Kiru let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes. The elven heritage he’d gained from his mother lessened his overall sleep requirements, but he still needed a solid six hours. He’d been staying awake a few extra hours each night to cultivate. When people slept and dreamed, there was a higher concentration of mental mana around. Needing mental mana to literally move across great swaths of land every day, the young psion needed to make sure he replenished as much of the magical energy as he could get. So far, Kiru had achieved a rate of one hour of cultivating the mana from dreaming minds to equal about three hours of movement for him.

While that helped with his mana stores, it definitely cut into his sleep, some nights winding up with notably less than the required amounts. Imakandi was a wild land, and the party’s safety had been in question more than a couple nights while traveling across the orcs’ homeland. As Kiru shook himself awake and blinked his vision clear, he noticed it was still dark. The sky was mostly black and there was just the subtlest pink hue --dawn was almost upon them..

There was a loud noise beside him. Kiru was startled by it and turned to see William obnoxiously snoring away just inches away from him. Kiru chuckled slightly as he rolled his eyes. He then recalled his familiar back inside his core. Kiru could also cultivate from William’s dreaming mind too, so he nearly always summoned the imp before settling down for the night. William continued to sleep, oblivious to being turned into an orb of red light and brought back into the psion’s core.

Besides the fact that Kiru could not hear the imp snoring anymore, there was another benefit. Back at the Academy, Kiru had discovered that while William was inside his core, he perfectly remembered everything around, down to a finite detail. It may seem not that impressive, but it had helped the psion repeatedly, whether it came to remembering a riddle that a trap-filled tomb had to trying out a sword form for the first time on an unsuspecting opponent. It also helped Kiru in this moment to remember where his friends were supposed to be sleeping, and he noticed that one was missing. Concerned, he activated Telekinesis and stood up.

Kiru glanced about the campsite--Brunhilda was gone. Her sleep sack was empty. He didn’t see any blood or signs of struggle. Her shields aren't here either. She probably took them with her. . Still, he wanted to find her. So, he looked over the small cliff face over the river bed. To his surprise, he noticed the purple haired paladin…sneaking? Yes, the armor-clad dwarf was crouching and without a doubt sneaking up on some frog.

Amused by the sight and now thoroughly interested, he quietly walked over to the path down to the river bed and continued to watch Brunhilda. Carefully, he made it down to her level. When he saw her get within a couple feet from the frog, the dwarf quickly threw her hands down to grab the amphibian. Her lead foot sunk in the wet sand slightly at the sudden movement, and the noise of the shifting sand alerted the frog. It let out a shrill croak and leapt forward, narrowly avoiding Brunhilda’s attempt to grab it. “Shite!” She spat in frustration.

“Getting bored with keeping watch?” Kiru asked, breaking the tense silence. Mutt and Zhaden should be far enough away that our talking won't wake them up. Kiru thought.

She gasped, snapping her head and grabbing one of her shields in one deft motion. When she caught sight of her friend, she let out a relieved sigh and placed a hand to her chest. “Oi! By Thor’s Hammer, ye scared me there, Kiru.” She took a deep breath and composed herself. “If ye must know, I was practicing me stealth,” she answered, crossing her arms defiantly.

The psion smiled knowingly, “Really? I thought it was pointless to practice stealth while in heavy armor?”

“Well.. ye know, I.. think Mutt may be right.” Though it was dark, Kiru was pretty sure she was blushing. She had developed a subtle crush on the orc, the two main reasons Mutt hadn’t realized it himself was because his blindness kept him unaware of the little looks she would constantly give him, and also he was really oblivious in general. The orc liked the simple things and didn’t really bother monitoring the complexities of people most of the time. It may be for the best that Mutt doesn’t want to go into politics.

His trailing thoughts were cut off, and he was brought back to the moment as Brunhilda continued speaking, “And if I be better at stealth, maybe he’d want to spend more time with me,” she said nervously while tapping her two pointer fingers together.

Kiru was surprised to see shy Brunhilda actually admit her feelings out loud. “For the record, I do think it is good to practice, but why aren’t you asking Zhaden for guidance?” he asked.

