I stepped towards Grick and let out a yip. He turned his head, clearly not knowing what I wanted.

  So how do I communicate this to him?

  I walked over to the crystal vein and set my pawn down, then tilted my head back the way we had come.

  “Puppy… tries to tell me something?”

  I yipped my affirmation, then looked to the crystal and back again more intently.

  “Puppy wants… to know…” He scratched his chin. “Where to go, poopy?”

  My ears folded back, annoyance coming into my eyes.

  “Grick will show you good place!” He started skipping off.

  I barked sharply, making him flinch and stop in place.

  I locked my eyes on the crystal vein and growled at it. Then I looked at him and barked again. Grick's head tilted with that same puzzled expression on his face.

  Lily was still lying near the hut, watching us, but steadily gnawing on her bone with her tail wagging.

  Okay… I'm going to have to be a little clearer.

  I stomped on the crystal vein, then ran past Grick, looking towards the entrance of the cavern. I barked, then ran back, stomped on the crystal, then ran past him again. I did this one last time, then stopped and barked directly at Grick.

  He just stared back, blinking.

  Wait… it was a long shot, but if he could speak English, though poorly, maybe he could read it.

  I began dragging my paw on the ground, digging my claws deep to form each letter until spelling, “Trade where?” When I scooped up the dot on the question mark, I looked back at him.

  His eyes went wide in astonishment. He scuttled over to the words, looking left and right across them.

  “But… puppy shouldn't know this,” Grick muttered.

  My tail wagged and I yipped. He recognized it as writing.

  Grick pointed down at it and looked at it. “Puppy knows human thing! When Grick leaves cave, Grick sees human thing! And puppy knows it too!”

  I yipped again, nodding my head up and down.

  Grick suddenly dropped down to his butt, folding his legs under himself as he continued assessing the words. He didn't seem like he knew how to read, as he kept muttering to himself. “But puppies are monsters. Shouldn't know human things. Only humans know it… nasty humans, mean humans. Humans not nice to Grick.”

  I cocked a brow as I watched him. He started idly rolling a pebble back and forth with one finger between his knees. He was frowning, as if remembering some sad memory.

  I stepped towards him, lay down, and let out a questioning whine.

  Grick looked up, and his frown curved up a little. He reached towards me cautiously, and I let him pat my snout. “Nice puppy not like mean human? Right?”

  I let out a yip.

  He patted the top of my snout once more, then stood and walked to his pile of junk. “But humans give Grick good things.” He picked up the dented helmet he had tossed and returned it to the pile. “Grick gets lots of good things for shinies… but… but humans laugh at Grick, call Grick stupid. Grick makes trade so why Grick stupid?”

  My ears folded back as I looked at his pile of junk. Was all that random crap what he was trading the crystals for? I felt my fur stand on end in anger as I pieced together what was going on.

  Obviously, every single thing in that pile was absolutely worthless, but the crystals he was trading, on the other hand, were probably extremely valuable. Certainly more valuable than some dented bowl that somebody had probably thrown away. But ripping the goblin off wasn't enough for them, was it? When he got overjoyed and prideful over his new “treasures,” which anyone else would just see as trash, they couldn't help but laugh at and insult the goblin for making such bad trades. All the while, he probably couldn't grasp why they would react that way.

  That really pissed me off.

  “Grick smart,” he said, picking up the other things he had tossed out of the pile before and returning them. “Grick finds shinies. They can't find shinies. Grick gets many good things.” He picked up a stuffed bear with a missing eye and a torn seam on its side with stuffing pushing out. “Grick likes these things.”

  I walked back over to Grick, briefly thought, “I can't believe I'm doing this,” then licked the side of his face.

  He looked startled at first, then his somber expression turned to a smile. He scratched behind my ear and said, “Good puppy. Not mean to Grick.”

  I felt kind of glad to lift his mood, but I still couldn't figure out how to communicate to him that I wanted him to show me how he gets to these humans. I didn't think he was talking about the red masks, because though we traveled a long way in this cave system, the red masks still had to fly here, and it takes them at least a day. Though even if these other humans were not actively hunting me at the moment, I couldn’t count on the fact that they wouldn’t be a threat in their own way. In this world, after all, I was considered a monster.

  Grick plopped down cross-legged beside his hoard again, still stroking the bear’s missing button eye with a fond smile. “Grick likes nice things. Humans mean, but they have many nice things.”

  I paced around him in a slow circle. I had to get through to him. If he knew a path to the surface—any path—then I needed to see it for myself.

