We've been walking for quite some time, Alice leading the way while looking at a large piece of paper called a 'map'.

The hills are nice, and the lack of gnarled roots under my feet feels different. I no longer have to keep an eye out for trip hazards, though the unbroken hills are a little disorienting. How am I supposed to know when someone's territory ends and where it begins?

"Hey, Null." Dylan's looking at me with a strange expression on his face. It's been difficult trying to figure out what facial expressions mean what. Noah's human-looking, but he's never had some of these expressions, such as shock or terror. It's mostly a mix of what Joule tells me and what I can decipher for myself.

[Yes?]

He seems a little abashed. "When we get to Xylphys, you're probably not going to be greeted with open arms."

[Good. I don't like hugs very much, though Joule is still allowed to give them.]

He blinks. "That's not really what I - what I mean is, they might not let you go past the wall. Since you're classified as a monster and all."

[I can always climb over the walls. It's not a big deal.]

He seems to be getting annoyed for some reason, but I ignore it. Why should I care if humans want to give me a hug or let me go through a wall?

Alice's ears flick upwards and she pauses, and all of us stop behind her. Baby takes a single glance at her face and pulls out a pair of metal loops, wrapping them around his fingers. "Dylan, get behind me." The skinny human complies without another word. He seems to respect the bigger man a lot to obey him so quickly.

[What's going on, Joule?]

[I think something's wrong, but I don't know what.]

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Suddenly the ground erupts all around us, and men dressed rather shabbily explode from the dirt, waving weapons and yelling. The moment it happens, all three of my allies back towards me, putting their backs right against my carapace.

There's about thirty of them, and they all look hungry. Stepping aside, they allow a significantly larger human to come through. He's taller than Baby, though probably not as strong. He looks very confident. "Well well well, what have we got here? A chick, a coward, a baldy, and whatever the cark that thing is."

Is he talking about me?

He takes a step forward, and Alice's ears go back, her eyes darting back and forth. "All right, I'm going to cut to the chase. Hand over the girl and whatever cash you've got and we'll only beat you up a little bit."

[I try not to kill humans, but would it be all right in this case?]

Baby seems a little surprised that I spoke, though I'm obviously limiting my communication with just the three of them. "We don't know anything about them. Don't attack until you know their strengths." I observe the men curiously. They seem impatient and a little bit hungry, but not very well dressed and certainly not well equipped. This shouldn't be too difficult.

[Joule, I'm going to need three Extended Bites, a Flamethrower, and however many Illusions you can manage.]

[I'm on it. The flamethrower is actually already prepped from earlier. I was going to have you use it on the Kadaialon, but that clearly wouldn't have worked.]

[Good.]

Turning my attention to the humans surrounding us, I extend my telepathy to everyone present. [Surrender and you won't die.]

They don't seem to know who's speaking, but their grip on their weapons only tightens. All right then.

[Humans, duck now.]

Alice instantly drops to the ground, and Baby leaps over my shell, tackling Dylan to the floor. Before the raggedy men can respond, I activate the Flamethrower and spin in a rapid circle, fire spewing from my mouth and burning the grass. At the same time, I use an Illusion and sprint through the enemy line, readying an Extended Bite.

Their leader is faster to respond than I thought he would be, breaking through the fire and bringing a fist down on my Illusion. Obviously, his hand goes straight through and crashes into the ground, throwing him off balance. Baby and Alice take the opportunity to push the attack, going straight for him, and he's suddenly fighting for his life.

Grabbing one of the men, I snap my head to the left and hurl him into his comrades, then spin and headbutt another man. It had worked well against Alice a while back, but I'm unprepared for the man to explode, and red rains down on everyone.

[You're all very fragile, aren't you?]

They start screaming.