When Lux finally caught up, he was panting heavily. Novgar and Silver hadn’t slowed their pace at all, their long legs devouring the distance while Lux scrambled behind like a toddler chasing a parent. Now he understood why little kids burst into tears when their parents walked too fast, it was exhausting just trying to keep up!

  He gulped down air, wiping sweat from his brow. A sharp pain stabbed his side from the effort of pursuing the two strangers.

  Once his breathing settled, Lux took a look at where they’d stopped. They stood on a rocky ledge overlooking a massive clearing. The drop below wasn't too high, maybe two meters at most. The ground teemed with strange beasts, their grunts and groans echoing up to where Lux stood.

  The creatures resembled buffalo, shaggy and four-legged, but with bright blue antlers jutting from their heads and matching hooves.

  Lux stared in horror as two of them squared off. With a thunderous crash, their antlers locked. One beast twisted its head, flipping the other onto its side. The moment the loser hit the ground, the winner broke free, stomped on its opponent’s head, and with a flick of its razor-edged antlers, ripped its bowels open.

  It all happened in seconds. Lux felt his legs go weak, a ringing filled his ears, and his whole body started to shake. He wanted to flee in the opposite direction, but the thought of running into one of those monsters was just as terrifying as staying put.

  While Lux was frozen with fear, Novgar bent down and scooped him up in one massive arm. “Little human, time to have some fun!” Without waiting for a reply, Novgar leapt off the ledge and landed on the ground below.

  “Put me down!” Lux yelled, panic surging through him. Why would this lunatic bring him closer to those beasts?! Novgar obliged and set him on the ground. Lux’s heart leapt into his throat when he realised just how close he was to the rampaging monsters. “I changed my mind! Pick me up!”

  Novgar just laughed, drew his giant sword, and let out a booming roar before charging straight into the herd. Chaos erupted all around. Arrows whistled through the air from Silver, still up on the ledge, while Novgar sliced through the beasts like they were made of paper.

  The peaceful grazing ground transformed into a scene from a nightmare: stamping hooves, splattering blood, monsters shrieking in pain. Lux’s breath came in short gasps, fear clawing at his insides. He instinctively searched for a place to hide.

  The ground trembled with the stampede. Lux’s eyes darted around wildly, and then he caught sight of a flash of blue heading straight for him. All the blood drained from his face. Adrenaline took over, and he threw himself to the side.

  Lux’s knees buckled, and his vision narrowed to a tunnel. The blue antler whistled past his skull, missing by centimetres, and shrieked as it bit into the stone. Panic barely registered before the world spun, and darkness began to swallow him whole. Lux’s last thought was that he should have listened to his mother and stayed on earth.

  He came to with Novgar’s voice booming overhead: “Where did the little human go?” Silence greeted the man’s words. “Do you think it died? Novgar was looking forwards to having someone else to talk to.”

  Dizzy, Lux realised he was wedged in a jagged crevice, blood sticky and warm at his temple. A wave of relief crashed over him. He was alive.

  He crawled out, and something caught his eye, a glint in the shadows: a golden book. When his fingers brushed it, a jolt shot up his arm. He jerked back, but the book tumbled harmlessly into his lap. He hesitated, then shoved it into his waistband and scrambled up, heart pounding.

  The first thing he saw was the carnage. The clearing was littered with the carcass of the blue-antlered beasts. Not a single one was left alive. Lux stared in disbelief. Had Novgar and Silver really wiped out the entire herd by themselves?

  He scanned the area for his companions. When he spotted them, Novgar flashed a wide grin. “Little human, there you are! Why were you hiding? You missed all the fun!” Novgar had been cleaning his sword, but now he slid it back into its scabbard and strode over.

  Lux’s anger boiled over. That idiot had nearly gotten him killed! Of course he’d hidden. Frankly, he was lucky to have passed out somewhere safe.

  He let his frustration fly. “Fun? What fun! I almost died! Are you crazy? Who jumps straight into a herd of monsters, for goodness' sake?!”

  “How else is Novgar going to kill all the Blue Antlered Big Shaggy Cows?” Novgar looked genuinely confused. Lux could see the man had no idea he’d done anything wrong. The anger drained out of him.

  This wasn’t Earth. Here, fighting monsters in the wild was normal. It made sense that Novgar would assume anyone outside a city could handle themselves.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Lux scratched his head, needing to clear things up. “Novgar, when you met me, I had just arrived in Mystic Beau. Something went wrong with my transport, and I ended up falling onto that purple thing. I was supposed to arrive safely in a city, but instead, I’m out here in the wild with no way to take care of myself.”

