"I am glad you asked me to come along."

Daisy looked up at the speaker, then away again. She had been checking over the new amulet around her neck. "Are you?"

He drew a wand free. "Sure." Theodoren twirled the wand. "We can work things out. I hate lingering bad blood."

Cedric looked between them, but he was keeping quiet. He had a wand of his own, ready to go in either hand.

Daisy led the way away from the town that had the school. "Hm. I haven't stepped out into the wilderness very often. Not since I got here, at least."

Theodore smiled. "Then it's a good time to see things. Look at the trees and such."

She took his advice, letting her eyes wander the forest around them. It was an old forest, and the trees were large. While many looked familiar, some seemed to be of species not to be found on Earth. She felt a growing wonder at the thought that these places were real.

A distant sound made her ears twitch. She looked back to Cedric. "Did you hear that?"

He shook his head.

She took a slow breath, calming herself, then pushed ahead, listening intently for the noise. She moved closer to the trees to listen. She heard the wind rustling leaves. Somewhere in the distance, an animal howled. A footstep, just on the other side of the great tree she was pressed against. She turned her head and came nose-to-nose with a giant wolf, its maw open and snarling. She yelped, backpedaling and swinging out with her dagger.

"Contact!" She drew her hand back, flecks of red revealing she had struck flesh.

The wolf snarled, and it was joined by others. They moved through the underbrush towards the travelers.

Theodore raised his wand and aimed at one of the wolves. The wand flared, and the beast fell dead in mid-pounce, cindering from the great bolt of flame that struck it down. "The wolves can be quite vicious. Get your shield ready!"

Cedric moved back behind Theodore while the fox man fired out again. He held a wand in either hand. It looked a bit clumsy, but he seemed to know what he was doing.

Daisy had no time to admire the work, dancing between the wolves attacking her. She could not keep track of them, and she was struggling to defend herself. One grabbed at her shield arm and pulled her over, tumbling with a wolf under her. It was ripping at her armor, its claws unable to penetrate the leather.

With a roar, she sank her teeth into a wolf leg that was too close to her mouth, and the animal jerked back. Her free leg kicked out and struck the wolf on top of her. She was about to twist her blade up to stab through it, but fire washed over them both.

She scrambled to her feet, growling. "Theo, aim!"

The fox man had his hands full with his own attackers. Two of the wolves were clamping their jaws on him, and while they couldn't bite down to draw blood, their weight kept him from casting.

Cedric swirled his wand. "Elements of air, lightning strike at you!" Lightning arced from the tip of the wand, slamming into one of the wolves still around Daisy.

The wolf collapsed into a twitching, mewling pile of fur that began to smolder. Daisy was on it a moment later, stabbing it frantically to be sure it was down. The other wolf darted between the legs of others, coming out of the forest and retreating quickly. It was limping, leaving blood in its wake.

One of the wolves biting at Theodore yelped and went tumbling as Daisy kicked it square in the side near its hits. "Get out of here! Bad dog!" She waved her dagger as the remaining wolves retreated. "Anyone hurt?"

Theodore shook his head, and Cedric was already moving over to check on them. "That was exciting." His eyes were wide, and he looked a bit scared.

Theo accepted Cedric's hand, laughing. "Exciting, yeah, we'll go with that. We'd better work on our team spirit if we expect to handle that dungeon."

Daisy wiped her blade clean on some moss before sheathing it again. "Good work there, both of you. You okay?" She stepped closer to Theodore and checked him over.

He nodded. "They bit at the armor, but I wasn't stupid enough to not wear it. Thanks for your concern, though."

Cedric showed where he had gotten a grazing cut on an arm. "Y-you both took care of them. Thank you."

Daisy reached down to gently brush the wound, her magic banishing the cut. "I need to call that out in the middle of a fight. Those teachers love to give challenges, don't they?"

Cedric flexed his arm and smiled up at Daisy. "They do. It's good practice. We'll figure it out. You did wonderfully."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She grinned at him and ruffled between his ears. "Alright, if you're all feeling better, let's go. That was just a warmup. We have a dungeon to raid."

The group continued moving. This time, they kept together, more aware of their surroundings, and of the sounds around them.

The trip went smoothly from there, with only another single wolf being found, and Daisy easily dispatched it. She pointed at the body. "Just checking, but is that worth anything? Should we take it?"

Theodore looked at the corpse and grimaced. "Not really. We'd get a pittance for it." He shook his head. "Not much use dead, except to some people. It'd be good for fur, but that's not especially valuable. Why, you even know how to skin it?"

Daisy made a face, imagining that bloody task. "I don't think so."

"Me neither. I have no interest in learning, either." He nodded to the path. "It's this way." The others followed.

The dungeon entrance stood open for them. The door hung off its hinges. It looked old and abandoned. Daisy laughed at the sight. "Looks as decayed as what we'll find in it." She pointed to the two with her. "I don't want either of you getting hurt." She leveled her second finger at Theo. "That includes you. Only I get to hurt you."