She smacked herself in the forehead. “Why didn’t I think to ask the blasted rogue?” She looked back up at Kiru, “Don’t Tell Anybody that I be doing this!” She punctuated, glaring daggers at the psion.

Kiru raised his hands up defensively, “Your secret’s safe with me. Also, if you’d like, I can try and give you some pointers on your stealth? I’m not as good as the other two, but I’ve picked up a few of the basics from Zhaden.”

A series of emotions went through Brunhilda’s face. Embarrassment, pride, and hope being the most prominent. Finally, she agreed, “Aye, go on ahead.” She relented. “Oh, but first let me get the frog. The little bugger is a good practice buddy.” The paladin searched the sandbar for the little creature for half a minute and eventually found it hopping away toward the muddy cliff face not far from the path where Kiru had come down. Not trying to be stealthy this time, she trudged on over and picked up the amphibian from atop a piece of muddy driftwood partially lodged into the dirt.

“Hmm, this driftwood be softer than I expected. Guess it’s been here for a while,” she said then hammered her fist against it..

Kiru felt his eyes widen. Since Brunhilda was facing him, she didn't see the so-called "driftwood" move--and not from her strike breaking it. No, the log wiggled. Part of the mud fell off from the movement revealing a massive foot longer than the dwarf’s body. “Umm, Brunhilda.”

“Yes, Kiru?”

He raised a hand and pointed behind her.

She turned back to see the foot. The foot moved again as well as the leg it was attached to. Then, the entire body moved. A thick layer of the muddy wall shifted, falling down to the ground to reveal a massive creature, leaning against the cliff. The humanoid monster wore nothing but a loincloth, revealing a large body of fat and thick skin. It had a surprisingly small head with one massive eye, which was thankfully closed.

Both the dwarf and psion froze. That’s a cyclops! he thought. Kiru had read about them among the hundreds of texts he’d scanned in his time in the library back at the academy. His perfect memory recalled that the book, Monsters & Mayhem, said cyclops weren’t the most intelligent, but that didn’t make them dangerous. In fact, their small brains were also their strength in a way. Their dumb brains forced their bodies to endure harsh environments causing them to evolve in specific ways to survive. It resulted in their bodies becoming both tough and durable with skin as tough as stone.

“Oh, shit! Run bitch, run!” William said inside Kiru’s mind.

Looks like the little asshole is awake. I'm just glad he spoke only to me and not Brunhilda.. In this situation, Kiru assumed startling the dwarf to run recklessly would be a very poor choice. He didn’t want her to accidentally wake up the hulking monster before them.

The half-elf activated Telepathy and spoke to the dwarf: “Okay, Brunhilda, I need you to listen to me and do exactly as I say. Don’t speak, just follow my orders.”

She nodded her head in agreement, not daring to take her eyes off the sleeping behemoth.

“This is going to be a crash course in stealth. First, bend your knees slightly.”

The paladin complied.

“Next, spread your arms out wide. Dispersing out weight makes our steps less loud.”

She did so, comically still clutching the frog in her right hand.

“Good! Now, carefully turn and walk to me, slowly, and step down from heel to toe. You don’t need to be fast. You just need to focus on not making a sound.”

With a literal sleeping giant threatening to wake up and squash her nearby, Brunhilda took the advice to heart. Slowly, carefully, she began to creep away from the sleeping cyclops. The dwarf was going at a snail’s pace, but sure enough, she was getting away without disturbing the monster. Kiru stood at the beginning of the path leading up. He monitored and encouraged Brunhilda with his telepathic coaching.

When she neared him, he almost slapped himself in the forehead when he remembered that he could use his telekinesis more than on only just himself. He signaled for her to stop. Then, with a force of his will, he channeled his Telekinesis technique around both her and his bodies. If Kiru didn’t use Telekinesis on himself, his range was greatly improved, but Brunhilda was still close enough with his current abilities. The two began to levitate and float up quietly. Kiru had to keep his focus to not drop either of them. He thought.

Once they finally set their feet on the top in relative safety, they both let out a sigh of relief. A nervous chuckle escaped them too. Just as Kiru felt his pulse start to slow, however, the frog in Brunhilda's hand made its presence known again. Apparently it had finally had enough of being bound, and it let out a surprisingly shrill and loud croak as its slimy body squeezed itself out of her grip and jumped away. Kiru’s heart skipped a beat; the croak had been so pronounced the sound was still echoing. For what felt like an eternity, neither of them moved their bodies.

