System Break

Waking with a pair of perky breasts pressed against your back and another in your hands is my idea of sleeping rough. It was cold in the mountains and I was fortunate to always be in the middle of our human sandwich. Gisael and Reyas would have it no other way.

Sakaala and Ailen took turns at the other end, while Reyas was always the leader of the congo line due to her innate ability.

We wandered down into the hills and were east of our forest. We'd pass the mines and the fort on the way south in search of Ailen's friend.

"Do you know where you spawned?" he asked.

I pointed south. "How do the lumps get there anyway?"

He shrugged. "I just know they told me he would spawn where you did, he couldn't come through the way we did because he wanted a malleable body."

"I don't think they know what they're doing half the time."

Ailen nodded and glanced at Sakaala. "Yeah, we get that feeling."

She ran to catch us up. "We will visit the city?"

"You mean the fort? Hell no."

She pouted. "Why not?"

I looked down at my new leathers, they covered from my waist in sections down to my feet. They were thick, grooved and had half a dozen straps for tools, weapons, or scabbards. The troll colours turned out brown with a greenish tinge after tanning. They were mighty fine.

Reyas had boar leathers, as did Sakaala and Ailen. Gisael had troll leathers which hugged her curves and covered from her chest to ankle.

"Even with the leathers we look alien to them. People don't react well to those who look different," I whispered in her ear. "I'm a black man who grew up in America. Trust me you can't waltz in expecting a warm welcome."

"Oh," she said.

I laughed. "You two have lived your lives as one of the elites."

Ailen nodded. "He's right. They will react badly to us."

"If we went, we'd defend ourselves, kill a half a dozen then what?"

Sakaala continued to pout. "So, we can never go shopping?"

I pointed to her new leathers, her expertly made bow, beautiful quiver, and her excellent knives.

She watched my finger with pursed lips and sighed. "Point taken."

"You're our trader. If we make some sort of contact, then you can trade to your hearts content. That's like shopping on a mass scale."

Her face brightened. "You're right, yes, it is."

We ran for the rest of the day from the hills, past the mine and down into the plains. The demon bird scouted and looked for monsters. It wanted to eat more carrion.

"A large lizard," I said and pointed. "It looks like hard armour segments and it has two horns."

"How large?" Reyas asked.

"Four of them would equal the giant boar. Oh, and it's got a long spiky tail."

"Hunt it?" Gisael asked.

I nodded. "The demon bird wants to feed, and we can always use the core."

The forest was now to our west and although we were heading south, we could drop off its skin and core at the forest's edge. The demon bird scouted and there was nothing else nearby, the lizard itself was taking in rays after it had killed and eaten something furry.

I found a patch of dirt and began to draw. "The archers will form a triangle. Gisael by herself, I'll be with Ailen and Reyas with Sakaala. See if we can take it down with arrows and keep turning it. If it's focused on you, stop shooting and the other two can pepper it with arrows."

"When it charges, we close to melee. Same tactic, form a triangle, Gisael, Reyas and me."

Everyone nodded. "Good plan," Ailen said and I laughed.

"Basic stuff Ailen."

He shrugged. "No one else has killed a boss mob except us."

"That stuff doesn't matter," I said and pointed to each person. "What matters is we all become stronger. We need to work on your abilities and our teamwork. The adventurers from Dawnharbour won't be easy like monsters. So, if we're ever up against them we need to be prepared."

Ailen glanced at Sakaala who frowned.

"Is there something I should know?" I asked.

"No, we just agree with you," Sakaala said.

"Let's kill this Lizard and go get our new guild member," Ailen said.

"We have a guild?" I asked.

Ailen nodded and poked me. "You're not in it. Officially you're not an adventurer."

I laughed. "I prefer being with Gisael and Reyas."

Sakaala pouted. "I don't like it. But anyway, our guild is called The Forest."

"That's simple," I said. "Couldn't you think of anything cool?"

Ailen shrugged. "This name makes us feel like we're in the guild with everyone in the forest."

I glanced at Gisael who looked like she couldn't care less. She was used to our discussions which made little sense.

Reyas was more interested. "Why can't I and Benzhi be in this guild?"

Ailen looked sympathetic. "Its from the dream world we travel to. Our old world."

Her eyes narrowed. "It doesn't make sense. You are here, in a guild. The guild is for people here."

"It doesn't matter. We are in our own guild, all of us, we don't have to worry about what the old-world thinks."

"I'm sorry, we won't mention it again," Ailen said. "Benzhi is right, it's not important."

Reyas nodded. "Good. We're in the guild." And she placed a hand on Gisael's shoulder.

"Let's go kill this lizard. I need to practise my skinning," I said.

Reyas pushed me playfully. "Good, it's still bad."

We snuck up on and surprised the horned lizard. I sighed as the first arrows bounced off its hard segments. It was like it was wearing chitin armour.

Gisael was the first to take aim between the segments and at its eyes when it faced her. When she pierced one eye there was no turning it, it went after her. Reyas and I charged from out positions to help Gisael. She gracefully slipped her bow over her shoulder and drew her sword before dancing away to the right.

She was quick, but the lizard was large and very angry. Its tiny legs propelled it forward towards her.

I was running at top speed with an ebony spear in my hand. The chitin armour may have kept an arrow at bay but let's see how it faired against a qi powered spear with a large man behind it.

Pouring qi into my legs I gained on it and then leaped high into the air. I brought the spear down in an arc as Gisael dodged to the side, avoiding another attack. I aimed for the back of its head and I brought the spear down with all my might, qi licking its tip.

The blow caused a resounding crack and shards of ebony and chitin flew as I pushed the spear into its skull. I expected the lizard to die on the spot, but these bastards had smaller brains than an alcoholic blonde bimbo.

It tried to impale me with its tale, so I used its twisting motion to power my jump and rolled clear.

Reyas charged its back and I called, "Beware the tail." But she paid me no heed and I had my own problems. The horned lizard was no longer focused on Gisael it only had eyes for me. Correction, eye, there was still an arrow in the other.

I plant my rear foot and twisted my chest away from its rush. When it closed, I turned back and put all the power I could muster behind a right hook. I swiped its snout and its jawbone broke with a loud crack. The armour protecting its snout was crushed at the point of impact and splits formed up and down its long mouth.

The lizard twisted from the force of the blow but kept its forward momentum and crashed into me. We flew, skidded and came to a halt with the lizard on top of me. I pushed and kicked my way out as Gisael and Reyas began to slice.

The lizard had horns, sharp teeth, and a wicked spiked tail. But it didn't have the brains to use them all at once.

The three of us beat on it like it was a drum. My fists crushed its skull in. Gisael stabbed between chitin shells along its body and Reyas hacked off its tail.

I stood back and surveyed the mess. "How am I supposed to skin this?"

Ailen laughed and Sakaala looked thoughtful. She pointed and said, "Just hack off the chitin pieces. The crafters can work out what to do with them."

Ailen inspected a piece. "It's not a dragon, but these are pretty tough."

Gisael was efficient and was already carving her way to its core. The demon bird landed and hopped around the corpse. If it had lips, it would have been licking them.

I looked at him. "No sleeping until we find Ailen's friend." The demon bird grew at a steady rate. It was much bigger than a crow now and the red armour surrounding its head was bright like a pepper.

Sakaala unrolled the woven mats, we piled on the chitin and dragged them west to the forest. Gisael carried the qi core and we left the demon bird to feast.