Jill sat on the large boulder, massaging her temples with both hands. The building headache and the freezing energy permeating her body made everything hurt.
She took a moment to process the story the strange creature calling itself 'Grim' had told them. Then, with a sigh, asked, "Okay, would you please explain this one more time? I feel like I'm missing some important context here…"
The floating metal creature wobbled in the air in a way Jill had come to interpret as excitement, but before Grim could speak, Jack did. "It's easy. She's an artificial spirit created by another artificial spirit who's come to conquer the planet on behalf of an advanced civilization from beyond the stars."
Jill turned to her brother and frowned. Jack wasn't even looking their way. Instead, he was staring up at the fiery tree, taking as many notes as possible in the old notebook he carried around.
She narrowed her eyes at the man, asking, "And you actually understood any of that?"
Jack laughed and shook his head. "Nope! Not a thing! You didn't ask what it meant, only what she said."
Jill stared at her brother in silence for a long moment before placing her head back in her hands. She loved her brother. Truly, she did. Yet, sometimes, she honestly worried about him…
Such concerns were as old as the siblings were, however. Right now, she had other issues to deal with. Things like what to do with their companion. Jill might not have fully understood what the creature was saying or the full impact of her story, but she could deduce enough. Enough to be worried.
Either the creature was telling the truth, which would have far-reaching implications that Jill didn't have the energy to consider.
Or Grim was totally insane, which would come with its own headaches.
Once the pounding in her head eased slightly, Jill looked up at Grim. "Ignoring the details, which I really feel like is a bad idea, you're saying you're on a job for your boss. Correct?"
"Yep!" came Grim's response.
"To retrieve his… arm?" Jill followed up.
"Yep!" Grim repeated.
"So… where is this arm?" Jill asked.
"No idea!" Grim said cheerfully.
"…. and your 'Boss'?" Jill asked, already suspecting she knew the answer.
"No idea! The last time I talked to him was when he sent me the lexicon of the local language. That's the thing that lets me talk to you!" Grim responded, bobbing up and down in the air.
"… Right…" Jill sighed. Of course she didn't know. That would have been too easy.
In many ways, speaking to Grim felt like Jill was speaking to one of the small children in the clan compound. If the creature's story was true, that might not be too far off, either.
"What about the gopher? How does he play into all of this?" Jill asked after a moment to collect her thoughts.
"Mr. Gopher? Oh, he attacked the Boss and me shortly after landing! It was a grand battle where I heroically sacrificed myself to lead Mr. Gopher away while the Boss escaped! That's also when I… uhhh… 'misplaced' the Boss' arm."
Grim turned to the gopher and waved.
Said gopher, who was currently sitting on the top-most branches of the tree in a lotus position, opened one eye and peered down at her, then returned to their meditation.
Jill looked up at the gopher and shook her head. Of everything in their story so far, Jill found this was by far the most believable part. The gopher had a mean streak, that was was for sure. She wasn't sure if she should be worried about that or not…
She turned back to Grim. "So let me get this straight. You got attacked. Separated from your… Boss? Then decide to follow your attacker around?"
Grim looked away, tapping the fingers on her small arms together. Her small, chubby limbs, especially compared to the rest of Grim's massive body, only heightened the illusions of a young child in Jill's mind.
Jill absently wondered if that was an intentional design choice by Grim's creators, or if it was simply Jill projecting that image onto the creature.
She tried speaking to Grim like she would one of the clan children. "Look… Grim. You can't just follow random people around. What if… Mr. Gopher — " Jill sighed again…" — had been a bad guy? What if he'd tried attacking you again?"
Grim gasped, "Mr. Gopher wouldn't do that! Right?!" She looked back up the meditating gopher. The gopher didn't open their eyes this time, only wiggled their hand back and forth as if to say he'd thought about it.
Grim sunk to the ground in defeat.
"Moreover," Jill continued, "why did you follow us?" she pointed to herself and Jack. "We could have been just as bad."
Grim raised her hand in the air and waved it around. "Oh! Oh! I know this one!"
Jill raised an eyebrow, and Grim continued speaking as if she was reading from a document. "Federation regulation requires all operational AI to be under the care of an Overseer. If no overseer is available, operational AI are to seek the nearest qualifying sapient to act as an intermediate overseer until such time that proper control can be passed on."
