“Chomp chomp?” I asked.

  Strange darted into the shadows and toward the moth that was at least three times the size of him. Determination and excitement echoed through the bond.

  “Motivation,” explained Dengu. “He is tiny, though he will grow fast until no longer a baby.”

  “I just don’t want him doing something he shouldn’t.”

  Dengu somehow chuckled, and his head bobbed at the scene.

  I twisted about to find Strange in the tree above the bug, readying himself to leap at its wings. My lips parted, but then I just shook my head. It was a good tactic.

  I swear.

  What parts of me did he really get when the bond happened? ‘Cause this was pure me, all the way.

  He leaped, claws stretched out.

  The Moth didn’t notice anything until Strange’s tiny claws dug into its rightmost wing as he fell in front of it, before gripping onto the edge with his teeth.

  It was a lucky shot.

  Yet, the moth fluttered its wings and tried to take to the air. The weight of the tiny dinosaur dragged it down, tearing the wing even more.

  Dust billowed from the flapping, creating a strange blue fog in the area.

  Strange coughed as he let go. Then he vanished into the underbrush.

  “Well, he did what you said.”

  “Good.” Dengu’s eyes didn’t leave the moth; just stared at it. “He must finish it.”

  “I bet he’s letting the poison do its thing, since his claws aren’t as sharp as yours.”

  Strange didn’t have talons as sharp as Dengu. His were tiny, though his bite was the thing to be worried about. That venom in his saliva could put someone to sleep, then the pack would eat them. I’d gotten the ability from eating several of his kind.

  His fighting centered around the venom, and wearing beasts down. Somehow, I needed to work that into my fighting style was all. At least this walk in the adolescent area wasn’t bad. I’d gathered some meat, but while both Dengu and I were bored, it was important for Strange.

  A cry came from the moth as Strange leaped back in after letting the blue dust settle. His tearing of the wing had grounded the creature, letting Strange attack it on the ground. It wasn’t long before the fight was over.

  [Strange, Bonded Baby Compy, Level 39, Bonded]

  “That’s progress…”

  Strange raced up near Dengu’s foot, chirping quickly.

  Dengu nodded. “Chomp chomp good.”

  I shook my head as I took the lead, heading toward the opening in the trees to get away from all of the bugs.

  [Would you like to remain in the forest, go to the fields, or explore the ruins? Recommended level for ruins: 45 to 55.]

  “Let’s make this a little harder,” I whispered, making sure my healing crystal had recovered. “The ruins it is.”

  We stepped out into the bright purple light, and I paused as I sent my radar out all around us. On the edges of my radar, various creatures registered.

  Massive stones stacked on top of one another littered the area. Some created archways, others were clearly toppled walls. Sand covered the ground and radiated heat into the air. Everything felt dry and hot.

  Yet, the doorways felt small.

  Not small to me, but small for this world. Kabi’s head would brush the tops of them if he tried to pass underneath without ducking.

  As I slowly entered the area, more creatures popped up all over the ruins. The levels ranged closer to Dengu than to Strange.

  “You might find something to fight,” I said to Dengu, letting him take the lead.

  As he stepped forward, so did Strange, staying close to the larger dino’s feet and tail. The two of them made a strange sight as they padded under the nearest archway.

  Something waited for them on the other side of the wall. It moved as soon as they entered.

  Dengu launched himself at it as I darted inside.

  [Dust Wisp, Level 47, Prey, Unknown.]

  A vaguely humanoid creature composed of swirling dust and scraps of leaves appeared. Dengu’s leap carried him right through the creature, which burst apart and then reformed, much smaller than when it had attacked.

  Dengu shook his head and blinked his eyes frantically.

  The wisp charged him again, but Strange‘s snout pointed up as he shrieked into the air. The Wisps attention flickered immediately to Strange.

  Dengu’s tail sliced through the creature again as it turned to Strange, making it burst apart. This time, when it reformed it shrunk closer to Strange’s size.

