Renalia crouch-walked toward the jumble of rusted metal, Boogie creeping along next to her. She paused at the next shrub that was tall enough to hide them, eyes darting between flickers of motion or snippets of noise. But it was just the stirrings of wind and insects.

She refocused on the unnatural debris. The rubble reminded her of the first time she went out into the bog alone, when bubbles in the water presaged a leaping hare. Wiser now, she did not let it deflect her attention from the dangerous environment.

I feel the fear; it does not control me.

And unlike her first solo hunt, Malchim did not force her into this as some form of punishment. No, this was her choice. A chance to help her family and Lexi. A small voice within her noted that Lexi wouldn’t want her to do this. Mama wouldn’t approve, either. So was she really doing this for them? Or herself?

It didn’t matter. The money would make everyone happier. Certainly, Malchim and Donaldson would not pass up such a big payday. They would deem it as worth the risk, and so did she.

Maybe she was bravely reckless, like Mama said. She didn’t feel very brave, though. Firming her convictions, she resumed her approach, making her way to the next bush.

I know the fear; it does not define me.

Renalia halted, the dirt scrunching beneath her boots sounding so loud in her ears. She surveyed their surroundings again, but refrained from relying on [Bogling Sight]. She had already used a minute of the skill and wanted to reserve the remaining nine minutes for possible encounters.

Not that a fight was imminent. It was far more likely that the shifting and churning of the bog had unveiled items discarded a long time ago.

This same movement prevented them from building walls around the village. But even absent a strong barricade, she felt much safer in the village than out here deep in the bog.

The hunters, she realized. Like Lexi said, they acted as the barrier for the village, making sure people could live the life they wanted without worry. No, no longer they; she was a Hunter now, too. She would do her part to keep the village safe. To protect those, like the Ongock kids, who could not protect themselves.

Seeing and hearing nothing out of the ordinary, she crept forward.

I feel the fear; it does not control me.

She stopped at the final shrub, now almost within spitting distance of the mess of rusted metal. Renalia repeated wordlessly a variation of Granny’s litany. She had not drawn upon the cadenced phrases since the last time she ventured into the bog by herself.

But she relied on them now, electing to keep [Dull Emotions] and [Restrain Impulse] fully charged. Those two cards were key to breaking through her human limits, to become stronger and faster than a small girl could normally be.

It applied to her mind as well, as the successful attempt the previous day had shown. In rushing to rescue Lexi, she had cycled through her bogling abilities in time with her four-legged run, flipping through them faster than her conscious mind could keep up.

Thinking back on that mad dash, it seemed like her jumps had propelled her forward more than expected. Granted, she had been more focused on stopping the spewing lizard than measuring her jumps. But she had experimented with [Bogling Leap] enough to internalize the height and distance it typically provided at different angles.

Was it possible that the bogling cards did not just let her act like a bogling, taking a bogling-sized leap or running at bogling-speed? That it actually worked as magical enhancements, adding to the adrenaline-fueled breakthroughs that she could achieve?

If so, she could out-bogling any bogling. A bog-enhanced superhuman.

It came at a price, though. Her overwhelming exhaustion last night and the remaining soreness today seemed to confirm that she had taxed her body much more than the first time she had broken through her limits.

It had been worth it, saving Lexi. But she didn’t think she was healthy enough to pay that price again anytime soon.

Boogie looked at her, as if wondering why they had stopped so close, and yet so far, from the pile of stuff needing his investigation.

She knew she was dawdling. Pausing a couple of minutes here would not give her body enough time to recover. Maybe she should have stayed in the village, after all.

No, two golds was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Renalia reviewed her Deck one last time to calm her nerves.

Except for the newest card, [Bogling Teeth], the other bogling cards had achieved level four. It meant [Bogling Leap] and [Bogling Dodge] had ten usages while the rest would last ten whole minutes. Although [Bogling Teeth] was still at level two, she didn’t think she would need to bite something for more than ten seconds.

