Ayko wore the silliest grin as he trekked through the powdery woods, paying no mind to Hazelmere’s jittering. He enjoyed her company, sure, but he had learned to ignore her nervous ticks a week into their friendship. Still, the girl was more to him than just a crush; she had her talents, as brow raising as they were.

She tugged at Ayko’s sleeve and knelt when he turned around, her mossy eyes rooted on a paw print in the snow.

She traced her finger along its outline. “Five digits…clawed…” She muttered, kneeling closer and wafting the air. “Carnivorous.”

Ayko tilted his head and folded his arms. “That does nothing to narrow things down.”

Hazelmere ignored him, instead walking past him with her nose in the air. She held up her hand when Ayko opened his mouth to speak and then stopped.

“There,” she said, pointing to her right.

Ayko followed her gaze to the clusters of trees at his side and unsheathed his shortsword, hacking away at any stray branches or thorny, flowering plants that stood in his way. He ripped several weeds from the ground to find another paw print resembling the first. The young man’s eyes glinted, and he hopped away, his grin widening with each new claw mark etched into the snow.

His face fell when the tracks stopped, and the trees grew more sparse. Blood spatters stained the snow, and the occasional tuft of striped fur clung to the ice-coated bark of several trees they passed.

Hazelmere took one in her hands and felt it between her fingers. “Rough…” she said absently.

Ayko cocked an eyebrow at her. “Is it supposed to be?”

Hazelmere blinked at him. “...Have you ever actually seen a Wolfcat?”

Ayko puffed his chest. “Of course! Striped fur…carnivorous…” He ran a hand through his hair. “We’ve got the right trail, for sure!”

Hazelmere sighed, her lips twitching with a frown. “Let’s hope so…”

The blood splatters grew the further they walked, eventually turning to a trail of bloodied prints. Claw marks accompanied the freshly stained paw prints, along with clumps of soaked fur. They were stained crimson but were thinner and lacked stripes.

Ayko sneered upon sniffing the air. He didn’t need Haze to tell him it smelled of decaying flesh. Tucking his nose into his tunic, the young man sprinted ahead, ignoring his friend’s pleas for him to wait.

Swatting the leaves of shrubs and low-hanging trees aside, Ayko’s eyes widened upon finding the source of such an accursed smell—a Coyolote lying in a pool of its blood. Claw marks riddled the creature’s brown fur, and one of its antlers had been snapped in two. A chunk was also missing from its nape.

Ayko jumped upon hearing the rustling of leaves behind him. He pointed his sword only to lower it upon meeting Hazelmere’s gaze. His friend’s warm expression was unusually morose.

“I told you to wait!” she said. She seized his arm. “We need to go now.”

Ayko snatched his arm away. “Leave? Now?” he snorted. “When I’m this close to rocking Yarrow’s seven-foot world? I’ll pass,” he said, turning away from her.

“I’m with you,” Hazelmere began. She stepped forward and yanked Ayko’s sleeve. “But you don’t understand, I went about this wrong! The beast we’ve been tracking isn’t—”

Ayko raised his brow when the ground shook beneath his feet while his friend stumbled over her words. He whirled around, tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword. His chest clenched, but he stood tall, staring directly into the beast’s beady eyes.

“Hmm?” Ayko looked the beast up and down. It gaped its mouth of jagged teeth, crouching over the Coyolote protectively.

“Orange fur…striped…short face…fat as all hell…” The young man cupped his chin. Yarrow hauled one of these into the village once. What was its name?

Hazelmere leaned forward, her pleading eyes drilling into Ayko’s own. “Ayko, that’s not a Wolfcat! That’s an Ursa! They prey on Wolfcats!”

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Ayko’s eyes gleamed, and a smirk split his face. “Even better!”

Ayko twirled his sword and sprinted the beast’s way, to which it stood on its hind legs.

The young man stifled a gasp upon seeing it nearly matched the trees in height, instead hacking his blade without a second thought.

The Ursa thrust its claws through the air, sending Ayko to the ground when they met his sword. With a growl, it ripped its claw away and swung again.