Kiru could see that Brunhilda wasn’t completely still as her mouth moved in what he presumed was a silent prayer. The goddess Hlin didn’t answer the dwarf’s prayers this time, as a loud low groan came from below. From the muddy cliff face nearby, the hulking monster emerged. It grumbled and turned its small head toward the source of the offensive noise. The large singular eye opened to lock on the pair of cultivators. It snarled, revealing a set of jagged sharp teeth. It’s breath asGrimtuskted the pair’s nostrils, hitting them with a mix of mud and rotten meat. They winced, and a hand the size of Brunhilda clasped the cliff edge with a loud crunch.

This time, Kiru did heed William's words--he ran. The pair of them took off, sprinting toward the tree where their allies were at. If they had to fight a giant cyclops, they were going to need all hands-on deck. The cyclops lifted itself up to their level and quickly began pursuit. With each stomp of its large feet the ground audibly shook. Kiru did spare a glance to see it had an entire acacia tree in one hand, wielding it like a simple club. The ground below continued to shake as each lumbering step sent tremors in its chase.

Those loud steps awoke the sleeping orc and gold drakonid back at the tree they’d been camping at. Zhaden’s reptilian eyes widened first in surprise then in fear as he processed what was going on. Mutt on the other hand, activated his Fenrir’s Claws technique, turning both his hands and feet into clawed animal-like limbs. The orc roared then jumped down from the tree and began running on all fours toward the cyclops. Zhaden shook off his shock and began running too, his long legs helping him gain ground.

Kiru summoned William to his shoulder. “Keep an eye on that thing!” He ordered.

The little imp grumped, but did as bid from what the psion could tell, focusing on their six and the monster following them. Not long after, William proved his worth. “Duck!” he shouted.

Both cultivators dropped to the ground without question--a split-second before a tree club whooshed right above their heads. They stood back up and took off running once again. But before they made it much farther, a large foot stomped right beside them with a boom- the cyclops was on them. Kiru was scared to fight such a foe, but was resolute to protect his friends. He and Brunhilda gave each other a knowing look before bracing themselves as they turned back to face the monster. Kiru was relieved that she had come to the same conclusion as him, they had no choice but to fight. Only then did Kiru process that Brunhilda had left her shields down by the river as her hands were balled up into fists.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

The cyclops shouted unintelligibly as it raised its club up high to smash the pair. To Kiru’s absolute relief, that was right when Mutt entered the fray. The beast mana cultivator leaped over his friends and slammed into the monster’s abdomen, clawing furiously at its exposed belly. The cyclops groaned in surprise, and it stumbled a couple steps back from the orc’s momentum before slapping Mutt off it. Mutt was sent flying about twenty feet to Kiru’s right, and his body skipped across the tall grass. “I’m good!” The orc shouted as his body finally stopped.

Kiru nodded gratefully then turned back to the cyclops. Mutt’s claws were sharp, but the cyclops’ hide was almost stonelike. Still, the orc was able to just draw blood, carving out a small, exposed wound in its belly. It was not invulnerable.

The cyclops looked down at its abdomen and the blood on its hand. The one-eyed monster was clearly unused to being hurt, because it scowled in indignant rage then let out a guttural bellow.. Zhaden had finally made it to the others and also joined the fight. The gold drakonid hurled a set of daggers. The cyclops used its free arm to block the blades. The knives bounced harmlessly off its stony flesh. It then charged forward, using the tree like a battering ram. Zhaden, Kiru, and Bruhilda all jumped to the side, out of the way of the monster’s mad das h.

“Brunhilda, since you don’t have your shields, stay back and focus on support. Zhaden, keep its attention on you, and. Mutt and I will focus on bringing it down.” Kiru telepathically sent. The psion let out an inward sigh of relief when they immediately complied--he wouldn't let them down. Brunhilda was their tank, but she wasn’t fast, and without her shields. She’d be a sitting duck. Zhaden could serve as a the primary distraction in a pinch.

