“No need for violence!” Isaac said, peeking out from behind a tree. “We’re guildsmen from Skeelie. We mean you no harm!”

The elf-woman scoffed. “There’s little by way of harm you can do to me—”

“And, you would be right,” Isaac said, “had we not entered Dreadwood on the invitation of the Wood King. We might have communicated via proxy, but it still elevates us to the position of guests.”

The elf-woman stiffened. “You’re one of the merchants who does business with our people?”

“Oh, honey. Do I look like anything else?”

Her fingers twitched, filled with the intent to lob her dagger into Isaac’s smug face. “And the people around you?”

“Bodyguards.”

A short silence followed.

Ben shifted on his feet, unwilling to lower his guard. Nicola stayed hidden somewhere in the periphery, magic spell at the ready.

I trusted the two of them to hold their own if it came down to a fight. But, just in case we were in over our heads, I used [Identify].

Wood Elf Scout Captain LVL 20.

Oof. That could prove tricky. The other elves behind her were closer to my level, but my heart didn’t agree with the thought of fighting them. Running my knife through the throats of monsters was one thing. Doing the same to people like me? Yeah . . . no.

I didn’t want to get comfortable with that idea. Not if I could help it.

“You there,” the scout captain said. “Dark Elf. Where do you hail from?”

I stared at her with a blank expression before I realized she was talking to me. “Err . . .”

Assuming the situation took a turn for the worse, revealing the truth would probably cause problems for Nana.

“I’m from the city,” I finished. “What’s it to you?”

Isaac and Ben stared at the back of my head. Play along, idiots!

The scout captain sighed. “Then, the culprit could easily be any of you. We were sent by our leader to conduct investigations. Someone wandered into the wild god’s territory and disrupted a tomb. Killed one of his pets too.”

I froze.

To my party’s credit, they rolled with the conversation.

“The wild god’s pet?” Isaac asked. “By that, you mean?”

“An invasive species,” the scout captain answered. “The wild god loves to seed them throughout Dreadwood. They are usually higher level than anything in the region.”

“Why the hell would he do that?”

“As a sort of challenge, Isaac,” Ben said in exasperation. “Who knows what goes through the minds of the Heralds? But, I don’t think it is right to call those monsters invasive, considering the wild god owns all of Dreadwood.”

“Right or not,” the scout captain said, “it doesn’t change what they are. We’ve lost too many good people to unnatural monsters, which is why all travelers are encouraged to stick to the paths.”

But, the path connecting Harkonean to the rest of the forest had been terminated. How were the Dark Elves supposed to make it out of their neck of the woods, if the very attempt was treacherous from the start?

I didn’t need to think too long for an answer. They weren’t supposed to make it, because the Wood Elves only suffered their presence.

Racism.

My fingers clenched at the thought.

“Nevertheless,” the scout captain said. “It doesn’t alter the circumstances. We visited the site of the deed and followed the trail left by the culprit right up to you.”

“We didn’t do it,” Isaac said with a dismissive wave.

“It’s your word against overwhelming evidence,” the scout captain rebutted. “It’s not like we were the only ones on the hunt. Whoever the idiot is, they somehow managed to rile up the monkeys—”

My heart skipped a beat.

“We must have killed over fifty of them while following your tracks. I’ve never seen them so angry.”

. . . which made no sense to me whatsoever. The monkeys had been violent right from the outset, as though they'd needed no reason to summon a horde.

The scout captain raked her eyes over our group. After a while, they settled on me. “You don’t see many Dark Elves outside of Harkonean these days.”

“He’s one of us,” Isaac said.

But, Ben didn’t speak, choosing instead to shoot me a wary glance. After our talk last night, he ought to have his suspicions. And, he would lose nothing selling me out to the elves.

Ben jutted his chin at the Wood Elves. “What becomes of the culprit if you catch them?”

“That’s for our leader to decide,” the elf-woman said.

“Then, we are at an impasse. No law penalizes the killing of monsters in the Dreadwood. You are trying to investigate a crime that doesn’t exist.”

The Wood Elves raised their bows.

“Final warning, knave,” the scout captain snarled.

“My good elves,” Isaac said, “this doesn’t need to end in bloodshed.”

“It would end whichever way I choose. You are outnumbered and outclassed. I’ll never understand the folly of you adventurers.”

