Alexander felt claws tearing into his stomach, causing him to instinctively drive his forearm into the face of the oversized feline. The Hell Cat accepted the proffered arm gratefully, sinking its teeth into flesh before jerking its head back and forth. Too close for most of his usual spells, Alexander reverted to the spell he had been casting for the last half hour.

  “Projecting Wind!”

  The Hell Cat tore his shirt as it catapulted backward. He followed up immediately by signing Piercing Wind. Before the Hell Cat even hit the ground, blood sprayed off multiple wounds as cuts tore into it. Getting a better look, the monstrosity was the size of a Labrador. Its limbs were too long and thin for its body. Its head was cat-like but elongated and disturbing. White foam caked the corners of its mouth, and its dark fur looked as if it was dripping dark liquid.

  Alexander heard a deep roar as the Tree thrashed its arms.

  “Fouuuuulll Beeeassssts.”

  The branching arm swung at two of the cats, catching one squarely and clipping the other, causing it to spin in the air before landing hard on its back. The one it caught directly flew into one of the boulders with a crunch.

  A squeak between his legs caused Alexander to twin-cast Shield by shouting the name and signing simultaneously. Crouched low, he angled to make a shelf roof over his head. Two cats lunged from opposite sides of him, hitting the shields and coming to a stop.

  “CRAAAZY TRAAAAIN!” came a shout from his left as a redheaded streak came in and punched a cat in the head, smashing it to the ground.

  “Sorry I’m late! This place is confusing!” she shouted as she ran toward the next cat, which dodged out of the way.

  She turned and chased after it with abandon. Alexander didn’t process Ridley’s appearance well. He was feeling overwhelmed by the many surprises. He spun in a circle and counted nearly a dozen aggressive cats. Now he felt he was in danger. His mind, calculating how to escape and keep Ridley and Flick safe, had him overloaded.

  Too many variables.

  Ridley’s headlong charge wasn’t accounting for numbers, and sure enough, she was quickly surrounded.

  “Piercing Winds!” he cried with a tinge more desperation in his voice.

  It cut up two of the cats, but he watched as Ridley was clawed in the back and knocked over. Running he attempted to catch up with her.

  “Webs!” He pointed at a Hell Cat, but it jumped out of the way nimbly. Ridley stood up, bleeding and laughing as she held up her forearm. A rune he hadn’t seen before lit up.

  The next Hell Cat that lunged at her missed as she blurred to her left and swung her gloved fist into the cat’s front leg, snapping it with a crunch.

  “Come forth, vile spawn of the infernal depths! We shall grant thee respite in thy doom.”

  A concerned knot formed in Alexander’s stomach as he watched Ridley’s eyes start to glow red.

  “Piercing Wind!” he shouted as two more tried to sneak behind him. He managed to cut one down, but his mind felt heavy, like he had just spent a day calculating dynamic and torque loads.

  The Tree looked to be handling its fight better, as Alexander was able to spot a handful of downed cats nearby.

  “Tasteth the Queen’s retribution, thou wretched souls!”

  Alexander was hesitant to cast more spells that might miss. His pounding head informed him he was low on mana. He kept up his shield and waited for an attack. He placed himself near Ridley’s back, watching for the enemy to lunge. It didn’t take long for an attack from his left side. The cats seemed to enjoy avoiding frontal attacks he noted. Alexander turned and bashed a cat with his shield. As it was off balance he cast webs from his other hand, binding up the cat’s limbs.

  Flick squeaked a warning causing Alexander to turn around and see Ridley charging towards a cat, leaving her back completely exposed to an obvious circling maneuver. He sprinted after her as two cats readied to pounce. He reached her just in time to pull her back out of the way. The leaping cats collided with each other but rebounded easily. Behind him, he heard the tree-being running in their direction.

  “I heeeeelp Wwwizzzaaaard.” The sight distracted him from the violent crimson gaze Ridley had turned on him.

  “Roman scum, taketh what is coming to thee.”

  As he looked back at Ridley’s confusing statement, he was struck by the red glow of her eyes, completely missing her armored fist connecting with his stomach.

  Alexander’s vision flashed white before he collapsed to the ground. He vomited on himself from the intense pain in his gut. Opening his eyes, they were so watery he had to blink a few times to clear them. Ridley lifted a hand in the air. “FAIRY LIGHT!” she shouted with her ring in the air.

  A dazzling flash struck Alexander and several of the cats. He rocked backwards dizzy from the spell.

  “Ever shall a mightier foe arise, alas! ‘Tis pity I bear not mine axe to make sport of thee.” Ridley said as she turned her gaze on the tree-being.

  “Nuh, nooo. Wait!” Alexander reached toward Ridley to stop her, but she blurred forward out of sight.

  Alexander didn’t even have the strength to sit up. The sounds of combat returned behind him.

  “Nnnoooo, allllyyyy!” the tree rumbled.

