Slimantha rolled onto her left side, a small moan slipping through her lips. Her lovely brown eyes flitted open at the sound of a crash. She sat up and then blinked. She looked to her right and then to her left. Morning light filtered in through the tent’s yellow fabric. Neither Samuel nor Rose were in the tent. She sat alone.

She yawned, stretching her arms. Another crash sounded, and the whole tent shook. She blinked and lowered her arms. Her brown eyes went to the tent’s exit. She blinked again. Just what was going on out there? Yet another crash shook the tent. She pouted and then crawled to the tent’s exit. She poked her head through the flaps.

She blinked and then blinked again. Her brown eyes were on something, something big and made of gray bricks. It was a golem, a ruins guardian perhaps. She watched as the big brick creature drew one of its four arms away from a fresh crater in the gray brick floor. She blinked again and then glanced to Samuel, who stood beside the fresh crater. Samuel’s sword glinted in his right hand, his blue eyes on the huge golem. Slimantha’s brown eyes then went to Rose, whose pink eyes were on Samuel. “I’m going back to sleep,” Slimantha said, yawning afterwards. Samuel, Rose, and even the ruins guardian all turned to Slimantha.

Slimantha blinked yet again. Her brown eyes then went to the ruins guardian’s face. She had to admit its face was kind of cute in a simplistic kind of way. Well, its face was pretty much just an engraving of a smiley face, definitely a simple kind of face. Actually, the cutesy face looked somewhat out of place on the four-armed four-legged ruins guardian.

“This really isn’t the time to be sleeping,” Samuel said. He gestured at the ruins guardian. “I mean, just look at that thing. This is most definitely not the time to be sleeping.”

Slimantha glanced at Samuel and then returned her brown eyes to the ruins guardian that was still staring at her. She shrugged. “It is just a ruins guardian,” she said. “I’m sure you can handle it. I’m going back to sleep.” She pulled her head back into the yellow tent.

She sat up, now back in the tent. She stretched her arms and yawned. Her eyelids grew heavy. She laid back and closed her eyes. A content smile slipped onto her face. Then a whoosh of air came, and the light intensified. Her brown eyes snapped open. The ruined throne room’s gray brick ceiling came into view. She sat up. Her brown eyes went to the ruins guardian. It held the yellow tent in its upper-right hand. It looked at her, its engraved eyes meeting her eyes. It then looked at the tent in its hand. It threw the tent to the floor before crushing the tent underfoot. Slimantha puffed her cheeks out, her brown eyes narrowing.

“You want my attention?!” Slimantha said, climbing to her feet. “Well, congratulations! You got my attention!” She crossed her arms and then glanced to Samuel. “Step back. I will deal with this rude brute.” Samuel’s blue eyes met her brown eyes for an instant, and then he did as told. Her eyes went back to the huge ruins guardian. She smiled and lowered her arms. “Let’s go, big guy.” She took a step toward the ruins guardian.

The ruins guardian met Slimantha’s gaze with its own. It stepped toward her, the ruined throne room’s ceiling not far from its gray brick head. Slimantha glanced at the entrance to the throne room. Actually, how did the ruins guardian even get in the throne room? Her brown eyes returned to the approaching ruins guardian. The thing was clearly much too large for the entrance. She giggled bringing her right hand to her lips as a thought occurred to her. Could the ruins guardian squeeze through places that looked too small for it perhaps? She lowered her arms and stopped giggling. She smiled. Well, it did not really matter how it got here, did it?

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A large gray brick fist came flying at Slimantha. It struck a wall of viscous blue. Slimantha smiled a lovely smile as she watched the ruins guardian from beyond the wall. The ruins guardian really was not that strong, at least not for her. The blue wrapped around the ruins guardian’s gray brick hand. With a flick of her wrist, Slimantha flung the huge brick creature to the side. The ruins guardian came crashing to the floor. Perhaps she should use that. She watched as the ruins guardian climbed back to its four feet.

Slimantha smiled and raised her right hand up. She snapped. A plume of viscous blue erupted in front of her, and a massive crash tore through the air. The ceiling had been in bad shape before, but now it was gone, completely torn away. A tower of viscous blue loomed in front of her. High overhead, rings of blue circled the tower. A single eye of ghastly blue light glowered from high above. Numerous tentacles reached out from the tower’s rings.

Samuel froze, his blue eyes locked on the terrifying tower. His sword slipped from his grip and clattered to the gray brick floor. He opened his mouth but could not form words. Somehow, he couldn’t even move.

The eldritch tower of blue turned its glowing eye to the battlefield. It stared down from on high. Its gaze settled upon its foe, the ruins guardian. For now, the ruins guardian stood stupefied by the tower’s presence. The tower’s rings vibrated, and then viscous blue tentacles thrust down. The tentacles struck the ruins guardian, penetrating its form. Bits of gray brick broke away from the brick golem. With a mighty show of strength, the ruins guardian broke free, both from its stupor and the tentacles.

The ruins shook as the ruins guardian charged the eldritch tower. More bits of gray brick dropped away from the ruins guardian’s damaged form with each step. The tower watched, watched as the ruins guardian neared, watched as the ruins guardian crashed into it. The tower did not shake. It simply was and did not change from the impact. The ruins guardian, though, melted away. The ruins guardian was gone. The tower’s task complete, it turned its glowing eye to Slimantha. She gave it a smile, and the tower then melted away.

“W-What was that?” Samuel managed, finally getting his command of speech back. His face was pale, and he did not look all that great currently.

“That?” Slimantha said, her lovely brown eyes going to Samuel. “That was a slime.” She said it as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Samuel blinked, a drop of sweat rolling down his right cheek. “Was that really just a slime?”

“Well,” Slimantha crossed her arms, “it was kind of an eldritch abomination too.” She smiled and lowered her arms.

“Are you OK?” Rose said, her beautiful pink eyes on Samuel. “You kind of looked out of it since Slimantha went eldritch summoner.” The green-skinned plant woman pressed closer to Samuel and gave him a friendly smile. She offered her right hand and fluttered her eyes at him. “You can hold my hand if it will make you feel better.”

“I-I’ll be find,” Samuel said. He looked away from Rose and to Slimantha. “I did not know Slimantha could summon eldritch abominations.”

Slimantha held her right hand up, her right pointer finger extended upward. “I can summon slime eldritch abominations,” she said. Her brown eyes met with Samuel’s blue eyes, and she smiled at him. “Anyway, let’s head back to Bleakfyre.” She got a pair of nods from Samuel and Rose.