“But, aren’t you the foolish one here? What do you think would become of your people if you provoke military action between Skeelie and the Wood King?”

The scout captain flinched.

“Let’s agree that this was all just a misunderstanding,” Isaac continued. “Good day, and I wish you the best of luck.”

The scouting party murmured among each other. Isaac made a big show of turning back to the path, signaling the rest of us to follow after him.

“Hey, Dark Elf,” the scout captain said. “A minute of your time, if you please.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Keep walking,” Isaac hissed beneath his breath.

“Nice pair of eyes you got there,” the scout captain said. “Reminds me of this droll hag I used to know. I don’t suppose you can loosen your jerkin to show me your chest?”

I ignored her.

“The elven chiefs would love to hear this. That, of all the people who could possibly cause trouble for us, it is the kindred of Nana fucking Irithiel.” A smirk colored her words. “Who knows? Maybe this time, they won’t stop at destroying the roads. They’ll get some oil and raze your entire fucking village.”

My temper flared. I squashed it the next moment, but I had already taken a few steps toward the elves. One of the archers trained his bow at me, triggering an activation of [Fear Aura] in reflex.

The atmosphere in the gathering changed.

The Wood Elves backed away from me with ashen faces, nearly tripping over themselves. The archer from before screamed ‘monster!’ and fired an arrow into my face.

I slapped the missile out of the air with the flat of my blade before even registering the shot.

The rest of the elves fired, but Nicola was two steps ahead. She raised a tentacle to deflect the volley while Ben swept Isaac behind the wagon.

A spike emerged from the earth, tearing the tentacle in two. Two more arrows thudded into the wagon beside my head. Ben swung his sword, throwing a giant wave of flame at the elves.

It broke their composure, but only for a bit. More stone spikes rose from the ground, shattering our vehicle.

“No,” Isaac cried. “That cost me a fortune!”

A dark shape blurred past the altered landscape, leaking killing intent. I blocked the blade headed for my chest but missed the kick aimed at my midsection. I sailed into the wagon.

A second kick waited as I rebounded and plastered me against a spike.

“Stay down,” the scout captain said, spinning her dagger. “You don’t want me to stop holding back.”

“Get bent,” I snarled in answer, wincing from the pain in my gut.

The elf-woman threw a punch that I managed to dodge. I launched a monster core into her face. She recoiled in shock, enough for my own kick to slam into her torso.

She didn’t budge.

. . . which, in hindsight, should have been obvious. A Strength value of [7] probably meant that I hit like a teenager. My regular attacks didn’t benefit from the magical boost I gained from striking with my dagger.

That kinda sucked.

The scout captain attacked me in a flurry, forcing me to deflect her strikes. She struck multiple times in the span of five seconds, scoring hits despite my parries.

My back touched the surface of a spike that jutted through the wagon. I hadn’t been pressed this badly in any of my past melees with monsters, proving my lack of experience fighting rankers.

A vicious dagger strike raked across my cheek, slicing another chunk from my health meter. Her next slash knocked my blade aside. She pulled back for a follow-up, but Ben—good, old Ben—caught the strike on the edge of his sword.

The scout captain shimmered. Two duplicates appeared beside her, maniacally swinging their blades.

“[Triplicate]?” Ben choked, stumbling backward.

The duplicates chased after him.

The last one—the real scout—wailed again on me. I swung my dagger in a diagonal slash at her torso. She stepped back with a smirk.

The Blackreach Dagger activated at the last second, drunk on the power fed into it. Shadows extended from the tip of the blade, striking the scout captain from ear to cheek.

Heh. Take that.

The elf-woman blinked for a moment in stunned silence. Then, her features contorted, like water freezing over, causing a chill to run up my spine. Actual Ice erupted from her blade, slithering up to her fist.

I didn’t need another warning.

I dived aside to avoid the spear of ice, which obliterated the rest of the wagon.

A roar emanated from the forest, causing a few of the Wood Elves to halt. I dodged another strike from the elf-woman, earning a graze to the shoulder from her attack.

Liquid pain surged into my brain, forcing me to bite my lip to keep from screaming.

Ben decapitated the second of the clones and barreled toward us. The scout captain quickly retreated.

More roars joined the first one, putting an abrupt halt to the proceedings of the skirmish. All of the Wood Elves retreated into the bushes, in an attempt to decipher the source of the noises. The roars had gotten closer now, mixed in with some howling. I recognized the latter of those sounds.