  Strange immediately tackled it, sailing through the dust.

  It reformed even shorter than Strange, who leaped back, sending dust everywhere. This time it didn’t return.

  “That was different.”

  “Dust.” Dengu growled and shook his head while blinking both his eyes.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “I can wash your eyes if you want?” I snagged out my water bottle.

  He padded up to me and kept his eyes open as I poured water over his head. After blinking a few times, he nodded.

  “Blinding, horrible.”

  Strange chirped in agreement, but when I held the canteen up to him, he shook his head no.

  This area of the labyrinth felt like small rooms connected by openings in the ruins. Each space only revealed a single path forward.

  My skin heated up from the blazing purple light, but the new clothing from the marketplace was a lifesaver. I’d hate to be in this environment with my long sleeves and thick pants. Still, the air didn’t move at all, though neither dinosaur seemed to mind the temperature or the sand.

  Dengu charged into the next clearing, surrounded by the large brown colored rocks that blocked the view.

  Nothing appeared in the area at first glance, but something latched onto his tail from below, dragging it under the sand.

  Strange panicked as whatever it was tried to yank the massive Dengu into the ground.

  Dengu twisted about and carved into it with his talons, growling loudly as his tail tried to twitch free.

  Strange dashed forward and snapped at it twice, but then something latched onto him.

  I dove forward as fast as possible, my blade cutting into the creature before it yanked him underneath the shifting sand. Once freed, Strange hid in my shadow right beneath my feet.

  Dengu howled as another band encircled his leg.

  My spear cut into the worm-like creature with ease, as I dodged tendrils that tried to snake around my feet. I couldn’t get enough of a look at it to use my observation skills to find out what level it was, but knew it wouldn’t be high enough level to really threaten me. Still, neither dino was anywhere near my level.

  Dengu slid free and jumped back, eyeing the ground, his nostrils flaring.

  This time, one of the tendrils tried to sneak along the top of the sand, but he attacked it with his claws. Green goo splattered the sand as he sliced it into pieces.

  Sand flew in the air as several large tendrils broke through the ground. A massive mouth filled with sharp teeth growled in pain.

  [Sand Eater, Snatch, Level 60, Prey, Unknown.]

  The higher level made me frown as Dengu attacked one side of the creature. This wasn’t a fight for Strange at all. A gap of twenty levels between the two of them meant it’d be more than a hard fight, closer to suicidal, my own success against such odds not withstanding. At least Dengu only lacked a couple of levels on the creature.

  One tendril came my way, and I stabbed at it but resisted jumping into the rest of the fight. This was Dengu’s fight to finish.

  Strange snuck out and chomped on the end of the tendril before letting go and scurrying back into my shadow.

  I waited.

  The hot sun blazed overhead, making the only shadows directly underneath us. More tendrils headed toward Dengu, the large mouth and body of the creature having sunk beneath the shifting sand once more.

  The raptor’s claws blazed as he sliced at the creeping tentacles, reminding me of my own skill with my knuckles. Bright red lines appeared, cutting deep into the limbs, severing the thinner ones. Several chunks fell to the ground, and this time deep red blood spurted everywhere.

  The creature lunged at Dengu with its giant mouth open, aiming for the dino with limbs stretched out.

  I lunged into the fight with my spear and stabbed the massive creature in the side. Then I flared as much cold into the side of it as I could.

  It screamed, the shriek echoing across the sand.

  My head and ears rang, but I didn’t move. My hands tightened around my spear shaft.

  It couldn’t turn in my direction as Dengu attacked.

  Strange leaped out again from my shadow, chomping on various parts of the creature.

  The more cold I pumped into the thing, the slower it got. Slowly, its skin went from the same color as the sand to tinted blue. Then it suddenly stopped screaming and slumped over.

  Strange shot out of my shadow and climbed up on the creature like a mountain. For the first time, he stood the same height as Dengu. He chirped frantically.

