With the fight wrapped up, some futons supplied by the lovely porter of the group, don’t be mistaken, he wasn’t a push-over, life was good. Noah was laid back, hands behind his head, snatching in the wondrous smell of cooking crab.

‘Magicians sure are great,’ Noah smiled.

Whilst Antela helped cook up some crab legs, Noah was in and out of conversation with Rein, the porter. Like he said, Rein was no push-over. As a hunter, he gained some recognition for his abilities by the guildmaster, that’s why he was picked for the team.

Sure, he was picked to lug around some gear, but he could fight if he had to. Noah thought that was probably Hyon’s plan since they were planning to explore territory that hadn’t been touched in decades. The knowledge on the area was very limited, so anything could happen.

‘Having a back-up elite hunter is brilliant. That old man is crafty’

“Dragon slayer,” Rein earned himself a jab to the arm from the resting man.

“Fuck you,” Noah spat.

“Amelia sure is great,” Rein looked at the girl. “I thought your arm was done for,”

Noah shook his head.

“If you like her, just tell her, man. You probably think this isn’t the place for that, and you’re dead on, but please save me from this daily bullshit,”

“I don’t like her,” Rein glared. “I just…”

“Think about her all the time? I can tell. I guess I’m either a prophet or you just won’t shut the fuck up about her,”

“No point in talking to you,”

“Then don’t,”

Rein scratched his head until something popped up in his mind and a callous smile made its way onto his pretty face. When Noah found out this flowerboy wasn’t a noble, he had a spit take. Seriously this guy embodied high-society and he was a lowly peasant.

It was crazy. That perfectly styled blonde hair with his bright-blue eyes of conviction.

He’d have been a painter’s favourite, I’m sure.

“You’re one to talk,” Rein didn’t lose his smile.

“Before you say it, think very carefully,” Noah threatened.

“Why don’t you tell Antela how you feel, hmm, Noah?”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Noah bore an ugly smile with a tightly clenched fist, staring daggers into Rein’s eyes as he remained strung out on the futon.

“I genuinely do not like that girl,” Noah bore fangs. “And she doesn’t like me, either,”

“Yeah, right, brother,”

The corpse rose from the futon with a fist clenched so tightly it was drawing blood.

As Noah prepared to pummel the bastard to high hell, Antela shoved a crab leg in front of them both.

“Thanks,”

“No problem,” She walked away.

Noah’s clenched fist was now holding a crab leg. It was perfectly roasted, causing Noah’s mouth to water at the simple thought of nabbing a taste.

“I’ll let you off this time,” Noah said.

The next morning, the group was kicking the day off early with packed up futons and whatnot at the crack of dawn.

“Otto, you lead the way,” Guildmaster Hyon commanded.

Otto was the scout. He’d warned off the crab much before they’d arrived in its quarters. The way he explained his ability to the group was he could connect with certain animals, borrowing their senses. That was why there was bird shit littering the tunnel, since he’d brought an army of ravens to cover the hunters backs and scout out ahead.

He didn’t need that many to operate, he’d just brought spares since they had no idea how long the expedition would last. Unfortunately, that also made sleeping a lot harder, since some of the bastard ravens didn’t know how to shut the fu-

“Wait,” Otto threw a hand back at the group, gesturing to them to stop. He had to focus.

No one uttered a word, since he blew up at them the first time he’d done it. One could say the lesson had been learned.

In Otto’s mind, a vision of one of the ravens was playing. The raven flew down the tunnel fast, heading towards where the last raven had been killed.

This time, it stopped the minute it got its sights on the culprits.

“We’ve got big dogs up ahead. Proper nashers. Big as lions. I’m counting six,” he said. “Oh, make that seven. We’ve got a big boy dining on my dead raven,”

Otto had an automatically seductive voice. It was the same voice you’d expect to get from a baked surfer-dude.

“Then let’s be prepared,” Guildmaster Hyon spoke.

“Otto, you fall back now with Amelia. Jason, Tyne, forget the shields, we’ve dogs. Blades out. Isla, stay just ahead of Amelia and Otto, check who’s struggling before taking your shots. Move out.’

They were in formation now. Of course, since Otto had checked from so far ahead, it took some time for them to actually reach the dogs. Jason and Tyne threw their shields onto Rein’s back. From how he managed to keep up with all the luggage, you could tell the sneaky bastard was strong.

The two barbarians didn’t need the shields for this anyways. With the tough armour they were wearing, and the hulkish muscles, they were going to be fine.

Isla was another attractive girl in the group. She was nice and quiet, and her skill with a bow was wild. She had short black hair and really dark brown eyes.

‘No wonder Hyon picked him out to be a porter,’

With everyone ready, once they meet the feisty pets, the fights shouldn’t be too bad. Unlike the crab, they didn’t have a hard layer to get past; cutting through would be easy.

This time, Noah would be a little more careful, but as long as the injuries could be subtly healed, he didn’t mind taking a bite or two.

‘I should install some eyes into the back of my head,’ he thought.

If all else fails, blame it all on Amelia. Just say she’s a really good healer and all shall be divine.

With swords and bows at the ready, two hulks charging at the front, the hunters made contact.