  Alexander heard the telltale sound of a branch cracking. In the corners of his vision, a Hell Cat stirred, regaining its feet woozily from Ridley’s stun attack. Alexander breathed slowly, trying to regain the strength to move. The Hell Cats looked about for their prey and caught sight of Alexander helplessly coughing on the ground.

  They didn’t even feel the need to circle their crippled target. The cats simply pounced at Alexanders helpless back.

  ^

  Your bond with Flick has reached 15%

  Flick jumped out of Alexander’s shadow and opened his mouth. Arcing lightning crackled before shooting out; it chained to three targets, causing them to be temporarily stunned once again. Flick darted into the shadow of a fourth, the cat’s shadow electrified, causing the cat to twitch. Its muscles spasmed as it fell.

  Alexander twisted around to see behind him. Flick dove into the face of a Hell Cat, scratching and biting at its eyes. It dodged a cat’s paw trying to bat it away by dropping to the ground and back into the cat’s shadow. The cat shook off the attack and lunged at Alexander again.

  Flick jumped out of the shadow and opened its mouth to launch its arc lightning once more, but the Hell Cat managed to catch the demi-dragon with its oversized paw, batting him to the side. The cat continued to crash into Alexander just as he croaked, “Shield,” causing both of them to go rolling. Alexander’s mind was taxed to its limits. Survival instincts finally started to kick in.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Five Hell Cats… a triangular tessellation.

  Alexander pushed himself to his knees and shoved back on the Hell Cat with his shield, making space.

  “Flick! Shadow now!” he commanded as he summoned the last of his reserves. Flick blurred into shadow at Alexander's feet.

  He pictured his winds with a new structural form. Holding onto that image, he added the feel of the destruction it would bring: the flattening of cities from a storm front, the winds on the planet Neptune, strong enough to tear apart mountains in minutes. All this logic was then swallowed into primal instinct for a split second.

  “DESOLATING WINDS!”

  The winds tore out from Alexander in a burst, twisting and flattening in a perfect circle 40 feet in diameter. The wind howled, then, as they hit maximum velocity, emitted a deafening, high-pitched whistle.

  ^

  Your magic points have fully depleted.

  Error:

  Congratulations! You have been promoted to Wizard’s Apprentice!

  +10% increased proficiency to all spells you cast.

  10% decreased mana consumption to all spells you cast.

  Additional rewards may be claimed in your menu.

  As Alexander collapsed, he could feel the pounding headache like a drill digging into his brain. Multiple dismembered figures had collapsed around him, but he couldn’t be sure he got them all. Unfortunately, all he could do was stare blankly at the other side of the field where a final battle still raged.

  The tree-being had already taken a pummeling. One branching arm was snapped and hanging limply at its side. By comparison, Ridley seemed hardly winded.

  “Beerrrsseeerrking Wiiiitcchhh, leeeaaave meeeee beeeee!”

  The tree man attempted to slap her away, but Ridley once again sidestepped with a blur, then struck at the leg of the giant with a resounding crack. The Tree fell forward onto its knees, holding its injured leg.

  Alexander’s eyes were getting heavy.

  “THURISAZ!” Ridley shouted as a lightning bolt several times larger than Flick’s crackled, sinking into the chest of the tree giant, causing it to roar in pain and anger.

  “Wiiizaaaard! Heeeeelp meeeeee!” it shouted as it fell sideways.

  Ridley stepped forward and started pounding into its head, every hit splintering the wood further. The final words of the tree faded into silence as Alexander’s consciousness fled.

  “Wwwheeeeere aaam I?”

  ^

  Quest Complete!

  Whose the Boss?

  The denizens of the nature preserve are not so interested in preserving you.

  Objective: Slay or subdue the mini-boss

  Quest rewards:

  -12 silver

  -1500 xp

  -Novice Wizard’s Staff

  ^

  Quest Complete!

  Summoned Resentment - part 2

  An unknown entity is targeting you for capture with a clowder of Hell Cats.

  Objective: Avoid capture by any means necessary

  Quest rewards:

  -1750 xp

  - 10 silver

  Congratulations, you are now level 6!

  Alexander awoke to something small dancing on his chest. He felt a sharp jolt of pain when it hit the wrong spot, leading him to believe he had a fractured rib or two. He heard a squeaky growl.

  “I said I’m sorry!” Ridley apologized to someone.

  Squeak, squeak! Grrrrr.

  Flick was down in an attack stance, ready to throw a bolt at Ridley if she got any closer to Alexander’s prone body. He would have rather slept for another few hours to recover his pounding head, but sat up with a groan instead to prevent any further needless conflict. He looked up at Ridley, relieved not to find red eyes staring at him.

  “Alexander?” Ridley asked, concerned, confirming his suspicions that she called him Alex just to annoy him.

  “Ah, young Ridley,” he said weakly. Flick crawled up his shoulder to the top of his head, still growling. “I hope you are unhurt,” Alexander ventured, then remembered she had at least one nasty gash on her back.

  “I think I’ll be fine,” she said nervously. “Do… you think you will be okay?”

