t see that much?”

“And here I am, assuming girls are all cut off like me, dead to the world… Ha and only coming out to shine when it is time to fight. I’m an idiot”

“Well, yeah…”

“Ha! You don’t even tell me I’m not!”

“I’m not going to lie to you, haha”

“Ha, okay, thanks. That was unexpectedly cool of you. Now I’m kind of glad I came down, even though it stinks of shit down here”

“True, shall we head out for fresh air?”

“Yeah!”

…

Silvia sighed as she leaned her head over the edge of the bathtub, her left leg pointing to a tip out of the water as she looked over her smooth skin. Steam drifted up towards the ceiling and beaded into small drops overhead.

“Maybe I was too rough on him…”

Her brow furrowed, and she felt a swell of nausea rise up her throat, as the memory of Yuta leaning in to kiss her came back. It wasn’t so much the kiss attempt that bothered her, it was the refusal to see her as anything other than a conquest. It was so arrogant and outrageous, that she couldn’t help but react.

“Or, maybe I wasn’t rough enough, I don’t think he will learn even if I beat it into him”

Silvia’s hand draped over the edge of the large half barrel, and flicked at the water.

“I wonder what it takes to really come back from something that stupid, can guys even figure that stuff out, or am I just being unrealistic to expect it?”

Silvia’s toes rose towards the ceiling as she dunked her head down underneath the water. Consumed in its warm embrace she took comfort in the silence of it.

*If only I could stay under here forever*

Silvia’s veins started to turn blue, and she started to convulse.

“Pah!”

She let out a gasp as she broke out of the surface of the water and took in a gulp of air.

“Stupid Yuta, why is it my responsibility to even ask this kind of question, can’t people just figure these things out themselves”

She hung her head low as she remembered the first day she saw Yuta. He was an idiot, flailing away with his club, and then he got a bump and ran off. However, the next day it was like something had gotten into him, some kind of animating spirit, and he stood toe to toe with the bullfrogs, refusing to quit.

“It isn’t like he can’t do it… I just don’t think he likes to, and he resents people for it, so he always returns to his Yuta-ness”

Silvia leaned back on the edge of the half barrel and flung her hand out of the tub. She grabbed an arrow from her quiver and eyed the feathering carefully.

“He’s like an arrow without a back. Sharp enough, and capable of the right damage, but misdirected… The question is why? Is there even an answer?”

…

Night bugs and spark flies conducted a symphony of clicks and light flashes in the woods beyond town, as Yuta gently placed one foot after the other outside of the barn. Keeping as low as his portly body could carry him he tried to act like a padfoot and move through the backs of houses without too much sound, until he was at the old halfling herbalist’s house. He crept past the glowing window of the house, spying in as he moved, to see the halfling asleep in his armchair, a smoldering pipe still nestled between his lips.

He kneeled down by the blue leaf and grabbed onto the stem while driving a dagger across the roots.

WHOOSH!

The blue leaf shot out of the ground and thudded against a small thicket fence, making a small cracking sound as it did.

Yuta peeked his head up into the window, hoping the little old halfling hadn’t heard.

SNORT

The halfling mumbled under his breath “Yeh damn plod, don’t even know what a wabber goffel is”

Yuta shook his head and turned back to the Samanthum plant, he gripped its large flower stem and slashed at the roots.

IP IP

“Huh?” Yuta said as he raised his line of sight to the sound.

A small spherical creature with big round eyes looked back at him. Its little antenna twitched back and forth as its wings caused it to float up and down.

IP IP

“Shoo, shoo” he said as waving the hand with the dagger in it as he yanked out the Samanthum plant.

GOB

Yuta happily stashed the plants into some fabric, while he felt a warm “something” attach to his hand. He turned around to see the sphere had inflated in size and was now attached to his arm, up to half way up his forearm.

Its tongue slicked against his skin and wrapped around the blade. It began to shimmer with light and buzz with sparks of electricity.

“Wait, wait, no no no!”

ZAP!

“AIIIIIYYYAAAA” Yuta screamed as the little creature zapped him, “WAABBER GGGGOOOFFEL”

His tongue flapped, and his throat contracted beyond his control causing an involuntary cry.

“Damn yee!” the halfling spat as he shot out of his chair.

“What did I tell yeh I would do with ya if you touched me…” the halfling stammered as he looked at the holes in his precious garden, he then looked back at Yuta with a fiery rage.

“YAAAAH” he screamed as he leapt onto Yuta with teeth bared, latching them tight onto his shoulder.

“Ahhh!” Yuta screamed as he kicked and smashed his way free of the wabber goffel and the little old halfling man. He quickly snatched up the plants and ran off towards the trees, making his way hundreds of paces into the forest.

The old man slowly pulled himself up and looked at the hole in the ground as he rubbed his bloodied cheek.

“Oh dear, how will I support the poor missy now” he gazed towards the forest with a heaviness in his eyes, “Bloody plod!”