“Dread Monkeys!” someone said.

“That’s not possible,” the scout captain spat. “We obliterated them just yesterday!”

“First time, huh?” I asked, unable to restrain a grin.

Her eyes widened. “You! What did you do to the monkeys?”

Me?! I was a victim here!

Before we could speak another word, the Dread Monkeys arrived, launching up from the grass and out of the treetops. I counted about thirty before they descended on us, kickstarting the second phase of the skirmish.

I still had a decent chunk of health, but the monsters could threaten that by sheer numbers, low-leveled though they were. I let my dagger sing, relying on [Fear Aura] and Dexterity to tide the assault.

“Help,” Isaac shrieked as a monkey dragged him off by the leg.

The scout captain glanced his way, tsked, and then she sent a throwing knife into the monster’s skull.

I returned the favor by turning [Fear Aura] on a group of monkeys who had succeeded in massing around an elf.

Ben split a monkey in two. He tugged my arm, and we surged toward Isaac. Nicola followed after us, bearing the most damage to health.

“Why are monkeys here?” she panted. “I’ve never seen anything like this!”

“Who cares?” Ben said. “We’ll just consider it good fortune. Save your breath. We’re making a run for it.”

A Wood Elf took note of us as we darted between the bushes. He drew an arrow and raised a cry only to quieten the next instant when a boulder flew past and collided with his head.

The four of us froze.

The wounded elf stumbled around for a few morbid seconds with a face that had been reduced to papier-mâché. His HP bottomed out, and he collapsed to the ground. He didn’t get up.

A new monster strode out of the woods—a Dread Monkey, assuming that the monkeys could grow ten feet tall and partake in body-building competitions. This monster was definitely the source of the noises from earlier and looked even more terrifying in person.

Unlike the other monkeys which sported grey fur that bordered on silver, this one’s fur featured red highlights, the color of a once grey cloth washed poorly of blood. Silver chains surrounded its arms and tail, all of which hung twice as long as its torso.

The surviving monkeys cheered at its presence, then fled for the trees. The giant monkey howled in turn and beat its chest with its fists.

I used [Identify] even as I took a few steps backward.

Primal Dread Monkey LVL 31.

“It’s Silver-ranked,” one of the Wood Elves said, in a voice so high-pitched, it threatened to pop her vocal cords.

Similar cries went up among her companions. “It’s Silver-ranked!”

All of the color drained from the scout captain’s face. “No . . . That can’t be right. Dread Monkeys don’t grow this strong. Unless . . .” Her eyes refocused as a light bulb came on in her head. “It’s the wild god’s. One of his pets. Something about its presence causes the monkeys to act the way they do!”

The monster roared with magical intensity. Half of us fell to our knees.

A [System] notification appeared in the corner of my vision. Multiple notifications soon joined it. And, judging by the faces of the other elves, they had gotten them too.

You are afflicted with [Dismay].

All stats have dropped by [2].

Hey! It seems you are afraid.

+1 has been added to all stats.

It seems you are afraid!

+1 has been added to all stats.

I underwent a minor whiplash as my stats suffered a penalty then rose back to normal.

The others didn’t have the same luxury, which meant anyone with a threshold stat was now a little weakened.

The monster roared again and bounded into our midst. One large arm shattered a nearby tree. Another grabbed Isaac’s donkey and flung it into an elf.

The Wood Elves reacted. They fired on the beast, using bows, magic, and a sling in one case. Ice, rock, and wind blasts bombarded the creature.

Ben formed a flaming aura around his greatsword—

“Really?” I said. “That monster is level 31. You are just asking to die.”

“How do you know its level?” Nicola asked.

“My donkey . . .” Isaac said instead, falling to his knees.

“None of that matters,” Ben said, hauling Isaac to his feet. “We can’t just run away, because it is going to kill those elves, and after it does, it will chase after us. Might as well make our last stand something worthwhile.”

Ugh. He had a point.

The Primal Dread Monkey swung its arm, striking an elf with its chain. It leaped after the victim immediately after, grounding him to a pulp.

The earth user summoned stone spikes to contain it, but the monkey grabbed the dead elf instead and launched him at her head. Ben stepped in at that moment and caught the corpse, though the force sent him sliding backward into a tree.

The monkey finally noticed our party. It peeled back its lips in a terrifying roar and charged on all fours.

All hell broke loose.