I sat beside the small fire we’d lit and took out the small notebook I’d taken to carrying around. I pulled the stick of charcoal from the spine of the thing and flipped to the page I’d been working on. Scrawled on the page was an unimpressive drawing of the Master Combustion Croc and written around and beside it were all the details I could remember about it.

I wasn’t really much of an artist but this was easier for my brain to handle than remembering everything about every monster I’d met so far. There were a lot of pages now, some more complete than others. The crocs were easy. We’d run into so many of those I barely had to think to remember the details. But others, like the scorpions, the big bad wolf, or the different kinds of snakes, were more difficult. I even had a full page dedicated to Red. He might be the friendly sort of monster but he was still one regardless.

“Don’t forget to add that its tail starts to glow before it shoots a ball of fire,” Nora said, glancing at the book over my shoulder.

“That’s right, thank you.”

She gave me a curt nod before returning to her bowl of canned soup. Stella was asleep by my feet, her belly turned toward the warmth of the fire. Sob stood on the other side of the fire, his head lowered as he dozed. Miranda and Jacob had already finished their meal and were now trying to sleep as well although I could still hear their quiet muttering to each other.

It was strange having such a calm quiet night away from the inn. Especially after our battle with the croc horde earlier. It was odd that I actually missed the goblins.

“Things are going to change, aren’t they?” Nora asked me.

I replaced the charcoal stick, closed my notebook, and tucked it away. “Yes, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

“But it could be. We don’t know these people. The cultists said they were good, but we don’t know that’s true.” Nora wrapped her arms around herself and looked up at the stars, her body tense.

It was strange seeing her so worried. Give her a mass of monsters and she was happy and in her element, but when faced with a town full of real-life people, she was truly anxious. I didn’t know how to comfort her so instead I changed the topic.

“Why don’t you try to get some rest,” I said. “I’ll keep watch.”

She sighed and nodded again before unfolding the bedroll she kept in one of her pouches. It wasn’t long until the only sounds in the clearing were the crackling of the fire and the snores of my comrades.

In truth, I was as worried as Nora seemed to be. These people would have their own agendas and with so many crammed together, there were bound to be a few bad eggs. It was hard to believe that a place filled with people could be dangerous, but given the world had not been the kindest of places before the crocs came, I had no reason to believe it had gotten any better now.

Would these new people be determined to find Nigel the Sentinel? If they were, I could get behind that. What if they had chosen not to play the game though, and just wanted to find a way to live in this new world? Would I be able to accept that? I don’t know.

I rubbed my aching eyes and scanned the darkness around us. I was a little surprised, but still grateful, by the lack of danger in this place.

There were hundreds of ‘ifs’ running through my head but none of them would do me any good. Throughout the night we changed places after only a few hours so all of us got some sleep. Then come morning with the sun rising into a cloudy day we moved on, using the map I’d stolen to guide us toward the fortress at Oliver’s Rest.

By evening we were following the rushing waters of the Condamine River when the great walled towers of the fortress came into view. We stood at a distance eyeing the place, the waves of nerves coming off all of us a palpable force in the air.

It was impressive, and clearly not something that had been there before even though I had no idea how it would have been built so quickly. The fortress was surrounded by sharpened stakes and a towering wall with a set of enormous iron-bound wooden doors letting in a stream of people. Inside the ring were small cottages and towers, some made of stone and others of wood. People scurried around looking like ants swarming an anthill.

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Around the wall, inside the thick band of stakes was a collection of different types of warriors protecting the makeshift village. Even from this distance, I could see some of them wearing full sets of metal armor while others were dressed in leathers like mine or even multicolored robes.

The presence of the warriors had my nerves on edge. It screamed there was danger here, even though we’d approached without so much as a giant scorpion to slaughter.

Nora rolled her shoulders and stood up straighter. “I guess this is it.”

“Yep,” I said.

She sighed heavily before she started walking again, the rest of us following along behind her. As we drew closer my nerves built until every muscle in my body was tense and all the hairs on the back of my neck were standing stiff.

One of the armor-clad warriors broke free of the ring of protectors and charged forward until he was standing on our side of the ring of wooden stakes.

“What did he say?” I asked, not quite hearing what the man was shouting at us.

Nora frowned, coming to a stop again. “I’m not sure.”

“What do we do now?” Jacob asked.

“We can’t just stand here waiting,” I said.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Nora said. “Maybe we should just turn around.”

Miranda’s scream made us all jump. Sob whinnied and bolted past us, rushing toward the safety of the town. Stella growled and stood her ground as we watched the army of monsters charging our way.

They weren’t like the horde of crocs back at the edge of Stanthorpe, no, these monsters were new. They looked like emus only they were as big as ostriches and their feathers were made of black rippling fire. The birds screeched and from their beaks came a black fog shot through with silver flecks.

“Run!” I bellowed.

We all turned and bolted for the fortress. The birds were incredibly fast, closing the distance between us in record time. I glanced back over my shoulder, seeing a flourishing bush touched by the fog begin to wither and decompose. Whatever they were, they brought death with them.

Miranda tripped over a rock and tumbled to the ground with a wail. I skidded to a halt and ran back toward her, grabbing her under her arms and yanking her to her feet. But it was too late, the emus swarmed us.

“Get down!”

I pressed Miranda closer to the ground and covered her with my body as the warrior from before leaped over my head and slammed his tower shield into the ground. The air was filled with a deep hum as a golden shockwave spread out in a ring around us, pushing the emus back.

“Get behind the wall,” the man snarled, yanking his longsword from its sheath as he faced the beasts.

I pushed Miranda toward the fortress, urging her to run before turning and tugging out my blades. The warrior roared as he swung his sword, decapitating one of the emus. Another screeched and lashed out, aiming for the man's back. I clenched my teeth and brought my blades down together, striking the thing's neck as the warrior had done. A metallic clang rang out as my blades hit and bounced off leaving little more than a scratch on the beast.

I stumbled back, my arms aching from the blow.

“Go now!” the man cried taking out another of the creatures.

“Joe, move your ass!”

Nora rushed around me and swung her axe, taking out one of the monsters that had tried to strike me. I stood stiff for a moment before turning and running. I wanted to help but if my weapons weren’t strong enough, there wasn’t much I could do.

As I neared the stakes I turned back and watched as the warrior grabbed a hold of Nora and pulled her up close to his chest before slamming his shield into the ground a second time. This time the shockwave hit me throwing me off my feet.

I rolled through the small opening in the stakes until I smacked into the wall. A man in a bright red robe bent to help me to his feet. I yelled at him to help the warriors but as I turned I saw that it wasn’t necessary. The emus were charging back the way they’d come, leaving behind a cluster of their dead brethren.

The man and Nora turned and walked toward me, neither of them seeming hurt or overly concerned about the retreating monsters. The man said something and I heard Nora’s laugh from my place by the wall.

I ground my teeth harder, hearing them creak in a slightly unsettling way. I’d thought I was strong now. Together, we’d all taken out the Master Combustion Croc and the friends it had brought with it but my blades had done next to nothing against these beasts. Would my bow have been any different? Was there something I was missing?

Muttering curses under my breath I sheathed my swords and dusted off my leathers. Well, I guess I had another entry for my book at least.