The hunter is unsure, this two-legs’ colony is unlike any other; the number of fighters is unusually high and something inside gives a dangerous feeling. The beast communicates its impression of a trap to his hunt-mate and the insect partner obediently retreats into the forest.

Even if it’s now governed by an urge to kill, the giant insect’s patterns are still more or less the same as in its previous life; fight, hide or flee, and that’s the reason the wolf with its ability to strategize, communicate and cooperate was selected.

The hunter gives a last look at the target of his fear; up to now, it has prioritized mobility to destroy the two-legs gatherers, but this presence is too much of a threat. It must gather a bigger hunt party and deal with the menace, and once it’s done, it’ll have the option to go after bigger colonies.

<><><>

Gustavo feels something come and go. Apparently, the attacker also sensed him and decided to avoid the fight… For now. He calls to Fidel to ask, “Did you feel that?”

“No, sir, nothing out of the ordinary.”

“I think we felt each other’s presence, and our mysterious attackers retreated.”

“If they sense our traps, catching them will be a pain.”

The hero asks with a raised brow, “You aren’t doubting me?”

“If it was anyone else, I would, but it’s long been established that heroes can sense demons.”

“I can assure you those weren’t demons, there was no feeling of malice, just… Enmity?”

The knight who is enamored with legends of great warriors cannot help but draw a parallel, “Like destined foes?”

Gustavo thinks for a bit and answers with an unusual certainty, “Yes, it describes the feeling perfectly.”

<><><>

I should be glad she stopped avoiding me, but now she acts like I’m part of the background. Apathy is far worse than rejection; I really don’t stand a chance. I walk towards cute Linnea (and annoying Rayna)’s shop when I run into a Rabbit-kin, this one is unlike any others, and rather than meekness, she exudes the same feeling of dread as the dragon lord.

The woman also stops to look at me with apprehension, then approaches me directly to state, “I have no enmity toward you and your species. I’m with the Dvergr. I work as a caravan guard.”

Talk about being direct, “I’m Lars, the so-called Elf hero, and I hold no enmity toward you either; it surprised me to see your kind here.”

She shrugs her shoulders, “People usually are… From your title, I suppose you deal with Giant and Beastmen raider regularly. If you ever need to go into their territories, I’m an excellent guide and no slouch in combat.”

“What are your fees?”

“Normal escort, plus danger fee, plus the right to keep every Rabbitmen slaves.”

“My kind doesn’t practice slavery.”

“But you kill them.”

Ah, so that’s her angle, “If I ever stumble upon Rabbitmen, where should I direct them?”

“My people live north of Dvergrtorg, along the enchanted road, thanks for asking.”

“You must be facing a lot of prejudice.”

“Not personally, but my people do. They deserve it though; they are weak and quick to surrender to their fate.”

“I have a feeling it’s going to change.”

She smirks, “At first, I felt you were a threat, but I suppose I must have recognized your strength.”

“Same here. Sorry for being judgmental, but I don’t have a good opinion of Beastmen in general.”

“No offense taken; they’re trash. As for my kin, their lack of self-esteem makes it hard to judge them positively.”

Crude and direct, what a girl! “I’ll warn others to send rabbit-kin to your settlement, but don’t expect too much, few people can afford to feed or escort them.”

“I never expect anything from anyone, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.”

She means it. I thought I had it bad when I became the hero but after meeting Sylva and her; I feel like a complete asshole for thinking a short life of limited freedom was bad.

“You’re strong, not only as a fighter but also in character. If you need help, feel free to ask, my station limits my freedom, but it gives me some authority.”

“Aside from the Dvergr king, you’re the first to offer help without the underlying goal of getting in my pants.”

If it weren’t for Sylva and Linnea, I’d be the same. Damn, even with them in mind, I still think it’d be nice.

“I’m making no promise.”

“About what?”

“About your pants.”

She laughs, genuinely and heartily, so much that she looks like a different person. When she finally stops, she addresses me with tears in her eyes, “You’re killing me, you are far too honest. I think I wouldn’t mind much if you were the one.”

“I have someone… Well, in fact, it’s more like two someones, but it is hopeless with one of them and I’ve known it from the very instant I laid eyes on her. I’m still attracted though, and in a way she’s kind of like you… What the hell am I saying!”

“Please stop! I don’t want to laugh like an idiot again. I’m Vindicta, you can contact me through the mercenary guild or through that jewelry over there; it deals regularly with the dwarves, so any letter you send through them should reach me.”

“Linnea’s shop?”

She brings out a paper from her side bag and answers, “Linnea and Rayna. That’s right.”

“You can contact me through the Elders, the guards and the mercenary guild, at least one of them should know my position.”

“I’ll do that. Good luck with your hunt, so-called Elf hero.”

Lars's cheeks flush. ‘Damn woman, she didn’t have to say it like this.’ Out loud, he answers, “Same to you.”

<><><>

With its strange new power, the wolf persuaded a flock of Rocs to follow, but it didn’t expect the giant birds’ voracious appetite to be such a big problem; They only travel by day, and half the time is spent on hunting and digesting. Once they exit the mountain and reach the two-legs’ country, feeding will become easier and serve the greater goal, but for now, they’re just a pain.

<><><>

Gustavo recharge the spells he inscribed and the ground and walls; inscriptions have many benefits, but the drawbacks usually outweigh them. It allows non-mage to use powerful spells, but can only work once, take a lot of space to write and unless they are maintained by the original caster at least twice a day they’ll fade away.