As prepared as she could be, she closed the gap to the mysterious items, Boogie creeping along at her side.

I know the fear; it does not define me.

Closer up, Renalia noticed a slight curvature in the rusted disc stuck upright in the mud. It confirmed her suspicions of a shield. Another bowl-shaped piece was suggestive of a helmet. She couldn’t identify the rest but could imagine them as part of the equipment that a soldier had dropped a long time ago.

Except soldiers don’t throw away gear for no reason. It was far more likely that they had died–

She saw something in her peripheral vision and [dodged], grimacing as the ability acted on her sore body. But it worked well enough as a boulder, slightly smaller than her head, passed through where she had just been.

Too late, she realized her mistake. While Boogie had bolted in surprise when she darted away, the dog lacked magically enhanced agility.

“No!” she shouted, as the rock hit his right hip. Boogie yelped in pain, the projectile forceful enough to spin his hind around and crash him to the ground. No, no, no.

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She took a step in his direction, but something in her peripheral vision caught her attention again. She turned, seeing a black humanoid figure in the distance stand up, partially hidden behind a bush. It took the rock it had just picked up and cocked its arm back for another throw.

“Run!” Renalia shouted. Boogie stood up, dragging his right leg as he tried to obey, whimpering at the pain.

No, no, no. What would Lexi do? Lexi would and had said for Renalia to run. That the dogs know their role as distraction and sacrifice.

But Boogie wasn’t any dog. Boogie hadn’t left her when she had almost died. She couldn’t leave him now.

Protect, like Lexi does.

She dropped her spear and [leapt] to the rusted shield. With a [strengthened] yank, she jerked it free from the mud and [leapt] back.

She barely got into position to intercept the next projectile with her shield. Rust flaked off her shield as the rock smashed into it. But it held.

Her [strengthened] arms kept the shield from flying into her face, but the impact pushed her back. She slammed the shield on the ground, stopping herself from knocking over Boogie.

Boogie looked at her with pleading eyes, hopping with three legs as his fourth dragged along the ground like a mostly empty sack of flour. It pained her, but she couldn’t help.

The human bogling abandoned its attempts at concealment. Instead, it sprang forward a couple of steps and launched the next rock with its whole body powering the throw.

The rock flew blindingly fast, and Renalia hurried into its trajectory. She held up her shield to block, noticing the sunlight peeking through the holes created from the previous impact.

She still had enough time to leap away, to save herself. No, not this time, she thought, holding firm and protecting Boogie’s retreat.

The rock rammed into and through the thinned shield, snapping it in half like a cracker. Without losing much momentum, it crashed into her reinforced chest. However many layers of leather she had added, it wasn’t enough.

She shrieked as the impact cracked a rib and threw her to the ground. But screaming made it so much worse.

She [dulled] the pain and [restrained] the impulse to yell. The pain drove her to try something she had never thought of before. Without understanding how it would work, she encased the broken bone in [Bogling Skin] to keep it stable as she stood. She added [disinfect] for good measure.

Every movement, every labored breath, felt like a knife digging into the side of her chest. But conjured [skin] aided enough to let her move.

As she cycled through her powers, the bogling ran towards them.

No, no, no. She rushed to Boogie and wrapped her arms around him. She tried to boost him with a burst of [strength], ignoring the sudden stab of pain. But her arms were too short to reach completely around his deep chest. And, even if she could, her legs were too tiny to lift him off the ground.

“Run, Boogie!” she cried instead. Wanting it didn’t make it true, though, as he continued to hobble.

She wished she hadn’t brought him out into the bog by herself, that there would be someone to help him. Someone older and bigger. She couldn’t protect Boogie nor help him flee. There was only one thing she could do.

Attack, Renalia thought. Like Donaldson.

She turned back to face the bogling, now so much closer than before. Gritting her teeth through the pain, she bent down to fetch her spear. Renalia placed herself between the undead and Boogie and planted the butt of the spear on the ground, angling it to receive the charge.