  I tried another way, coming closer and nudging his foot with my nose and tilting my head back to the entrance. When I had his attention, I barked at his pile of treasures and then nudged his foot again.

  He blinked, then finally seemed to catch on. “Puppy wants Grick to show where nice things come from?”

  I instantly barked and wagged my tail. He got it!

  He shook his head. “Bad place for puppy. Humans not nice to monsters.”

  I growled to argue with his denial. It wasn’t really about the humans themselves as much as simply knowing where they were.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “Puppy should stay here with Grick! This good place for puppy!”

  I barked another denial, nudging his foot again, lifting it with my nose, and gesturing out of the cavern.

  “But humans see puppy, think monster. Humans throw fire. Humans scream and stab. Grick not want puppy get hurt.”

  That would be a problem anyway once the red masks arrived. This place wasn’t as safe as he thought it would be.

  I gave him another sharp bark, looking at him intently.

  “If… Puppy wants to go… Grick can show way.”

  I nodded my head up and down.

  “But, puppy can’t go inside human place.” He raised his arms in the air. “Big wall! Can’t pass.” He then extended one arm and pulled the other back like he was drawing a bow and arrow. “Shooty things at monsters.”

  That’s fine. I don’t need to go inside; just show me where it is! I continued to stare at him until he relented.

  “Grick will show. But puppy doesn’t go near! We go in dark, so puppy sees human place, but humans don’t see puppy.”

  That was absolutely perfect. Exactly what I wanted.

  It was still early in the day; it couldn’t have been more than a few hours since the sun rose, so I figured I had some time to get some sleep. With Grick finally agreeing, I looked for a good place to lie down. Alongside, his hut seemed dry enough, so I went there and rested my muzzle between my paws as I closed my eyes.

  I was so tired, still having not slept all night, that I felt myself drift off almost instantly. I was only disturbed once as I felt a presence upon me. When I cracked open a single eye, I saw Lily coming over to snuggle up next to me. She settled down, bone still in her possession, and maneuvered it between her paws as she continued gnawing on it.

  I closed my eyes again and let sleep take me. When I woke, I knew I’d have to be prepared for a fight. I just hoped I would be able to keep Lily and Grick safe in the process.

  ***

  Rakul’s entire body felt stiff, his direwing bouncing between his legs with every flap of its wings. When it hit an air current just right, it would flatten its wings out and glide briefly; the smoother motion and fresh rush of air on Rakul’s face nearly lulled him to sleep. He shook his head, removing a single hand from the reins to slap his cheek and wake himself up.

  They were close now, and while the band of twenty warriors he led searched the caves, he’d be able to take a much-needed nap out in the sunlight.

  Finally, pulling the reins back to take his direwing over the peaks, they came upon the vale. A black mass still remained lying limp upon one ridge—the god-tier monster they had killed—and the magical lake in the middle showed as beautifully as ever. Before those damn Hell Hounds had moved in, he had several times gone on hunting expeditions here. It was a great hunting ground with a variety of challenges for intermediate warriors looking to sharpen their skills. Although it could also be dangerous, as higher-level monsters lurked in the furthest stretches of the forest and the deepest parts of the caves. Not to mention, at the very far end, there was an entrance to the depths—a place that only warriors the likes of Valrok would dare to contend with.

  Of course, nothing out here on the surface came even close to the power of a full grown Hell Hound—a species of monsters that were supposed to only be found in the depths. Yet, his tribe had killed one. Valrok truly was incredible, and though Rakul had often carried doubts of his own, he knew that their success here had vastly raised the strength and wealth of their tribe. After they caught the remaining two Hell Hound pups, it would be even more so, and they would all be honored with yet another feast. He was quite looking forward to that after this week of scouting out those pups and endless hours on the back of a direwing. He just hoped he managed to find them in the cave quickly so they could get back.

  Then some movement in the sky ahead caught his eye. Two direwings without riders—the ones belonging to Geirna and Roshka.

  What the hell are they doing? Rakul wondered. Did they get drunk and sleep in? Forgot to feed their direwings? Damn fools! I’ve broken my back flying all day and night, while they laze around and drink! If those damn Hell Hounds snuck past them out of the caves while they slept… I swear I will knock their heads together!

  But as he flew lower, leading his fellow warriors down towards the cave, he got the distinct feeling that something was wrong. There were no monsters in this area of the vale that would be a threat, so he told himself to stop being paranoid.

