They resembled goblins. At least that was the closest of any fantasy race Levi could compare them with.

They were small. Their average size was perhaps that of prepubescent humans. Their skin was green, but there was no consistency to it. One was an almost brown olive color, two were somewhere close to a lighter grass green, and the female who calmly stared them down was a rich fern color somewhere between bright grass and the dark green of cedar.

Likewise, their eyes weren't all red or all of the same color. Though, one of the lighter green riders did have reddish brow irises. The female, the leader it seemed, had amber eyes, similar to those Paige now had, yet without the slitted pupils. The other two goblins had matching slate grey eyes.

Their faces also deviated from the stereotypical fantasy concepts of goblins. Their features weren't hideous. There were no long noses or too wide smiles, at least outside what would be considered normal within human expectations.

Overall, other than their small stature, green skin, and very slightly pointed ears, they could have passed as human. The female leader could even be considered somewhat attractive.

But their armor was made up of rough hides, furs, and leathers. Their weapons were crude. There were a few proper daggers at their hips, and the spear the leader wore on her back also had some rough formed metal tip, but the arrowheads of the others were stone, and the bows looked primitive.

Levi heard the footfalls of the hunting party's wolf mounts thundering up behind them, beginning to surround their group. 'Fuck. No escape now.'

Paige tensed next to him. In his peripheral vision, he saw she'd summoned Cat-claws and had taken a crouched position. She gave a primal growl unlike anything Levi had ever heard from her.

"Paige, wait. Everyone..." Levi raised his voice as he spoke to the group. "Do not attack and no sudden movements. We can't win against them, but we also don't even know if they're hostile. Peace is the only hope we have right now. So HOLD."

At his words, the female goblin, who was the very clear leader, stopped stroking the neck of her wolf mount. She straightened a bit and smiled. Her teeth were somewhat unnerving. They weren't all sharp, but her canine teeth and those on either side were sharper than normal. It was slight enough to almost pass as human teeth, but it was noticeable. The overall impression they gave was intimidating.

"Hellos, Spirit-bonded. We Denizens...of..." seeming to lack the words, she spread her arms wide. "Place of... Law-shaper. Please be peace. We be peace. You come, talk us Chief. Learn. Be peace." The way she had used the words denizens seemed to hold a deeper meaning.

At that, she turned her wolf with a tug of the fur and led the way, and the wolf-riders that surrounded them closed in, seeming to herd them in the direction she was going.

After no one moved, including Levi, the 'goblin' leader stopped and turned. "No afraid," she waved her hand where a group was field cleaning and quartering the buffalo they'd hunted for easier transport. "Eat bison. No eat you." Then she turned again, laughing.

-----

They walked for over without much happening. Though they weren't threatening, the riders kept a tight circle around the adventurers.

Other than some hushed discussion about how much danger they were in, the adventures stayed mostly quiet. The general conclusion was that they were probably safe. The hunting party could have killed them already, and if they were only being kept alive for information, there was no real reason to keep more than one or two people alive.

Paige, however, was far from quiet. She kept trying to talk to the monsterous wolves. Most refused to acknowledge her, but one finally did respond.

"Hey there, big fella. You're amazing. Look at how ferocious you are. I have some jerky I can give you." Paige offered a bit of the meat from her rations.

The wolf kept its lazy pace with the others encircling the group, but turned his nose slightly away from the offered treat. "We are on the hunt. Silence," the wolf growled.

Paige pulled her hand back, feelings hurt. She came to the conclusion that they had all understood her and really had been just ignoring her the entire time.

The rider, perhaps noticing Paige's disappointment, spoke up. "His name Sombo. Means 'too nice.' No worry. Sombo work now. Wolf no play when work. Later, Sombo beg you scratch belly and give food."

Paige smiled. "Really? You're not messing with me?"

The rider grinned back at her. "No joking. You wish you no scratch Sombo. Have chase away with pointy stick. He big baby."

Paige squealed and did a small hop in delight. "Are any of the other wolves nice?" Paige asked.

"Hmmm." The rider bobbed his head in an ambiguous gesture. "Some nice. But... no too nice." Then, the rider's smile widened. "Ah! Home have pups. Many pups. You like."

