Panic gripped Kit. What would they do? While Kit was beginning to have a breakdown. Dove casually strolled over to Kit. “Do you have much more to do in camp Kit, or are you ready to go?”

Kit blinked stupidly at Dove. It took him a moment to realise what the young man had said. “All I have to do is pack up my camping kitchen.” He was amazed at how calm Dove seemed to be, it was a complete contrast to his own state. “Dove, do you know who our team leader is.”

A grin flashed on Dove’s face. “Cadbury and I are the team leaders Kit. Did you forget?”

“Um, no I meant who will be showing us the way to the mountain pass.” If they didn’t have a guide, they might get lost and miss their part in the monster run.

Dove’s grin turned into a smirk. “Cadbury and I scouted the way last night. It won’t take long to get there. It’s just a bit of a climb.” Now Kit understood the confident aura coming from Dove, as a leader he was quite good. It looked like he really was prepared for the day, which helped to settle Kit’s nerves.

A blush crept up Kit’s face, he wouldn’t have thought to scout the area before leaving today. He was very glad he had passed on the role of team leader for today’s event. From Dove’s actions he had a feeling that the twins had a lot of battle experience. Why on earth were they at his restaurant then?

Then Kit remembered that the twins were hiding the reason that they became his employees. He sighed, he hoped that today was not the day the twins decided to betray him. Why was he keeping them by his side again?

At least if things went pear shaped, he could blame Snickers. Kit went over to his camping kitchen and packed it into his pouch. He then glanced around at his employees. Did he need to make a speech before they left? That was what normally happened before a big battle. While Kit was thinking of what to say Cadbury beat him to it.

“We will split into two groups now. Each group will be taking a different path up the pass. Are you all ready?” Kit sucked in his lip in worry. Where was the motivational speech before they left? No one had given one yet, not even Grandpa. Kit had been looking forward to experiencing an epic moment of them all being hyped for the upcoming fight.

Kit sighed and walked over to stand next to Dove, Snowball and the midnight guardians followed him. Slowly the others split themselves into two groups. Mud, Crackers and Charlotte were with Dove and himself. Cupcake, Bundt, Bree and Chamomile were standing with Cadbury.

When they were all assembled, the twins started to head in the direction of the base of the mountain range they were camped at. About 10 minutes into the walk Cadbury’s team split from them. Kit chatted with his group to distract himself from the upcoming fight.

The closer they got to the mountain the cooler the breeze became. Kit was happy for the cooling effect it had on his heated body. He was working up quite a sweat at the pace Dove was setting. The longer they walked the more Kit felt the effects on his body. The incline in the terrain was working his calf muscles hard. He could feel them start to scream at him for a rest.

A sigh of relief escaped from everyone in the group when Dove stopped them for a short break. Kit’s eyes had been focused on the uneven ground beneath his feet, so that he didn’t fall during the walk. He now had time to look around to see where they were.

They were currently halfway up a hill that connected to the mountain range. “We are almost there. We just have to get to the top then we can have a good rest before the trampling thick heads start to descend from the mountains.” Dove was smiling as he spoke.

Kit felt his eyes twitch at his words. Almost there, my foot! He was already out of breath and his legs were aching. Would he even be useful once they got to the top? At least his arms would be fine for firing arrows.

“Dove, will Kit and Crackers be able to ascend to the top of the hill without causing themselves damage?” Mud had a worried expression on his face.

What! Damage? Kit took another look at where they were. Then he realised they were very close to the base of the mountains. He remembered Twix had told him when he first arrived that he would need to be level 100 to be able to go into the mountains. Was this related to that?

“It will be fine. The hill we are on is not in the area effect of the mountain range. As long as we don’t go too close to the edge of the hill towards the mountains they will be fine.” Dove looked confident in his assessment of the area.

Kit’s curiosity about the mountain range piked. “What would happen to Crackers and I if we got in the area effect of the mountains Dove?”

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“Oh you will die a gruesome death.”

“…” That was all Dove was going to say? “How? You can’t just leave the explanation at that.”

Dove bust out in laughter. “Ok if you really want details I will tell you. There is some form of poison in the air in the mountain range that causes people below a certain level to self-combust. So basically, you will go boom!”

Horror filled Kit, his imagination ran wild with visuals of his body exploding. He felt an involuntary shiver creep down his spine. Goosebumps pimpled his arms. Thankfully Mars and he had meet Twix or else they would have experience firsthand their bodies splintering into tiny pieces while trying to climb the mountain to reach the Black winged fire bird cave.

There needed to be some warning signs at the base of the mountain! What happened if Spartan Fire became a travel destination in the future. It could all turn to shit if people began to explode because they were clueless about the mountain range’s horrifying area effect.