Ayko grunted and jumped back, but the Ursa’s claws snagged his tunic. Tattered bits of cloth plumed into the air when he pulled away, then lunged forward, thrusting his sword into the creature’s gut next.

He gasped when he ripped it free to see the tip of his blade had chipped. He glared. “Bastard!”

Ayko cleaved at the Ursa’s neck next, but the creature raised its left arm, shattering his sword’s blade before pounding his the side of his head with its right.

A pained gasp fell from Ayko’s lips, and his right ear rang, distorting Hazelmere’s trembling voice. He cursed, crushing snow between his fingers when he rose to his feet.

“Filthy sod!” Ayko clutched the side of his head and staggered forward. “I’m the one who’s supposed to do the killing!”

“Ayko!” Hazelmere’s voice was muffled by his ear’s ringing. “You have to stop!”

Ayko gritted his teeth and squinted his eyes. The greens and whites of the forest bled together, and his temples throbbed. Spraying blood from between his teeth, he held up his sword’s bare hilt. “An adventurer never admits defeat!” he declared.

The Ursa crouched down on its fours and charged his way, the wind ruffling its striped fur. It gaped open its mouth only to fall to its side when a glint of light struck its ribs.

“A real adventurer knows to pick his battles better!”

Raising an eyebrow made his head throb, but Ayko joined Hazelmere in looking to the tree line. Bursting from the rustling Peppergrape branches was a knight garbed in blue, sword in one hand and violet-hued sparks crackling in the palm of the other.

He shot Ayko a glance and winked. Levarus, he uttered.

The adventurer thrust his palm forward, and the sparks flew from his gauntlet and into the Ursa’s open mouth. Its fur rustled, and smoke rose from between its gritted fangs.

With a whimper, the creature backed away from Ayko and disappeared into the brush.

The adventurer smirked, and his sword dispersed into ribbons. He shot Ayko yet another glance then turned to the trees behind him.

Another figure emerged from the brush— a tower of a man dressed in red armor from head to toe. The two blades on his back were as large as the village children, and his arms were practically legs.

“That one was mine,” the giant said. He shoved a tree out of his way, sending it crashing to the ground.

The blue knight shrugged. “You should have been faster!” He strolled over to Ayko and extended his armor-clad hand. “Hello again, my little novice!”

Ayko fell to his knees. “Chestplate? Why are you here?”

He cocked his head at the red-armored giant. “Arzen was in need of some pelts.”

The behemoth grunted and folded his arms, turning his head when Ayko darted his eyes at him.

“And I could ask you the same. Ursas and Wolfcats look nothing alike.”

Hazelmere rushed to Ayko’s side and threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, thank the stars!”

Chestplate shifted his eyes between the two. “The novice has a friend, hm?” He looked Hazelmere up and down. “Does he have himself to blame for almost dying, or you?”

Hazelmere said nothing, instead looking down at the snow.

Chestplate shook his head. “You’re a piss poor tracker if that honker of yours brought you here. But, you can survive, unlike him. Ursas never attack unless provoked, which means…”

Ayko ran a hand through his hair when Chestplate looked his way. His cheeks stung. “Tch!”

“What did you learn, my little novice?” The adventurer asked.

The young man tightened his lips but forced himself to answer. “That if I had a better sword, I’d have killed it,” he said, holding up his hilt.

Chestplate rolled his eyes. “Wrong.” He eyed Hazelmere again. “What about you, knife ears?”

Hazelmere raised her head. “We’re not good enough,” she muttered.

He pointed and winked at her. “Not yet, you’re not.” He looked over at the steel-clad mountain behind him. “Well, Arzen. What do you say? Do we like these two or not?”

Arzen responded with a single nod.

“Should we teach them a thing or two?”

Arzen nodded again.

Chestplate turned away and crouched over Ayko and Hazelmere. “Very well!” He flashed them a grin. “You two need a teacher!”

Ayko gasped only to wince in pain. “You’ll train us? Really?”

Chestplate chuckled. “I don’t see why not. When I’m done with you, you’ll drive Wolfcats extinct.”