The Mimic made its rounds throughout the night, skittering alternately to and fro the main bandit camp and returning to Aeshma and me with its pilfered goods. Despite my repeated pleas for it to get us a knife, or an axe, or anything sharp that could cut our bonds, the Mimic didn’t seem to understand exactly what it was we were after… only that we wanted it to klep stuff from the bandits, who in the meantime had been getting increasingly drunk over their dice and card games.

  The first few times the Mimic had crawled towards their camp, I worried the bandits were gonna kill it on sight. I was so nervous that I had even insisted on rolling over so I could keep an eye on it. But my concerns were all for naught. The bandits were so distracted, they never even seemed to notice the little guy.

  For hours I watched as the Mimic went back and forth, dutifully piling loot higher and higher beside our bound forms. It brought us coins of every color, scraps of gnawed-on food, playing cards and trick dice, and even a few shiny little gemstones. It was fun taking stock of our growing inventory… but it was all totally useless unless our smooth-brained buddy brought us a damn knife.

  “I’ll raise your battery pack… o-one ruby!” Hank, the Wizard, slurred. He was seated at a table where half a dozen bandits were gathered playing poker.

  The brawny Thalzar tugged an external battery pack from his vest pocket, complete with a USB-C cable, and slid it across the table. “You mean th’ good ruby, right? Not th’ one that horse stepped on?” he asked. He was noticeably less drunk than his opponent. All that muscle must’ve helped him hold his liquor.

  “O-hoho, you betcher ass I mean the good one,” Hank said. His hand dipped into a pocket… and came out empty. His eyes went wide. “Nrh, m-maybe the… the other one…” he drawled, pawing with increasing frenzy at his other pockets.

  I glanced at the twinkling red stone the Mimic had recently deposited beside us. “Hey Aeshma. I, uh, I think something’s about to happen.”

  “Oh yeah? Good something or bad something?”

  “Where is it?” Hank screamed, sending flecks of spittle across the table. He pointed a grubby finger towards Thalzar. “You took it, didn’t you, you rat bastard! You’ve been after that ruby fer w-weeks, you ‘ave!” The onlooking bandits all sucked in their breath through their respective teeth.

  Thalzar’s eyes glimmered darkly. “I didn’t take yer damn rock, Hank. I ain’t no thief.” He stood up from his stool and glared down at the smaller man. When Hank didn’t recant his accusation, Thalzar threw his cards down on the table and turned away, cursing. “Y’ probably lost it when you were stumblin’ around in the woods takin’ a piss, ye stupid drunk bastard.”

  Turning away was a bad move, and turning away before insulting the drunk Wizard was a worse one. Hank raised his hand – and from his palm erupted a bolt of purplish light which shot across the table and hit Thalzar squarely in the back.

  For a moment, Thalzar was bathed in purple light. All the bandit camp was holding their breath like they were waiting to see what would happen. Would Thalzar survive? If he did, would Hank survive?

  I realized they were holding their breath for a different reason.

  “Aww, who fired up a stink bolt!” one of the bandits groaned.

  “Not again!”

  “Roland, that wasn’t you, was it?” Aeshma said, sniffing the night air. I nudged her to hush up.

  “So help me, if that was you again, Hank!” Camilla shouted, stomping towards the card table. “I told you before that if you cast that one again, you’d be losing your next cut of the loot!”

  Hank once again jabbed a finger towards Thalzar, who was now sulking near the fire. “Yeah it was me, but I got a good reason! All this time, I been playin’ cards with a dirty rotten thief! My ruby’s missing, boss, an’ it was tha good one too, the one I got back at tha caravan robb’ry. We all heard Thalzar lustin’ after that gem for weeks, and now it’s missing!”

  The accused stepped forward, his hands balled tightly into fists. Before he could get into slugging range of the Wizard, Camilla laid a hand lightly on his shoulder. “Gentlemen, there’s an easy way to settle this. Thalzar, you turn out your pockets. And Hank, if he doesn’t have your gemstone… then I think you owe Thalzar an apology, don’t you?”

  Thalzar and Hank both sighed.

  “Aww, c’mon boss, don’t make me do that,” Thalzar groaned, scuffing the dirt with his shoe.

  “He’ll get his stupid ‘pology when he doesn’t have my ruby,” Hank muttered, crossing his arms. “Which is… never.”

  Camilla looked expectantly at Thalzar. “Fine,” he grumbled, and obediently turned out his pockets. Panic grew on his face as, one by one, they all turned out empty.

  Thalzar had been exculpated, so why did he look so upset? Out of the corner of my eye I saw the Mimic scuttling around on the far side of the bonfire.

  “I, uh… boss, I don’t understand, though. I did have it…” said Thalzar.

  “I k-knew it!” Hank shrieked. “Where’d ya stash it then, ya dirty thief?”

  Thalzar just shook his head, confused. There was a rustling of pockets as, all across the camp, the gathered bandits slapped at their own pockets. Murmurs started spreading through the camp.

