Hitch woke up while the sky was still dark, his body stinging and bruised all over. Ssamalih was sitting by the fire alongside Mayhe and Olivia, hissing while pointing at things while the two kids tried to repeat the sounds.

  Hitch got up, winced, then walked over, sitting down by the fire too.

  “Ohkhay?”

  The word sounded odd and unnatural, but the boy still nodded.

  “I’m fine. Well, hurt all over, but fine. Thanks to you, so… yeah. Thanks. Is Tar okay?”

  Mayhe nodded towards the hut.

  “He’s okay. Leg’s a bit of a mess, but got that wrapped and cleaned. Ssamalih here helped with that too, showed us a plant that I think is good for wounds.”

  Hitch smiled, the lizardperson tilting her head to look at him proper.

  “Huntehrs badh.”

  She was trying her best, talking his language even, but looked to be straining, stopping as she tried to recall words.

  “Those people - they’re hunters?”

  Olivia answered Hitch this time.

  “Yeah. Our new friend here said they’re hunters and we’re the thing they’re hunting, I suppose. Do you think they got the others?”

  “I doubt it. They seemed surprised to meet us and were trying to figure out if there are more of us here. If they got them, I think they’d have already gotten that info.”

  “Mhm. That’s good to hear. Do you need anything?”

  He shook his head, grabbed an apple and bit into it. The quiet of the night was no longer as eerie as it was on that first night, and with the fire and people here he felt safe. He trusted all three of them, even though one of them was distinctly inhuman. Still, he wanted to get better, get stronger, and be able to protect them and himself. So that next time people like that showed up or a monster came, he could fight and win without someone getting seriously injured.

  They chatted a bit more, then he headed back to sleep.

  —

  Pallia, Anika and Luce returned in the morning. Luce was limping at the front, carrying a large bag. Pallia was being carried by a weird creature - it was made of yellow glowing metal, beams of it connected into a humanoid shape. Its head was angular, no eyes or other features to be seen, the girl wrapped in a blanket and carried in its hands. There was a faint trail of light connecting the thing to Anika and it was following after her obediently.

  The construct carried the girl to the hut, Luce going towards the stockpile with his bag while Anika stayed to talk with everyone gathered.

  “Sorry we took so long, there were some issues.”

  She looked down, a tired and guilty look on her face, only to get tackled and hugged by Olivia.

  “It’s fine, idiot. Glad you’re back, we were so worried!”

  Anika hugged her back, then slumped in the girl’s arms, the light construct returning and standing behind her.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Who’s this?”

  Mayhe pointed at the construct, the tall girl looking back at the thing, then at the lizard person.

  “Who’s that? This is… I don’t know what you call it. After winning, we went to pick up our rewards. I ended up with this” - she pulled out an amulet she had hung around her neck, made of similar looking material to the creature behind her “and I summoned this thing. I think about something and it acts, so it’s convenient. Was scary at first, but it feels natural.”

  “This is Ssamalih. She helped us out and stayed over tonight. We don’t share a language, but we get along.”

  Mayhe smiled at the lizardfolk, who returned a flash of teeth at him.

  “Go, rest up, you’ve earned it.”

  The girl went to the hut too, the light construct disappearing into the amulet, the small metal trinket glowing softly.

  —

  Luce had brought back a huge bag filled with reagents, tools and a book for brewing potions, or at least so he thought. He was reading the book and had Kunit helping him, the two of them setting up a bit away from the living area. The first plan was to try making pest repellent, so the two were reading through the book and trying to figure out how to start on it.

  Pallia’s reward had been a small marble. When she touched it, it disappeared and she fainted, causing the other two to panic and rush back as soon as possible. She was still out by midday and her muscles seemed to occasionally tense and untense, but she seemed stable and was left to rest.

  Mayhe and Hitch were getting ready for training with Ssamalih. They’d decided to spar, the two of them against her, standing on the opposite sides of a small clearing. The sun was high in the sky, shining down at them in warm, beautiful rays. She held her spear, having left the rest of her gear aside from armor at the storage hut. Hitch was in his leather armor, daggers in his hands, the bag with the smoke seeds put away. Mayhe was wearing the dark wooden armor, reading his Tome for just a bit more before putting it away and drawing his sword.

  Both boys started moving at the same time, Hitch on the right and Mayhe on the left. Hitch was the faster runner, getting ahead, Ssamalih turning to him and jumping at him, spear aimed for his chest. He managed to slow himself and take a step back, the spear serving to keep him away. Mayhe came in from the other side, slicing at her. His strike was rebuffed by her spear, then a sweep hit his leg, causing him to stumble.

  Hitch was coming after her while her attention was divided, pushing himself like he would in a real fight. He saw an opening, his body moving already to exploit it, but stopped himself short before committing to striking the exposed lizard. It felt off, she was clearly not looking at him. Too clearly, too invitingly having left her back open for him. Mayhe was rolling away, and Hitch went around more, then struck at her from the side instead. She lashed out with her tail, lightly clipping him then turning to parry a knife strike, giving Mayhe the time to get up.

  He focused, his sword glowing, then swung and released a wave of energy. She managed to twist herself enough to avoid the attack, but gave Hitch another opening. This time, he took it, his dagger managing to connect with her armor. The moment it did, she blurred, the butt of her spear striking his chest, knocking the wind from his lungs and causing him to stumble, but he saw the second blow coming. It was way too fast to dodge, but he managed to turn himself so it’d bruise, rather than break, then stuck at her arm.

  Mayhe was behind her, sword still glowing and longer than before. He raised it, then delivered a heavy cut at her tail. She spun again, then stabbed the spear into the ground and used it as a pivot, spinning around it and kicking both of them back. They both were still ready to fight, hearts beating fast and eyes looking for any opportunity to go on the offensive.

  “Sstohp.”

  She was standing on top of her spear, looking down at them both.

  “Ftahlk.”

  “Uh, what?”

  Hitch traded a confused look with Mayhe as she came off her spear, then moved behind the one armed boy.

  She started going over his movements and re-enacting the fight with them both, showing them how to fix certain actions or praising them for what they did.

  She poked Hitch in the forehead, then pointed at his eyes and at Mayhe.

  “Fend.”

  She cupped her hands to his face, restricting his vision to just her.

  “Behd.”

  Then pulled them away, and pointed at Mayhe again.

  “Uh, okay. Look around more, not just at the target.”

  He nodded as she went to Mayhe again, showing him how she swept his legs from him, the boy trying to figure out a tell or at least how to dodge it for next time.

  —

  The Moon was waiting for a sign, knowing a tide would come.