Terry’s heart was frozen with the sound of its screams, and she felt the weakness in her from a day’s walk with little food and water. Her arm throbbed madly as she reached for her golden ball, but that pain was nothing compared to what stabbed through her has she reared back and threw with all her might. The wraith screamed mightily as the ball whipped through him, but it seemed more in anger than fear, and she could see how strong her still was. Gregor battered at him with his axe, and again it seemed as if they were merely angering the wraith, not damaging it.

The wraith drew closer to them, perhaps sensing their weakness, and Terry felt that sickeningly familiar feeling of her life force draining from her. The wraith’s kiss. Fresh blood soaked her makeshift bandage as she caught her returning ball and prepared to throw again, knowing that their chances were slim but determined to fight to the end.

Suddenly, in the midst of the blood and the screams, with the sickening, creeping weakness upon her, she had an idea. She threw the ball again, and again the wraith screamed more in anger as the ball whipped through it. Gregor prepared to rush at the wraith with his axe.

“No!” Terry said. “Wait for the ball to return!”

When Gregor rushed at the wraith, the wraith met him halfway, but if Gregor paused just a moment, the wraith stayed focused on Terry. When the ball returned to her hand, it passed through the wraith again—a double hit! This time, there was real pain in its screams.

“Good thinking, girl!” Gregor shouted, and rushed it, prepared to do what little damage he could and taking the damage of the wraith’s kiss.

Even with the double hit tactic, it took several throws of the ball to take out the horrible creature, and when it finally disappeared Terry and Gregor collapsed onto the ground, too weak to walk. Terry’s arm bled profusely. They dragged themselves to a tree trunk and sat propped up by the tree. Gregor reached into the supply bag and brought out the final remnants of his healing powder. He shook some into Terry’s mouth—it was dry and bitter, but she struggled and swallowed it. Then did the same for himself. They took long breaths and allowed the healing properties to work. The bleeding slowed, and that horrible weakness left them. Shakily, they both stood up.

“Ah, look at this loot!” Gregor said, scooping up eleven gold coins. “If only we had a hundred! But I’ll take it.”

Terry felt the odd sense of increased power and strength that she was slowly getting used to. She took a deep breath, and noticed also that her vision was a little sharper, and she could hear every little sound of the forest.

“Me too,” she said.

“Well, let’s go meet our fate,” Gregor proposed. “After all, they can’t be worse than fighting a forest wraith, can they?”

“If you say so, I believe you,” Terry said, and they began to walk down the hill, into the village proper.

As soon as they reached the narrow, winding paths that encircled the village, Terry realized with a sinking heart that Gregor’s worst predictions were more or less true. Gregor tried to greet the people who passed him, but although they knew him, they were not friendly to him at all!

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“Oh, it’s Gregor,” said a comfortable looking housewife, with a colorful red dress, her hair tied up in a bun. “Have you come to pay your debts?”

Then without another word, she stuck her nose up in the air and walked away.

They continued on, and Gregor saluted a man he knew, in brown breeches and a white shirt.

“Gregor the deadbeat,” he said. “Don’t you know how sick we are of boar meat? Why can’t you use gold coins to pay for your supplies like everyone else?”

Like the woman, he did not wait for a reply, but walked quickly away, shaking his head.

“You’re about as popular as you expected you’d be,” Terry observed, and Gregor looked crestfallen.

“I’d almost rather be fighting a forest wraith,” he said. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to the general store. I need to at least know the exact amount I owe. We’ll see if these eleven coins will even make a dent.”

They didn’t bother trying to talk to any more villagers and instead headed straight to the general store, one of the few two-story buildings in the village. The sun was setting as they opened the heavy door, and an iron bell rang above their heads.

“Good evening!” sang out a voice from a back room. “I was just about to close! I’m so delighted to get another customer—it’s been so slow! How can I help you?”

A little man dressed like the other villagers but in a bright blue jacket rushed out of the back room, a giant smile on his face—a smile that disappeared once he realized who had walked in his door.

“Oh,” he said, his voice a mixture of disappointment and irritation. “It’s you.”

“Hello, Cyril,” Gregor said, with a fake heartiness that Terry found amazing. “How’s business?”

“Terrible, no thanks to you,” Cyril replied. “Have you come to pay your debt?”

“Well,” Gregor replied slowly. “About that. How much do I owe you again?”

The man’s face grew red and he drew himself up to his full height. “You! Owe! Me! 239! Gold! coins!” he shouted and banged his tiny fist on the counter.

“239,” Terry whispered. “That’s a lot.”

“I told you,” Gregor said. “Hey, look,” he addressed the furious shopkeeper. “It’s not my fault that you won’t take boar meat anymore.”

“Boar meat! I’m sick of boar meat! We’re all sick of boar meat!”

“Okay, I get it,” Gregor said. “Here, take these coins. It’s all I have right now.”

And he handed 11 coins over to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper’s face turned slightly less red.

“This isn’t even 10 percent of what you owe,” he muttered, “But at least your debt is going in the right direction.”

“So, uh, I couldn’t get some healing powder on credit, then?” Gregor asked.

“No!” the shopkeeper said. “No more credit until you pay off your debt. Which is now 228 gold coins. Now get out—and don’t come back until you have more money.”

Heads drooping, Terry and Gregor exited the shop.

“So that went well,” Terry said. “Gregor, what are we going to do? Owing money is way different than fighting a forest wraith, or even a boar.”

“Don’t I know it,” Gregor said. “Come on, let’s figure out where we’re going to sleep tonight.”

“But we can’t camp out in the forest,” Terry said. “It’s too dangerous, and we’re too weak.”

“Oh, we’ll stay at the inn,” Gregor said. “I still have those coins from the five wraiths we killed at dawn. Those will pay for a couple of days at the inn.”

“But what happens when that money runs out?” Terry asked. “We’re too weak for the forest, and too broke for the village. And surely when the shopkeeper finds out you’re lurking in town, he’ll make trouble for you.”

“Those are tomorrow’s worries,” Gregor said. “Tonight we must rest.”

Sure enough, the gold coins they had were enough to pay for a room, with some left over. They collapsed into their twin beds and Gregor fell asleep promptly, his snores shaking the room. Terry couldn’t sleep, though, and it wasn’t because of Gregor’s noise. She couldn’t stop thinking about their debt.

“Some warrior I’m turning out to be,” she thought darkly. “I can’t even do regular person stuff, let alone be a mighty warrior. Being a princess sure teaches you things that don’t help in the real world.”

She tossed and turned, as the question haunted her--How would they ever pay off the shopkeeper, so they could buy the healing powders they needed to keep fighting forest wraiths?

Suddenly, there was a soft knock at the door.