(Author's Note: As a reminder, operational AI is the Federation term for non-sapient AI, compared to Sapient AI.)
Jill raised an eyebrow at that. "And we qualify for this? Why?"
Grim folded her arms and bobbed up and down. "All Federation civilians without a criminal record qualify as intermediate overseers until a federal employee can be located."
Jill rubbed the bridge of her nose and responded. "Grim… I hate to tell you this, but neither I nor Jack are… Federation civilians. We live in Halirosa, an independent city-state. I've never even heard of this 'Federation' of yours."
Grim shrugged in a way that Jill instantly knew she had stolen from Jack. "All non-hostile civilians of a world on which an Annexation Unit lands, are automatically registered as Federation civilians."
Jill wasn't sure if she should be worried about how smug the AI sounded about that, or about how she was learning its mannerisms enough to tell.
She shoved the worrying implications of Grim's claim away and instead chose to play along for now. "Then tell me, little miss, if we're 'new civilians, how would you know if we had a criminal record or not?"
Grim raised an arm, but paused. "That's because… ummm, I mean… that's… actually a… good… point…"
Again, the AI sunk in defeat.
Jill rubbed her temples, feeling her headache intensify. Grim floated over and patted the woman on her back. Jill glared up at Grim, and the AI slowly floated backward.
After another long moment, Jill finally spoke. "Here's the problem, Grim. Jack and I are on our own quest right now. One of utmost importance. While I'm sure your… boss would appreciate his arm back, we can't just stop what we're doing to help you go look for it."
Grim froze, then softly asked. "But what am I supposed to do? I need to get Boss' arm back…"
"Jill…" Jack said, glancing up from his notebook.
"Jack, I know. But we can't just wander off looking for this arm, especially when we do not know where it is. You know what's at stake if we can't find the [Pure Water] spring."
Jack tucked the notepad into his robe and nodded. "I haven't lost sight of what we need to do. Nonetheless, you can't deny how much help Grim — " angry chittering from above cut him off. Jack looked up at the flaming gopher and smiled. " — and Mr. Gopher, have been on that quest. Even if we don't find the spring this time, what we've gathered is more than enough to hire a team of seekers for the next attempt. The least we can do is keep an eye out for anything suspicious and arm-shaped. Besides, it sounds like she’ll just go find someone else if we turn her away. You know what kind of people adventurers are. Do you really trust them with her? Knowing the things she can do?"
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Jill frowned. Jack wasn't wrong. Where before they were in a desperate time crunch, Grim's storage ability and the gopher's nose for treasure meant that wasn't necessarily true anymore. Their troubles weren't over. Not by a long shot. Yet, now they had wiggle room, in no small part thanks to their two companions. It would be a shame to lose them now, and a part of her was reluctant to admit they had been growing on her. Even the bloodthirsty gopher.
Jill grumbled, but after a moment, thinking things over, her shoulders sagged, and she sighed. "Fine! Fine. We'll keep an eye and ear out. But no promises! The [Pure Water] spring comes first. We might not be in such a tight spot anymore, but that doesn't mean we can change course all of a sudden."
"Yaaaaay!" Jack and Grim mirrored each other, high-fiving each other in victory.
Jill pitched the bridge of her nose. Sisters above, there were two of them now…
She pointed at them both. "Look, just because I said we would keep an eye out, doesn't — "
ROOOOAR!
Jill was cut off by a massive roar from around the bend of the mountain pass. Both Jack and Jill turned around, eyes wide and weapons at the ready.
"What was that?!" Jack asked,
"Not a clue, but it sounded big. And close. I told you we should have left before the tree attracted something!" Jill responded.
Grim raised her hand and waved it in the air again. "Oh! I know this one, too! That sounded like Little Red!"
Jill paused and turned to look at Grim. "… Little who, now?"
ROOOOAR!
As if in answer, another roar echoed off the cliff walls, this time much closer. Jill could even feel the ground tremble slightly as something rushed up the path. Both siblings tensed as, the next moment, an enormous figure rounded the bend.
"Is that a Lykos?!" Jack yelled.
"I've never seen a Lykos that big!" Jill yelled back.
