“No, that is your food,” Nora snapped for the seventh time that morning, shoving Boopzy away and pointing to a bowl of gruel on the other end of the log they were calling a chair. “This is my food. Go away.”
Boopzy let out a devastated whine and tried again to climb up on her only to be pushed aside again and the speech to repeat itself. Half of me wanted to roll on the hard dirt and laugh my ass off, the other half wanted to scold Nora and tell her to stop being so cruel to the little Tentarat.
I did neither of those things though. I still sat on the ground not too far from the edge of the ravine with Sob’s gigantic head resting on my lap. Stella lay curled around my back, offering my tired body somewhere warm and comfortable to rest while I waited for the horse to regain consciousness. My potion seemed to have been enough to keep him from outright dying on us but for whatever reason his health bar was taking an outrageously long time to recuperate.
Still, the longer I waited here, the more his mane and tail began to grow. It was as though the flames were being fed a steady stream of wood and dried grass. The flames did not burn as they should. In fact, despite the fact I should be roasting this close I was chilled to the bone. Even Stella’s body heat wasn’t enough to keep me warm.
That was about as far as my whinging went though. So what if I was a little cold? It was better than roasting in the harsh summer heat. I’d take a few goosebumps over sweating buckets even in the shade any day of the week.
“Joe, would you tell this bloody thing to listen to me!” Nora screeched like a harpy behind me.
“He is your problem for another thirty days. You’ll live,” I shot back, not bothering to look.
“Eww, what the hell. Keep your tentacles to yourself you little monster!”
Screee!
I chuckled and the movement seemed to rouse Sob. The stallion’s head jerked to the side and his eyelid flew open revealing a brilliant blue eyeball.
The horse nickered and rolled, battering me and spooking Stella so much she yelped and bolted, sending me tumbling to the ground where a lovely rock decided to viciously stab my skull. I hissed through my teeth and shot upright when the weight of Sob disappeared, rubbing hard at the sore spot until it settled down.
Sob stomped around the campsite. Lightning flickered around his muzzle as he kicked up his rear legs and tucked his head in an aggressive charge.
“Sob,” I said in a relatively calm voice. “That’s enough buddy.”
Sob grunted and stomped his hooves but stopped running in wild circles. I spoke to him gently until he calmed down enough to allow me to stroke his nose. His being calm didn’t last long. He let out a snort of foul mucus directly into my face and barged past me, waltzing up to the edge of the ravine to stare over it.
“Asshole,” I muttered as I returned to the fire and gave Stella a good scratch behind the ear.
“What’s wrong with him?” Nora asked.
“Who knows? Maybe he was halfway through a killer dream and was pissed about being woken up.”
“Yeah, somehow I doubt that.”
“You’re welcome to go and talk to him if you want. It’s never helped me any.”
“Please, you’ve already saddled me with one pain in the ass, I don’t need a second,” She said, slapping away a searching tentacle without so much as looking in Boopzy’s direction.
The Tentarat chirped and returned to its half-eaten bowl, aimlessly picking at the contents. It wasn’t the fairest of cuisine but it was miles above what we would regularly eat. He should be a happy little monster. Hell, I’d even given up a portion of the jar of honey I’d gotten off the King Toilet Croc to make it that little bit sweeter.
A simple jar of honey was not the only thing I got from killing the King Toilet Croc though. My notification bell had been blinking away like crazy but until now I hadn’t really bothered to give them more than a glance. Well, now I took my time reading every entry while my group finished up what they were doing.
Level 33!
Level 34!
Holy shit! It had been a long time since taking out one beast had given me enough experience points to go up two levels. Then again, the croc had been almost twice as high a level as I was. No matter how I looked at it the fact that we had managed to beat the thing even with our disorganization and lower levels screamed sheer luck.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
I pushed the thought from my mind, not wanting to dwell too hard on what could have been when there were plenty of things for me to worry about in the here and now.
Quest updated: The Witch of Evermore
Description: The witch is brewing a powerful potion, one that’s sure to knock the beastly Crocs on their ass. Collect the following items to get a taste of the sweet, sweet elixir. 10/1 Vampire Bat Wing. 1/1 Gall bladder of a King Toilet Croc. 0/1 Venom of the Nightstalker Rattler. Happy hunting.
Now that notification was an interesting one. I was a single Nightstalker rattler away from completing it and moving on. Only, it would be just me. The witch had been clear that if the others wanted a potion of their own they would need to bring the same amount of ingredients themselves. It didn’t matter so much when it came to the Vampire Bat Wings, I had more than enough of them to go around, but the other items were far more challenging.
