image [https://i.imgur.com/RCGrn1f.png]

Drac jumped out of the crater, dusting soil and grass off his jacket. Bob walked up. The two nodded silently, knocking fists together. Drac caught sight of Fergus staring at the crater of fire.

“Hey. Great work. Finally, you used Lightning Step in battle. And used it spectacularly.” Drac walked up close to the young lord.

“You saw? How?”

“My adversary wasn't worth my attention.” Drac held up a fist. “The first win of many more,” he said, with a smile.

A gleeful Fergus bumped the waiting fist. “Of course!”

Tree branches rustled in the far distance.

“Hey, watcher. Enjoyed the battle?” Drac turned on aura sense, expanding its range by many more metres. Tree leaves rustled again.

“Bugger ran off.”

“Another demon?”

“No,” Bob spoke up. “Demons are not big on comradery.”

We saw it cry.

Its twin got turned to ash by holy light. My guess is that it saw its fate.

“Whoever it is, it seems to want no trouble with us. Let's go back on the road; we’re done here,” said Drac. Bob nodded in agreement. With a swing of the great sword, the blood of many beasts spilled on the ground. Sword sheathed, he left with great bounds back into the forest.

"Impatient, ain’t he?” Drac jokes with Fergus. “Don’t him. The big man missed out on his meal for this.” Drac turned to pulse, and a hand grabbed his arm.

“Drac. I have to ask you. Something I have been curious about for a while.”

Drac turned back. “Mm? I hope it isn't to hold back on sparring. You asked for it, you know.”

“No, not that but if you could-”

“No.”

“Ah, fine… What I wanted to ask is... Why? Why help me?”

Drac put his thumb and index finger to his chin in an exaggerated pose. “Mmmm.”

“Haha! Come on. Stop joking and tell me!”

“I forgot.”

“What the fuck do you mean you forgot?!”

“Pal, I had a lot of things on my plate this week. Give me slack. Wait… Maybe 'coz you’re fun to tease?”

Fergus chuckled. “Fuck you, Drac.”

“Ok, ok. The reason isn't so special. The slap annoyed me.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Slap?” Fergus asked.

“See? Not special. Come on, let us not waste more time. The demons have already delayed us greatly."

image [https://i.imgur.com/deMzpZJ.png]

Stars shine above the woodland, and darkness cloaks the forest. Under dense green, a fire pit burned, and smoke billowed out as a group of travellers cooked a recent catch.

“And then I erected a shield. Absolutely massive, it was. Wasn't it Flida?” Marina stood by the fire proudly.

Florida spoke in the middle of slurping her soup. “Yep. A big dome. Covered the whole caravan.”

“Told you. Fucking. Massive. Them beasts were knawing with their nasty, sharp teeth in vain as I stood strong against the hundreds! Thousands! While this fat green bastard slept in like a lazy git.”

Thousands?

Maybe? Don't think too much about it.

“Fat! You haven’t seen these glorious” Kankraa stood off the ground to flex his bicep. “Huge.” He flexed both arms. “Muscles?! How dare you call these beauties fat?”

Marina sipped on a carton of wine, her belly full of Drac’s soup. “It’s fat if it is useless. Fatboy.”

“I’ll show you useless-”

“Shh,” said Drac, silencing the arguing. “Come down, fellow. Want some soup? It’s made from rabbit meat. Heard that’s what your kind likes.”

A strange chirping can be heard from the bushes.

“The Fennon says that is a harmful stereotype.” The Orc translated.

How the fuck are we supposed to know that?

By being a learned person.

Shut the fuck up. You didn't know either.

The watcher dropped down before the blazing fire. Covered in layers of brown fabric wrapped around from neck to toe, the short, fox-looking creature walked towards Drac with a notable limp. Its fur dry and dirty, eyes full of sorrow, it kneeled before Drac.

The rest of the group gawked at the spectacle with shock and awe. A Fennon, bowing to a human? To see one this close was a once-in-lifetime happenstance.

Drac held up a hand to receive a bowl of rabbit soup. “Here. Eat before you faint on us.”

“He said thank you for the meal. Rabbit tastes good after all.” Kankraa translated as he stood with arms crossed on the side. The fox-like creature smiled cheekily while handing back an empty bowl.

He was fucking with us, wasn't he?

Drac smiled. He took the bowl from the famished Fennon, giving it to Marina to fill up again. The fox sat next to Drac on a tree root, drinking a cup of water. Its eyes dart around, looking for unseen enemies.

“So, what do you need from a human?” said Drac. Kankraa spoke back Drac’s words, translating using the Fennon's strange language.

“He said you. He needs you.”

The Fennon spoke again.

“He has been looking for you. The human they call the ‘Black Man’.”

Our priest is making quite a name for himself.

That name. A bit on the nose, don't you think?

Very.

Drac gave a full bowl back to the odd creature. “You need my help? For what?”

Kankraa translates, “My people. My town. They are in danger.”

Drac glanced at Kankraa and asked, “From the Imago?”

The Fennon shook his head. Canines peer through angry fox lips. “Humans.”

Drac scrunched his face in confusion. “Then why me?”

The Fennon bowed while sitting down. “Because you are the ‘Black Man’. You help all in the forest.”

Yep, the name fucking stinks. Fucking priest.

Hood isn't any better.

I didn't choose the name either. Ask the man in the dungeon why he is so unoriginal.

The Fennon went to fetch something from his back and the green giant flinched. Drac held up a hand to tell him to wait. From the Fennon’s back, a glowing fruit surprises all.

“He said. ‘The black man said to us: If you require his help and find a man that looks like him, use this as an incentive.'.”

Haha, fucking priest!