  [Strange, Bonded Baby Compy, Level 42, Bonded]

  “Nice levels, Strange,” I said with a grin. We wouldn’t need to be here for too much longer. If we could find another level 60 creature like this, we’d be heading to the academies to find the others in no time.

  [Dengu, Bonded Raptor, Sharp Talons, Level 59, Friend.]

  “You as well,” I added, catching sight of Dengu’s level-up.

  I knew I’d get nothing, but I motioned to the creature. “Do you mind if I butcher it?”

  No one minded, so I quickly got to work, cutting into the thing. Though most of it was just a giant mouth filled with teeth, the heart sat at the top of its head somehow.

  It wasn’t very big. Tiny enough to fit inside my hand.

  I popped it into my mouth and chomped down.

  Burnt something. I almost spat it out, but made myself swallow, focusing on stats. I needed stats, not skills.

  [You have gained insight into the stat flexibility.]

  Well fuck. This was going to take a while.

  I stashed away all of the tendrils that we’d cut off, which tasted much better than the heart. More like steak. I stacked the meat neatly in my inventory.

  This time, when we went to exit the room a different pop-up appeared.

  [Labyrinth Difficulty Increased. Do you want to continue in the ruins or travel to a higher level area?]

  [Warning: you have a party member under level 50. If you travel to a higher level area, your party member forfeits the adolescent token.]

  “We will stay in the ruins.” I frowned at the message. The increase in difficulty shouldn’t be a problem, but Strange losing his token would be. Plus, this fight wasn’t one he’d starred in, as he’d only provided support.

  Strange finished eating the hunk of meat I’d set in front of him to keep him busy.

  “Alright, let's keep going.”

  My senses tingled as soon as we stepped through the gap in the far wall. I pulled my spear out and paused.

  Dengu froze beside me as well.

  Both of us stared across the much larger room in front of us. Walls towered upward with a broken ceiling falling in such a way that you could continue up. Shadows were cast across the area by the crumbling ceiling, making me smile.

  Yet, despite looking careful, I couldn’t see any threat. Three creatures moved within the room, though, according to my extended senses. I took a deep breath in through my nose and let myself focus on the closest creature. A faint electric smell danced over the sands, as the creature snuck closer.

  A glimmer of heat reflecting on the sand was my cue.

  I stabbed forward with my spear, taking the creature as it tried to attack me. It shimmered into view and tried to jerk back from my weapon.

  [Shocking Prancer, Shock Bite, Level 70, Prey, Unknown.]

  Six short legs and a hardened body with a tall, spiked tail flickered into view. The head had two mandibles on either side of it, with several eyes on top. It reminded me of a scorpion, with some adjustments.

  Like the crackle of energy around its pinchers.

  My spear tip had sunk in slightly off from its mouth, and as I jabbed even deeper, the prancer flayed around. Its pointed tail flew at me, but I dodged to one side.

  Dengu took on a slightly larger Prancer that tried to attack me as I’d stabbed the first. He wrestled it away before biting onto the middle of its tail.

  The third crept from farther away, slowly heading toward us.

  Strange leaped out and chomped on one of the legs of the Prancer I was fighting. This time, he didn’t let go, pumping venom into the creature.

  I fed more cold into the Prancer, keeping track of the one Dengu was dealing with, and trying to also not lose the third creature, which was still sneaking. Again and again, the Prancer with my spear in it stabbed at me with its tail. Both of its pinchers were not moving, though the sparks of electricity still covered them.

  Finally, I yanked back, freeing my weapon from the dying creature.

  Strange leaped away as well, though he immediately joined Dengu’s fight, which was going well.

  The Shocking Prancer stumbled to one side as I sliced through its tail, dodging as it stabbed at me yet again.

  That's when the third creature entered the fight.

  I twisted away at the last second into the shadows as it attacked. The darkness from the broken ceiling made me smile.

  Whatever it was remained out of sight, sticking to the sand itself.

  A burst of sand flew in all directions.