  “Aeshma, I think we might be cooked,” I sighed.

  “All my money’s gone!” one of the bandits yelled. “Where’s my knife?” yelled another.

  “Oh-ho! Maybe we aren’t cooked!” Aeshma replied with a triumphant little shimmy.

  More cries rang out from all across the camp. It seemed like every single bandit was missing something – and most of the items they named had been conveniently relocated beside us.

  Most of them… but not the knife, the only one that mattered.

  Camilla gazed around the camp, appraising her crew one by one… and then she looked toward the outskirts, where Aeshma and I were tied up. Although we were laying at the very edge of the firelight, Camilla hardly could’ve missed the enormous heap of loot in front of us.

  “Remind me, who was supposed to be watching the sacrifices tonight?” she asked softly. Hank and Thalzar each pointed at each other.

  Camilla shook her head in disgust and walked towards us. As she grew closer and got a better view of the gathered loot, she broke out in a grin. “Well, well! Our sacrifices have been having quite the eventful night!”

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  Her crew was slow on the uptake, so Camilla sighed and added, “It’s… the prisoners are the ones who stole from all of you.”

  That explanation was simple enough for even the drunk bandits to understand. They all started shouting angrily and pushed their way over to Aeshma and me.

  “This is quite the surprise,” Camilla said, squatting down beside us. “Now how did you two end up with all this, hm? One of you pre-cast a spell before we tied you up properly? Maybe you’ve got a handsy familiar roaming around?”

  I knew I wouldn’t be able to explain away the pile of loot, so I merely shrugged my shoulders as best I could without triggering the Thunder Cord.

  “Not gonna talk?” Camilla asked with a wry smile. She seemed almost amused that we had stolen from her and her crew. The rest of the bandits didn’t seem to find the situation very funny. They muttered amongst themselves, pointing out their missing items in the pile and cracking their knuckles threateningly.

  Camilla sifted her hand through the loot, letting coins and shiny rocks fall through her fingers. “No matter. You can keep your secrets, it doesn’t make any difference. If we weren’t running this Sylvandroon hustle, I’d let the crew kick your teeth in on account of your stealing from us. But no point breaking your necks before payday.”

  She rustled my hair playfully and stood up to address her henchmen. “I think our captives moved their execution up a few hours. What do you think, lads?” The bandits laughed and hooted.

  “So let’s pack it up, then! Get your bedrolls rolled, fires smothered, clean up your messes, you know the drill. Except… Thalzar, you get all this junk sorted out,” she said, waving towards the loot pile. “Hold onto it for now, and we’ll divvy it up fairly again after the sacrifice. And no funny business this time, alright? Don’t think I don’t understand what happened with Hank’s gemstone.”

  Thalzar nodded, looking abashed. “Good,” Camilla said. Almost as an afterthought, she added, “Oh, and get the prisoners ready for transport, too.”

  With that she ushered off the crowd, leaving Thalzar to deal with Aeshma and me along with the pilfered goods. The bandits started breaking down their campsite with surprising alacrity. Already, the fire had been put out and half the tents had been packed up. We’d be trundled off to our deaths in no time.

  But the Mimic was still out there, somewhere. If we could stall Thalzar, even just a little…

  “So, uh, Thalzar…” I began once all the other bandits were out of earshot, “We’re really sorry about all this. The, uh, stealing stuff, I mean. It wasn’t–”

  “Quit talkin’,” Thalzar said gruffly. I could smell the alcohol on his breath as he scooped coins and food-scraps alike indiscriminately into his pockets. There was a faint rustling from the woods behind him; our little friend was getting closer. Aeshma heard it too, and nudged me excitedly.

  “Hey, you two stop movin’ around like that. Dunno what you’re doin’ but you gotta stop it,” Thalzar said, launching a half-hearted kick at my side. I winced as it connected with my already-bruised ribs, still not healed from my collision with the fruit cart.

  Thalzar was almost finished picking up the loot, but the noise from the woods was reaching a crescendo. Through the pain I squeaked out, “Oh yeah? And what… what’ll you do if we don’t stop?” I wiggled around the best I could despite our bindings.

  After a second, Aeshma understood and joined in. “Yeah, we’re gonna… we’re gonna do more of this if you don’t stop us!” she taunted.

  For a beautiful moment, Aeshma and I wiggled in harmony, like twin worms in the moonlit dirt.

  Thalzar stopped pocketing loot and furrowed his brow. Maybe he sensed a trick. Maybe he was just confused. Either way, with his eyes locked on our wriggling forms, the bandit didn’t notice the Mimic as it crept up behind him.

  It apparently didn’t appreciate a stranger taking the items that it had spent so long painstakingly collecting. An angry, blood-red eye snapped open on the dagger’s pommel.

  WREEEEK!