  “I think I’ll recover,” he said, trying to remain completely still.

  Ridley started crying. “I didn’t mean to… I wasn’t…” She wiped her shirt across her face.

  Alexander looked around at the destruction. A perfect circle of torn earth surrounded him. From a guess, he would say he sat at the midpoint of a twenty-five-foot diameter. He could see shredded flowers past that. He was too tired to bother trying to identify them.

  The Torii archway had fallen over, a shame as he did like them, even if they were used in a completely wrong manner. Then he saw the body of the tree-being, which hadn’t dissipated like the Hell Cats and everything else he had encountered. Disturbed, he realized Ridley was still rambling.

  “…I wasn’t like this before. I used to be scared to talk to people. I was weak. I didn’t just rush out and destroy everything.”

  Alexander felt a chill as he admitted he shared her sentiment.

  I wasn’t like this before.

  Ridley continued, “…but I’m better now. I feel more in control, even though I seem to go off the rails a bit. I just get so mad, and it feels so good! Like I am in control, but…”

  I didn’t used to be so reckless, and it’s more than just charisma. I am being deliberately obtuse about all of this.

  “Will you forgive me?” she asked, wiping tears off her face.

  “I forgive you... I wasn’t planning on bringing up any charges… and Congo actually has great insurance plans if there’s any lasting damage.”

  Alexander didn’t think he was doing the best job comforting Ridley, but he did know he wouldn’t tell her about his short conversation with the tree.

  “Listen, Ridley, I think that you... we…” he admitted, “…should give this up. Ignore it.”

  Ridley sat there, looking at the ground, thinking, while Alexander tried to convince her.

  “I think there are elements far beyond our control and understanding, that the words that keep appearing don’t tell us enough information.”

  “I… I don’t think I can give it up. I’m not… I don’t need to have all of the information to make a decision. I never have, and never will, have full control over my life… but I understand. This is all a bit crazy… especially for you.”

  Alexander looked away and released a small grunt of pain for doing so.

  “Do you need me to carry you out?” Ridley offered.

  “No, thank you for the offer. Let me just eat a sandwich.”

  Ridley leaned against a nearby tree, watching for any threats as Alexander ate his turkey pesto on rye and began to recover.

  “So… getting punched in the stomach makes you hungry?”

  “Recovery sandwich. Try cooking,” Alexander shared, too groggy to be deceitful right now.

  His cooking skill had reached level 6 recently, and he had added an additional 5% health recovery. Every little bit helped right now. He brought out some extra turkey meat for Flick, who lunged for it, shaking his head back and forth with a mouth full.

  “Where do I get a pet dragon?” Ridley asked, moving closer to look at Flick. The demi-dragon growled at her, causing Ridley to look regretful and stop where she was.

  “It was my neighbor’s pet bearded dragon, a common animal found in pet shops. Then maybe, just like us…” Alexander trailed off. “The fog is dissipating.”

  “Yeah, I can see the path pretty well now.”

  Alexander pushed himself up, growling with the effort. Instead of heading to the pathway, he hobbled to the corpse of the tree. Ridley stayed back. It seemed she was hesitant to get closer, as if she knew something was off about all of this.

  Why didn't this creature disappear?

  Alexander called a Floating Disc and moved the corpse beyond the fence into a wooded thicket on the other side. He didn’t have any way to dig a big enough grave right now, but hopefully, it would be mistaken as just another fallen tree and left alone. Alexander turned back toward Ridley.

  “Well, let’s go. I assume you didn’t drive here?”

  “No, I got a friend to call me an Uber.”

  “Wait, you are still supposed to be on shift. Did you leave work without permission?”

  “No… I told them I was feeling sick. We were slow anyway. Storms at LAX today.”

  Alexander nodded, not feeling like digging any further as they walked slowly.

  Most of the people trapped at the entry building were gone now that the fog was thin enough to navigate. A few, it seemed, had just walked in from being lost. They were talking about the spooky noises they had heard. “I swear I saw something running around out there!”

  They pushed through, not talking to anyone, and moved to Alexander’s Honda Civic.

  “This is a one-time exception,” Alexander explained. “It’s not against company policy, per se, but it’s all about the optics.”

  “Okay,” Ridley said flatly. The mood, still heavy, was not helped by the slowly dissipating fog.

  As they drove, Ridley remembered, “Hey, I got all of the crystals! Want to split fifty-fifty?”

  Alexander thought about it. “That’s okay, you keep them.”

  Ridley sighed and curled up her legs, hugging them to her chest.

  Just as they were about to pass by the comic book store, Ridley asked Alexander if he could drop her off there instead. Agreeing, he pulled into the parking lot. Ridley thanked him for the ride, and as she left, Flick jumped up on her seat and curled up in the warm spot.

  Alexander wondered what he should do next but resolved to go through with his decision. When he parked the car and his lights came on, he saw that Ridley had left something in his cup holder, a bag full of crystals.