The gold drakonid threw another blade at the cyclops, this one aimed at the exposed wound. It wasn’t just any dagger though, the thin and more elongated blade was undeniably his enchanted Bloodstep Stiletto. The moment the weapon slammed into the exposed wound, the blood that touched the blade triggered its magic. In an instant, Zhaden was teleported right to the blade itself. Quite literally at “the belly of the beast,” Zhaden grabbed the dagger and began thrusting it in and out repeatedly like a prison shiv. The smell of iron began to permeate the air, filling the psion’s nostrils as small fountains of blood began to shoot out from the monster, drenching the ground beneath and coating the drakonid.

The cyclops roared again then, leaned down to try and bite the rogue in two. Kiru knew that his roguish friend was ready, and Zhaden provedthat by doing a graceful backflip, pushing off the monster’s body, avoiding its bite.

To Kiru’s left, Mutt roared and charged back in the fight. The cyclops now truly frustrated swung his club at the incoming orc.

“Divine Shield!” The paladin shouted from behind the psion as she activated one of her three techniques. A column of holy light surrounded Mutt and intercepted the club. With a loud crash, it pushed the monster’s club back and set the top of it alight in flame. It would burn away the entire tree club to ashes, but since it was so thick, the flames would take some time. Kiru rushed toward the cyclops, drawing out his fu tao. He sliced at the monster’s thick legs as he ran in between them. His steel didn’t break the skin. The other however, the one made from the psyslime, managed to successfully cut into the muscle.

The giant monster growled as it grit its teeth,thick blood oozing from its wound. It then mule kicked the psion with its uninjured eg, forcing the air from Kiru's lungs and sending him nearly tumbling over the cliff. Fortunately, he tucked his body in, rolled across the ground, and landed a good distance away from the cliff face. He shook his head, removing some of the dirt now caked in his black and red hair. Kiru grunted as he quickly stood up. It was out of habit versus any actual need, a perk of being unable to feel any pain. That lack of pain also aided him to not lose focus and turn back to face the monster, and shook his head once again, this time to get the ringing out of his ears from that attack.

“Master, that was embarrassing. You’re a conqueror, and that monster made you look like a little weakling.” William said, brushing the shirt off his own shoulders. “I mean look at it. Its tiny head is almost all eyeball. All you need is just poke it in the eye and then it’ll be easy.”

The cyclops glared and began to trudge toward the psion, yet paused its advance when Zhaden activated his Duplication technique. Though the drakonid was behind the cyclops, he conjured two illusory duplicates of himself in front of the large monster. The cyclops cocked its head to the side and gave an unintelligible grunt, which sounded suspiciously like, "Huh?" It only hesitated for a moment before swinging the burning tree down at one of the duplicates. The makeshift club went straight through the illusion, crashing down into the ground with a boom.

Mutt then began crawling up its back, harassing the monster with a series of strikes.

It groaned and swiped at the orc with its free hand, not succeeding in hurting Mutt, but protecting its head successfully, nonetheless.

William is right, its large singular eye was a weakness, Kiru thought. The problem is, the monster knew it, and it made sure to protect its vulnerable spot. With the only ranged attacks being Zhaden’s daggers, they needed someone to get in close. Kiru gave his familiar a predatory grin as an idea struck, “You’re right, William. We just have to poke its eye, and I know just the person for the job.”

Before the imp could protest, the psion grabbed William and hurled him toward the monster with all his might. William let out a panicked scream as he flew through the air.

As the demon soared, Kiru activated Telekinesis on him. The psion had done this once before in a fight against an axe-wielding barbarian, and just like then, he smiled. William continued to scream as he flew. Familiars could die just like their masters, but Kiru was confident in his plan despite its recklessness. That was due to his Telekinesis. He could precisely aim the imp to where he desired. Kiru telekinetically maneuvered him, and the imp landed square on the cyclops’s eyeball.

The cyclops winced, then its large pupil locked with William’s beady eyes.

The villainous voiced demon let out a notably high-pitched cry of fear before he began scratching at the eye as a desperate reaction.

The skin of the monster was rock-like, but its cornea was not. It let out a deep, pained scream, and slapped at its own eyeball in response.

William gasped as the large hand came toward him and jumped off, leaping into some nearby brush to cushion his fall.