Paige squealed even louder, and it carried over the plains. The rider quickly shushed her, but it was too late.

The leader of the hunting party was already barking orders to the riders near her. They quickly sped around to one side of their hunting party, and others joined them, reinforcing their ranks.

Nothing happened as minutes stretched by, but all of the riders were tense. The riders who'd reinforced their ranks to that side of the group remained vigilant, bows ready to draw and loose arrows.

Levi nudged Paige. "Hey, what's going on?"

"I don't know. I think maybe they're worried I drew something in," she answered.

David suddenly had his bow in his hand with an arrow nocked, ready to draw.

Levi drew closer to David. "You seeing something?" Levi asked. He peered through the ranks of riders, but couldn't see anything but swaying grass in the slowly dimming light of dusk.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Something is moving through the grass. Stalking. Haven't caught sight of much, but I think I saw scales. Just a glimpse, here and there."

"Fuck." He tried to follow David's line of sight, but still couldn't see anything through the tall golden blades of grass.

"They do seem tense," Joe whispered, having drawn in close to listen in on Levi and David's conversation. "Wonder what it is."

Maddy stood close to David, her knuckles were white from gripping her staff.

Without warning, a golden colored reptilian creature roughly the size and shape of a lion lept from the grass, pouncing at the nearest rider and wolf. It had two black horns flaring back from either side of its head and a long whiplike tail. The creature was actually smaller than the wolves, but the riders and their wolves were treating it like a major threat.

They had been ready. The wolf that the creature had targeted quickly lept out of reach while another wolf lunged in to nip the creature's flank. Arrows were loosed, but they all seemed to bounce off or barely penetrate.

Again and again, the beast tried to pounce at the wolves, but they continued their game of retreating from the creature while another wolf lept in to bite at its flank. The reptile was whirling back and forth, kept confused, entirely led by the wolves' dance.

Their coordination was fantastic. And it looked like they'd easily defeat the monster.

And then, with a twirl, it spun and whipped its tail around, knocking two wolves back and dismounting one rider. Rather than taking advantage of the two wolves the tail had knocked back or the rider that had fell, the creature spun toward the wolf it had missed.

But as it tried to leap at the wolf, the beast faltered. Suddenly it was struggling to move in the ground that had turned to mud beneath it.

The group of adventures and several of their rider escort had watched as Maddy acted, casting the spell that had slowed the reptile.

As she held her staff high, maintaining her crowd control and keeping the creature struggling to move, David drew his bow and held it for a moment, eyes intent on the creature. While he held the bow drawn, the arrow began glowing a faint green, spreading from David's fingertips and down the arrow.

Once the glow reached the arrowhead, he held his draw a moment more. As the glow focused and the tip of the arrowhead became a single bright point of light, David released the arrow, sending it into the creature's chest, where it sunk all the way to the fletching.

The creature continued struggling in the mud for a few more seconds, but it quickly weakened and collapsed. After a moment of sluggish attempts to regain its feet, it went still.

Everyone stared at David.

"What was that, David?" Joe asked, slapping him on the back approvingly.

"A new Ability I gained when I hit Lvl 15, after the fight with Eric. Hunter's Clean Killshot. Shoots faster, penetrates deeper, and allows me to see exactly where to aim to hit vitals like the heart." David slung his bow over his back and placed a second arrow he'd had ready back in his quiver. "But I can only use it once per day."

"Damn, you're level 15 already? I'm barely level 11," Levi complained.

David just shrugged.

The riders keeping a tight circle around the adventurers made way to let through one of the three warriors that had fought the beast. He approached until his wolf's head was three feet from Davids face, level with it.

The rider stared down, face stone hard. He had a scar that went from his brow to cheek at an angle, adding to his intimidating gaze. He looked to Maddy and gave her an appraising look.

When he spoke, his words were halting, as if he had to think about his words, yet his vocabulary was far better than any other they'd heard speak.

"Thank you...for help-ing," he said, as he turned his head back to David. "Very good shot. You... are... a good hunter."

David scratched at the back of his head nervously. "Thank you. I just wanted to help. I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

The rider nodded, his face still stern, though not an outright glower. He gestured at the reptilian beast. "You killled it, you carry it."