The others had gotten plenty of goodies themselves. Stella had donned a strange croc leather coat in place of the hot pink coyote coat she’d been wearing when we’d been separated so long ago. Nora was wearing some sort of belt that was glowing a deep green color. She didn’t mention what the spell on it was but she seemed very happy with it. Jacob was now sporting a fine-looking shotgun. He hadn’t received much from the battle since he hadn’t participated in the actual killing. Nora had no use for it anyway so she’d just tossed it at him the moment she’d received it.
My loot made me feel all buzzy. I was beginning to get addicted to getting new stuff. That probably wasn’t a good thing now that I think about it.
I flicked to the next lot of notifications and read through them too.
New Item Received: Jar of Honey
Description: A full pot of the finest honey from the famed beekeepers of Beechworth.
The honey wasn’t just good because it was honey, it was good because it was a small taste of home. Beechworth wasn’t all that far from Wangaratta. There had been many bottles and jars of the stuff liberated off shelves through the years.
Of course, that description was no longer entirely accurate. We’d used a fair amount of it for our breakfast this morning.
New Item Received: Vial of Royal Croc Blood
Description: A vial of the bluest blood known to Croc kind. Useful in crafting potions. Gives an instant boost to the potency of all potions crafted using it as the main ingredient.
New Item Received: Golden Crown of a King Croc
Description: Feel like rubbing elbows with the gentry? Well, nothing will get you closer than donning this finely crafted crown of gold and jewels. Plonk in on your head and walk with your head held high as the peasanty bows in reverence.
Please note: The crown has no mystical effects. If you want to truly become royalty you will need to back your claim with good breeding and a mountain of gold.
Well, that had been a lovely loot item. One I was prepared to sell the second Red returned. At least I hoped the Arachnes would return. He’d run so damn fast the moment the King Toilet Croc had appeared. Right over the edge of the ravine and down into the depths where even my Blindsense couldn’t reach. If he returned the crown was all his. I sure as hell didn’t have the breeding to call myself royalty. I was just about as far from that as one could get.
They weren’t the only things I’d gotten but it was the most impressive stuff. The stack of gold that had come along with it had put a small dent into the money Nora had talked out of me.
Stella stood up with her ears at attention. I stiffened immediately, clutching the grip of my sword. Stella barked and ran for the edge of the ravine. I stood up, following her as I focused on my Blindsense.
The glowing green aura slowly climbing up the wall put me at ease though. I slid my blade back into its sheath and returned to the log.
Nora looked at me as she gathered Boopzy in her arms and grabbed ahold of her axe. “What’s going on?”
“It’s just Red. Well, I think it is anyway. I don’t have any other friends that can climb sheer walls like that.”
“This skill thing of yours is kind of strange,” Nora said as she resettled on the log beside me. “Don’t you think it's kind of game-breaking being able to tell if something is good or bad before you can actually see it?”
“You’re just jealous because you don’t have it. It’s not like it helps me all that much. That Croc monster almost killed us.”
“Good point. Maybe it’s only helpful when you’re good at battling.”
“Excuse me, I was the one that took that bastard down.”
“Yeah by giving him one hell of a bad smooch.”
“Leave off woman. Whatever I did, it ended the battle.”
Stella started barking up a storm right as a spindly leg topped the edge of the ravine. Watching Red come over the top with that familiar ridiculous smile he always wore gave me an idea.
“Hey Red, how much would it cost for you to give us a ride over the ravine?” I blurted out before the man-beast had even pulled his last two legs up over the edge.
Red didn’t answer right away. Even though his face remained carved in stone there was something about his eyes that revealed his shock—sort of a deepening of the wrinkles there and a devilish twinkle that screamed of nothing but greed.
I shrugged my shoulders before he answered and said, “Don’t feel too bad if you can’t do it. There are plenty of other ways over.”
“Oh I can do it, but I’m afraid you might not be able to afford my price,” Red said.
“What, not gonna cost five gold this time?” I snapped.
Red turned to look at the ravine and then back at me. “It’s a lot further to go than the itty bitty climb up Dead Drop.”
“Name your price, Mr. Spider,” I said.
“Five hundred each. That includes your little tentacle-y friend over there,” Red said jabbing a finger toward Boopzy.
“Boopzy doesn’t need a ride over. It’s just me, Nora, Stella, Jacob, and Sob,” I said.
“Well, that will be twenty-five hundred then. Payment is required in advance of course.”
I sighed before turning to Nora and holding out my hand.