Rays of moonlight danced between the leaves of the woodland canopy, leaving a faint shimmer of blue light as Subi shot through the trees. The echoes of snapped twigs and crushed leaves lingered in the distance, as though he was the only one within the forest. With each foggy pant Subi continued on. The trees whooshed by in a blur as he strode like a shining beacon through the dark woods.
A streak of pain shot across his face as the wear and tear of running hacked at his side like an axe.
"No time to take a breather… I am that kids only hope”
A dark voice came from deep in his mind “Why are you helping them, wouldn’t it be better if you left him to his own fate, it is his burden to bear after all”
Subi grit his teeth as his paws continued to gallop.
“It is true, it is his burden, and my help may come to nothing, but it is what I have chosen to do anyway”
…
Clive squirmed in his sleep as rays of yellow and blue light swirled against the ceiling. Sweat beaded upon his brow, and in the glow from a nearby candle sat the silhouette of the Maestro. His gaze was focused on the orb, looking at it as though he were staring into a fire.
He muttered under his breath and scribed down each of the glyps as they appeared into a notebook.
“Kula, Bara, Nasha...”
“Kula is expansive, Bara restrictive, Nasha a forceful push... I remember this is the spell sequence for fracturing ice, but it is missing the identifier... Strange, what is it trying to shatter?”
He placed a small rag on the bedside table, and unwrapped it to reveal all manner of small magical tools. In between the rows of strange implements was a simple scalpel with the Maestro gripped in his hand. The blade shimmered with a faint purple magic aura for a moment.
"Esha, Tasha"
"Erasure of pain..."
He drew the knife along the skin closest to the orb, and picked up a small crystal from the toolkit to slide into the incision. As the crystal touched the orb it lit up with sigils, and sent each of the glyphs to a paired crystal still in the toolkit.
"Toreh, Iria"
"Bring back what was..."
As the Maestro placed the scalpel back in the toolkit the wound housing the small tracking crystal sealed up as though Clive's hand had never been cut.
The Maestro picked up the paired crystal and observed it for a moment, checking that it was giving the same glyphs as the orb in Clive's hand, and with a flick of his hand he pulled out a book with a crystal socket. He carefully slid the crystal into the slot and watched as each of the glyphs from the orb were written across its pages.
"Let's just hope I can figure this one out..."
…
Baz nussled into Cassandra’s neck, breathing in the honey sweet fragrance natural to her skin. She lifted her delicate hand and settled it on his chest before whispering into his ear, “Not tonight… The faces of the dead still linger in my mind”.
“It is that bad?”
“Mhm... Wagons full of them, and thousands more stricken with terrible fever”
“That's horrible”
“The worst part is the children… One came in clung onto her dead mother... She might have lived had she let go, but that isn't what scared children do... It is monstrous… I just can’t”
“There there”, Baz said as he wrapped his arms around her.
…
Rem stared up at the ceiling as Cat lay on the bed beside her.
“What are the chances of a dungeon opening up at the start of school, and a mirror interfering with the grimoire ceremony one after the other?” Cat said while looking at her perfectly manicured fingernails.
"Mhm" Rem replied in a daze.
“Have you felt it? An oppressive energy in the air, like we are being watched or something”
Rem mumbled inaudibly, “What was that Rem?”
Rem turned onto her side and closed her eyes.
“Oh right, night Rem” Cat said as turning over to close her eyes as well.
…
Subi scrambled up winding paths along a steep incline, darting between rocky outcrops. His paws pattered against rock and soil until the forest dropped away. At the top of the mountain he sniffed into the air as it swirled up from the valleys below. His shape cut into the moonlight as blue shimmers cast off the edges of his fur.
He shifted his ears, hearing for every echo in the valleys below. The wind blew against his soft bluish grey coat, a serene sight in the middle of a chaotic time. He closed his eyes and felt the breeze upon his skin.
A shadowy voice spoke in the back of his mind similar to the voice within the Abolat crystals, “It's impossible, you won’t find any this way, even with that nose of yours”.
Subi growled with a subtle tenderness in his voice, “then I will head to the next mountain top and the next”. He stuck out his chest as though his heart called out into the valleys below.
His ear twitched as he locked onto a sound far into the valleys below.
“No, leave my mommy alone!”
“Take the girl”
“No not my daughter please I’ll give you anything, I won’t fight, just let her go”
“Like you have a choice, haha!”
Subi, slipped down from the mountain top and merged with the shadows as he sped through the trees.