Theodore frowned at her. "I am capable. It isn't a question of being capable, but of knowing where our specialties are needed."

Cedric had his wands ready and was glancing around, keeping alert. "Y-yes. We'll support you, Daisy. You handle the front very well."

Daisy paused. "Was that a joke?" She crossed her arms under her chest, causing it to rise slightly. "I see what you're doing."

Cedric blushed a little. "Sorry, Daisy." He looked down at himself and smiled sheepishly. "I have no idea how I'd manage that."

Daisy grinned and leaned in, just for Theo to put a hand between them. "Before you two get to a fresh round of smooches in front of me, shouldn't we be going?"

The mouse woman huffed, rubbing at her ears. "Right, yes." She drew her shield. "Cedric, stay in the middle. We'll keep you safe. You keep us alive."

Together, they headed into the dungeon.

The walls of the place were made of old stone, cut from some quarry. The place smelled moldy. Theodore wrinkled his nose. "It smells awful in here."

"It'll only get worse." Daisy lifted an ear at the sound of wood against stone. "I think they're waking up to greet us."

Cedric shuffled a bit. "Let them. We'll be ready for them." His ears were perking a little, and he grinned at Daisy. "We will."

The group pushed onwards through the halls, coming across some shambling dead. They were missing all their flesh, reduced to animate skeletons that rattled with every step towards them. Clenched in their hands were rusty weapons, or crude clubs. They looked ready to bash whatever got in front of them.

Daisy raised her shield. "Heal and slice. Heal and slice. I've got this." She moved forward, raising her dagger. The skeletons didn't seem impressed.

Theodore pointed past her to a skeleton that was still wearing some scraps of cloth, though it looked more like the thing had been mummified than decayed. Pointing his wand, Theo shouted. "Lightning strike!"

A bolt of lightning slammed into the skeleton, causing it to go rigid with the electricity arcing through its frame. A few others rattled as the bolt bounced between them. It didn't seem to have much of an effect, however.

"Heal and slice," Daisy droned in a mantra to herself, trying to capture that feeling of her healing magic even as she went in for a cut. One of the skeleton's weapons slammed against her shield arm, and she winced, but she could feel the cut healing over. "Okay, not sure I got it." She lashed out with her dagger and struck one in a shoulder. It was a glancing blow, but the thing hissed like it had been splashed with acid. "Yes!" She looked back to the other two. "My healing magic hurts them!"

Theodore laughed and pointed at the other skeletons with his wands. "Fire Bolt!" The magic raining from them was distracting the undead, but not really hurting them in any significant way. "It's on you, Daisy. We'll keep them distracted for you."

Daisy nodded. She raised her shield to deflect another blow by one of the skeletons, only for it to get stuck in her shield. With a pull, she dislocated its shoulder, and it let go of its weapon. She shoved her dagger into its sternum, green magic flaring on impact. The healing magic reacted poorly with the undead, causing it to explode.

She blinked some bone dust out of her eyes and nodded. "I'm going to go wild. Get back!" The mouse was on fire with the magic inside herself, and she began slashing through the skeletons. With their weakness in hand, the skeletons were soon put back to rest in piles of bits and dust. Silence settled around them save Daisy's huffing for breath.

Cedric moved up to give her an appreciative pat. "Good work. That was impressive, Daisy."

She smiled down at him, rubbing over his ears gently. "I couldn't have done it without you guys."

Theodoren got quite the grin. "Do I get pets?"

"Sure." She gave a quick pat to his ears, rolling her eyes. "You are—" She aborted her thought, turning away. "Ugh, I feel tired in a whole new way."

Cedric put a supporting hand on her side. "You probably used a lot of magic, using it in a way you hadn't before. It'll get better. Maybe we should stop and eat?" He smiled as he dug into the pack he brought along.

Daisy considered what was going on, but she could feel her stomach gurgling at her in annoyance. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Does it?" Theo waved about the area. "We're still in a graveyard. You want to camp in here?"

"Unless we can clear it out in the time it would take to have a meal, yes." Daisy sat down heavily, taking the pack Cedric offered and digging through it.

Theo frowned. "I could have a meal on the go." But he didn't leave them. He chewed on his food with a sullen expression. "I can see why they sent you here. If you're going to work on healing martial magic, this is the place to do it."

Cedric sat next to Daisy and ate quietly, watching the others closely.

Daisy took a drink. She could feel the food helping, her body recovering quickly. Reminded of the idea, she looked around until she found it. There was an MP bar, neglected until then. It was about three quarters refilled and moving as she stared at it. "I can go." She stood up, dusting herself off.

"Take your time." Theo rolled his ears. "We don't want to rush into any more than we can handle."

Cedric stood, nodding. "Yea. Don't push yourself for us."

"I'm not. I'm better now, promise." Daisy started ahead, brushing Cedric with her tail on the way.