“Look, look, look!” Cadivus yelled as they walked through the last light of the day. In his hand was the smallest flame. Sweat covered his face, and his eyes were closed as he held his arm out away from him.

Everyone stopped and gasped. He had been training with Ekio these past few days but had been unsuccessful, even though she remained patient. This was the first time they had seen him produce anything. He shook the flame from his hand and collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavy.

Thermia ran to hug him.

“Way to go, bro!”

“I see my teachings are paying off…” Ekio said.

He held back to the urge to scream and instead tried to feel their comfort. Although, in his mind, it felt as if he had done something very wrong. Guilt washed over him, and visions of smeared shadows entered his brain.

“Those leafers won’t stand a chance,” he finally managed to say.

“Yeah,” Bobo said. “We’ll just have you light their funny smokes and smack em on the head when they’re lost in the great void.”

Bobo had, surprisingly, been rather delightful when he wasn’t talking about placing animal genitals in his body orifices. Yet he had no delight today.

“You know, you’ve been awfully testy today,” Cadivus remarked. “Is this what happens when you don’t get a gopher to sit on your face for a few days?”

He shot air through his nose.

“You think it's easy having this much love to give? It's a curse more than anything! What I would give to be living in a tiny wall in which no emotion could leave or enter—like yourself. I guess I’ll just have to live the rest of my life happy instead. Oh well.” He looked off the beaten path for a place to camp for the evening.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to count on your powers for this fight,” Ekio said, pulling Cadivus to his feet. “It’s good you're making some progress, but it's not enough.”

“Well, I’ve made it this far without using them,” Cadivus said.

“Didn’t you die not too long ago?” Thermia said.

He shrugged.

“Only for a few minutes…Considering how long I’ve been alive for, the odds are really in my favor for continuing to do so.”

“Well, we did not come all this way to quit,” Ekio said. “We will find a way to get our vengeance.”

“Justice, you mean,” he said, eyeing her.

“Same thing, lighter boy.” She clenched her fist and turned away from him.

Bobo called out from the woods, and the trio walked toward him to make camp. Which consisted of brushing some debris to the side and finding trees to lean against. Thermia, having learned her lesson, wrapped her hair in the cloth Ekio had given her to prevent the sap from getting on it. Bobo turned himself into a batlike creature and hung upside down from a tree. He vigorously cleaned his private area before tucking himself in. Cadivus waited for everyone to fall asleep.

Several hours later, in the pitch of night. Ekio felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her. She removed her dagger and held it out toward the shaker.

“Whoa! Easy!” Thermia said. Ekio put the dagger away and Thermia took a few calming breaths.

“What is the matter?” Ekio asked.

“It’s Cadivus, he’s missing. Look.” They searched the area, including the tree he was sleeping against, and found no sight of him.

“They might have kidnapped him. Quiet now, and follow me.” Ekio stood and looked for signs of footsteps. She found some stepped-on plants, and motioned for Thermia to follow. They only traveled for a few minutes before they could hear a voice in the distance. She put her finger to her lips to signal silence. They drew in closer until they could hear what the voice was saying.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“We retrieved all these codes, and then we naturally went to the vault for our reward. Only to find that the whole thing was a setup. We were caught with our pants down, metaphorically, then a little later on, literally.”

Cadivus sat on a ledge, scribbling into his journal. Narrating his writing.

“Everyone with me performed spectacularly. Except for Hunter, he just did okay. We almost had them all. Just the leader, Alpha, remained standing. We quickly found out our attacks had no effect on him. He had all this cool enchanted gear that gave him protection and strength.”

“He’s using the journal…Maybe it’s a good thing?” Thermia whispered.

Ekio hushed her, wanting to eavesdrop on the entry.

“You guys would have been proud of me, I think. Alpha had a trump card. A powerful attack that couldn’t be intercepted or dodged. He shot it at Ekio, and just like in the stories, I took the blow for her. I died in the process, but these things happen from time to time I suppose. Honestly, it might be the only thing I’ve ever done right in my whole life.”