“Ahahaha! Look at her, so pathetic, she's so scared she doesn’t even know what to do!”
“Mommy! Nooooo!”
“Stop struggling dammit, you wouldn’t want me to hurt your precious daughter would you?”
A huff of breath echoed through the woods, followed by quick thudding, and then a vicious snarl as Subi’s jaws flashed white. His jaws locked onto the man holding the little girl with a crunch and tossed him to the side. The man landed by the side of the road like a rag doll shredded by Subi's enormous fangs. Subi leapt over the child and spun towards the man as he laughed and cackled on top of the mother.
"Grrr"
The snarl of his lips revealled his bloodied fangs, and the man shook in terror as he turned his head to see a ten foot tall behemoth before him with head lowered and ready to attack.
Subi pounced forwards knocking the man off the mother and pinned him to the ground under his paw. Sandwiching him under the force of his weight he jolted his weight into the mans gut causing him to spit blood.
“M-monster! It’s a monster!” The last of the three men yelled before running for his life down the road.
Subi turned and flicked his tail. His eyes set upon the man. He growled as he considered how easy it would be to run him down. He lifted his paw off the man under him and circled around to check on the mother and her child.
The mother quickly scrambled to her feet and ran over to her girl and clutched her in her arms
"Stay back" she yelped.
“No mommy, you are wrong, he saved us" the daughter said with a gentle push of her hands.
"Oh god please save us" the mother continued, as she held tightly to her little girl.
"Mom, it's okay, he saved us”.
The mother, stood up and gazed back at Subi as she held her daugher across her chest. Blood dripped from Subi's fangs causing the woman's eyes to shoot wide open. She turned and shot off as fast her feet could carry her
Subi dropped his head and sniffed at the man under his paw. He was dead. He looked at the man he had tossed further up the road, who was groaning and panting heavily. As he approached close he could see where his own teeth had torn holes in the man’s chest and neck. The man spluttered and choked. Subi sniffed at him remorsefully as the man's rapid breaths came to a stop, and the sound of his beating heart fell silent.
Subi's enormous slihouette morphed down into toddler size. He spat out the blood in his mouth with disgust, coughing and spluttering between breaths, “You assholes…”.
“You made me have to sprint down like lightning”, he said before he cocked his head back and laughed.
He stared down at his hand, “What kind of creature did you turn me into Goddess?”.
“I would have prefered you just made a world without so many douche bags in it… But beggars can't be choosers I guess?”.
He dusted himself off and gazed across the way to even more mountain peaks. “Well guess I’m off to the next one”.
With a quick snap he transformed back into the wolf and shot off into the trees.
...
“Charlotte my dear, what happened to you two? You look a mess, are you alright”
“Daddy there were these bad men, they attacked mommy and me, but then this wolf came along almost as big as the house and dragged them away. But it turned out he wasn’t just a wolf he was a boy too. And then he ran back into the forest”
“What happened? Were you two attacked! What about the guards I assigned to you from the royal hall?”
“They were the ones who attacked us” Charlotte screamed before running off to her room. The father stood their shell shocked and slumped down into a chair. He pet his daughter’s head “I never should have let you guys travel alone, I will go into the royal hall tomorrow and give them a piece of my mind”.
The girl looked pensive. “What is it darling?”
“Daddy, can we get a puppy?”
“W-wait, what, where is this coming from?”
“It could protect me and mommy”
“Uh, sorry darling now isn’t really the time, uh let me get you to bed. I will tell you a story okay sweet heart”
“Yay, can you tell me one with a wolf in it?”
“Sure, I think I remember one”
He set her down into her bed and pulled up the covers before pulling up a seat. The little girl looked on with excitement beaming from her eyes as her father coughed a little to warm up his story teller's voice.
“There is a legend of two great wolves that wage war against each other in an eternal battle. There is a wolf of darkness and fear, with fur as red as hot coals, fuelled by the hatred of mankind. All our anger, all our distrust, loneliness, and willingness to betray others. And there is a wolf of courage and light, with hair as blue as a tranquil lagoon, and this wolf embodies the virtue of our souls, kindness, generosity, and unconditional love. The red wolf fights for the end of the world and its suffering, while the blue wolf fights for hope and justice so that the world may improve. They battle on a hilltop for the fate of the world, and only one can win”
“Oh no... Which one will win?”
“The one we feed” he replied with a warm smile.
“The bad wolf doesn’t deserve any food anyway”
“Yes you are right dear I suppose it doesn’t”, he said as he tucked in her blankets, “Night night, I love you”.
