‘So, if the army wouldn’t last a week, how can you travel on this road without getting attacked?’

We hadn’t been on the road very long but sitting still was starting to make me a bit antsy. The Princess was focusing intently on writing a bunch of letters and the two knights were busy drinking some liquid poured into cups from a shared thermos.

‘The Hippasaurs will likely outrun any Revenant creatures before we are even detected. If we are unlucky enough to be spotted by a faster one or a flyer, though, we will have to fight.’

‘Hippasaur?’

I realized in the rush to get on the carriage I never looked at what was pulling it. I stuck my head out the window to try to get a look at the beasts. My long hair caught in the wind and chaotically whipped in the air behind me. We were going much faster than a horse-drawn wagon would take us. I was curious as to how the wind wasn’t entering the open windows.

The creatures were a sight to be seen. It was as if someone had taken a raptor and duplicated its back half and attached it where its tail should be. It even still had the tiny arms in front. Their four legs were peddling rapidly on the path. On their head was a mohawk of colorful feathers. The one on the right was red and the one on the left was blue.

I left my head outside the window for a minute just to enjoy the feeling of my hair whipping in the wind like seaweed in a current. I closed my eyes and listened to the wind howl as it rolled over my ears. I could feel the stress melt off me from the week of hell I had just endured.

‘She’s like a new puppy.’

The knight who talked was the one who had muttered at me and called me little one. He looked to be in his thirties and had a square face with thick eyebrows. His hair was black and spiky and his resting face seemed overly serious. Even when he said such things as little one and puppy his eyebrows raised slightly in the middle in what I could only guess signaled amusement. All of his emotion had to be read from the inflections of his voice.

‘See how you feel when you finally get out after spending a year getting your mind wiped over and over in a prison designed to look like a school for kids.’

‘But it is a school for kids, though?’

‘Sure, a school that yanks kids out of their world and forces them to learn how to fight monsters by experiencing death over and over again. Totally normal.’

‘Just sayin’. It’s still a proper school. No need to get all worked up now.’

‘Sure, it’s a murder school run by psychopaths, but I guess it’s still a school.’

‘Alright then, you’re safe now. They can’t hurt you anymore.’

‘Huh. More like I can’t hurt them anymore.’

‘Ha, cheeky. You’re quite full of yourself, aren’t cha.’

‘I dropped Vicky at least twice that I can remember. Do you think you could do that?’

‘No way! You’re dreamin’. There’s a limit to how much you can make up.’

The second knight chuckled as he looked out the window. He was almost the same size as the other knight, but his face was almost the exact opposite. It was was soft and more rounded. He was quite handsome. He had blond hair that was parted to one side and looked well kept. He had the light stubble of a five o’clock shadow coming in on his face.

‘I’d imagine Miss Rye here would give you quite the hard time in a fight, Rylan, judging by how those three reacted to her drawing her sword.’

‘This wee bit? Alder! You’re losing it! We ‘ave to spend a year retraining each of those girls when they get out! No way, no way!’

‘You know he’s right. You’d go all out and I’d still beat you ten out of ten times. Unless you have some hidden fairy in that armor? Those teachers' only edge was their magic. Can you use any?’

‘Not on my own, no. Don’t go discountin’ this sword and armor as second rate though.’

‘Ah, so magic gear at least exists outside of that place.’

‘Has too. Nothin’ else can make a dent in the beasties otherwise.’

‘So what does your sword do?’

‘Ah, now you’re talkin’ my language.’

With a glint in his eye, he pulled his sword out from it sheath and presented it to me. It was an impressive longsword with an intricately designed golden hilt. There was a red orb on the top of either side of the guard. The blade was wider than normal and looked like plain steel, but on closer inspection, the edge had the slight oil slick appearance of Fairyite.

‘Fairyite edge?’

‘I wish. Those girls back at the school hog all the stuff. It’s just magically charged Mythril edged. The runes on this baby allow it to slice through a…’

Crash! Creeeeeek Boom!

The princess looked up from her work with concern in her eyes. The noise had come from behind the carriage in the trees. The blond knight stuck his head out of the window and cursed.

‘By the Twelve! Where did that thing come from?!’

‘Obviously from the Wilds, no? What is it?’

‘A Quicksilverback! It looks hungry too.’

I looked out the window to try to see it, but it was on the right side of the carriage and all I could see was the occasional grey talon. The driver signaled for the Hippasaurs to pick up the pace.

‘What’s a quicksilver…thing?’

‘A nasty beast, doll. Fast as the wind and teeth and talons sharp as obsidian that'll tear you apart. Not a good sign for us.’

The princess was looking out the window with a worried expression. She had put down the pen and was clutching a dagger.

‘That’s impossible. They're Aura magnets. We shouldn’t have even been noticed by it. Sir Alder. Do you think we can outrun it?’