  He checked Novgar’s face to see if he understood. The man’s eyes went wide. “I have no fighting ability whatsoever. The purple thing I killed before was pure luck. So when you brought me down here, you put my life in danger. Do you get it?”

  Novgar’s cheeks darkened to a deeper green. Lux guessed that meant the man was blushing. Novgar’s head drooped. “Novgar did not intend to put you in harm’s way. When Novgar saw how you defeated the Purple Squiggle Worm, I thought you were different from most humans and were a brave fighter.” Novgar raised his head, meeting Lux’s eyes. “Novgar owes you a favour.” His voice was grave.

  Lux figured that a favour meant a lot to Novgar. Maybe he could use it to get an escort to Pinkton.

  “Thank you for the apology, Novgar. My name’s Lux, by the way.” He gave the big man a smile to show he wasn’t upset anymore. “After you’re done here, do you think you could take me to Pinkton?”

  Novgar glanced at Silver, but Silver ignored him and walked over to one of the fallen beasts. “Little human Lux, we will eventually be going back to Pinkton. We are in the middle of a grand mission. It cannot be postponed.”

  Novgar looked at Silver again, then turned back to Lux. “Novgar can escort you to Pinkton when we are finished with our mission.”

  Lux breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wouldn’t have to try to cross the wilderness alone. “Thank you, Novgar. That would be great! How long do you think your mission will take?”

  Novgar’s gaze shifted to Silver as he considered the question. Lux followed his eyes, and immediately recoiled in horror. Silver had just stabbed a knife into a beast’s skull, making a hole. That wasn’t the worst part. Silver plunged his hand inside, rummaging around in the brain matter.

  Lux couldn’t look away. Silver’s hand came out dripping with gore, clutching a glittering object. Lux’s stomach churned, and he fought the urge to retch. The gory sight made his vision blur; the reality of what he was witnessing crashed over him like a wave.

  “W-what the hell! That’s gross!” Lux slapped a hand over his mouth, mortified that he’d spoken out loud. He quickly tried to recover. “I mean, what is that?” He forced his face into an expression of curiosity.

  So far, these two hadn’t been aggressive toward him. He didn’t want to risk offending them by acting disgusted.

  Novgar grinned at the sight of the object in Silver’s hand. “That, little human, is a monster core. We will exchange it for money at Pinkton.”

  Lux had heard of monster cores. Every human who came to Mystic Beau wanted to get their hands on one. They were used as an energy source and could be sold for a tidy sum. While you couldn’t bring materials back to Earth, money could be exchanged. Some lucky returnees had brought back enough cash to buy a car.

  With how dangerous the wild was, Lux figured maybe one in half a million humans ever came back with extra money. He stared at the monster core with renewed interest. He really wanted one!

  “Novgar, do you think I could have one of those?” Lux knew he hadn’t helped at all in the fight, but he still wanted a monster core. He looked at Novgar with hopeful eyes.

  A deep laugh rumbled out of Novgar. “Novgar can spare one for you.” There was a mischievous glint in his eyes. Lux had a bad feeling about what would come next. “If you want one, you will have to dig it out yourself, little human.”

  Lux’s stomach turned at the thought of sticking his hand into a dead beast’s head. He started to shake his head but stopped. This might be his only chance to get a monster core.

  Damn it, was he really about to do this! Dread twisted in Lux's stomach as he approached the carcass. "This is disgusting," he thought, even as he forced himself to stare at the lifeless animal. "Novgar, I don’t have a knife."

  A silver blade suddenly appeared in front of his face. Novgar had followed him without making a sound, which was impressive for such a big guy. Lux gingerly took the knife with trembling hands. "Thanks. Uh, what do I do now?"

  Novgar pointed at the beast’s head. "Stab the knife in and make a hole," he instructed, demonstrating with a decisive stabbing motion.

  "Just stab it in, he says," Lux muttered under his breath. But he followed Novgar’s guidance, gripping the handle with both hands and driving the blade down. A sickening thud resonated as the knife cut through the hide, sending a shudder through Lux. He continued until the blade hit bone.

  Then it got stuck. Lux tried to wiggle it free, but it wouldn’t budge. "Ah, Novgar, what do I do now?" He stepped back, gesturing helplessly at the knife protruding from the beast’s skull. Novgar covered his mouth with one hand, but Lux had a sneaking suspicion he was being laughed at behind that hand. Narrowing his eyes, he watched as Novgar finally gave up trying to hide his amusement and burst out laughing.