Thermia pouted, as Ekio looked on.

“In a matter of days, this journey will be over. I will get the justice you guys deserve. Hedal, Toasty, Lumpy. I wish you could know me now, and in the future. I wasted so much time doing nothing. But I still have the rest of my life to live stories worth telling.” He folded the book closed, and stared at the sky.

“I told you he’s awesome,” Thermia said.

“Always the wingwoman, you are.”

Thermia and Ekio traveled back to the camp, pretending to sleep. Cadivus returned shortly after and laid against a tree. The women looked at him through half closed eyes.

“Oh, go to bed you nosey shits.” Cadivus said as he curled up into a ball and fell to sleep. The women rolled their eyes and followed suit.

***********

A couple days later, Cadivus’s group arrived at the outskirts of the farm. Bobo turned into a bird and scouted the area. He soon returned. “Nearly fifty people working the fields. And there’s a home with several guards carrying various weapons around it. Their goats are hideous by the way.” He turned his nose. “I saw our guy though. He is here. It’s…not going to be easy to win this thing.”

“How hard can it be?” Cadivus said. “We just charge the outside guards, fuck them up, and when the guys inside come out, we fuck them up too!”

“Or perhaps we can use our brains this time,” Ekio said. “If that’s okay with you, fearless leader.”

“I suppose it couldn’t hurt. If the thinking thing doesn’t work out, we always have my plan to fall back on.”

“What’s the biggest animal you can turn into?” she asked Bobo.

He stood still, thinking for a moment.

“I can turn into a giant jellyfish!” he said excitedly.

The group stared at him, lacking amusement.

“How the heck do you plan on moving around on land as a jellyfish?” Thermia asked.

“Well, you didn’t say anything about that…All right let me think about it from your perspective.” He sat on stump, pulled out a pipe, and puffed away.

Ekio walked over to him and slapped it out of his hand.

“Are you crazy? Do you know what we’re trying to do here?”

“What? I agree he’s a dick about how he does business, but this shit is prime.”

She stomped his pipe and the dried leaves inside until it was all just powder. The scowl upon her face softened into a smile as she finished her work. Only to look up and see him smoking another pipe. “You know I still owe you a knife in your heart right?” She placed her hand to her waist, where her dagger was sheathed.

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

“I think you’ve probably tried to kill just about everyone you’ve ever met.”

Thermia and Cadivus both nodded behind her. She turned around and stared daggers, and they abruptly stopped. She turned back to Bobo and went to pull out her dagger, but Cadivus grabbed her arm before she could unsheathe.

“I get what you’re going for,” Cadivus said. “I do. You’ll have plenty of stabbing to do soon enough. Ideally you wouldn’t waste it on one of our few allies on this earth.”

She shrugged his arm off and moved her hand away from her dagger.

“Bout time,” Bobo said.

He moved her out of the way and punched Bobo’s ear.

Bobo dropped his pipe, grabbed at his ear, and shrieked.

“What gives man?” he said as he rubbed at it.

“Stop antagonizing. That’s my job. Just tell us how you can be useful today.”

He stopped rubbing his ear, and his eyes darted upward. Finally, a smile came over his face.

“I have a few ideas…but you’re not gonna like it…” His smile widened.

“It’s gonna be some gross sexual thing isn’t it…” Thermia said, defeated.

He laughed as he stood and danced.

“Oh…it…will…be…glorious!” He slid across his knees, throwing his arms up in triumph.

Ekio dry heaved in her throat, trying her best to keep her mouth closed.

Cadivus covered his face with his hand, leaving an opening for his mouth.

“Okay. Let’s just hear what you’ve got and work off that,” he said, wishing he had just run in guns blazing. Or better yet, run in with him blazing.

Bobo explained his plan. After some heavy breathing, they were ready to end this, once and for all.