“Love you papa”
... The next morning...
“Stay in bed today honey," the father said as he smoothed his hand over his wife's shoulder, "I will meet with the minister at the royal hall and sort this out. Nothing like that will ever happen again I swear it”
Charlotte rolled over in the sheets, too traumatised by last nights events to respond.
“Julia darling, come with Papa, we are going to see the minister today”
Julia's eyes lit up as her father entered the room, but at the mention of the minister she pulled a face.
“Oh don’t be like that, I will get you something fun if you are a good girl today okay”
“A puppy!”
“Uh, um, well, no… But maybe a nice toy or some candy at the market”
…
“Jim! How are you doing? How did yesterdays meeting go, well I hope?”
“Not so well at all I fear, I shall tell you the details later however as I have a pressing matter to bring up with the minister”
“The minister? What about?”
“The mercenaries from the royal hall sent to escort my Charlotte instead decided to assault her. It was only by a spot of luck that a wild animal attacked at the same time allowing them to get away”
“Oh my, that is terrible utterly terrible, how is she?”
“She is resting in bed for today, the shock was terribly hard on her”
“I see, I will go get the minister right away then”
“Obliged”
Julia looked up at Jim with a puzzled expression “Why do you talk funny whenever we are here?”
“Ah dear that is just papa's way of casting a spell on businessmen so they do what we want, being polite goes a long way here in the capital”
“Jim, this way, the minister will see you now”
The minister could be heard yelling from the corridor, as the door cracked open Jim spied that the minister had an active two way crystal on his desk humming with light.
“I don’t care if you don’t have any volunteers, conscript a few mercenaries already and force them to go. We can’t have dungeon entrances unmanned near the capital”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The minister peered through his puffy red cheeks with his beady little eyes to spot Jim at the door. What little hair he had was on each side of his head and whispy white.
“Ah Jim, what can I do for you, I hear your Charlotte had a spot of trouble last night, is that right?”
“More than a spot of it I would say minister”
“Go on...”
“As you know I commissioned to the hall for protection of my Charlotte, yet to my surprise upon her return, these men were intent on absconding with my Julia”
“Terrible!”
“The irony of it all, was that if not for the savage beasts of the wilderness, my Charlotte would not have returned”
“So what is it you would like me to do?”
“All but one of the men were slain by the beast, it is my proposition that you imprison the third and impose a sanction upon those responsible for the poor selection of guards at the hall, I expect that the consequences be known far and wide and background checks be enforced in the halls”
“Hrmm, I shall draft up a warrant and a proposals then, give me a moment and then just hand it to my secretary on the way out, he shall see to it that it is done”.
The minister grumbled and murmured as he scribbled on parchment with his quill “Therefore, by the power invested in me as mminister, I hold accountable all management involved as example and testament to my resolve on the matter” he then scribbled his signature and grabbed a metal stamp from an inkpad and slammed it down.
“Very good very good, here you go Jim, I do hope this resolves matters, utterly horrid what your Charlotte must have been through at the hand of all matter of beasts. I shall also alert the guard to be on the lookout for wolves too”
“Thank you minister”, Jim said as he took the letter.
As the door to the Minister's office closed the cheeks of the shortly before rosy man, sunk low.
“Get me Garad”
The crystal's energy spun and swirled until the silhouette of a man appeared within.
“Minister, such an unexpected honor to receive your call”
“Cut the crap Garad! You assured me those men would have retrieved the girl by now. Are your men so useless that they cannot handle a single monster at the side of the road!”
“Shall I send another group after them?”
“No no, I must look for another opportunity now. Any further provocation will just make the inquisitor suspicious. We should start plan B instead”
“Will planting evidence be enough do you think”
“I have made sure of it" he said with a smirk. "Put competent men on the job this time will you? We can’t have him scurrying about freely investigating the Chancellor now can we”
“It will be done minister”
As the crystal’s light dimmed the minister held his head in his hands, “Ugh this is turning into a nightmare, damn that man”
…
The Maestro turned towards a knock on the door, “Come in”
Rem turned the knob and peeked into the room shyly, “How is he?”
“He is awake”
“Uh, hey Clive how are you doing?”
“I'm okay I guess, had a few nightmares though, but nothing too scary”
“A nightmare?”
“Yeah, I was in a pit that kept sinking lower and lower until I couldn’t any longer see the light at the top… Kind of silly isn't it?”
“Not at all, I think it explains how you must feel”
“Yeah...”