'Big' was an understatement. The drolling, snarling creature that had shot around the bend was several times larger than any Lykos either of the experienced adventurers had ever seen. If a common Lykos stood slightly shorter than an adult human man, this creature easily topped six meters while on all fours.
At the same time, it somehow looked emaciated, like it hadn't had a good meal in months. The dripping blood and bits of gore clinging to its muzzle told a different story, though they only added to the creature's savage look.
When the giant creature rounded the bend, it skidded to a stop and growled, taking in the surrounding scene. The ruined 'building,' the withered body of the old woman, and the giant, burning tree. Finally, its eyes locked on Jill. Little Red's pupils dilated, and it growled a deep, rumbling growl before roaring one more and charging.
Dozens of thick, woody vines erupted in its path as magic circles surrounded Jack. They surrounded Little Red, arresting its charge, but not for long. The massive creature strained against the vines with surprising strength, given its emaciated form, and soon they broke one by one. The spell had bought Jill some time, and she took a heavy step forward, punching the air in front of her.
A chilling wind blew, and hundreds of needle-thin shards of ice formed in the air, shooting toward the Lykos at high speed.
As the rain of ice needles approached, countless red tendrils, as fine as a hair, erupted from Little Red's shoulder blades. They quickly wove themselves into the Blood-Cloak's signature cloak, which moved to block Jill's attack.
That wasn't good. A Blood-Cloak's power was said to be proportional to the size of their cloak. A typical pack member might only reach a few feet when at rest, while an alpha's might stretch to the middle of their back.
This thing's cloak billowed behind it for meters, like a conquering general's.
Where the hell had something like this come from?! There's no way it was natural.
A row of thick wooden spikes broke out of the ground along its path, angled like pikemen attempting to spear a group of charging calvary. The Lykos didn't even slow as its cloak reached out and cut through the wooden spears like butter.
Jill's eyes went wide, and she turned to Jack. "This isn't working! Head of the pass further up! We need to limit how it can move!"
The narrow pass would be their only chance. They just had to limit the space the creature had to attack, or better yet, collapse the pass on top of it.
Jack nodded, and both turned to run in the opposite direction.
Little Red, perhaps seeing this as his prey fleeing in terror, howled in delight and sped up, chasing after the fleeing pair in large, bounding strides.
As Little Red passed under the branches of the burning tree, something happened that none of them had expected.
A flaming meteor dropped from the sky and slammed directly into the Lykos' head.
Little Red yelped in pain as the meteor drove the massive creature to the ground, redirecting all of its momentum into a forward slide. Jill skidded to a stop, turned, and stared as the 'meteor' rematerialized into the form of a… gopher?
Mr. Gopher stood atop the Lykos' head, smirking, their arms folded.
The next moment, the burning gopher was thrown off as Little Red pushed themselves out of the small crater that had formed. The Lykos shook their head, and their glowing red eyes locked onto the much smaller form of Mr. Gopher. Little Red growled, then roared, producing a shockwave strong enough that Jill was pushed back several feet.
Mr. Gopher only narrowed their eyes and raised a small paw.
In the same motion, a gargantuan hand of stone, laced with burning lines of magma, erupted from the ground beside Little Red and slammed into the Lykos' head.
Once more, the giant creature was driven into the ground as it skidded across the pass floor and hit the cliff wall.
As the dust settled, Mr. Gopher calmly walked toward the prone figure of Little Red as the Lykos struggled to stand.
Jill's eye twitched slightly as she watched. The way the gopher walked and the evil smirk on its face reminded her of some of the gang enforcers back in Halirosa. It was the overconfident stride of someone who knew they were stronger than their prey.
Little Red's ears pressed flat against his skull as it bared blood-covered, broken fangs. The Lykos tried to back up, but it was blocked by the cliff face behind it.
In one last attempt to intimidate the approaching foe, the Lykos' cloak unweaved, turning into a swarming, writhing mass of waving tendrils as Little Red roared.
The gopher only smirked and flared their aura.
Between the one blink of an eye and the next, the world took on a red hue as the temperature jumped to uncomfortable levels. The once-dying fires scattered around the ruins of the house flared to new life, and the burning tree swayed in an invisible wind.
A firestorm surrounded the gopher before resolving into a pair of massive burning… wings? Ones far larger than even the Lykos.
