The burning morning sun made the edges of the clouds shine in the sky like molten metal. The sharp cries of birds and the chirping of insects filled the warm spring day as the group marched down the road.

  Piper pushed her cloak over her shoulder, already feeling a bit too warm. It wouldn’t be long until summer arrived, and she had a feeling it would be far warmer here than back in Alderwick.

  The forests around Alfred’s and Ethel’s farm had been lush and verdant. But the landscape surrounding Kalmyros was dry and brown with only sparse scrub brush clinging to their arid slopes of the hills. And most of the farmland running along the road had irrigation ditches glistening in the early morning light.

  Even the forests were different, with species of trees that she didn’t recognize. She suspected that this side of the mountain range received less rain. Which wasn’t really a bad thing. Sometimes, she’d been worried she was going to grow mushrooms between her toes with how much it rained back on the farm.

  Selene approached her side and nudged her with her shoulder playfully. “Copper for your thoughts.”

  “I was just thinking about home,” she said wistfully. While she was happy to be here, she still sometimes missed the farm. “Do you ever feel a bit… homesick?”

  The dark-haired jester pressed her lips together before shaking her head. “Not one bit.”

  Piper knew enough not to ask a follow-up question to an answer like that. So, they walked in silence for a while, while she took in the countryside.

  She may miss home, but she was excited to explore the world here. When she got a chance, she wanted to hire a boat to sail down the river. She’d never been on a boat before, and she couldn’t wait to try it out.

  Now that she thought about the boat, she also decided that she needed to find someone to teach her how to swim. Back home, she’d only been in a swimming pool a handful of times. And that had involved a waterproof wheelchair and a mini crane. Now, it should be a lot easier.

  “Do you know how to swim?” she asked Selene.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Do you know how to swim?” she repeated, realizing the question seemed pretty random.

  “I learned when I was little.” Selene regarded her with dark eyes. “Don’t you know how?”

  “I never learned in the mountains. Would you mind teaching me during our downtime? I… could pay you for your time with some ice cream.”

  Selene let out a soft chuckle. “You don’t need to pay me, Piper.”

  “Well, what if I want ice cream, too?”

  “In that case, I’m happy to teach you. We should have some time after the quest today.”

  “Great.” Piper beamed at Selene. She was really starting to like the young woman. “Maybe we can grab some sweetmeats, too?”

  “I’d rather have sugared fruit.”

  “You don’t like sweetmeats?” Piper stared at the young woman aghast. “How can you not like them?”

  Selene shrugged. “They’re too sweet for me.”

  Piper stared at Selene like she’d just turned into a redcap. She was absolutely gobsmacked that anyone could dislike sweetmeats. Since she’d arrived in this world, they’d become her favorite food. Aside from ice cream, of course. She wondered if she could somehow combine the two. Sort of like the toppings they had in fancy ice cream parlors.

  Before she could explain her plan for crushing up the sweets into a bowl of ice cream, Basil raised his fist to signal a stop. Glancing around, she grabbed an arrow from her quiver and nocked it.

  The road was slightly raised here, with a water-filled ditch running along both sides. Beyond the ditch were fields filled with carefully tended rows of low bushes. The crops abruptly ended in the distance at a grove of thick trees with a strangely thin canopy.

  Basil hurried back to their side and pointed at the tree line. “If the information at the guild was correct, then the burrow should be located somewhere in there.”

  Piper scanned the landscape, looking for any sign of movement. In the future, she really needed to start adding some points to Perception. She knew that most humans didn’t put many points into it, but when she was getting hundreds of points at a time, it wouldn’t hurt to increase her stat.

  “I don’t see any ratfolk,” she said after a moment. “Are they hiding?”

  “Most of them will stay within the burrow during the day,” Basil continued. “They are nocturnal creatures.”

  Her eyes widened as she realized the implications of that; they were expected to crawl into a hostile burrow. “You want us to go into a narrow tunnel to fight? My bow will be useless.”

  “Do not fear.” Basil pulled out a flint and striker. “I have a plan.” At his words, he set out toward the forest.

  Piper followed him and leapt over the narrow irrigation ditch. As she proceeded through the crop field, the low plants caught at her dress. She lifted the hem slightly as she walked, trying to avoid stepping on the little bushes.

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  Before long they reached the treeline. Once there, the others split up and began to poke around on the forest floor. She followed their lead and started to search through the forest. After a few minutes, she heard a shout from Althea.

  Looking up, she saw the healer gesturing from a short distance away. She made sure her arrow was nocked before hurrying over to join the young woman. When she arrived, she saw a yawning, ominous-looking hole in the ground.

  The opening was nearly the size of a large human, and she could probably walk into the burrow without even ducking. This must be the place where the ratfolk lived.

  Basil and Selene arrived a short time later, each of them carrying a load of deadwood in their arms.

  The tall man swung his arm at the surrounding forest. “Gather up as much fuel as you can.”

  Piper nodded and started to collect deadwood. After a few minutes, she had gathered an armful and returned to the burrow entrance. Once there, she dumped it onto the growing pile. With the four of them gathering, it only took a few hours to collect a huge pile of wood.

  “Now what?” Piper asked, wiping her brow. The heat was growing worse by the second. It was going to be a very hot day today.

  “I’m going to light a fire,” Basil said. “While the rest of you throw the wood into the burrow.”

