Drew grabbed the mace wielding arm with one hand to stop it from ending him right there. It supported itself with the other arm, eclipsing his downed body with its overwhelming size. The one hand proved far too weak to stop the blow from coming down, only deflecting it away from his head.

He attempted to raise his other arm up, but failed in excruciating pain.

Despite the jarring injury, he tried with all his might to stay awake and fight. Sapphire fired at the monster several times while they fought for control of the grappling match.

The damage had racked up on the monster's skull but he was not capable of doing the final crushing blow and Sapphire did not have a line of sight on any weak point.

The monster picked up its taloned hand from the ground and shoved its sharp tips into hit side ribs. The puncture sent lights to Drew’s vision and he struggled to breath with all of the new and old damage.

It fell forward once Drew could no longer keep its mace from crashing down. Its arms came up to stop its fall, leaving a bleeding and nearly unconscious Drew blinking the drowsiness from his eyes.

His extremities felt cold, his breaths were painful, and his arm refused to budge. The overhead light showed the menacing monster's silhouette above him, feet away.

His imminent death was inching closer. It raised its club filled hand in a motion to end his life.

A small shadow came pummeling into the monster’s skull from the top and out the side with one large swipe.

Drew lost consciousness as the large form landed on him.

-

Light hit his eyelids and stirred his mind awake. He rolled over to his side and groaned in pain. His side aches with each breath he took while his arm throbbed with each movement. Once he remembered what he passed out under, he startled upwards.

The dungeon was gone, the skeleton was gone, and the dimly lit room was no more.

He was staring out over the lake he called base camp. Drew looked to his sides and saw his creature companions. Sapphire slept on a pile of leather armor while Nurgle was sitting to his side, staring up at him.

He looked unsure of what to do now that his master was awake.

“Hey buddy, what happened in there? I kinda passed out.” The uncertain look stayed plastered on the cyclops’ face. ”Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, I’m alive, aren’t I? Ha.”

The light speech caused his plushy follower to stir from her sleep. She rubbed her button eyes with the parasitic trunk and hobbled over to her master.

“Good morning master. I'm glad to see you up and moving after that grievous wound. Thankfully Nurgle was able to drag you to the teleportation circle.”

The events of the previous day slowly returned to him as he gazed back to the dungeon. The fighting and skirmishes nearly ended him. He was beaten and shattered near to the point of death.

“How are we….” Drew trailed off thinking about the events

“Alive? Well Nurgle here came over and sank his weapons into the skeletons skull while you grappled with it. It was quite the valiant sight to see him dashing over to save his master.”

The shadows he had seen had been his cleaver and ax head destroying the boss moments before his nearly guaranteed death.

“That thing gored me to pieces. I'm surprised I didn't bleed to death. I could feel its claws digging into my body.” A shiver found its way into Drew’s spine at the thought.

“Yes, it was very horrific looking. I immediately started to heal you after the skeleton finally disintegrated. It's all thanks to me that you are still alive and kicking today. Oh, and I guess Nurgle was indispensable as well.” The plushy stuck her chest out in pride.

Drew patted the elephant's head and glanced at his cyclops friend. He looked nervous to come forward. The memories of his time alone in the jungle were still there, shining doubt on his self worth.

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“You saved me Nurgle, thank you. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.” He patted the small creature's head and watched as Nurgle preened under his touch.

He pulled away and looked out over the lake once again. The quiet air lasted for minutes before anyone decided to do something.

Unexpectedly, Nurgle slapped his sides to get everyone’s attention and pointed to the dungeon once they looked over.

“I’m glad you want to run it again, but I don't think I can do it. I am so sore from getting battered yesterday. We can go tomorrow though, I just want t rest and enjoy the spoils of the last few days.” Drew motioned towards the fruit and meat that laid to their side.

Nurgle looked somewhat dejected but gave up rather quickly compared to his past stubborn self. He walked over to the meat and started to stuff himself.

Drew reached over and felt for the most ripe fruit they had. The juice slid down the sides of his mouth and he leaned his head back in pleasure. The first hint of sugar since they arrived felt heavenly to his desperate taste buds.

He glanced over to the two summoned creatures and watched them eat. Sapphire shredded flesh from bone with incredible ease. The thoughts of the monkey fight came back to him. The little shit looked like a swarm of land piranhas found him after its fight with her.

His summons felt so personal and real, he couldn't help but feel closer to them than he thought was possible for nonhumans.

It felt deeper than his love for his cat had. IT might have been the fact that they had both saved him from certain death multiple times. He didn’t know, but he was happy to have them.

“Master, I would like to take Nurgle and head down to the pond down below. We wouldn't travel beyond the bank's edge and would remain within sight of the cliffside.”

“No way. I don’t want anyone going anywhere without everyone else present. It’s too dangerous.” Drew vehemently denied the request. It was a recipe for disaster.

“Master, you are momentarily incapacitated. I believe there is not a single creature down there that will be able to kill us that wouldn’t also do so if you were there to help. Please master.” Sapphire stared up at her monster with her puppy dog eyes. Drew looked back between the pond and the plushy.

“Fine, but if there is anything that looks even remotely dangerous, I want you to call for me and begin retreating.” He acquiesced and let the pair travel down the path.

Now that he was not carrying them to their destination, they moved at a snail's pace. They stumbled their way to the pond edge and looked up to Drew on the cliff.

Nurgle waved up at him and seemed excited at being allowed to explore once again.

They moved along the shoreline and looked for something to pick a fight with. The only animals in sight were a small group of the frogs they had fought before and the altercation lasted only a few minutes from start to end.

Sapphire opened up the combat with a powerful shot to the largest frog's head that blasted half of its torso away in the process.

Nurgle took the chance to rush in and mutilate the smaller creatures. A barrage of ax chops minced and finely ground one of the remaining frogs to pieces. The final frog went to flee after seeing its companions' swift deaths but failed to do so in time to avoid Sapphire's next attack.

The muscular legs of the frog began launching it forward when the plushy blew one of them clean off the body. The lopsided jump flung it awkwardly into the air and caused it to land on its back.

It attempted to turn itself over to avoid incoming death but failed to do so in time. Nurgle reached the flailing frog and bisected the monster with one swing of his cleaver.

+30 xp for defeating Sqwertul toads [Summon small monster] has inherited the xp in your place. 340/6400 xp

After viewing their first fight, Drew leaned back from the edge. He might have been too worried about them. He was just too scared to lose them now that he was finally reunited.

He reclined against the stone and began learning how to sew.

The process came to him slower than even fighting did. Frustration and pain was not a good combination for learning and it turned out that sewing offered both of them.

Needle pricks from misplaced fingers and broken thread spoiled any good mood he had cultivated.

+70 xp for defeating Shell Stilter [Summon small monster] has inherited the xp in your place. 410/6400 xp

His companions were hard at work down below and were hopefully enjoying themselves now that they could let loose without having to cover for him. After checking on them one more time, he resigned himself to his work.

Slowly, more and more holes were patched and sewn shut on his overalls. Hours ticked by as he went through the motions. He got good enough at repairing his clothes that his finger had finally stopped bleeding from all of the pin pricks.

He changed outfits and began repairing his bloody coveralls. The tears and punctures in the cloth spoke volumes of the violence they had seen. The fabric was stiff with dry blood and it made the repairs surprisingly easy.

The sun finally began setting when Sapphire finally shouted for her master. The startled shout was hard to understand over the sound of the waterfall, but the message was clear.

They were in danger.