After the worst two hours of his short life, Terry finally entered Biloxi. He’d gotten off the backroads as soon as he could and gotten on Highway 49. Straight shot to the coast and more bathrooms. He steered Thunder into a parking spot right along the beach on Highway 90 and took his goggles off and looked out at the gray waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

  “I haven’t been down here since I was a kid, you know?” he said. He shook his head.

  “Barely away from home and I’m already talking to my scooter.” He grinned. “You don’t mind though, do you?”

  He patted the scooter on the headlight.

  “You did great, Thunder. Thank you.”

  Normally, there would be tourists crawling all over the beach but not now. Ernest had said there had been a hurricane the previous month and now that Terry wasn’t paying attention to the road he could see the signs. Buildings were still damaged or destroyed, worse right along the beach. He could see dwarves working diligently on the other side of the road trying to get Biloxi back into some kind of working shape.

  That was odd. Ernest also said there should be mages down here and so far Terry hadn’t see any. Of course, they might be somewhere working on infrastructure. He was going to have to take a look around. Or, he would in a few minutes. The sounds and motions of his stomach decided they weren’t done after all. He looked around frantically and saw a row of “Crapper Johns” set up for the construction crew. It looked unoccupied.

  “Wait here,” he said to Thunder “and don’t get stolen.”

  Twenty minutes later Terry emerged feeling relieved and slightly embarrassed. A passing dwarf looked at him oddly. Terry shrugged.

  “Gas station food.” He said by way of an explanation.

  The dwarf nodded.

  “You like that kinda thing?”

  “Not any more I don’t.”

  Terry started to walk away when he remembered an idea he’d had. He spun back around and trotted up beside the dwarf. The dwarf had a neatly trimmed gray beard and seemed to be dressed in a denim shirt. It was hard to tell with all the hair. Probably a foreman.

  “Sir? Can I bother you for a second?” he said.

  The dwarf looked him up and down as they walked.

  “If you’re looking for work, I might could find something for you to do.”

  “Uh, no sir. I’m looking for any mages that might be around.”

  The dwarf threw his head back and laughed which surprised Terry.

  “Kid, there’s-“

  “I’m 21, sir.”

  “Kid,” the dwarf continued. “There’s only one mage around here right now that isn’t high as balls on the mana flux from the storm. She’s down the road a little ways helping out with relief. Look for the mall.”

  “Thank you sir!” Terry gave him a big smile. Dottie always said his smiles were disarming.

  “The names Gunt, kid. I’ll warn you. That mage is ornery.”

  "Uh, thanks?” Terry said as he walked on down the street.

  The Edgewater was a nice mall from the little Terry could remember of it from his childhood. WAS being the operative word. It was in pretty bad shape with the windows blown out and obvious water damage everywhere. Construction was still ongoing and the parking lot had a dozen or so tents and awnings set up with lines of people everywhere. They were leaving with food and blankets mostly.

  Terry’s heart went out to them. He also felt warmth at seeing people helping others. Humans and dwarfs were working together. Heck, it looked like there were two or three elves here too. Maybe, he thought, if I don’t find this mage I should volunteer for a few days. He liked that idea but he decided to try and do what he’d come down here for first.

  He started walking the parking lot and tried to make it clear he didn’t need any help. He also tried his best to not look like a creep as he searched. He looked at faces and clothes and realized quickly that he had no idea how to identify a mage out of a crowd. He was going to have to ask for help. He picked someone at random. There seemed to be a boy with his head shaved stacking blankets with his back turned. He’d do. Terry approached cautiously.

  “Excuse me, sir?”

  The boy - girl - spun to face him. . .

  Terry stopped dead in his tracks. Even without hair she was stunning. Bright blue eyes, strange color changing lipstick on a pair of smirking lips. She was wearing a strange one piece with jeans over it and a belt with a massive gold belt buckle with a face on it. She was. . . Terry shook his head to try and clear it and hoped to God she didn’t notice he was staring so badly.

  Delores wasn’t sure what she was expecting when someone called her sir. It wasn’t unheard of and it wasn’t that bad. She wasn’t really angry. She had just reached a level of annoyance that no human had probably ever reached in their life. She spun on the voice, hands on her hips ready with a snarky comment ready, and swallowed whatever she was about to say. The boy? Man? Whatever, was handsome. She almost thought he was using a glamor spell with his mess of jet black hair and his jaw, and his piercing eyes, and. . . His armor. His stupid armor and a white and red tabbard under a duster. He was a stupid knight.

  “Ma’am.” She settled on as a reply. She hung on to her annoyance desperately and tried not to ogle the poor guy.

  He held up his hands and had the decency to look embarrassed.

  “Ma’am! I am so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention.” He bowed to her. He actually bowed to her. He’s new, she thought. He’s painfully new to this.