“So what do you plan to do today?”
“I guess I will try to study, but I don’t really have a grimoire, haha” he replied while scratching the back of his head.
“We can use mine!” Rem said as she tapped a dusty book attached to a holster on her waist.
“Whoa, how did yours get so old and dusty?”
Rem’s tone became unnervingly steady, “That is just how it came”
"Oh, right, of course" Clive replied as Rem sat down on the bed beside him.
The Maestro smirked at the sight.
“You two get to studying, I will stay close by just in case anything happens, so feel free to ask me any questions if anything comes up” he said as he pawed through his notebook.
"Sure!" Rem replied with a gleam in her eyes.
…
Subi stood at the top of yet another mountain top, this time with the sun behind his back. He sniffed the breeze as it swept up from the valleys below.
"Abolat crystals"
He could smell them just beyond the ridge ahead.
The valley below was blanketed in a thick fog, but there was little doubt that somewhere within it was a dungeon.
He sighed with relief, his strategy to find dungeons by nose and geography alone had finally yielded a result.
He trotted down into the valley and his way through the fog. He paused several hundred paces out from the dungeon entrance and cirled around to get a better vantage on the site. Between clouds of fog, he could see several guards guarding a palisade. They had dug a pit around the cave entrance, and then raised the height further with a raised log platform so they could ambush any creature that dared make its way out. Subi glanced over to the side, where he saw a winch to a drawbridge that could be lowered to enter the dungeon.
He pricked up his ears and listened for conversation between the guards.
“We usually have a dozen men at these sites, now only half that?”
“You heard the general, there have just been a lot more dungeons opening up than usual, so naturally we are going to be spread thin"
"We wouldn't be spread thin if the chancellor didn't have half the army at the borders of Roda. Why is that man so hungry for a war, I don't get it”
"Who knows what goes on in his head"
“It just isn’t right to be undermanned like this, I’ve heard the stories of what can come out of these. Yeah if it is just critters and animals that come out we are fine. But magical beings? Swarms? Armies of goblinoids? If that happens I’m out of here, I’m not getting paid enough for this crap”
“Wait, what is that?”
“What is what?”
“Oh, I swear I heard something”
“Stop messing around”
“Haha, maybe it is an army of goblins!”
“Shuut uuup… I’m just sayin that thing is creepy is all. And how are we supposed to do our job in this fog”
“Yeah, the fog doesn’t make it easy does it, hard to get line of sight on anything beyond the trees, we could be surrounded for all we know”
“Yeah, it is messed up”
Subi circled around to the side looking for the best route.
"Hrmm, I could easily rush past them, but they might prevent me getting back out..."
"I need a plan that could pacify the guards, leave the bridge down, and allow me to get out. If only I was a bit older in human form, I could talk to the guards"
“I just need the guards to keep the bridge down somehow and not attack me as I come out…”
Subi’s lips curled in frustration, “How?”
As he roamed back and forth in though his eyes fixated on some tents just off from the pallisade walls the guards were manning.
“Wait a second, what if they have a map showing where the other dungeons are?”
Subi sniffed the scent of each of the guards to try to pick up more information. The cowardly guard that spoke of running off if there was any trouble had a smell of grime and muck on him like in the slums of a city. The guard that was talking to him smelled of potatoes and tilled soil, and was likely from a farm on the outskirts. Further away was an archer, his scent was of a woman’s perfume, likely his wife’s. Next to the archer was an engineer looking at the battlements and inspecting traps used to safeguard the entrance, he smelled of silk and parchment, likely wealthier than the others. Then the other two men on the other side of the palisade, they smelled the same, brothers…
“So, two brothers, a wealthy engineer, a husband, a man from the slums, and a farmer. I guess the engineer would have to carry a map on him"
Subi circled around the camp to the engineers tent and transformed down to a child to peek inside. He glanced around and spotted a small desk on the far side with parchment and ink. Subi waddled his way over and hopped up on a stool to rifle through the documents.
“Aha, this will do”
Subi picked up a quill from the table, dipped it in the inkpot, and with a few quick motions forged alterations to the map.
"Uh man, cover me, I gotta piss" one of the guards said as he hopped off the pallisade wall.
Spreading his stance in front of a tree he came to a stop and buttoned his pants back up.
“Huh, what is this?" he said as he lifted up a piece of parchment seemingly blown into the trees by the wind
"A map? Wait what is this X, and there are parts to the dungeon on here we weren’t told about? Wait what does this say here? Bah, its things like this that make me wish I could read. Sam will know though”
The man rolled the piece of paper up and shoved it into his back pocket as he finished relieving himself and came back to the farmer guard.
