Chapter 104: The Price of a Hero

Mallory awoke to something wet smacking her face.

Her eyes snapped open, and she came face-to-face with Blinky, her first pet—a gelatinous, googly-eyed blob. It jiggled excitedly, then slapped her cheek with another slimy tendril.

"Gah!" Mallory scrambled back. "Blinky, personal space!"

Greg, lying on a nearby cot, cracked an eye open. "That thing still alive? I thought it evaporated or ascended to a higher plane or something."

Blinky made a rude gurgling noise and splatted onto Greg's chest.

"ACK! NO, SLIME RESPECTS NO BOUNDARIES!"

The commotion woke the others. Alex groggily sat up, rubbing his temples. "Why is Greg screaming?"

Elara sipped from her mug. "Because it's morning."

Greg flailed, trying to remove Blinky while the creature happily suctioned itself to his face. "Mallory! Get your eldritch pudding off me!"