  It suddenly clicked in her mind what Basil wanted to do. He was going to smoke out the ratfolk, so they didn’t have to fight them on their own turf. She was impressed with the plan. It should allow them to pick off any of the creatures as they staggered out of their burning den.

  She helped the others toss the deadwood into the burrow opening, while Basil gathered some kindling at his feet. Selene helped her manoeuvre some of the larger fallen tree limbs into the hole.

  Behind them, Basil was striking the flint, trying to get the fire going. After a few attempts, he sent sparks cascading over the twigs and dry brush. Soon, the fire was burning merrily and crackling in the morning air.

  Basil continued to add larger sticks to the fire until he had a roaring blaze. Only then did he carefully take a burning log and toss it into the hole. The gathered deadwood quickly caught fire, sending smoke billowing out of the opening.

  “Quickly,” Basil said. “Use your cloaks to fan it back into the tunnel.”

  Piper moved to undo her cloak when Basil shook his head at her. “Not you. I want you ready with your bow when the first ratfolk emerge.”

  Nodding, she backed up about twenty paces and checked the string on her bow. Satisfied it was taut, she settled down and waited.

  The smoke quickly became darker and thicker. Meanwhile, the fire had grown so large that the roaring sound drowned out all the ambient noise of the forest.

  As the three others fanned the smoke, it billowed into the tunnel. It wouldn’t be long until everything inside was forced to flee.

  Piper watched the den entrance intently. But strangely, after a few minutes, nothing had attempted to flee from the burrow. She was just about to go ask Basil why it wasn’t working when [Ambush Detection] blared a warning in her mind.

  Spinning around, she spotted what must be a ratfolk charging at her with a raised dagger. Where the heck had it come from?

  But she didn’t have time to dwell on her question. She hurriedly loosed her nocked arrow, but it only skewered the side of the creature.

  The ratfolk squeaked with rage and stabbed its crude dagger down. The blade descended, glinting in the early morning sunlight.

  Twisting to the side, she used her bow to deflect the strike. Then, without thinking, she activated [Tail Strike]. Her invisible tail shot out, driving through the ratfolk’s neck. She held it impaled there for a second, its body lifted from the ground, before tearing it out in a welter of blood.

  Her eyes widened as the ratfolk caught itself before falling. Even with what should be a mortal wound, it wasn’t out of the fight yet.

  Piper hastily nocked another arrow and shot as the creature staggered in her direction. Her arrow pierced its shoulder, making it spin around. Finally, it flopped to the ground.

  Congratulations! You have slain a Ratfolk, Level 88.

  A significant bonus to experience has been granted for slaying a higher-level creature.

  Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 45.

  Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached level 41.

  Ding! Your racial skill, Tail Strike has reached level 13.

  Ding! Your skill, Ambush Detection has reached level 6.

  Ding! Your skill, Archery has reached level 19.

  “Oh no,” she gasped at seeing the level. Her group was severely over-matched in this fight. Unless she’d just faced the ratfolk’s chieftain, or whatever they called their leader.

  Piper spotted movement a short distance away. A wooden covering camouflaged by a layer of dirt and fallen leaves slid off a hole. From inside, another ratfolk appeared. It had a long pointed snout, trembling whiskers, and beady black eyes that glared at her with hatred.

  “Behind us!” she shouted, already drawing another arrow. “They have other tunnels!”

  She didn’t have time to see if the others had heard her warning over the roaring bonfire. Her bowstring twanged as she launched an arrow at the ratfolk poking its head out of the ground. But the creature disappeared back into the hole, the arrow bouncing harmlessly off the wooden cover.

  Grimacing, she scanned the forest for another target. She stopped when she saw a ratfolk duck behind a tree. The creature held what looked like a sling in its hand. She hurriedly loosed, but her arrow missed; it struck the tree trunk concealing the creature, the metal tip burying itself deep into the wood.

  She watched with growing confusion as the ratfolk stepped out and swung the sling over its head. With a chitter, it launched a pebble in her direction. Was it seriously throwing rocks at her?

  The projectile hurtled through the air and struck a tree to her right. She flinched slightly at the impact as it blasted a chunk off the bark. Her brow rose slightly as she hastily revised her opinion of the weapon. Apparently, slings could do some serious damage.

  Piper released another arrow and grimaced as the ratfolk side-stepped back into cover. She couldn’t get a clear shot at it with all the dense vegetation. With mounting frustration, she rapidly loosed a third shot without thinking. The moment the arrow had left her bow, her eyes widened and her stomach twisted.

  “Please don’t hit the tree,” she pleaded. “Please don’t hit the tree.”

  She winced as both arrows struck and [Demonic Mark] detonated. The trunk exploded, sending a shower of deadly wooden shrapnel spraying out. A second later, the tree toppled down with a groaning sound.

  Notifications immediately flashed in her vision.

  Congratulations! You have slain a Ratfolk, level 45.

  Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached Level 42.

  More ratfolk appeared in the forest, pouring out of hidden holes in the ground. As their numbers continued to increase, she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  Why were aspirant quests so dangerous? This sort of infestation would have been dealt with by the entire town militia in Alderwick. Was the empire trying to get them all killed?

  She glanced over at her group standing near the blazing burrow. At last, they had woken up to the fact that they were under attack. As she watched, they tossed their cloaks aside and hastily readied their weapons.

  Thankfully, none of her companions were looking in her direction. If they were going to survive, she would have to use her class to the fullest.

  Piper cast [Wraithskin] and disappeared behind her illusion. Hopefully, the ratfolk would never see her coming.