“Hey I found this? Can you tell me what it says?”
The man that smelled of potatoes squinted his eyes and pulled the map back and forth, “Uhh?”
“What is it? Can’t you read either?”
“I’m a from the outskirts what do you expect? Try the captain?”
“Bah, forget the captain he always has a stick up his ass, let's ask the brothers”
“Hey guys, what does this say?”
“It says something about a treasure”
“No way! Its a treasure map”
“Yeah but look here, it is just past where any of our patrols have managed to reach, and that was back when we had a garrison here, no way we could make it in that deep now”
“Look, heres the thing, we all know this job is a bust anyway right? If we could get the treasure maybe we wouldn’t need to stay here and we could just go home, let others come guard this dump. C’mon guys?”
“I dunno, maybe we should ask the captain”
“Hrmm, for now only we know about it, knowing him he would try to take it all for himself”
“Yeah that is true. But what about Eric, he’s damn good in a fight and could use a split of the cash”
“Yeah I agree let’s tell him too”
“Lets all make up an excuse to go on a patrol and insist on going in together”
“Okay, but it has to be something the Cap would believe”
“Hey isn’t he scared shitless of chitterlings? What if we said we saw one and wanted to make sure they weren’t scoping out our defenses”
“Yeah that'd work”
The Captain looked over at all the men huddled together “What are you guys doing? Back to your posts!”
“Ah, Cap, Sam says he saw some chitterlings checking out the pallisade”
“What?! Where?”
“Just down there a minute ago, looked like it was trying to figure us out”
“You guys have to be joking, I was assured there were strictly no sign of chitterlings inside when the garrison left”
“Maybe we should go in and check it out? Make sure it isn’t plotting anything?”
“What do you say Eric? Wanna join us on a quick patrol to see if we can find the chitterling?”
“Hard pass” the archer said without even a second thought.
“Come on Eric we can’t leave it in there, you know what they can do given time, but they are perfectly manageable if you catch them early”
“Yeah yeah… If we must I guess” Eric replied before walking over and muttering under his breath.
“Come on guys no use standing round, lets go” Eric said as he kicked out the winch for the drawbridge.
Subi peered out from behind a tree.
"Chitterlings? I think I have heard of them before... Aren't they thin grey skinned goblinoid creatures? Given the name chitterlings because they are able to speak to each other with chittering sounds"
He had heard before that they were not dangerous on their own if caught by suprise but given enough time they could devise effective plans and traps.
"Oh right, chitterlings are the one's known for paralysing their targets with blow darts and then peeling the skin off of their victims faces with sharp spoon like teeth"
"Well, fortunately they are just talking shit, now I just have to sneak my way in"
Eric took the lead as they entered the first cavernous room of the dungeon. He lit a torch and cast it ahead of him. Ash from burned whiproot was scattered all over the rocky floor. He glanced around in the dim light to see a few slimes reflecting the torch light on the walls.
He nodded towards them to alert the men.
He raised his hand to stop everyone moving forward and listened to the sounds of cavern rats moving just beyond the torchlight. He signalled to two of the guards to fan out, and light up more of the cave. The brothers both lit torches and spread out along the cavern's outer wall. Eric reached into a satchel on his waist and pulled out a pair of goggles and strapped them to his head. He twirled an arrow from his quiver and effortlessly nocked it to the bow and drew back the string. His breathing was slow and steady.
FWET
He loosed the arrow as if he was blowing out a candle flame then twirled the next arrow onto his string within a split second.
FWET FWET FWET FWET FWET
Each arrow struck its target clean within the dark, but through his goggles Eric could see the rats clearly, each one shot dead.
He waved to the farmer guard and the guard from the slums to follow the brothers and tossed them a bag of powder to deal with the slimes.
They pinched a wad of powder between their finger tips and sprayed it against the slimes clung to the walls. It did nothing at first, until they drew their torches closer, causing the slimes to bubble and burst into a pool of inert liquid on the floor.
Subi tiptoed along behind them, and hid behind a boulder. He watched on as the brothers and other two guards sprinkled powder onto the remaining slimes and torched them.
“A powder? Is it some kind of chemical reaction? From what I remember from chemistry class back in school sodium and potassium explode when they make contact with water, I wonder if it is something like that?”.
He stared at the man with the bow for a moment before scurrying his way over to a pillar in the middle of the cavern. His feet squished down on large piles of ash as he went.
