Nora and Alastair hobble as fast as they can, their breath coming out in great gasps and their faces red with exertion. Alastair single-mindedly continues to run as fast as he can, his one arm wrapped around Nora’s waist while his other holds his sword tightly, cutting through whatever foliage gets in their way, while Nora tries to hop on her good leg as fast as she can while not messing up Alastair’s long-legged gait.

  She turns to look behind them and lets out a curse. She turns back towards Alastair, tilting her head up, her eyes white with panic.

  “Drop the packs!”

  Alastair flinches and lets out a hiss, continuing to run. “Do you have to scream in my ear?!”

  Nora growls in frustration, letting go of Alastair’s broad shoulder and pulling on the strap of his pack as she does so. She tugs on it hard, halting Alastair mid-step and causing him to turn around and look at her in confusion.

  “Drop. The. Pack!”

  Alastair stops hesitating, trusting that his party member knows what she’s doing and swinging the pack off of his one shoulder. She takes the freed pack and swings around with it once, almost collapsing on her broken leg as she does so but managing to stay up long enough to yeet the whole thing into the woods.

  That done, she quickly grabs Alastair, dragging him behind a tree and pressing his back up against it. For a moment, Alastair’s heart skips a beat, as Nora presses herself against him and holds a hand to his mouth. Alastair feels the warmth of her body close to his, and feels butterflies flutter in his stomach. For a moment he forgets about why they were running and just luxuriates in the feeling of her being close to him like this.

  Before she reaches up and smears something on his face and chest, and the terrible smell hits him a moment later.

  “Did you just… Did you just smear shit on me?” Alastair asks, as he gags at the foul smell.

  Nora shushes him, pressing a hand against his mouth and nose once again and glaring daggers at him. The same hand that she used to smear shit on him, unfortunately. But instead of complaining, or throwing up like he wants to, Alastair wisely stays quiet after seeing the intensity in her eyes.

  A second later, the ground shakes and branches snap, as Nora presses herself as close as she can to Alastair and hides them under the tree. A massive hand wraps itself around the trunk just above them, wickedly sharp claws wrapping around it easily and sinking deep into the wood. The tree groans as the thing tightens its grip, cracking the trunk.

  Alastair tightens the grip he has on his sword, ready to attack at any moment, the muscles in his body coiling up in preparation for what surely is about to be the fight of his life. But before he can act, Nora presses her hand against his chest, giving it a reassuring pat.

  It lets out a growl, the sound low and menacing, piercing right through Alastair and Nora’s bodies and leaving them in a cold sweat. It sniffs deeply once, then twice, its hand tightening against the tree.

  Sure that he’s making a mistake, Alastair is about to strike anyways. But before he can, the thing lets out a furious screech, letting go of the tree and diving for the pack on the ground.

  As it tears into it, swiping its large claws against the ground over and over, scattering clothes and supplies across the ground around it. It lets out a victorious roar and sprints away into the forest, the sounds of its passage slowly growing fainter and fainter until it disappears entirely.

  Nora holds her hand against Alastair’s mouth for a few moments longer, counting the seconds after the last sign of the thing’s passage, before letting go and taking a deep, relieved sigh.

  “Okay… I think we’re safe now.”

  Alastair spits out whatever he can and rinses out whatever he can’t, sputtering and gasping the entire time. He digs into the other pack that he’s carrying and drags out a shirt, pleasantly surprised to find that it’s his bag that he kept and not Emily’s, before he proceeds to use said shirt of his to try and get the rest of the stuff off of him.

  “Did you really need to do that?”

  “What, save your life?” She retorts, as she raises an eyebrow at him. “I guess I could’ve left you to your fate… But you make such a fantastic walking cane, it’d be a shame to throw you away.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Har har, very funny.” Alastair replies, as he wipes his mouth for the tenth time. “But look at all of this. Nobody’s kissing me while I’m covered in… Whatever this is.”

  “And who, exactly, is kissing you in this scenario?” Nora asks, as she gestures around at the empty forest around them.

  “Why, are you offering?” Alastair retorts, as he folds up his shirt as carefully as he can, trying not to spread the foul-smelling stuff any more than it already has. A second later his brain catches up with just what he said, his eyes going wide as he glances at Nora, expecting the smack at any moment.

