Chapter 2.0: Village Crossroads

I have never met anyone as borderline crazy as the red-haired elf in front of me.

Maybe that's a lie. There's someone else who could give her a run for second place. But I can't bear to think about her now—not when there's a kingdom to save.

Fee and her wolves returned with a wild hog, a nastier, hairier, and significantly larger version of a pig, its tusks sharp enough to impale anything that got too close.

She'd shot an arrow clean through its forehead, and the wolves were already gnawing at its legs, tearing into the meat. Only when Kevin slashed its throat with his new bluish-silver sword did it finally stop moving. Now, it was time to eat.

Kevin rigged up a makeshift spit and slowly rotated the carcass over the fire, ensuring it cooked evenly. Fee sprinkled in herbs she'd foraged from the forest, while Kevin added spices he'd brought from the kingdom before the catastrophe.

The wolves had already claimed their share, devouring raw chunks on the outskirts of the camp, while Kevin divided the rest between himself, Fee, Meili, and me.

The meat was tough, but that was to be expected from wild hogs. Still, it tasted good—smoky, rich, and seasoned well enough to make me momentarily forget the looming disaster.

"Mmm." Fee licked the juices off her fingers before going in for a large bite off the bone. "I've never seen hogs down here before. I need to try them more often."

"And that doesn't strike you as odd?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, no?"

I sighed. "Kevin, explain the situation to our uneducated friend here."

Kevin shifted, stretching slightly before launching into an explanation. Fee crossed her arms, pretending to be offended—or maybe she was offended. Hard to tell.

"Alright," Kevin said. "You remember the troll from yesterday?"

"Yes, I remember shooting him in the head."

Kevin winced, rubbing his forehead. His helmet was off, so I could actually see the discomfort in his expression. "Yeah. The reason that happened is because, like the troll said, the slime dissolved the gate."

"The gate?" Fee frowned.

"You've never seen it?" Kevin groaned, pressing a hand to his face. "Did you really think the reason most of the beasts that could kill you just happened not to be around was pure luck?"

"_"

"Right," Kevin muttered. "The trolls got out and went straight for the kingdom. But they weren't the only ones. Wild hogs bigger than this one that could give your wolves a real fight. Giant spiders the size of dogs. Ogres. More slime. They're all out because the gate that kept them in is gone."

"That does not sound okey-dokey," Fee concluded.

"One of the consequences of the slime," I added, standing up, full and ready to move on. "And the worst part? They don't even seem to think. They just move. Eat. Get bigger. Repeat. That's why we have to kill them."

Meili had been quiet since Fee saved her. She didn't talk. Didn't ask questions. Just walked with us, ate when food was given to her, and stayed close.

She didn't even sleep during the night, though that was probably because of the scare from the slime.

I wasn't good with kids. But looking at her now, small and silent, I felt like I should do something.

I just had no idea what.

"Can't we rest a bit longer?" Fee whined, pouting.

I couldn't deal with this.

"Remember why you're here, Fee. You're our long-range attacker. You take down enemies and game with your arrows. Your agility makes you a valuable member of the team."

"I'll forget if you keep repeating that every twenty minutes just to make me move."

Still, she got up, dusting herself off. Kevin helped Meili to her feet. We packed up the dried meat for later, while the wolves stretched and yipped before getting up as well.

"We're close to our destination," I called over my shoulder. "Just one more sun arc."

They all groaned.

Honestly, we hadn't been on foot that long. It took Kevin and me seven days to get here from the capital—on foot—since most of the horses had been eaten by the slime. Not that we had enough food for them anyway.

Adding our new members, we'd only been walking for a day and a half. And we'd taken plenty of breaks. They had no excuse to be this tired.

Not that I could judge too much. Truth be told, I wasn't entirely confident in this plan myself. I only had a vague idea of where this 'ammunition expert' was. He was an old… friend? Rival? I didn't know what to think of him. History was complicated.

What I did know was that we needed help. He had worked on ammunition during the wars and moved to the kingdom's edge when they ended. He had to know how to use cannons, fire, something to destroy the slime.

He was our best shot.

Which is why it was incredibly disappointing when we arrived at his cottage, asked the lumberjack living there where Reid was, and got a simple answer:

"He died two years ago."

. . .

"So we came all this way for nothing?" Kevin muttered, sitting heavily on a tree stump.

Reid's house was a lonely cottage in the middle of nowhere. Not much to look at. A pigpen sat out back, filled with slow-moving, mud-covered piglets. Aside from that, the only person still living here was the lumberjack.

He looked about twenty, with a messy red mop of hair and a bandana tied around his forehead. Broad chest, hairy arms the size of the logs he was chopping. He looked strong. Could probably hold his own in a fight.

"Well," Fee said, stretching out on the grass like a lazy cat, "maybe we can just, you know, stay in this cozy home for the rest of our lives."

Kevin ignored her and turned to the lumberjack. "And you are…?"

"Oh, I'm Reid's—"

"Doesn't matter," I interrupted.

We couldn't stop and chat up. Even if we did nothing and stayed here, the slime would eventually reach these parts of the forest. Then the kingdom.

Then the entire world.

And we didn't even have a way to stop the creatures that had escaped past the broken gate.

One problem at a time. I had to breathe and think.

"Look, we need your help. . . what's your name?" I asked the lumberjack.

"Hogan, sir," he said, flashing a toothy grin as he split another log with a clean swing of his axe.

"Right. . . Hogan." I repeated, sizing him up. He didn't seem to grasp the stakes. But I supposed that was expected from someone who lived alone on a barnyard, with pigs and trees as his only friends.

"Reid lived here after the war," I pressed. "He must have told you something—anything that could help us burn the slime."

Hogan tapped his chin, considering. Before he could speak, a pig rammed into his leg.

"Oh hey, Bacon!" He beamed, crouching down to scoop up what was apparently his pet pig.

"This is Bacon. Everyone say hi to Bacon." He lifted the pig like a newborn child.

"…Hi, Bacon." Everyone mumbled.

Meili actually smiled a little, though she quickly looked away when she caught me looking.

 "As you were saying."

"Right, right." Hogan plopped Bacon back down, who immediately headbutted Kevin's ankle for no reason.

"You know about the War of Orion, right?" Hogan's expression darkened ever so slightly.

"I fought in those wars," I replied. Orion had been a small city that worshipped the stars and constellations. The War of Orion had started when PrideFall attacked, seizing the land—along with others—until we finally stopped them twenty years ago.

Hogan's grip on his axe tightened. "Really?" His expression darkened further. Or maybe I was imagining it.

"Well, that was around the time cannons were developed and used in battle," he continued.

"Why the history lesson?" Fee piped up, idly sharpening one of her arrows.

"Because after the war, some cannons were left in the battlegrounds. Reid took me there a while back." Hogan rested his axe on his shoulder. "If we go to Orion—at least, what's left of it—we might find one we can still use."

It wasn't a bad plan. A long shot, maybe, but our best option. The cannons could be rusted beyond repair. Or stolen. But since the kingdom had banned cannons after the war, Orion was our only real chance.

And, at the very least, it was closer to the kingdom—meaning less distance to cover when hauling a cannon back.

"I think that means we have a plan," I said, hoisting my sword onto my shoulder. That should've been the signal to get moving.

They didn't take the hint.

"I'm coming too," Hogan said resolutely. "If you're going to save the kingdom, I want to help."

This was not going as I planned.