  “It’s fine.” She said. “I don’t know if you noticed but we’re kinda busy here.” At that she turned back around and started folding and stacking blankets.

  “I understand, ma’am.” He still sounded embarrassed. Good.

  “I was just wondering if you’d heard anything about a mage helping out around here?” She glanced over her shoulder at him. Was he serious?

  “I want you to think about how your day is going after what just happened and make a wild guess about where she is.”

  “It’s you.” He said slapping his forehead. Very satisfying. He was quick on the uptake. “Of course it’s you. I’m so sorry ma’am. My name’s Terry Lingal and I’m looking for someone to partner with.”

  Delores nearly spit out a drink that she wasn't drinking. What a newb.

  “You are in luck, Mr. Knight.”

  “My name’s Terry.” He said and she ignored him.

  “Biloxi, Gulfport, and Pass Christian are stuffed to the GILLS with mages. All you have to do is scoop the stoners up in a wheelbarrow and you’ve got one.”

  “About that.” He said walking up beside her and actually helping to fold blankets. “Why is that? You’re the second person to talk about them like they’re addicts.”

  Delores sighed. She slapped her current blanket down on a stack and faced him, fists on hips.

  “The hurricane, Mr. Knight. The low pressure front pushes all the mana in the area ahead of it.” She demonstrated using her fist to push her palm. “It hit and weakened, and the storm died not far inland, but the mana it pushed with it stayed.” She grabbed another blanket and tried to not look at him too long. He was just so. . . . Interested? Attentive? Handsome? STOP IT, she thought.

  “So all these mages showed up to try and help turn or lessen the storm." She continued. "They opened themselves up to try their spells and the huge mana surge got them completely stoned. Now that there’s a standing mana field for another few weeks they’re all just sitting round being useless.”

  “But not you?” he asked. He was still folding blankets with her.

  “It takes either an extremely powerful mage or an extremely weak one to resist the currents, Mr. Knight.” She said.

  “And which are you, ma’am?”

  “PLEASE stop calling me ma’am.” She said. “I’m 20.”

  “I don’t know what else to call you.”

  She sighed again. She hadn’t intended to give him her name.

  “Delores.” She said. "Stupid name." she mumbled to herself.

  Possibly the most horrible sound she’d ever heard came from his stomach just then. If a bear fought a wookalar it would sound something like that. He looked up in alarm and spotted the closest line of Crapper Johns. He looked at her with urgency in his eyes.

  “I'm not done, Delores. I’ll be back A.S.A.P. I still want to team up.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Delores raised her hand with an objection ready but he was off like a shot. She would NOT just wait around for him. She wouldn’t. She had no intention of teaming up with some new, untrained knight and end up doing all the work. Besides. The nice guy thing was probably a front. It always seemed to be. She frowned at that and grabbed an armload of blankets to fold.

  Delores finished her work some time later and checked her phone for the time. Knight or not, the poor guy had been in that thing for a while. Maybe she should check on him? He honestly didn’t seem that bad. He had apologized for the misgendering thing. She had to have a heal spell or something in her notebook. Besides, she was going to send him on his way right after.

  Someone ran by her toward the still standing part of the mall. So did a woman with her kids. Then more people. Then EVERYONE seemed to be running. She turned around and across the highway she saw what everyone was running from. Coming up out of the gulf there was what looked like a giant snake. She staggered back against the table knocking it and her blankets over.

  Could she do something about this? With her protection spell? Counter spells? Not likely. She looked around as humans and dwarves scattered, some into the mall, some off the property. She looked to the Crapper Johns and made a run for it. She started knocking on the doors of each one and shouting.

  “Mr. Knight? Ooooh Mr. Knight. Please tell me you’re still in there.”

  A muffled voice came from the fourth door.

  “Um, yes. I’m glad you’re excited to talk about my proposal, but I’m-“

  “Nope. Not now. Big. Bad. Big, big bad. Giant snake thing. Please help.”

  Silence for a moment.

  “Ok.” He finally said. “I want you to describe it to me while I finish up.”

  She looked at the thing as it undulated across the sand toward the road.

  “Long, light green, looks like a snake.”

  “The head?” he asked.

  “Kinda like a dragon with spikes at the cheeks? Red eyes. Does that help?”

  “It does, actually! Thank you!” he sounded cheerful! How could he sound cheerful about this? In a toilet?

  “Is it doing anything in particular or is it just kinda meandering?” he asked.

  As the thing crossed the road Delores saw that it’s body was extremely long and was still partially submerged. It reached the edge of the parking lot, opened it’s mouth, and began to blast steaming water at the remains of the mall entrance.

  “It’s blasting the mall with water from its mouth!”

  “Ok,” Terry said from behind the door. “It sounds like we’re dealing with a gargouille, or water breathing sea serpent looking for a nest to flood. Have you seen one before?”