“I regret coming up with the idea. If they avoid confrontation again, I’ll have spent two weeks wasting my energy on useless traps.”

“If they attack, it’ll give us a massive advantage.”

“The army needs more mages! Why don’t they recruit more?”

“Because they are like you, sir hero, they’d rather study ancient texts.”

It takes so much learning and reading to become a proper mage, that most of them forget what set them on that path in the first place to devote themselves to the search for knowledge.

“I…” the sound of a bell drowns the rest of his sentence; they’re coming.

Gustavo and Fidel run to the watchtower, “What are we facing?”

“Giant birds, at least two dozen, sir. I can see a giant quadruped and an oblong-shaped monster moving at the same speed.”

“We are ill-equipped to fight against giant birds, but I have an idea.” says the knight, “Soldiers, phalanx formation, one spear up and one spear down, get behind the traps and protect the archers.”

“Our arrows aren’t going to hurt something this big, you know.”

“They will if they’re coated with poison!”

That’s a nice idea, too bad the one we use for hunting is slow acting, the hero sighs, he wasted his most of his stamina on the traps and now that. “Hurry and bring me the reserve of poison; I’m going to curse it.”

Given time, curses can be applied by anyone, but with proper knowledge and power, in the span of a few minutes, even the mildest spice can turn into a deadly poison.

“Looks frightful.” comments one of the archers looking at the gooey substance that used to be a paralyzing poison.

The tired hero estimates his condition and reports, “Sorry guys, between the spells and the poison, I’m good for another half hour, even less if I force it.”

As the field commander, Fidel makes a tactical decision, “Sir, stay on the defensive and analyze our enemies, we’ll make do with the traps and inscription.”

“I can do that but… Do we pitch left from the traps?”

“We do sir, but we lack weapons to throw it at the targets.”

“I’ll be the weapon; kinetic spells are among the least tiring.”

“Will we set them on fire?”

“That’s a hard one, a giant bird on fire panicking on the ground sound even more dangerous than a flying one.”

“Duly noted, we’ll see if we can trap them first.”

Both know there aren’t enough traps, and that fire propagates, but they can only deal with problems as they come. The rocs are the first to arrive, and as hoped, the forest of spear acts as a deterrent against their attacks; whatever spell the enemy used to enslave them didn’t entirely deprive them of their will.

From the middle of the formation, Gustavo throw barrel after barrel steal many creatures’ ability to fly, and the soldiers promptly draw them towards the physical traps.

“The impaled birds are making a bridge,” announces Fidel, “fall back to the second position!”

It might seem early to abandon their fortification, but the small walls provide little protection against flying monsters and the bait position is unsustainable. Gustavo use an altered tinder spell to light the pitch from afar, hopefully the grounded birds will be stopped by the wall.

“Incoming.” screams the soldier on the watchtower, and an instant later they wooden wall they just left breaks to reveal a giant armored scarab and a wolf just as big standing behind.

The hero orders, “They’re our targets, lure them to the magic traps.”

The scarab has no need to be lured anywhere; it runs in a straight line at the nearest soldier, breaking the shaft and shattering the points along its way. Thirty brave men die in an instant, and the unscathed creature turns to face a second group of soldiers.

“Die bastard.” screams Gustavo as he activates an inscription from afar.

An enormous explosion rises from under the creatures, throwing a myriad of stone and metal shrapnel at the creature. The scarab is sent flying and falls on its back, legs trembling in pain. Soldiers rush to strike the scarred belly, but it pushes itself back up with its wings, crushing five braves in the process.

This time, it doesn’t come unscathed, broken spear stick from its underbelly, hurting the monster and hindering its movements. Gustavo throw the rest of the pitch; he’d rather use it against the birds but stopping this thing from charging again take priority. The barrel small barrels spread their content all over the insect eyes, and a few seconds later, Gustavo ignites it with a spell.

The blinded creature trashes around and soldiers pierce it with their lance from all around. Not for long though, the giant wolf comes to the rescue and sweeps them aside with its paws. The sight of the soldier lying broken on the floor enrages the hero, he throws a bolt of lightning, but the wolf dodges right before he finishes casting the spell.

Fidel informs the hero in a panic, “Sir, it’s avoiding the inscriptions and your spells.”

“Soldiers, do your best to push it toward the inscriptions while I take care of the insect.”

Protected by the courageous soldiers fending the aerial attacks, Gustavo cast his spells; it takes a prodigious amount of time and endurance to cast, but it should flatten the scarab once for all.

‘I can’t let them down.’ thinks the hero who feared the very sight of conflict just a few months ago. Two minutes seems like an eternity in battle, but finally, a boulder four times the monster size falls on the insect to flatten it as promised.

The spell was overkill and tremors throw soldiers out of balance; a fact their massive enemies immediately picks upon.

“No, you don’t.” screams the hero as he throws his fastest spell, a weak ball of light at the wolf. The animal dodges the harmless spell with as much haste as the deadly one, and from then on, Gustavo mix deadly, weak and harmless spell to keep the beast occupied while the poison take effect.

<><><>

The two champions of nature lay dead, and the birds, liberated from their run away as fast as their wings can carry them.

Sylva wonders about the strangeness of this cycle. A dog leading poultry in a fight against an abnormally weak champion is already strange enough, but the conversation hints that the two creatures have been raiding human settlements for months instead of going after the demons or herself.