"Wait, what? I can't carry that. It's huge," David protested.

The rider didn't back down. "It is our... tradition. You killed it, you carry it. You are strong enough to kill it. You are strong enough to carry it. You are g--a good hunter."

David stared up at the rider in disbelief. "I-I guess... I'm stronger than I used to be. Maybe I can." David's face firmed into determination, and he nodded. "I'll drag it back step by step if I have to."

As David walked towards the beast, the riders and their wolves parted to let him through.

And then the serious warrior let a small laugh slip through his hard demeanor. Then he began chuckling in earnest. After that, most of the other riders joined in, laughing hard.

David turned back to the rider in confusion, mouth open.

The formerly stern warrior got his laughter under control and pointed at David. "You are... great hunter... but you are... what is the word for... easy to joke?" He had a wide grin that entirely changed the impression he gave.

"Gullible," Levi offered, laughing a little himself as the tension eased.

The rider snapped his fingers. "Yes! Good hunter, but you are... gull-i-ble," he said, trying the new word out slowly.

Like the lights had finally come on for David, a grin slowly found its way onto his face.

"Ah... dude, you got me! I was going to drag that thing back if I had to. You had me worried," David said, making his way back to the group.

The rider's head cocked slightly to the side. "What is this word. 'Dude?'" He asked.

Levi quickly answered before anyone else, just to make sure no one explained it in a way that could possibly offend. "It is a friendly term used mostly between men and boys. It usually shows trust and respect between friends. Though girls and women use it too and are called that sometimes."

The rider's face spread into a wide smile. "I like this word. Dude." He lept from his mount.

His landing was light and nimble despite the wolf's height. He walked up to David and stuck out his arm, lifting it up to the much taller man. David tried to take the rider's hand, but the rider grabbed his forearm and shook it instead. David, to his credit, quickly recovered and returned the gesture, though the mismatch of size put David's hand on the bicep of the warrior.

"My name is Tua-keesa. It means 'Nosmiles.' You can...call me Nosmiles. What is your name, dude?" Nosmiles said with an absolutely huge smile on his face.

"Uh.. my name is David. And I can pronounce Tua-keesa, I don't mind."

Nosmiles released David's arm and shook his head. "I like to speak English, Dav-id. Call me Nosmiles. Or dude. You and me, day...after." Nosmiles paused and shook his head, pondering. "No. 'Tomorrow.' Tomorrow, we go and shoot...uh... bows. We will have fun. Yes, dude?" Nosmiles said while making the motions of pulling a bow.

David grinned. "Hell yeah, dude. By the way, how do you know how to speak English so well... or even at all, really?"

As if Nosmiles hadn't even reached his 'final form,' his eyes lit up, making his smile even brighter. "Our Shaman teaches us the language of the, you...local Spirit-bonded. All--everyone must learn." Nosmiles grew a little more serious for a moment. "My mother of--I mean, my grandmother is the Shaman. When I was small, she hit me with her... shoe, and make me study. She said, 'I only hit you as hard as you need to study."

David chuckled.

Paige, listening into the conversation, leaned into Levi and whispered, "Ooof. He's a chancla survivor."

Levi tried not to smirk at Paige's comment as he asked Nosmiles a question. "So what was that thing anyway?"

Nosmiles turned his attention to Levi, growing more serious. "Lians-thrak... 'Plains Drake.' They are mean. And... I think the word is territorial. I saw one time a Lians-trak attack own... uh... reflection, in a stream. They are not smart. But they are mean. We avoid this one for long time. Passed his den on many hunts." Then his smile returned. "But good scales and horns... for armor and weapons. And taste very good."

"I'm sorry I squealed so loud like that and drew it in," Paige said.

"Not your fault," Nosmile glanced around at the riders who had kept the tight circle around their group, growing serious, a tight frown on his face. "They all knew we close to Lians-thrak den. They should have warned and said not be loud. They will clean wolf poop tonight before they eat."

The rider on Sombo's back grimaced at Nosmile's words.

"Time to move. They are finished," Nosmiles pointed to where a small group had managed to load the drake onto a sled pulled by a wolf. "Home is still far, and these have much poop to clean."