‘Not likely, your Highness. The Hippas will tire out long before it will.’

I looked down at my metal cuff on my wrist as they spoke. The soft blue glow it gave off told me exactly why the creature was chasing us. Oh well, I needed Aura anyway if I wanted to get back home. I pulled my sword out of the locket and looked out the window again.

‘What class is it?’

The black-haired knight was quick to answer me.

‘Two. Three if it has killed a Fairybond recently. If it was a four then it would already be on us.’

‘Weaknesses?’

‘Oy! You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking?’

‘We are going to have to fight it sooner or later. Why not bring the fight to it.’

‘Look here little miss. You leave the fightin' to the knights…we get paid a pretty penny to…’

‘It’s hunger. It will leave itself wide open when it is eating something. It’s got no head, so go for its heart. It’s in the dead center of its body mass.’

The princess had interrupted the black-haired knight and was looking me dead in the eye. She paused after speaking and we just sat there locking eyes for a bit. Her eyes were piercing and I could tell she was trying to read my abilities. It would be rude of me to leave her guessing.

‘Well, I guess it’s time to feed the beast.’

I winked at her and then climbed out of the window. Her cheeks blushed and her eyes dilated in surprise at the gesture. I kept one foot in the carriage and the other on the window while I held onto the roof. My hair was now blowing back over my face and it tickled my nose. At least I could see the beast now.

The thing looked like a cyclopean hairless sloth with no neck. Its body was a pale grey color and the shape of an elongated bean. While running on all fours it was still almost as tall as the carriage. Fours? Fives? It had five arms that galloped as it ran. Each arm had three sword sized claws that shredded the cobblestone as it moved.

It had a single large black eye at the top of the bean that looked to be the size of a large pumpkin. Under that eye was a large mouth that stretched halfway down its body and hung open as globs of saliva slung out into the wind. It had several rows of teeth that seemed to undulate as it ran. Stabbing it center mass would mean sticking my sword in the bottom of its toothy maw. From behind it is, then.

I jumped from the carriage and kicked off the ground right as I was about to hit. I started to fall but I channeled my Mana and blinked several times backward to slow my momentum. The beast turned its attention to me as I readied my attack. It quickly closed the gap.

When it got within range, I fed a little Mana into my hand and tossed. The beast’s eye quickly shifted as it leaped into the air to catch the blue glowing apple I had just thrown up high into the air. I blinked forward once again and charged my blade, preparing for a lot of resistance as I cut through its flesh. I was wrong.

I had assumed the resistance was going to be akin to what I felt when I cut the Troll, but I had forgotten that this beast was a whole class less than that monster. I also didn’t have Mana back then. I apparently had spent too much time hitting denser targets.

At first, I wasn’t even sure I had hit. I looked at my blade and saw a tinge of black goo on it. I turned and saw the two hind legs of the beast fall to the ground as it crumpled in pain. It had cut through like a hot knife through butter. Huh? Wasn’t this too easy? A Mana charged apple hit the ground and rolled to my feet.

I picked it up, dusted it off, and took a bite. The beast was using the arm in the center of its body to crawl away from me while switching between looking at me and the carriage that had stopped up ahead. As I walked closer it screeched and held its left arm out to defend itself from my attack, so I cut it off.

It rolled on is back and flailed with its two remaining arms so I removed them too with a few slashes. Then the thing started chomping its mouth at me and writhing on the ground pathetically. I stabbed it a few times until it stopped moving, following with a few more for good measure.

I looked up to see the two knights standing by the carriage with their swords out and a dumbfounded look on their faces. The princess slid out onto the ground and tried to look past them.

‘What is going on?! Why are you standing like a bunch of idiots?! Go help her….kill….um….Miss Rye?’

I went to take another bite of the apple and realized it was covered it the black goo. I sighed and threw it into the tree line. I looked down and saw I was covered in the stuff too. It must have been terrifying to see. I guess I understand why they were making that face. This monster was like killing a jelly-filled doughnut with teeth. The blond-haired knight was the first to talk after a moment of silence and me poking it a couple more times.

‘Uh…Miss Rye, are you hurt anywhere? Are you OK?’

‘Mm. I’m fine. A little…disappointed? This guy was squishier then I was expecting. When does it come out?’

‘When does what come out?’

‘The Aura?’

I looked down and noticed green lights trickling through the black ooze. They rose into the air and formed a small three-inch-long orb in the air. The knights stepped back and the princess called out to me.

‘Samantha, dear! Get back! That green light will kill you if you touch it!’

I couldn’t help but feel more disappointment as the ball stopped to grow. Even splitting it in fourths, my share this time would be so much smaller than it was with the Troll. I heard the princess scream as the pathetic little ball rushed forward and slammed into my chest.