Then, as quickly as it had begun, the world returned to normal.
Jill blinked and shook her head. The memory of the strange phenomenon felt like a misty dream, even though it had only been a heartbeat prior. When her head felt a little clearer, she turned back toward the gopher.
Little Red was pressed up against the side of the cliff, their body shivering intensely as they tried in vain to hide beneath their paws and cloak. All signs of the fierce beast were gone, replaced by a whimpering animal trying its best to pretend it was anywhere but here.
"Is it over?" Grim called, emerging from her hiding spot behind the large tree.
Mr. Gopher glanced over at Grim, then back to the cowering Little Red, and frowned. After a moment, he sighed. His form flickered, and the gopher reappeared atop Grim. He then reached inside and pulled out a large [Fourth Circle] beast carcass and tossed it across the pass with a heave. It landed with a thud and skidded to a halt before the Lykos.
Little Red's ears perked up, and it lifted its head, its large eyes instantly locking onto the dressed carcass. The creature began drooling almost immediately as it lunged to its feet, jaws opening wide enough that Jill could have sworn they unhinged.
Before it bit down, though, the Lykos froze and pulled back, its ears flat against its head. Nervously, it glanced toward Mr. Gopher, its emaciated body shaking. Mr. Gopher narrowed his eyes and nodded.
The Lykos pounced on the carcass with all the fervor of a starving man. Which, in retrospect, Jill thought, was a likely thing.
Jack slowly walked up beside his sister, neither able to tear their eyes away from the primal sight.
"So… that just happened," he said.
"Yep…" came her response.
"Do you think…" he asked.
Jill sighed, "The only thing I'm thinking is that we should get out of here before 'Little Red' over there finishes."
Jack flinched at the sound of squelching meat and breaking bones before nodding in agreement.
The pair turned away and quickly made their escape up the mountain pass, Grim and the gopher riding atop her, joining them as they walked by.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
The group made it halfway through the pass on their way toward the next mountain when the sound of heavy footsteps from behind caused them to pause.
Jill pinched the bridge of her nose, part of her knowing what she would find if she turned around, but the rest of her desperately wishing it wasn't so.
Even so, the soft whimpering eventually forced her to turn around, and she sighed in defeat.
There, a hundred meters back, trying to make themselves look as small as possible, Little Red crouched in the shadows of the cliff face. The rest of the group turned as well, with Jack breaking out into laughter at the sight.
Knowing it was caught, Little Red pressed itself against the pass floor and whimpered louder, its ears flat against its head.
As one, Mr. Gopher, Jack, and Grim all turned to Jill.
Jill paused, her eyes growing wide. "No! Absolutely not!"
"Oh, come on, Jill! You’ve always wanted a dog!" Jack moaned.
"Yes, a dog! Not whatever the hell that thing is! I'm not even sure it can be called a Lykos anymore!" Jill yelled back.
"Bah! Semantics!" Jack dismissed her concern. "Besides, it's not like either of us will be the one to watch him, anyway. Right?" He continued, turning to Mr. Gopher.
The gopher gave an evil grin, then turned to Little Red and whistled.
When or where he'd learned to do such a thing, Jill hadn't the slightest clue.
Little Red perked up at the sound, their tail wagging. The enormous creature stood and raced toward them. It stopped just short of the group and sat on its haunches, tail wagging and tongue flapping. Little Red gave a sharp bark, doing its best impersonation of the friendly neighborhood dog…
If said dog was six meters tall, walked like a gorilla, and would happily use three out of the four of them as chew toys. Jill glanced at Grim and her heavily armored body. Well, maybe two out of four.
Grim, totally oblivious to the hungry look the Lykos was giving her, threw her arms up and yelled "Yaaaaay!" before floating forward and giving the massive creature scratches atop its head.
Mr. Gopher nodded sagely and hopped from Grim's back to Little Red's head.
Jack turned to his sister and smiled widely.
He laughed and said, "Oh, stop worrying. I'm sure it'll be fine," before confidently walking toward the creature that had tried to eat him no less than an hour before.
Jill threw her hands into the air and turned away, once more walking toward their next destination.
"You know what? Fine! I give up! I'm not worrying about it anymore!" she called behind her.
Jack gave her a thumbs up and responded. "See! That's the spirit!"