The cyclops continued to groan as it pressed against its injured eye. It began waving its burning club around wildly, afraid to be struck by an unseen opponent.

No one could get near the mad and blind cyclops as it flailed its burning club about. Kiru hadn’t taken that possibility into account, and was wondering if he’d made a wise choice in blinding the cyclops. None of the party had any ranged techniques, so they would eventually need to close the distance in order to kill it. The fear and pain of the blinded monster caused it to move quicker, spreading the hot flames on its club across the dry grass underneath. Small little pocket fires started to build up from the swings, and they were quickly growing.

Mutt stuck his head up in the air and began to sniff loudly. He turned his head off in the distance and grinned. “Hey, you smelly monster, come get some!”

The cyclops, with its eye squeezed tight, was still blinded, but it turned its head to the noise. It began lumbering toward where Mutt was and swinging his burning club like it was a cane. Its thick skin was unbothered by the flames its club put on the ground in front of it and with each step, stomped out most of them underneath its feet.

Mutt began promptly running away, but in a controlled pace, making sure that the monster would still follow him. “Don’t worry! I’ve got an idea!” He shouted to the others as he led the monster farther away.

The three others all joined back up and watched Mutt continue to guide the angered and injured cyclops. “Where do you think he’s leading the creature?” The rogue queried before scanning the quickly growing flames.

“I’m not sure,” Kiru answered as he squinted, following their path. “Brunhilda, I recommend going and getting your shields now,” he said with obvious concern in his voice.

“Aye,” The dwarf hastily agreed then left to head back down to the riverbed.

Kiru knew Zhaden didn’t have darkvision, so he there was no way he could see much outside from the burning tree light, getting smaller and smaller. Kiru did have the ability to see in darkness, but it wasn’t as good as a full-blooded elf or dwarf. Still, he could see what was happening as they quickly moved away from the fires.

Mutt was expertly leading the cyclops on to what looked to be a large writhing mass. The orc let out a bestial roar toward it, and Kiru realized that it wasn’t a singular mass at all, but a grouped up herd of some kind of bovine creatures.

The orc’s roar appeared to have disturbed the creatures because dozens of eyes all turned to face him at once.

Kiru's blood went cold as he saw the raw anger flash in the creatures’ eyes. They glowed red in the fire light.

The beasts let out a collective howl and charged toward the orc and cyclops.

Mutt did a complete one-eighty and booked it back toward his friends. He managed to leap and roll out of the way of the blinded cyclops’s club swing as well. He kept running for another hundred feet before stopping and turning back.

The beasts, which looked to be some sort of bipedal bulls, attacked the cyclops. A couple of them were sent flying by a burning tree club, but they quickly overwhelmed the monster like a swarm of vengeful ants, taking advantage of its previous injuries to rapidly overtake it.

The cyclops groaned then began to let out pained cries as it was repeatedly gored and disemboweled. The flames were abruptly put out by the mass of beasts trampling over them as well.

Mutt placed both hands on his hips and laughed in triumph. Then, the cyclops’s cries suddenly went silent. Mutt didn’t seem to pay attention to it and continued laughing. With the monster dead, the bull creatures all looked up to the orc. Only then did Mutt seem to realize what happened too, and his smile immediately faded.

The beasts began to give chase once more. “Hahaha! What an imbecile!” William cackled, as he hopped back on Kiru’s shoulder.

“Is he?” Zhaden asked as he watched what was happening.

“Yes.” The psion answered Zhaden’s question.

In his distress to try and get away from the creatures, Mutt was leading them towards the party! “Grab our stuff, now!” He shouted. Zhaden ran around the flames to quickly stuff whatever he could into their bags of holding while Kiru back towards where Brunhilda had went off to.

She had come back up with her shield just as he made it to the ledge, “What’s all the fussing for? Did ye think I couldn’t find my own shields?”

Kiru shook his head, “No, worse!” He pointed behind him. While the flames had grown stronger, the literal stampede coming their way was unable to be ignored.

“By my goddess’s purple hair!” she exclaimed, and they began running away. Kiru had been wrong in his previous assessment. There weren’t a dozen of the beasts, there had to be at least a hundred of the creaturs angrily stampeding in their direction. Fortunately, Mutt had gained some ground on the pursuers by running on all fours. He made it to the dwarf and psion the same time Zhaden did. Unlike the drakonid, the orc didn’t stop moving.

