AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Knots run over to us with his glowing white sword. He swings it in an arc, disemboweling the raptor in one clean sweep. My heaving breath is so loud it blocks out all other noise for a moment while I look around for other enemies. What just happened? I reach out quickly while I know I still have my shield at my fingertips to check and reinforce Knots.
The noise slowly filters in as my shoulders drop, my heartbeat too rapid to count, and I reattach my glaives to the holsters. The slow dying calls of the Pteroraptors are the first sounds I hear before Moni’s sobs. Moni!
Panicked, I stumble over to her laying in Chester’s lap as Levi wraps a cloth around her tail. One-third of her tail is missing. Only the length of half of her forearm is left. It’s not even enough for her to pull into her lap when she’s her big-size self.
“I can’t give you anything to help it grow faster, Moni, but I can help try to ease the pain,” Levi offers.
Moni sniffles and nods her head while JP squats in front of her. “You know, since you’ve been hurt, it means you need a different weapon, right?” JP teases.
“No it doesn’t, you liar, liar, pants on fire.” I point to him, and he smiles up at me.
“His pants aren’t on fire.” Moni sniffles and looks at JP’s pants.
“It’s… nevermind. The point is, he’s joking,” I tell her.
“That is correct, Miss Moni. You are definitely a brave warrior,” Knots says.
Chester swings off his pack and digs in until he finds a thermos. Knots reaches down and helps undo it, handing it back, and I get a whiff of what’s inside. Sparks coffee.
“Here, drink this. It will help.” Chester kisses the top of Moni’s head as she smells the thermos and whispers thank you.
“The best part is now you can say you’re a badass and you survived,” Zissa adds. “You helped kill Pteroraptors. Not many can say that.”
Moni brightens up and smiles up at all of us. “Thanks, I feel better now.” She guzzles down her drink as Levi finishes dressing her tail in a bandage and stands up to address us.
“Does anyone else need me to check them out?” Levi asks.
“Well, I love being checked out, but I'd rather get mine from Rez or JP,” Zeke says.
“Well, obviously you’re okay.” Levi chuckles.
Knox and Lynx switch back to their human forms, and I’m a little disappointed they are wearing clothes, but at least it doesn’t slow us up.
“Can you clean the blood off of us?” I ask Levi, looking down at my outfit and my blood-splattered pup at my feet.
“Yeah, that might be a good idea. We don’t need the reminder of our battle,” Chester agrees as he looks down into Moni’s eyes with a guilty expression.
“It’s not your fault, Chestnut. Don’t look like that.” Moni tries to reassure him.
“I’m supposed to protect you, and I failed,” Chester admits.
“You have protected me before. Remember the Fericrocs? You saved me then. But I’m a tiny warrior, and I have to earn my way too,” she tells him, smiling up at Chester before leaning in to give him a kiss. I quickly turn my back to give them some privacy as Levi comes over to clean me up.
* * *
After we clean up, we quickly head into the cave we fought outside of, where Levi sends up orbs to light our way once the entrance light fades away. There are leftover torches placed at regular intervals, but we figure it’s best to leave them and trust our own source of light. We follow the path until it branches off in three directions.
“So which way did he say to go?” Levi asks, and we’re met with silence. We all turn to Zissa, and her mouth is flopping like a fish out of water. “He didn’t tell you, did he?” he asks in a monotone voice.
“He just said the stones and the ingredients would be in here,” she answers, sounding so unsure for the first time since I’ve met her.
“Well, ain’t this great?” Lynx says, rolling his eyes and throwing his hands up into the air.
“Well, we could split up,” Zeke suggests.
“No! Have you watched any horror movies that humans make? That’s the first mistake before you die!” JP shrieks in disbelief. “Have I not taught you anything?”
“Oh, you’ve taught me plenty, but it wasn’t about horror shows,” Zeke purrs, and JP smirks.