The bogling, closer to seven feet tall than six, continued to bear down on them. Even though she had not stopped using [Dull Emotion] and [Restrain Impulse], panic roiled her stomach, threatening to upend her lunch.

The spear grew slippery in her cold palms and she quickly wiped the sweat off on her trousers. She needed to keep firm control of the spear, able to make adjustments in case the bogling dodged.

The spearhead quivered, though, as the menace neared impalement.

Inches from the spear, the bogling slid on its right foot before turning it at an angle and pushing its foot down into the soft earth. It transferred its forward momentum into rotation and whipped its left leg at the back of her head.

Renalia lunged forward with a spear thrust, ducking low to avoid the kick. The bogling spun out of the spear’s path as its knee flew over her head. But its foot clipped her spear, sending it flying.

She [speed]-[leapt] after it, catching it just after it bounced off the ground. She [clawed] the dirt with her other hand, quickly pivoting her body around it to face subsequent attacks.

But the bogling had gone after Boogie instead.

“NO!” she shouted. She filled her arm with [strength] and flung the spear at the bogling’s back, her bolstered muscles helping it fly true.

The bogling turned at her cry and placed its feet further apart. It stopped moving, as if dead again. At the last second, it snapped a forearm up, sending her spear spinning into the sky. As the spear dropped, the bogling caught it with the same arm and pointed the weapon at her. It shifted into what she recognized as a basic guard stance and beckoned at her with its other hand.

Renalia’s eyes widened in shock. Boglings shouldn’t be able to do that.

It opened its mouth and gurgled in a semblance of speech. It looked confused for a second at its own behavior before its features melted back to bogling expressionlessness.

Is it still human? Renalia wondered. “Wait, we don’t need to fight,” she said, slowly walking toward it. Could she tame it like she did with Penny? Professor Winkleton had theorized that it had to do with her scent. Did that mean it just needed to smell her [Bogling Skin]?

She continued to walk toward it, keeping her form open and placating, palms encased in [Bogling Skin]. “We can be friends.”

But the bogling seemed uninterested in her attempts at communication. It headed toward Boogie.

“Wait!” Renalia shouted, running after it.

It turned its head, but the rest of its body continued. Without looking, it plunged the spear into Boogie’s back.

Boogie yelped as she snarled, their screams slicing into the quiet bog. Her heart broke as the bogling leaned into the spear, collapsing Boogie onto the ground.

She barely heard Boogie’s soft whimpers as her blood pounded in her ears. Renalia threw herself at the monster with a [dodging] [leap], [teeth] and [claws] out, all thoughts of taming the creature gone.

The bogling pivoted, swiveling the butt of the spear up toward her chin while she was still in the air. She [dodged] back, but the bogling thrust his arm forward.

The spear shaft slammed into her [Bogling Teeth], fracturing several. Before she could deactivate the conjured teeth, before she could summon protective [skin], the sharp pieces flew into her palate and throat.

She fell on her back, twisting to her side as her body involuntarily spasmed at the blood running down her throat. She [dodged], sliding out of the way of the spear that thrust downward at her.

It caught her billowing shirt, untucked by all the motion, and pinned her to the ground. She ran her [claws] down the front of her shirt as the bogling lifted a foot. She placed her boots on the upright spear and activated [leap] as the bogling stomped down.

She slid far enough away to allow her to cough the remaining blood from her lungs and stand up. In the meantime, the bogling had dislodged the spear from the earth and assumed a guard stance again, beckoning at her.

Renalia approached. It knew it could reel her in by hurting Boogie. She couldn’t let it do that again. She risked a glance at her friend and wished she hadn’t. Boogie lay where he had dropped, chest rising and falling at an irregular beat.

She had to help him. But her pouch of bandages lay half-buried, still tied to the tattered scrap of her shirt. And between them stood the bogling, feet planted and spear aimed, waiting for her like a hunter.

Rush it, she thought, like a bogling. With her teeth and with her claws. And without a care for her own life.