Maddison awoke from the jarring fangs of last night's nightmare, his eyes slowly opening to show the grandeur of his current problem. Nightmares were seldom kept to slumber, and as he realised he was standing in the morning's already searing starlight, facing a rolling pool of grass, he regrettably found the reality behind last night's adventure.

"Maddison."

The harsh whisper coming from his left hardly registered, until it was followed up by the bite of a slap, the small hand travelling straight across his face and rearing back to rake the other side of his cheek with bony knuckles.

"For the love of Tarsus! I'm stabbing you if this doesn't work!" the voice belted, its familiar ring drawing his attention before he faced the threat head on.

Maddison scrunched his nose, searching Endris' frantic gaze with a blank stare, her eyes glowing with worry as she cautiously opened her mouth.

"Maddison?"

He rubbed his cheeks with a sour glare, slowly folding his arms as a strange flicker of hope touched her face. "What?"

"Oh thank the gods," she sighed, nearly falling to her knees as she pulled her gaze from him. "I thought it had you."

Maddison's glare softened as he soaked in the blaring starlight. It was daytime, he wasn't even in the village anymore. He didn't remember waking up.

He felt his clothes with a grimace, the leathered armour rested awkwardly on his shoulders, the familiarity tracing him back to the set he'd accepted from Tarson.

He didn't remember putting it on.

"What am I doing out here?" Maddison whispered, his heart racing in fear as it ran through all the possible things a sorcerer could do to him in his sleep. "I don't-"

"Remember?" Endris slowly nodded with him, her grey eyes laced with cautious worry. "You came back an hour after you went out and wouldn't say a word to me... or Tarson."

"How did I get in this?" Maddison pressed, motioning to the new set of armour.

Endris shrugged. "You just put it on and walked out the door. Didn't even wait for me, I had to run after you! What happened last night?"

The scene relapsed in his mind, Maynard's deviously empty smile haunting it with every blink. He shouldn't have made such a bold move, but he was pressed for time. This bounty was a side job to keep his monthly quota. His biggest catch moved around like whispers on the wind. If he didn't rush this job he'd miss the updates his guild had.

Again.

"Hello?" Endris said, waving her hand in front of his face with a frown. "You haven't lost your mind again, have you?"

Maddison snapped his attention to her, releasing a heavy sigh as he noticed the thick plate armour she'd adorned. "No." He gave the fields a skim, continuing on the mysterious path he'd subconsciously forged. "Where are we going?"

"To slay the garganox."

Maddison hummed out a growl, grabbing his side and feeling the hilt of a blade, its cold sheath sending a calming chill through him. It was the one Tarson had handed him, and while it was decorative first, it would work for now. "How many weapons do we have?"

"I've got two knives, a sword, a shield." She motioned to her back where a thick sheet of polished metal sat snuggly, the edges of a crossbow peeking out. "Oh, and a crossbow." She felt her pockets. "Packed some poison. Not sure how it'll fare against whatever beast we're slaying though."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Maddison slowly nodded. "That'll do. I think I only have a sword..." he traced his fingers along his waist, suddenly feeling the hilt of a dagger tucked into his pants. "And a knife I guess..."

Endris nodded, her frown suddenly springing up with a wicked grin. "I suppose you'll be backup then."

"Backup?"

"I'll go in headfirst and keep up a distraction. You can lace some arrows with poison and try to hit it in a soft spot with the crossbow." Her smile grew as Maddison's fell. "Ever fired one before? I can show you ho-"

"You're not fighting it," Maddison cut in, turning his cold gaze away as she scoffed. "Just carry the weapons, and run back to get more if the thing proves to be stronger than expected."

"Carry the weapons?" Endris said with an icy spit, adjusting the shield strapped to her back. "These are mine, I'm only letting you borrow the crossbow if you have the brains to aim and shoot one." She sized him up. "You're not gonna get far as the head of the attack wearing leather and a bit of chain mail."

Maddison scrunched his nose with an irritated grunt. "What's wrong with my armour?"

"We're walking towards a strange cave with a mysterious beast in it. If it's bigger than a house, fat load of use some soft arse animal skin is gonna do you!" She tapped one of her pauldrons. "I'm less likely to die from a bite or two, and I'm more nimble."

"Nimble? In that?" Maddison pressed, his frown intensifying at the scarce amount of plating on her arms and legs, with just a sharp metal skirt to cover her thighs. "What use is that going to be?"

She looked at her outfit, the irritation reviving on her features. "This crap was Maynard's idea. I know it's not covering much of me, but I've learned a trick or two." She gripped the long sleeve of the black shirt she was wearing, displaying a thin lacing of chain mail underneath. "I've got it here too." She stopped, bending down to roll up part of her leggings with a smile. "Maynard said we could wear our armour with skin tight clothing, so I took advantage of that. To hell with exposed skin! Make a decent set of plate armour completely useless why don't you!"

Maddison squinted at her trick, the cold caution pooling from his stare as he bore down on Endris. "Are you trained?"

She perked up with a confused smile. "Trained?"

"In fighting."

"Drafted at thirteen." She winked. "Me and Tarson moved to this region after finally making it across the border. This king isn't any better, but at least we aren't on his soldier listings."

"Alright, fine," Maddison sighed, continuing his walk as they approached a small cluster of trees. "You can take the lead, I'll try to shoot the thing."

"Sounds like a plan." Endris chuckled, her entertainment softening as she looked up at Maddison again. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"I did eight years service. General, missing in action three years ago, you?"

Maddison shot her a strange look, his gaze pulled forwards by a mysterious force as he sighed. "I didn't serve."

"Doesn't this place round up soldiers?" Endris grabbed her chin in confusion. "You from here?"

"They do, I'm from the area I guess," Maddison replied, a faint smile crawling through with his words. "You get drafted, unless you're sentenced to death before you hit the qualifying age."

She slowed, strangely intrigued by the statement as she paid Maddison a childish grin. "What in the name of the gods did you do at such a young age?"

"That's not important," Maddison dodged, giving the trees a quick skim before finding the best path in infiltrating the overgrown scape. "You sure the gargonox is this way?"

"Nah, haven't been out this way actually," Endris replied, barely dinted with doubt as she trudged ahead through the forest. She stopped a few steps from Maddison, jutting her thumb out to point over her shoulder behind them. "You can ask him if we're going the right way."

Maddison followed her gesture, jumping as he saw the small boy standing a couple meters away. He was staring at them with a little more life to his eyes, his wavy golden locks freshly brushed with a sword too big for his tiny frame strapped to his back.

Sajus.

The young boy smiled with an alien spark of intelligence, giving the two a short and friendly wave. "What's up?"

Maddison shot Endris a confused stare, sizing up Sajus as he compared the normal kid to the empty eyed puppet he'd seen in the village. "Wasn't he...?" Maddison twirled his finger next to his ear as Endris nodded.

"I was just as surprised as you when he told me good morning," she whispered.

They both stared at Sajus as the boy obliviously bounced on his feet in boredom, playing with his hands for a few seconds before meeting Maddison's gaze and cracking a huge smile. "Well? Aren't we going to slay the gorgonox?"

Maddison squinted at the child, parting the side of his lips to mutter at Endris. "You think it's a trap?"

She bounced her shoulders with a small shrug. "What's a kid gonna do to us if it is?"

The two carefully weighed their options in the ensuing silence, the gentle breeze tickling Sajus' bangs as he stood heroically poised at the edge of the forest.

Trap or not, it appeared that Sajus was intent on accompanying them in their completion of the final mission.

The final step to ending the fabricated shade of a reality called Bervolt. One way or another, it was going to end with Old Man Maynard's head on a pike.