  Instead he spots her looking at the ground away from him, her face noticeably more red than it was before. For a brief moment, it almost seems like she’s… Embarrassed? Or flustered?

  “Because, you know, I wouldn’t mind if… If you were.” He carries on, his mouth once again rushing ahead of his brain. “Not how I imagined our first kiss going, but I mean, I won’t judge if that’s how you want it to go.”

  Alastair slaps a hand across his mouth in a desperate attempt to silence the wayward organ, his face turning hot and red as a blush creeps up his own face. Nora’s well and truly not looking at him at all at this point, doing her absolute best to hide her nervousness from the stupid swordsman.

  “Hey, you… You okay over there? Cat got your tongue or something like that?”

  “Next time, I’m throwing you to the monster bat and keeping the pack.”

  “Wh – hey! I’m way more useful than a pack!” Alastair replies, outraged at the betrayal. “Wait… That was a bat?”

  Nora takes a deep breath, calming her raging blush down before turning back to look at Alastair once again, taking the easy out from this topic that has her head spinning and her heart fluttering and her emotions all confused in a way she’s not used to. “Didn’t you get a good look at it? That was clearly a bat.”

  “But it was sprinting. Don’t bats normally fly?”

  “Would you be more terrified or less if it did?” Nora asks, as she turns away from Alastair and assesses the forest around them for any more threats.

  “Hmmm… More. Because then it could just drop out from anywhere and pounce on you.” Alastair replies, as he walks past Nora and starts picking up whatever’s left of Emily’s stuff. Pieces of shredded material, parts of broken pots and pans, and ripped tent material are scattered all over the place, and Alastair goes from one to the other, salvaging whatever he can. “Actually, no, wait. Less. Because that… Was terrifying. The way those legs of it scurried like that? Yeesh…”

  He picks up a shredded sweater, hand-knit by Emily’s mom, before reluctantly tossing it to the side. He lets out a loud sigh, glancing back at Nora. “How much did we manage to get done today?”

  Nora sits down and lets out a relieved sigh, stretching out her still-healing leg. “A few miles.”

  Alastair bends over and picks up a torn book, assessing the damage and deeming it ‘not that bad.’ He slides it in his own pack, taking the time to think about what he’s going to say next.

  “Should we have stayed?” he asks Nora, deciding to avoid the obvious implication with that statement.

  “There was no guarantee that they’d find us, nevermind still be alive.” Nora replies, as she massages her leg. “I know we’ve been struggling since she’s been… Gone. But our best bet is still to find help in town.”

  Alastair lets out a sigh, as he picks up another piece of pink fabric, holding it up and inspecting it closely for any damage. “That’s if we even make it out of here.”

  Nora stands up with some effort, groaning as she does. She hobbles towards Alastair, as he gazes forlornly at the fabric.

  “We’ll make it… If we’re smart.” She replies, as she snatches the fabric from his hands, slapping him with it. “And if we don’t stand in the open, staring at panties all day.”

  Alastair takes a breath, closing his eyes before letting it out again, shaking his head. “Sorry, yeah. You’re right. I’ve gotta get my head in the game.”

  Nora nods her head, clapping Alastair on the shoulder and letting her hand linger there for a moment longer, surprised at how firm and broad it is underneath her hand.

  “Good, good… Yeah. Keep your head in the game…”

  She starts rubbing his shoulder appreciatively, before realising what she’s doing and pulling her hand back as if it burned her. “Right. Well. There’s still a few hours before sunset. And we really don’t want to be moving during the night if that’s what we’re dealing with in the day.”

  Alastair looks at the rest of Emily’s stuff scattered on the ground, and decides to leave them behind. Putting an arm around Nora for support, he forces a smile, trying to cheer himself up.

  “Right. Lead the way, Miss. Hop-Along.”

  “Try to keep up, Mr. Cane.” She replies with a smile.

  Alastair snorts, as they begin moving away from the clearing. “Mr. Cane? Is that the best you got?”

  “I can still beat your ass, if you’d prefer.”

  “Mr. Cane it is.”