“It must be procedure when securing a dungeon to torch the first room and kill any of the plantlife. Smart, clearing a route of escape”.
The guard from the slum picked up one of the rats by the arrow skewered through its chest, “How do you shoot so well in the dark Eric, even with those goggles I can't see shit”.
“I’d not hang onto that if I were you, they might be small but they are full of disease”
The guard leaped back and tossed the rat across the room, “Ah fuck!”
Eric turned to head deeper into the dungeons cave system, “Everyone be quiet and stay here, I going to scout ahead”.
He squatted down low and stepped using his heels first, his bow half drawn just below shoulder height as he entered into a dark tunnel.
FWET
A strange duck like creature thudded down on the floor. With arms instead of wings and five feet tall it was more creepy than threatening, like an overgrown goose without a beak. He quickly stood to his feet, twirled an arrow to his bowstring and shot it again.
FWET
SHWIP
He drew a dagger and stabbed it up through its jaw, then wiped the blood off on his boot and holstered it back on his ankle. He twirled out another arrow and half cocked the bow just under his shoulder line and moved steadily forwards.
The guard from the slums whispered to the brothers “Where did he learn how to do that?”
“He’s from the eagle squadron. They’ve been sent out to the dungeons to help make up for lack of numbers”
“Whoa, no way, I didn’t know he was eagle squadron, I just figured he was chummy with the Captain”
“More like the Captain was hanging around him because its the safest place to stand in the camp”
Subi’s ears twitched as he listened in.
“Eagle squadron, and here I was thinking I'd be fine without any no whip roots … I can’t let him get between me and the exit at any point. I'll also have to keep aware of cover just in case”
Eric signalled to the others with a quick flick of his fingers and had them follow him into the second cavern.
In the second room more of the beakless goose creatures waddled about in the dark, moaning and making wheezing sounds. Eric nodded at the guards and pointed to each guard for them to take a position behind different piles of rocks.
He snuck from rock to rock, timing his motions in order to get to a better position to ambush them from, and then drew his bow.
FWET FWET
Two of the creatures fell lifeless to the ground in an instant. Eric unsheathed a short sword from his side and sliced through the neck of the creature closest to him. The other guards ran out with blades drawn and swung wildly at the remaining creatures. The farmer guard lifted his shield as one of the creatures head smashed into him with a peck.
"Yah!" the guard from the slums screamed as he sliced through its neck.
His eyes were wide with adrenaline and fear as he stood over the creature, “Crap, I can’t believe I took it down”
FWET FWET FWET
The remaining creatures fell to the floor with arrows in their backs.
“Yeah! Did you see that Eric? I got one!”
“Shhh, stay quiet!” Eric replied sharply before signalling to the guards to form a line behind him. He twirled an arrow and nocked his bow, half cocking the string he continued forwards with the bow held just below his shoulder line.
Subi scurried from rock to rock like a two foot tall ninja, springing from place to place as the others entered the main chamber, where Subi had marked the "treasure".
Eric pulled off his googles as the light of Garlshroom and Rawtfungi lit up the massive underground forest ahead.
"Everybody be on your toes, the chitterling must have covered its tracks" Eric cautioned.
“Yeah, about that..." the guard from the slums said as scratching his temple, "We found a treasure map outside, the place it is buried should be just up ahead. Let's forget about the chitterling thing and just split the treasure”
“If there is treasure you are joking if you think I am going to share it with you after I did all the work getting down here”
“Come on Eric, we have to be united in this, if any of us are short changed, well surely the Captain will end up knowing about it and then the treasure is as good as gone”
“Or... Maybe I stick this dagger in your eye?” Eric replied while tapping his ankle with the end of his bow.
The slums guard reached back with his hand and tapped the brothers, “C’mon guys help me out here”
“He’s right, he found the map and shared the idea with us, we know you need the money too, its fair”
“Grrr, alright...” Eric replied, “So wait? Did you see chitterlings or not?”
“No no, we didn’t see any it was just to throw the Captain off the scent”
Eric seemed to visibly relax a little as he heard the news, “Good, chitterlings are dangerous little bastards”
He let out a satisfied smirk and then scanned ahead for a way through the forest and fields, “There is long grass ahead, we should use it for cover”
Subi watched on as the guards disappeared into the long grass, and jogged off into the forest, before swelling to his towering wolf form.
He sniffed the air, “Its just over the ravine, I need to be quick and get it before the others get back”