Kit made a mental note to bring this up with Twix and Mars when he returned from the monster run. “Thanks for the horrible visual Dove. Crackers and I will make sure we stay well clear of the mountain for now.” Crackers frantically nodded her head in confirmation as well.

After a snack Dove started the hike up the hill once again. Kit’s mind was running over his lessons from yesterday on how to fire his crossbow as he walked. He wanted to have it memorised so it would become second nature to follow the steps.

“Here we are. It’s a beautiful spot for todays fight.” Kit was jolted out of his thought from Dove’s words. He lifted his head and gasped. The sight in front of him really was stunning. He could see out over a wide plain of green that was broken by a splash of blue running through the middle.

The creek ran from the gorge between the hills right through the plain into a forest off in the distance. Kit noticed an abnormality at the base of the gorge. Five rows of raised earth walls were formed in a semicircle around the base of the gorge with a break in the middle for the creek to flow.

Kit couldn’t tell how high the earth piles were from this distance. Considering he could see them clearly from his vantage point he guessed they wouldn’t be small. Kit swung his eyes over to the other side of the hill he was currently standing on.

A wide gap separated the hill’s peak. Kit automatically walked forwards towards the edge of the hill pass to see how far down the drop was. He felt a moment of vertigo when he reached the edge of the gorge. He quickly took a few steps back so he was a safe distance from the edge.

Kit turned his head to follow the eroded earth towards the mountains. His eyes rounded as he looked towards the giant peaks. The gorge he was standing not far from looked like a small ditch compared to the large crevasse further up the mountain.

He lost sight of the twisting ravine the further he followed it up the mountain. “Dove is it 100% certain that the Trampling thick heads are migrating down the mountain through the gorge?” He went forwards on tentative feet to once again glance over the edge of the gap.

He felt himself become dizzy once again staring at the base of the gorge. Once the wave of giddiness passed he could focus on the uneven rocky ground either side of the creek at the base of the ravine. Would the Trampling thick heads really follow such a difficult path? Then he looked to the steep slopes and sharp ridges pebbled up the mountain. Maybe this was the safest route after all.

Dove came over and clapped Kit on the shoulder. “Don’t worry Kit this is their migration path every year and the scouts have already reported that the herd is on the way down the mountain through the pass.”

Kit nodded in understanding. “How long will it be before they reach us?”

Dove rubbed his chin in thought. “Not sure, but I will guess roughly about an hour.” Kit felt his nerves spike, soon he would be participating in his first big battle. He blew out a breath. It wasn’t time to let himself get worked up yet. He was sure that there would be some work to do before the event started.

Dove glanced around at the small group. “We have to get a few things ready before they arrive. The first thing we will need to do it roll some of those heavy rocks over to the edge of the cliff so it will be less likely we will tumble down.”

Kit felt his heart tremble at Doves words.

“That was a joke, right?” Crackers voice wobbled as she spoke.

“Not really. This is yours and Kit’s first time in an intense battle, right?” Crackers nodded her head. “It is easy to forget your surroundings when you are focused on your target. With experience you will learn to focus on your surroundings as well as your mark. So today we will build some barriers to help keep us all safe.”

Dove started to point out some of the larger boulders scattered around the top of the hill. Kit wished that right now Cupcake was on his team. It would make this job a lot easier with the big man present.

Dove directed all five of them to roll the boulder slowly over to the edge of the cliff. Soon all of them were sweating once again. Once there were five boulders standing in a row Dove let them rest. Kit flopped down on the ground. Now his arms were joining his legs with an unpleasant burn.

“Don’t get too comfortable, it is not long now until the monsters arrive.” Kit was too exhausted to care at this point. His heart didn’t even give one extra beat at the news. Snowball came over to him and stuffed his wet nose onto his face, then he let out a soft whine. Kit didn’t mind the cold, was nice against his heated face.

“Hey Snowball, don’t worry we will be safe this far away from the action. My job is really easy, I’m just sorry you’ll miss out on collecting some treasure for yourself.” With Snowballs addiction to treasure Kit was sure this must be hurting the little guy to stay so far away from the items the monsters will drop.

Kit smoothed his fur in comfort. “Next time we do something like this I’ll try to get us closer to the action, ok.” Snowball gave a grunt in reply. Kit laughed at the little guy’s actions. When his laughter died down Kit noticed a soft vibration accompanied by a soft rumble.

Kit turned his head to see the loose stones on the ground starting to move. Kit’s eyes widened and he bolted up right. “DOVE, I think it’s time.” The spike in his heart rate that was missing earlier galloped into overdrive.