  The Mimic reared up on its rusty tendrils and pounced. The sound of tearing leather filled the air as our little Mimic sliced and slashed at the bandit’s boot heel.

  “What in tha–!” Thalzar staggered back, swatting at his leg as he tried to disentangle himself. With how high-level he was, this should’ve been an easy fight in his favor. He raised the leg the Mimic was grappling and simultaneously reached down to peel the thrashing creature off his shoe…

  But the bandit had drunk one too many alcohol potions for that particular maneuver. He lost his balance and fell to the ground, his head smacking into the dirt with a dull thump. He lay there, quietly moaning, while the Mimic continued worrying at his boot leather.

  “Aeshma! Aeshma, the Mimic knocked out Thalzar,” I whispered excitedly.

  “Really?” She strained against the Thunder Cord to try to get a look. “Well in that case we gotta bounce out of here before the rest of them notice anything. Heeeeey, little guy,” she cooed. The Mimic slowed its gnawing on Thalzar’s shoe in order to listen. “You have a lil’ knifey-wifey tucked in your gullet, right? Maybe you could… spit it out for us?”

  The Mimic resumed its gnawing, ignoring Aeshma’s plea. “You try, Roland. It likes you better for whatever reason.”

  “Aww, smart little fella!” I said, before shifting my attention to our new friend. “Mimic buddy, hey! Good job with that bandit! Why don’t you come on over and… yeah good little fella! Now, the knife? Yeah! No, no, not there! Into my hand!” I recoiled as best I could as the creature retched out a small paring knife, fortunately handle-first, against my palm.

  I tried to angle the little knife against our bonds. The bandits were almost done packing up, with a few stragglers tying off the last bits and bobs onto their packs. Camilla was loudly taking roll call, reading off a list of the bandits’ names and buddy-system assignments one-by-one. Even more worrying, Thalzar’s eyes were starting to regain focus and his moaning was growing louder and more insistent.

  “Roland! The knife! What are you waiting for?” Aeshma hissed.

  “Hold on… I’ve got it!” I sliced the thrumming rope at my wrists, then cut us free at our chests and ankles. Aeshma and I struggled to our feet.

  Unfortunately, so did Thalzar. “Oh I’m gonna cut your asses off!” he wailed. He was obviously still disoriented, but not disoriented enough that he couldn’t draw his sword and cut our asses off.

  “Time to bounce, Roland! I like having something to sit on,” Aeshma said. She turned on her heel and sprinted, without further warning, for the treeline. The other bandits had taken notice of Thalzar’s loud threat and were walking towards us, weapons drawn.

  The Mimic had given up on destroying Thalzar’s boot and was now trying to hoover up what remained of the loot pile. “Come on, fella!” I yelled. “Mimic! This way!”

  “Roland, hurry!” I heard Aeshma shout from the woods.

  I knew I should’ve just bolted… but the Mimic had helped us. It was like our gross, dumb little friend, and who knew what these scoundrels would do to it if we left it behind? I bent down to grab it – and then Thalzar was upon me, sword raised for a killing blow.

  THUD

  Thalzar was higher Level than us by far, too strong for the rock Aeshma threw at his head to do any real damage – but it stunned him for a fraction of a second. It was all the time I needed to snatch up the squeaking Mimic and run for the trees.

  The main cadre of bandits were yelling now, some of them spinning up incantations and others nocking arrows as Aeshma and I sprinted together into the forest. Footfalls thundered behind us; an arrow whizzed past and embedded itself halfway through a nearby tree. I felt absurdly grateful that the bandits had all had so much to drink.

  “Catch them, don’t kill them, you idiots!” Camila wailed.

  “Did the Mimic grab anything we can use?” Aeshma called back to me.

  I twisted the Mimic’s hilt in my hands and tried to pry open the blade where the creature’s mouth had opened earlier. The Mimic wriggled indignantly for a moment before relenting, opening its maw and allowing me to reach inside its surprisingly spacious interior.

  “It’s just got the busted Flare Disk and some… chicken bones? Wait, the gem is in here too! The ruby!” I fumbled out Hank’s prized ruby and jammed it into the empty receptacle on the Flare Disk’s surface. I was once again filled with a flush of heat as the disk begged to unleash its stored power. The sensation was slightly different than last time, more intense; the new stone must’ve been a higher grade than the one it was originally fitted with.

  “You ain’t getting away from us, ya little coin bags!” a bandit cried.

  I held the restored Flare Disk out behind me, waiting for the right moment. A few bandits were within view… within range… they were nearly upon us–

  FROOOOOOOSH!

  Blistering heat erupted from my palm, a cone of boiling air and hungry flame that blocked the bandits’ path. Aeshma and I ran on.

  Flare Disk (Flawed Trapiche Ruby)

  --------------------------------------------------

  Item Level 5

  Usage tags: Held, Focus

  Damage type: Fire

  Shape: Line/Cone

  Charge time: 1 hour

  Current remaining charge time: 1 hour