  “No! I’m from Bay St. Louis but I’ve never really heard of one.” She considered opening the door and snatching the man out of the booth, but thought better of it for both their sakes.

  The door opened just then and he stood there. Somehow he managed to look sort of majestic, even standing in the doorway of a crapper. He looked at her and then at the monster.

  “Do you need back-up? There’s a knight north of here I’ve heard.” She asked. Admittedly, she'd heard the guy was an ass, but still. Two knights had a better chance against whatever this thing was.

  He stepped down past her and reached into his coat, smiling. He pulled a sword out of an inside pocket. Coat must be enchanted, she thought. He looked back at her.

  “No. But be ready to evacuate the mall while it’s distracted if this goes south.”

  She blinked. With that he launched himself at a dead run at the beast.

  “You’re going to get yourself killed, you idiot!” she yelled after him. She thought, and quietly recited the words to one of the only spells she could think of and gestured to him. The air around him shimmered for a second and he continued his run. He was surprisingly fast for being in a full set of plate armor. The monster heard his steps and stopped its blast of water. It turned to him and she knew he was a dead man.

  When he was close to the thing, he leaped. Not jumped, but leaped. It was the only word she could think of to describe it. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as she watched. He raised his sword over his head and the blade seemed to come alive with the light of the sun! She could feel the mana in the area rush toward that blade and feed its glow.

  The monster blasted Terry with a superheated jet of water as steam flooded out of the sides of its mouth. The water seemed to part around Terry as he flew closer and the look on the monster’s face could only be called shocked. She grinned. Her spell had worked!

  Terry swung his sword down at an angle instead of at the monster’s head and the blade seemed to reach out for it. It stretched. It was a blinding arc for a moment. The monster was so surprised that it didn’t notice its head slide off of its neck for a full minute. Terry landed on his feet on the other side of the monster. He used his sword, now back to being normal metal again, to steady himself.

  Delores gaped. She’d met knights. She’d heard some of the propaganda the Church and the Order put out. None of it was even close to this. Before she realized what she was doing she ran toward him. This strange young man who turned to look at her with a sheepish grin on his face almost like he was embarrassed to have done something like this in front of someone.

  People and dwarves flooded out of the mall and looked on in awe at the newly bisected monster and the man who’d done the deed. Before they, or she, could get to him though, there was a dwarf suddenly beside him. That was Gunt, wasn’t it? When she got there she could hear part of what he was saying.

  “-saved hundreds and most of them my crew!” he said, gesticulating wildly. “Heck, the mayor will probably be here soon! If you need anything, and I mean anything, I’ll be more than happy to provide it.”

  Terry looked down at the old dwarf. “Pants.” He said. “I need. . . . new pants.”

  Gunt looked confused and all Delores could do as the crowd reached them was laugh.

  Delores sat in a lawn chair outside of a FEMA trailer a block from the beach. Gunt had brought Terry here after defeating the gargouille and a dwarf had brought a pair of pants and thrown them in the door. She wasn’t really sure what she was doing there. She’d sort of followed along behind them with Terry looking over his shoulder at her every now and again and here she was.

  She felt like an idiot. She still wasn’t going to “team up” with him. It sounded like a kids’ game when he said it. So why was she here?

  She could hear laughter from Gunt every now and again. Terry didn’t seem to have an ego to bruise. He’d been embarrassed but not ashamed by whatever he’d done to his pants. And he’d just sort of run at the monster. Who does that, really? She thought. And as much as she hated to admit it, there was just something likable about the guy. He seemed, earnest? Honest? Who knows. She’d decided she’d at least hear his offer out. She owed him that much for what he'd done. But did she? Really?

  The door to the trailer opened and she looked up. Terry walked down the three steps looking over his shoulder. Gunt stood in the doorway and she heard the tail end of their conversation.

  “. . . And you’re sure you won’t stay to meet the mayor?”

  “Nah.” Said Terry. “I figure there’s somewhere else around that needs me. If something else comes up though, just contact me through the Order.”

  “And all you needed was the enchanted bismuth?”

  “Well, there were the pants. Thank you for that by the way.”

  Gunt shook his head. “You saved a town and you’re thanking me. Kid, you are something else. Now get outta here and go be a hero.”

  They shook hands and Gunt closed the door. Terry turned to walk away and started. He had just noticed her there it seems.

  She tried a smile.

  “Hi.”

  “Oh! Hi! I’m really glad to see you!” He grinned and her smile felt a little more genuine. She stood and they faced each other. There was an awkward moment where neither of them spoke.

  Delores wracked her brain trying to think of what to say and all she got was modem noises. Finally Terry spoke.

  “Um, would you walk with me back to my ride for a minute?”

  She shrugged. “Sure. Why not.”

  Terry started walking so she fell in beside him and put her hands in her pockets.

