Warren desperately searched for an escape route, but as he did, more beams sliced through the woods, cutting down swathes of tree. The floating eyeball chasing him was turning the forest into an impassable barrier.

  As a last resort, he reached into his pocket and retrieved one of the scalpels. It was an almost laughable weapon against such a powerful squire, but it felt reassuring to have something in his hand.

  Kassandra moved protectively in front of him as the creature floated closer. Strangely, it had stopped shooting the eye beams and made no further moves to attack. It also hadn’t summoned any minions which seemed strange to him.

  As Kassandra raised her weapon, he lifted his hand to stop her. She couldn’t possibly hurt this squire, and there was no point in sacrificing herself for nothing. Plus, had it wanted to kill them, it could have easily done so at least a dozen times by now. He was starting to suspect it couldn’t tell that he was a squire. He wanted to keep her in reserve in case an opportunity to escape presented itself.

  The creature named Kadoriker stopped in front of them, its iris contracting slightly. After examining them for a few seconds, dozens of bizarre creatures slid, flopped, or floated out of the hotel.

  It was as though someone had sliced up an organism and made living creatures out of all the pieces. Some looked like hands with eyeballs perched on the top, while others resembled pulsating organs. Among them were what looked like bundles of nerves slithering along the ground like snakes.

  The Daskians had looked vaguely human—almost like something you’d see on a sci-fi show—but these creatures were completely foreign. How did a floating eye even eat?

  As they were surrounded by the appendage-like monsters, Kadoriker turned and floated back the way it had come. Almost immediately, the monsters flooded toward him. Something resembling a hand grabbed him in a powerful grip, while a trio of the snake-like ones wrapped themselves around his ankles.

  He watched the squire disappear back into the hotel. This all but confirmed his suspicion that the aliens couldn’t tell that he was a squire. Otherwise, he had no doubt the floating eyeball would have disintegrated him with one of its beams.

  Maybe his lack of nameplate was something put in place by the emperor to give the native population of a planet a fighting chance. Or maybe he was completely wrong, and the enemy squire simply hadn’t seen him as a threat.

  But whatever the reason, it had given him a chance to escape. He glanced over at Kassandra, who was being held by another of the hand-like creatures. Her fingers were twitching toward the dagger on her thigh, but she was still waiting for his orders.

  “Now!” he shouted, as one of the snake creatures glided up his chest. “Take them out!”

  Without hesitation, Kassandra sprang into action. She ripped her blade free of the scabbard and slashed it across the creature holding her. The organism let out a pained whistle as the blade nearly severed two limbs in one slice.

  A torrent of blood washed over Kassandra as she elbowed the wounded creature back. She then spun around, kicking over a floating organ, before stomping on the snake-like monsters writhing at her feet; they popped likes water balloons under her heels, spraying gore across the lawn.

  Warren took the chance to stab the scalpel into the creature holding him. The sharp blade cut deeply into its flesh—not doing nearly as much damage as Kassandra had—but at least he made it recoil and release him. He grabbed one of the strange serpents crawling up his belly and hurled it aside. The creature landed hard on the grass and wriggled around before he kicked it away.

  Under Kassandra’s ferocious attack, the monsters turned and fled. They skittered and slithered away, heading back toward the resort.

  Once again, he felt the oppressive aura flair up from inside. Kadoriker was returning. They only had seconds to get out of here before the squire reached them. And he had a feeling this time it wouldn’t try to take them alive.

  “We need to get out of here!” he called out to Kassandra, who was pursuing one of the creatures. “The squire is coming back.”

  She raised her brow, the nearby bonfire casting shadows across her expression. “That thing is a squire?”

  Warren nodded as he dashed toward an untouched area of the forest. They could move cross-country in the direction of the road. Hopefully, there weren’t any more of those strange aliens out there. Not that they seemed overly dangerous in a fight.

  He crashed through the underbrush without slowing. Almost immediately, he found himself plunged into oppressive darkness. The canopy was so dense here that almost no moonlight reached the forest floor. He had to slow his pace, so he didn’t trip over anything.

  They picked their way through the forest, stepping over fallen branches and squeezing through bushes. No sounds of pursuit came from behind them, but that didn’t mean the aliens weren’t following. Many of them could float, which meant they could sneak up silently on them,

  After nearly half an hour had passed, he held up his hand to signal a stop. He sank down on a moss-covered log and cradled his side. While his ribs didn’t appear broken, they had been bruised by the orc. Every breath felt like someone was pouring molten lead down his side.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Kassandra stepped closer to him, her eyes scanning the dark forest. She held her dagger at the ready, her body coiled like a spring.

  “Do you think it’s safe to talk?” she whispered.

  He nodded his head.

  “Why didn’t that thing kill us?” she asked. “And how did you know it was a squire?”

  “For me, everything has little name plates hovering above their heads.”

  “Really?” She pressed her lips together. “Kind of like a video game? That sounds pretty weird.”

  “After everything we saw today, you think that’s weird?”

  “I guess you’re right,” she gave a nervous laugh before becoming more somber. “But why didn’t it kill us?”

  “I think it harvested the humans at the resort,” he said quietly. “It probably wanted to do the same to us.”

  “Harvested?” she gasped. “Do you really think so?”

  “Whatever happened to the people there, they didn’t evacuate,” he continued. “At least not all of them. The signs were everywhere.”

  “The doll…” Kassandra trailed off as her expression hardened. “We have to go back and save them!”