“Keep running!” Mutt said in a desperate panic as he moved past them, continuing along the river’s edge. Trusting that the orc native knew best, and not wanting to test it out against a stampede of angry beasts, Kiru followed after Mutt. The rest of the party appeared to be of the same mindset because they almost instantly joined in the running.. They ran with all their might, but they couldn’t keep this pace up for long.

Brunhilda had undergone a risky procedure to save her life when she had been close to dying back at the academy. Her blood had been transmuted to trollblood, and it mutated her body some as well. She had gained an increased regeneration rate, purple hair, and longer arms. It did not however, it didn’t elongate the dwarf’s legs. So, while her changes were impressive, her speed hadn’t improved at all..

The paladin knew it too, so that’s why she spoke up, “Where we be going, Mutt? Shouldn’t we try and cross the river?” The river beside them was slow moving but was deep and wide.

“We’re going downstream, Brunhilda. The river’s too slow to lose the minotaurs up here,” Mutt shouted back over his shoulder.

The bull creatures, apparently called minotaurs, were slowly but surely gaining ground on the party. They hadn't been deterred by the fast-growing flames at all, just running through it. They trampled over the burning grass with ease and put out the likely would be wildfire in moments. Their eyes glistening with bloodlust as their anger pushed them forward. Kiru’s ears were filled with the rumbling from their hooves. He looked over to realize it wasn’t just the beasts’ feet, it was the river as well. As they continued running alongside the water, the river grew faster and faster, becoming louder as it began to more violently rush along.

“Uh, Mutt, how are we going to cross that? It now a rushing rapids!” Kiru asked.

“Simple, Boss. There’s a bridge up ahead.”

Kiru looked to see that there was indeed a rickety bridge over the river up ahead. Given different circumstances, he would never had considered this a legitimate option for his friends. With his ability to use Telekinesis to levitate himself, he should be fine, but they didn’t have that luxury. Situations do change though, and Kiru was now considering the bridge to be their best chance. That option was quickly taken away from them though. Because as they neared, Kiru saw a surprisingly familiar frog on top of a rock by the bridge’s edge. It seemed to narrow its eyes and glare spitefully at the paladin. Then, while still looking at Brunhilda, it opened its mouth and launched its tongue against one of the support ropes like a whip.

Normally, that would be of very little consequence, but of course, the frogs in Imakandi had a degree of danger that no other had. Mutt had told them during their travels that the small amphibians in this land had a sharp spike on the edge of their tongues, allowing them to impale their prey, or in this case, cut a rope. The rope thinned, frayed, then broke with an audible snap. No longer fully supported, the bridge groaned loudly before completely collapsing into and being swept away by the rushing river. What had Brunhilda done to that frog to make it so mad?! Note to self: Never use a frog to practice stealth! Kiru thought.

“Okay, change of plan!” Mutt said with a mix of exasperation and excitment as he made a sudden hard turn. He continued running but now at an angle leading directly to the river. “We jump.”

“We jump?” The others said in unison.

“Yes, we jump.” This time, he pointed ahead of them. There was an abrupt end to the river, and the noise of crashing water up ahead being louder than ever. It was a waterfall!

“You can’t be serious!” William barked.

“You’ve never dealt with minotaurs, have you?” Mutt asked.Those things won’t stop until either we’re dead or they lose sight of us, little guy!” Mutt shouted back, frustration evident despite his pleasant nature.

Deciding having William out was one thing too many to deal with, Kiru recalled his familiar back into his core. All four members of Pandemonium took an abrupt stop when they’d made it to the waterfall’s edge. They turned to see the enraged creatures just a hundred feet away and closing. The blind orc stood in front of his allies, between them and the beasts, his clawed hands spread out wide as if to protect them.

“You sure about this, Mutt?” Kiru asked.

“Aye, are ye? This be more cockamamie than some of Kiru’s plans,” Brunhilda said.

Though he wasn’t looking at the psion, the orc grinned. “Yep.” He said, then turned and tackled his three friends over the cliffside and into the waters below.