  “So,” he started. “I notice you have metal wrist bands on one arm and gauze on the other. Is that like, a punk thing?”

  “Spell components. Keeps me from needing a wand.”

  He nodded. “That was you that cast the protection spell?”

  She looked at him, raising an eyebrow. He'd noticed.

  “You ran toward a monster full-tilt with no obvious plan. What else was I supposed to do?”

  He smiled again. “You have really good instincts, Delores.”

  She looked away at the rubble of a nearby building trying to will herself to not blush. This was ridiculous.

  “First time I’ve heard that.” She said. “Look. I’m not very good at this whole mage thing, ok? I'm one of the weak ones. I mostly know counter-spells and a few C.O.P.’s. You want someone with some experience.”

  He was staring at her and it was a bit unnerving.

  “No I don’t.” He said.

  “What?”

  “I don’t want someone experienced. I want someone with good instincts. I want someone who will act in a tough spot. I want someone who’s willing to try.”

  She gaped at him.

  “I think that’s you, Delores.”

  She continued to gape at him. How was this guy real?

  “You’re new at this, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “Officially?” he asked. “Yeah. Kinda. Like, this morning. I just graduated to Errant Apprentice.”

  She shook her head. They reached Highway 90 and headed east. She started looking out for a motorcycle. She hoped it hadn’t been washed out by the gargouille. All that seemed to be left there was a garbage pile of a scooter.

  “Where’s your bike at?”

  He smiled pointing at the little deathtrap. “There he is!” He frowned. “It’s weird. This isn’t where I parked.”

  They stopped at the thing and Delores only shook her head at it. A two seater scooter. Lovely. She looked at him.

  “Well, you may as well make your pitch. It’s why we’re both here, isn’t it?”

  “My pitch?” He seemed a little confused.

  “You know,” she said. “The whole fortune and glory spiel? Where you tell me how we’re going down in history as the greatest knight and mage ever seen, then you short change me on the profit sharing?”

  Terry watched her for an uncomfortably long time. Then he sat sideways on the scooter to face her. He put his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands. He reminded her of a youth pastor all of a sudden. He looked up at her with an expression that was so open she took a step back. This kind of honesty in a person frightened her.

  “Do you know why I’m doing this?”

  “Should I?” she asked.

  “Delores, when I was growing up my aunt and uncle trained me to be a knight. It was what my father did before me. But that’s not why I do this. I could have said ‘no’ at any point and gone back to school.”

  Where the hell was he going with this?

  “I’ve known something since I was old enough to pay attention. There’s evil in the world. There are bullies and monsters and things that are just plain unjust. I’ve seen people get the snot kicked out of them for no other reason than they were there, or they were different. I’ve seen authority figures stand by while it happened.”

  She shrugged.

  “That’s life, isn’t it?”

  “It doesn’t have to be,” he said. “People need help out here. They need protection. They need encouragement. Everyone out here can be better. They just haven’t seen it yet.”

  This man simply can not be real, she thought again.

  “You believe that? Like, actually really believe that?”

  “The day I truly dedicated myself to becoming a knight was the day I got expelled from school for beating up the principal for letting my friends get bullied ‘because it built character’.”

  Delores knelt in front on him and found herself grinning.

  “How old were you, Terry?”

  “I dunno. Ten? Maybe nine?”

  “YOU BEAT UP A GROWN MAN AT TEN?!”

  He straightened up and started scratching the back of his head. He gave her a sheepish grin.

  “Or nine. I was young at the time. I don’t really remember.”

  She laughed. Good lord, there was a hero sitting there in front of her. Like, a real one. Bravery and compassion without any thought of the consequences to himself. She frowned. He was going to get himself killed out here in the real world. She hadn’t meant to make a decision. Not this one, at least. But she couldn't just let someone murder a puppy of a knight in training either. She made a choice.

  “How much?” she sighed.

  “Huh?”

  “The profit split, dummy.” She put on her most put-upon expression.

  “Hmm.” He said, looking to the sky. “I don’t know much about how this works yet. AND I kinda suck at math. The whole expulsion thing, you know. Fifty-fifty is probably the easiest way to split it. Does that sound right?”

  Her jaw nearly hit the pavement. “WHAT?!”

  “Well,” he said, “I don’t know that it would be fair to give you more.”

  She put a hand on his knee. She realized she’d put a hand on his knee and immediately snatched it back like she’d been burned. She looked up into that big, dopey face instead.

  “Let’s just say I would have been willing to settle for a bit less.”

  “Oh.” He said, looking surprised. “Well, that wouldn’t have been fair either.”

  Delores couldn’t believe she was doing this.

  “Can you please give me a ride to my apartment so I can get my things? If this pile of crap of yours actually runs?”

  He smiled at her.

  “I promise you, Thunder runs.”