  Then again, who said monsters were the only threat? If the Amarii had likewise been scouting for the pups this entire time, and then were to ambush Geirna and Roshka in the dead of night…

  Rakul pulled down on the reins, dipping the direwing sharply below the treetops, and finally—

  He leapt off as soon as he was low enough, seeing a corpse, mask still on, and blood all around it. It was male—Roshka!

  “Roshka!” he yelled, as he ran towards his slain tribesman. He pressed his fingers to his lips and whistled loudly, signaling to the rest that something was wrong.

  He came to Roshka’s side, held under his shoulder and prepared to press his fingers to his neck to check for life… But it wasn’t necessary. His neck had a gaping wound, and if that were not enough, the way his head limped backwards unnaturally spoke to a broken neck. Roshka was certainly dead.

  Rakul stood, staring through his mask in disbelief. What could have done this? Not the Hell Hounds, of course, they were only levels 8 and 4 when he had last seen them! It would be absurd for Roshka to fall to such low level monsters, Hell Hound or no.

  The other warriors were now raining from the sky, jumping free from their direwings and landing in crouches.

  “What is this?” one said, walking over to examine Roshka’s body.

  “A monster attack,” Rakul said, though it was obvious. “But where is Geirna?”

  He started searching the ground amidst the feet of his tribesmen, a dozen now joining him on the landing while the remaining eight or so flew circles in the sky, directing the unmounted direwings to the cliffsides to wait.

  Rakul saw spatters of blood here and there. Then, Geirna’s spear, along with her shock pole. The spear was spattered in blood. She had fought. Perhaps Roshka was killed in his sleep, before he had a chance to defend himself, and Geirna fought off the monsters.

  Surely it was more than one monster. But what kind?

  Rakul crouched beside the spear, running his fingers along the dried blood flaking off the shaft. The droplets were scattered… not pooled. That meant Geirna had moved while fighting—fast, desperately, and over several steps.

  He straightened and looked around again.

  “Spread out!” he barked. “Find her! Look for tracks, drag marks, anything!”

  However, it didn’t take long.

  “Over here,” a warrior shouted, pointing down the cliff.

  Rakul rushed over. There were spatters of blood everywhere near the cliff edge, but when he looked over the side, he saw her. Geirna lay far below, her limbs twisted at odd angles, blood pooled around where she had bled out, but Rakul suspected it was the fall itself that had killed her.

  But what disturbed him even more, ironically, is that both of the dead warriors were left intact. They were not eaten, not dragged off to be consumed elsewhere. Whatever monster had done this had done so simply for the sake of killing them, not considering them prey.

  “What should we do?” a warrior asked, others murmuring amongst themselves of the ill omen this represented.

  Rakul didn’t answer immediately. His jaw tightened as he stared down at Geirna’s body. A low ripple of unease spread through the gathered warriors.

  One of the older men folded his arms protectively over his own chest.

  “Almighty curse this place,” he muttered. “This ground is angry. It wants blood.”

  A few instinctively touched carved bone charms hanging from their belts. Another traced a symbol over his mask—an old gesture meant to ward off evil.

  Rakul snapped, “Stop that. This was no spirit!”

  But even as he said it, doubt curled like a snake around the back of his mind.

  No—no, that was ridiculous. They were slain by a creature. Something flesh and bone. Something that could be tracked and killed.

  Still…

  No monsters known to inhabit this area would kill this way.

  “We still have our mission,” Rakul eventually said. “Spread into three teams… no, four now. We should search the forest as well, in case the pups slipped past after Geirna and Roshka were killed. Two teams will fly to the other known entrances we discussed on the maps and begin their search from there. We will work our way through the cave system, and before meeting in the middle, one of us will have found the pups, if they are still there.”

  “But… what of the spir—” a warrior began, but corrected himself. “The monster that has killed them? It could be in the caves?”

  “Keep your numbers close. It may have killed Roshka before he had a chance to fight back, but the story of this battle is in the dirt. It struggled to kill Geirna, and she had wounded it as well. That means no one goes alone. If you must split your party, do so in pairs at least, and you should be able to defeat it should you cross its path.”

  Geirna had wounded her attacker. He just had to trust that whatever trail she left, however faint, would betray the creature’s path deeper inside.

  “When this is finished…” Rakul added, “we will take Geirna and Roshka back for their sacred rites and return them to the Almighty with honor.”

  He had been looking forward to the celebration at this week's end. He just never wanted it to come along with another funeral.

  Read next chapter now on Patreon!

  $5 for 5 additional chapters!

  The $10 tier currently has 7 chapters!