  “That thing was level 25,” he grunted. “We barely managed to defeat the orcs, and they were only level 2. We’d have absolutely no chance against it.”

  “There must be a way,” she insisted. “What if we sneak into the resort and free anyone we can find?”

  “We don’t even know if there’s anyone left alive.” He sighed and ran a hand down his face. “But I’ll add it to my list of things to do. So that just means I have to save my sister, defeat an impossibly powerful floating eyeball, and then free the town from an army of purple skinned aliens. That sounds totally doable.”

  Kassandra smiled, her white teeth flashing in the dim light. “If anyone can do it, it’s you.”

  At her words of encouragement, he smiled weakly. He was glad someone believed in him. After his last few encounters, he was starting to doubt his chances of coming out of this alive. But with Kassandra at his side, he might have a chance. Not a great chance, but he’d never been one to give up in the face of impossible odds.

  He stumbled to his feet, gritting his teeth as waves of pain washed over him. A quick glance showed his health was still at 1/2. How long would it take to heal himself back to full health?

  With a mental shrug, he tried to swing his backpack over his shoulder. But after his third failed attempt, Kassandra grabbed the strap.

  “Why don’t I carry it for a bit?” she asked. “I feel way stronger after you upgraded me.”

  “I think I can handle a backpack,” he muttered. “And you’re my bodyguard, not a beast of burden.”

  She slapped his shoulder playfully. “I’m trying to be nice. But fine, hurt yourself more by being proud.”

  “I’m not being proud,” he groused. “If there ever comes a day where I can’t carry a backpack, then you have my permission to take me out behind the barn and shoot me.”

  “You’re hurt!” she exclaimed. “Do you make your patients do heavy lifting when they’re injured?”

  “No, not really…” he trailed off as she grabbed the bag from him.

  “Tell you what,” she said. “I’ll carry this back and in return, you can make breakfast for us.”

  After a minute, he sighed. “That’s fair. Did you ever find some eggs?”

  With a brilliant smile, she held up one of the bags. “I hope I didn’t break any in the fight. But I found a few dozen in the fridge. I even came across a six-pack of beer.”

  He stared at her in shock. “You took beer in a survival situation?”

  She shrugged, her firm chest rising and falling enticingly. “I wanted you to get something you like.”

  Warren laughed. “You’re impossible.”

  She lightly poked his shoulder. “And that’s why you like me.”

  Shaking his head, he set off deeper into the forest. He was grateful that Kassandra was at his side. She was always optimistic, and even in the direst situations, she knew how to make him smile. If a way existed to return her to normal, he would find it.

  As they headed deeper into the forest, Warren fought down a curse after he tripped over a root for what felt like the hundredth time. They were lucky there weren’t any monsters around, because a herd of bison would be quieter than him. Meanwhile, Kassandra moved through the forest like a wraith. She seemed completely at ease in the darkness.

  As the hours dragged on, he had to take more rests. He was having trouble catching his breath and the pain in his head increased to the point where it felt like someone was stabbing him with an ice pick.

  He couldn’t keep going much longer.

  Finally, when it felt like he’d reached his limit, they arrived at the main road leading to his dad’s old cabin. He’d never been happier to see the rutted dirt path. If they kept up their current pace, they would be back within a few minutes.

  He glanced over to see Kassandra looked as fresh as ever. Did minions never tire? She’d said she wasn’t hungry either. Did the combat deck somehow sustain her?

  Warren decided he should add capturing one of the aliens to his list. Maybe they could answer his questions—assuming he could communicate with them. It wasn’t like they would all speak English or something.

  After another brief walk, they finally reached the front of the property. He checked his map to make sure there were no wandering creatures nearby before heading out into the open. He crossed the lawn and moved to the entrance of the workshop.

  Everything was dark inside.

  Kassandra stopped outside of the door. “I’ll stand watch. Why don’t you get some rest?”

  “I can take first watch if you want,” he said, stifling a yawn. “Aren’t you tired?”

  “Not really.” She twirled a strand of dark hair around her finger. “I know I should be, but I don’t feel tired at all. Is that weird?”

  “Who knows?” he replied. “If you hear or see anything, wake me up.”

  She smirked at him. “What if I take care of it first?”

  “I’m being serious,” he replied earnestly. “There are powerful monsters out there.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Fine, if I see anything, I’ll come and get you.”

  Warren fought down another yawn as he opened the door and walked into the workshop. He wanted to let Valentina rest, but the sooner she got some antibiotics into her, the better. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the gloom before making his way over to the cot.

  Leaning down, he was about to shake Valentina when a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. A second later, he felt the cold touch of steel against his throat.

  “It’s me,” he whispered frantically. In the future, he’d have to remember not to sneak up on a sleeping soldier.

  “Oh!” Valentina gasped in her high-pitched voice. “I’m so sorry!” She immediately lowered the knife and then released his arm. “I heard something before, and well… never mind. I’m glad you’re back. How’d it go, doc?”

  “I found some medicine for you,” he said. From inside his backpack, he pulled out the package of antibiotics and then popped two pills out. He handed her the medication and a bottle of water. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll clean your wound and change the dressing.”

  Without hesitation, Valentina tossed the pills into her mouth and washed them down with some water. She then yawned and stretched languidly. “Thanks, doc. You can tell me about it tomorrow.”

  Warren put the antibiotics back in his bag and then made his way over to the recliner. He collapsed onto the comfy chair and leaned back. He blinked his eyes once, twice, and then a dreamless slumber stole him away.