A flash of light blinded him.

  Maybe the lobster had shot him, too.

  Now he could reunite with Thornelius on the great cheese platter in the sky.

  As Colby’s vision cleared, he found himself not surrounded by cheese of every flavor and some incomprehensible to even him. It was something far worse.

  It was Elaine.

  Donned in leather armor, the red-haired ex-bestfriend of his was on top of the lobster. She dropped down, plunging her glowing blade into the lobster. Fabric split, opening its tailored suit straight down the middle—but not its shell. Elaine’s shining sword scraped along as the blade slowly lost its luminance.

  “Elaine?” Colby said.

  “Get up!” a voice yelled right in his ear.

  He flinched, head flicking to the side.

  It was another red-haired girl with red leather armor and a red sword. It was Helena.

  Why was she here?

  Actually, who cared about that?

  What about Thornelius?

  Colby twisted his head towards the rocky wall. Surrounding the best boy in the whole wide world was a flowing bubble of water.

  The water bubble dispersed, splashing droplets across the sand, revealing a blue-haired girl in blue leather armor. In one hand was a blue sword, plunged into the side of the wall to hold her aloft. In the other, an equally blue round shield.

  It was Noelle.

  The shelled bullet had somehow phased through them, slamming into the stone ceiling right behind.

  Noelle opened her Inventory and chucked her shield inside. With an impressive amount of core strength, she lifted her lower body up and planted her feet against the wall. Removing her blade from its rocky resting place, she sliced Thornelius, shooting a stream of water with every swing and freeing him from the sticky trap that was supposed to save him—not put him in mortal peril.

  As they fell, she wrapped Thornelius under her arm and landed on the sand with a far softer thud than Colby’s hard crash.

  “Stop gawking at my sister and get up!” Helena yelled.

  Helena grabbed Colby by the armpits and hoisted him up in what he could only assume was an application of [Strengthen]. She had twigs compared to the trunks Elaine possessed.

  “Why are you here? Why’s Elaine here? Why’s that lobster here?” Colby asked, steadying himself from the sudden pull.

  “Talk later. Just run!”

  Her fingers curled around his wrist, and she ran. She was nowhere as strong as Elaine, but was still strong enough to yank him whether he wanted to or not.

  “But, Thornelius!”

  A bark echoed behind him.

  As Colby ran out of the cove, he glanced backwards. Nestled within Noelle’s chest was the Thornwolf. His tongue flapped in the wind while happily barking at him, as he was ferried to safety.

  “Close your eyes!” Elaine yelled, standing right in front of the frothing lobster.

  She raised her sword up high. A soft sparkle glimmered along the entire length of metal. Colby knew what was about to happen. He squeezed his eyes shut just in time.

  Not even his eyelids could fully block out the blinding [Flash], giving him a rare view of the inside of his lids. When it finally faded, and he dared open his eyes, small little spots danced and flickered in this vision, refusing to disappear.

  All of a sudden, Elaine was right behind him, no longer in front of that huge lobster. She casually jogged, ignoring the screeches of the lobster as froth sprayed out of its mouth while it flailed its barrelled claws.

  Large shelled bullets fired out of its claws, striking the rocky ceiling above. Chunks of stone broke free, peppering the sand below. The lobster continued to thrash wildly, filling the cove with falling debris and echoing gunfire.

  “Laine,” Colby panted out. “What’s going on?”

  “Remember the Thornwolves? And that thing with Port?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s happening all over Brinebrook.”

  “Monsters are going crazy everywhere? Why?”

  “Yes. No idea. The Arcanum’s still studying those Thornwolf corpses.”

  A puzzled snort escaped Thornelius’s nose as he tilted his head at Elaine.

  “They attacked first. So don’t you dare think about biting me.”

  Thornelius huffed and turned away from her.

  “Just ignore him,” Colby said. “Is this because of the war? I thought we were winning against Endruma?”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “We are. I think. They could’ve caused it or something else. All I know is that monsters are swarming Brinebrook.”

  “Oh, curds! That’s bad.”

  “It is. So why don’t you be a good boy and go home? The Arcanum’s setting up a barrier, and General Goodsell’s defending the gate in the meantime. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ve got a Lobster Mobster to kill. And we can’t do that with civilians in the way.”

  That was not at all what Colby meant. If anything, he was double worried now.

  “You heard her!” Helena shouted, interrupting his thoughts. “Go!”

  “And here’s your, Thornwolf,” Noelle said, passing Thornelius to him.

  The Thornwolf licked his face as he continued to run. As for the rest of the girls, they skidded to a stop, turning around towards the cove.

  The Lobster Mobster had recovered its sight. It barreled out into the open, screeching and frothing at the mouth. It aimed its two claws forward before firing off a pair of shelled bullets.

  Noelle stood in front of the group and pulled out her round shield from her Inventory. Water surged out of it, forming a flowing bubble that encased them. The twin bullets slammed into the bubble, ripples raging across the water’s surface.

  It was too much for even a noble Knight-in-training to stop directly. Instead, water flowed, dragging the bullets away. They rolled around the bubble and crashed into the sand behind them.

  Which happened to be a few feet too close to Colby.

  He flinched, nearly dropping Thornelius.

  “Sorry!” Noelle yelled as the bubble dissipated.

  “Lure it back inside!” Elaine yelled.

  She [Dashed] ahead of Helena and Noelle, charging straight at the Lobster Mobster. It leveled its claws at her, firing off another round of shelled bullets.

