“Coo!” Chillet yelled out victoriously over the fallen forms of the thugs, their bodies slowly being swallowed by shadows before the scene returned to its original nature.

“Some gold coins, that’s all, no balls?” I complained as I picked up the only dropped item they left behind, a measly bag of a few gold colored metal coins. I tossed the bag into my storage before holding out my hand to recall Chillet, had to let the big guy heal up in that magical pal space for a bit, those thugs got in a lucky hit or two. “If only the island wouldn’t erase any traces something makes, it would make hunting a herd down easier…” I complain as I head to the cross road down the path ahead of me.

There are three ways to go, the left leads way downhill to the river bank it seems. A few small pals frolic and lounge about among the shady banks of the shallow river. The center path seems to lead through a thick forest and rocky uphill climb. The last one on the right seems to head down into a small valley between some cliff walls.

“I doubt the herd would run uphill or through a wooded area, so… let's try the right side first. If they went left, I should be able to see or hear something from them.” I peer down at the peaceful river bank full of wild pals. “Right it is.” I sprint off down the hill before slipping on a loose stone, I leaned back instinctively to catch myself. “Woah!” I cried out as I felt a solid pane of something manifest beneath my legs and hand as I began to slide downhill while picking up speed, almost like I was riding a sled.

“Breaks!” I yelled as I tried to stand up to stop myself from sliding headlong into a rock wall, unfortunately I only managed to jump up off the ground with plenty of momentum left to slam into the wall. “Uunn…” I groaned as I struggled to breath properly. “No broken bones… just pain and loss of breath… ugh, good to know…” My body slid down the wall as I slowly collected myself from that accident.

“Note to self, you can magically sled downhill, so learn to break.” I sarcastically mumbled while stretching my sore body. “Now where is that, oh there it is!” I cried out when I spotted the cave entrance which was filled with a dark inky shadow that let no light pass through. “Into the dark we go, where it goes, hell if I know!” I chuckle as I equip my bow and approach the cave.

“Why does it look soli-” I reached out to touch the inky black darkness within the cave, only for it to reach out and encase my whole body within a blink of an eye. “Wa-!” I cover my mouth before I could shout in surprise, my eyes are automatically adjusted for the dimness of the cavern with soft bioluminescent fungi hanging on the walls. The beauty of the cave is ignored only because of the gleaming glint of a metal barrel from a pump action shotgun held by a thug, who is talking to two other gun wielding baddies blocking my way in.

“Of course it won’t be easy.” I mutter under my breath as I hide behind a thin column-esque rock, thankfully they didn’t notice me. “You can’t be serious…” I turned around to face what I thought would be the opening of the cave, but it was nothing but a solid cave wall. “The hard way it is.” I take a few deep breaths to calm myself before taking out my bow.

“Can you believe those morons caused a stampede with the Mozzarina, I think two of them got trampled!” One of the pistols carrying thugs shouted out while laughing.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Shady ain’t gonna be happy we wasted so much product.” The shotgun holder replied while leaning against a boulder.

“When can we get our own pals, I’m tired of wasting so much ammo against the wilds.” The last thug angrily threw an empty pistol magazine onto the ground, only for it to shatter into particles of light. “And those fucking merchants overcharge the ammo by s-” An arrow in his face interrupted him.

I tossed Chillet’s sphere over the heads of the trio before drawing back my bow and taking a shot at the closest thug. A beautifully well aimed shot to the head, with a wooden arrow with a sharpened stone arrow head made in a magical way should have been deadly, but it clanged off a metallic headpiece worn beneath the thug’s cloth mask.

“Over there!” The other pistol thug held up his weapon to open fire, only for an empty clack to respond to his trigger pulling. “Shit! Those wild shits!” He fumbled searching through his pockets for more ammo to reload his weapon with.

“Arrows, seriously?” The shotgunner blocked one with his arm, the armor below the dark black coat harmlessly deflecting the arrows. “They aren’t even elementally enhanced, but basic? Hahaha!” The man laughed as he sidestepped my next shot. “It feels like you aren’t even trying!” He mocks me as another arrow misses him.

“Oh me, I’m just stalling for time, I’m nothing but a distraction!” I wave back at him before running along the left side of the cavern.

“Wait, what?!” He noticed that he was further from my original location before noticing his buddies weren’t engaging me. “What are you tw-” He turned to yell at his thugs, only for a purplish blue blur to fill his vision before slamming into him.

“Guruu!” Chillet cried out as the purple aura exploded outward upon contact, traces of the light attached onto the thug as he was sent sailing into the rocky wall with a loud bang.

“You little-!” The shotgunner recovered quicker than expected, he aimed at a shocked Chillet before firing his weapon.

“Gu!” Chillet cried out as I managed to reach the opposite side of the room, I turned back to see the thug unload another round into Chillet. “Guh!” Chillet recoiled back and tried to scramble away.

“Pesky little shi-” The shotgunner had an arrow bounce off his protected head, making his glowing red eyes jerk up to meet mine.

“Mine.” I say as Chillet dissolves into light particles that rush into my right hand to form his sphere before it gets magically stored away. “You hurt what was mine.” My eyes narrow dangerously at the man with the shotgun.

“So?” The thug spits out a blob of inky blackness onto the ground before chuckling. “What you gonna do about it?” He asks while slowly walking towards me, the shotgun lazily held in his hands.

“Kill you.” I quickly fully draw my bowstring back, an arrow flashes into place, ready to fire.

“Alone, and with those cheap twigs?!” The thug’s laugh echoes in the empty room. “Wait, where did the other two go?” He just noticed the absence of the others.

“They went ahead of you, don’t worry, I’ll send you to them shortly. With some help of course.” I let the arrow fly before summoning Trouble behind me.

“Is that an Alpha Chikipi? That’s your secret weapon?! Hahaha… oh fu-!” The shotgunner dodged the arrow before laughing at my pal, but his laughter turned into freight once the meteors started to fall through the walls of the cave.