  Elaine dodged the pearls, whistling past her and towards Noelle and Helena. Another bubble formed around the sisters, diverting the bullets off course, sending them slamming into the sand around Colby as he ran for his life.

  This was way above his paygrade.

  Good luck, Elaine. Though I’m pretty sure you don’t need it.

  The three Knights-in-training lured the flailing Lobster Mobster back into the cove, where bullets struck the walls rather than risk flying into him.

  Just like that, one problem was solved, but another decided to pop in to say hi.

  The herd of Su-sheep that had nearly trampled him now blocked his way. The only way up the beach was a set of stairs that he couldn’t access. Technically, one could scale the walls rather than the stairs, but if one could do that, then one could definitely push these annoying Su-sheep out of the way to get to those purposefully built set of stairs.

  “Get out of the way!” Colby yelled.

  He pushed the closest Su-sheep, hands digging into the sticky and salty rice coat as he tried to move it out of the way. The Su-sheep yelled in a panicked startle. It snapped its hind hooves back, slamming into Colby’s chest.

  The wind, this morning’s breakfast, and Thornelius were knocked out of him as Colby’s tush crashed into the soft sand.

  The Thornwolf landed on much more gracefully than him. Thornelius immediately growled at the Su-sheep that had dared to kick his master in the chest. They bleated in alarm and stampeded forward.

  Their bleats climbed an octave. Hooves skidded in the sand. They immediately backtracked, running back the way they came before scattering in a frantic rush, peeling away to the sides and clearing a path down the middle.

  Thornelius’s growl died in his throat, shrinking into a whimper. He turned tail and scrambled behind Colby, pressing his body close as the leaves along his body quivered with fear.

  Standing up, Colby saw what had made the Su-sheep and Thornelius so scared. It was Farmer Hound.

  Thankfully, he was more farmer than hound right now.

  Unthankfully, he seemed to be pretty mad.

  “What do you think you’re doing, cheese boy?” Farmer Hound growled, revealing teeth that were slowly sharpening into canines.

  “Umm… trying to get the Su-sheep to safety?”

  “You know what I hate almost as much as monster abusers? Liars.”

  Farmer Hound stomped towards him, feet sinking into the sand with every step. From a perfect upright posture, he slowly hunched forward. His shoulders rolled forward and his spine curved. Coarse brown hair sprouted along his forearms. His fingers flexed, and nails lengthened into sharp, menacing points that he was about to make very clear to Colby.

  “Wait! Wait! Wait!” Colby yelled, scrambling backwards only to trip on the shivering Thornelius. “If you really hate monster abusers, then you’ll really hate the thing that caused all of the Su-sheep and those Lobsters to run out of the ocean.”

  “Speak the truth. Or else.”

  “Okay. Okay. Okay. Only the truth. Only the truth. I swear on the great Gouda in the sky.”

  After rambling and tripping over every single word, Colby was able to tell the story about how the Lobster Mobster was the one chasing the Su-sheep and Lobsters, not him.

  Slowly, the Farmer Hound’s canine features receded, turning him back into just a regular farmer who definitely didn’t have a secret behind his past.

  “Fine. You’re off the hook, for now. But you’re going to help me. My men are wrangling in the horde of Lobsters. You and me are gonna herd these Su-sheep.”

  “Me?”

  “Do I see any other monster abuser here?”

  “Technically Thornelius? And if your eyesight is really good, the Lobster Mobster in that cove.”

  Farmer Hound just grunted.

  “I don’t want that Thornwolf anywhere near the Su-sheep. It’ll mess up the youngun's rice coating. And I’ll deal with that Lobster Mobster when those Knights-in-training either give up or die—whichevers first.”

  “Wait! You can deal with that Lobster Mobster? Then why don’t you go do it now? What if Elaine gets hurt or worse?”

  “Not my problem. Now hurry up and herd the Su-sheep you scared off.”

  “But—”

  Farmer Hound dashed forward and was in Colby’s face in the blink of an eye. A single nail sharpened into a menacing claw that pressed into his throat. It wasn’t enough to break skin, but it did bring the point across.

  “You either help the monsters you abused, or you pay.”

  Instinctively, Colby had his hands raised high up into the air. Thornelius shivered by his leg, slowly shedding leaves onto the sand below.

  If Farmer Hound wanted him to help the monsters he abused, then fine. It’s not because he was being threatened or that he was flat out broke, which made him change his mind. He was a good citizen of Paralos and a friend to all monsters—unless they stole his milk.

  “O-okay,” Colby stuttered out. “I’ll help the Su-sheep.”

  Farmer Hound retracted his claw and turned away.

  “Good. Start with the ones near the walls. Less chance of you frightening them into the ocean.”

  “I didn’t mean I’d help them like that.”

  Farmer Hound whipped around and rushed forward in another blink of an eye. But this time, Colby was prepared.

  He raised Thornelius, using the shivering wolf as a technically-not-meat-shield. Colby knew that Farmer Hound wouldn’t hurt a monster unless necessary. His claw was an inch away from the Thornwolf, but close enough to make him tremble even more, causing him to shed even more leaves.

  “How dare you abuse this Thornwolf. Farmer Hound, have you no shame?”

  “Enough with the games, boy. The only reason you’re not Lobster feed is because you’re Jack’s kid. But even that has a limit.”

  “No games here, Farmer Hound. I was serious when I said I was going to help those Su-sheep. But since you abused Thornelius, you’ve got to help him too. Either that or pay. And I really hope you pay because I need a ton of milk for what I want to do.”