The massive fist hits the ground like an earthquake.

  Mike and I both cover our eyes to avoid dust getting in. I think I even heard Astrid's slight sob.

  What surprises me in an instant is that the structure itself is so well made and sturdy I feel safe under the massive wood beams holding the ceiling together.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Take as much as you want!” the sweaty blacksmith with a trembled voice continues.

  A giant gorilla, apparently named Goro, pounds the ground in front of them, and they ask if it's hungry. Partially intelligent, as it probably understands language, but the way he asked if it’s hungry? I immediately think of it as a dumb child terrorizing them all, but they’re unable to defend themselves.

  But what about the batch? Is it an enforcer of some sort? I ask myself.

  A quick stream of thoughts flashes.

  *Bang*

  A fist hits the ground again, and the wave of dust and air enters through the narrow cellar windows into our faces.

  “We don’t have a batch ready!” Roland raises a voice, but with fear in it.

  The ape blows air from its nose as I see Roland’s apron waving.

  “Take his axe and helmet.” He quickly turns in place and grabs Brinn’s helmet from the table.

  “My dagger, hammer.” He quickly releases a buckle on his weathered leather belt, and a hammer pounds on the ground.

  Brinn grunts when he touches his war axe, barely holding it together.

  *Raaaaarrgh!*

  *Grab*

  Roland grunts as the massive fist grabs him with ease all around. His teeth are gritted, eyes bulging, and a massive vein appears on the side of his forehead.

  “Pff... Chrrrrr…”

  He tries to speak but is unable. His legs barely hang from the bottom of the fist; that massive the fist is, and Roland is not a short guy.

  I’m flashbacking my pain again but successfully transforming it to anger. Anger is what narrows my sight, sharpens my senses. The urge to go up there and smack its protruding bones is insane.

  I can hear the joints cracking under the weight of my enchanted hammer; of course, it might end up in a bloodshed, wiping the whole settlement and all of us losing a finger. And even worse, if it somehow discovers where we spawn, it might camp there and kill us over and over before we even realize what is happening.

  My right fist bloated, I hide it in my pocket after the flash of thoughts.

  Everyone is speechless, the city is quiet and frozen. The only sound we can hear is the leathery fist pressing harder and the life force leaving the blacksmith's body.

  “Papa!”

  The silence is broken.A feminine child's voice in this horror situation breaks the tension, and sadness fills our hearts.

  “Tschk!”

  The moment the soft voice speaks, Harald turns in a blink of a second, grunts, and confusion fills his eyes. He panics and relocates near the window in an instant.

  A muscular woman, Nat, is holding Astrid’s forearm in the back, and Mike stands still, not moving a hair.

  I watch him, my mouth slightly open—it is all coming together. He lost a child, a child in this realm.

  “No! Isabel!”

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  An old woman yells out loudly.

  “Tschk!” Harald starts choking, yet he manages not to release any sound.

  Saliva drips from the hole in his cheek as his eyes are watering.

  “Isa...” he whispers and covers his mouth right away.

  Now everyone knows, I think, besides Nat as she barely understands.

  I step on my toes to see even better from the window.

  The old wrinkly woman is already kneeling on the road and clasping her hands—grey hair in a thick braid, plain clothes, that’s all I can see.

  “Let us be!” the old woman screams.

  *The gigantic white-armored gorilla releases a warm, smelly air from its nostrils.*

  The massive fist is losing the tight grip, letting Roland grasp for air finally.

  “Chrr, chrrr...” That’s all he can do.

  *Thud*

  The body hits the ground with a thud, and Mike flinches a bit as it does.

  “Aaaaah!”

  The massive hand starts to go towards the little girl, and she screams high-pitched as he grabs her little body.

  Brinn grunts through his teeth, hopeless, his hand pressing the handle on his axe tight.

  “Just tell him! Roland! You know that he knows!” a woman screams and cries loudly.

  The moment she says that, the massive hand stops mid-air, with the child inside.

  “Chrrr, chrrrr...” Roland rolls from the side onto his back. Blood appears on his lips, eyes red, and veins all over his face.

  “Tom...” he says.

  *Gorilla hand presses harder*

  “T... Tomorrow, they’ll challenge you.” He answers at last and closes his eyes.

  “Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!”

  The table flies and so does the chair.

  Brinn stands up like a lightning bolt, spins in place, and buries his axe in the gorilla's black-armored leathery fist.

  “Raaargh!” the gorilla roars and lets the girl out.

  *Thud*

  She falls on the body of her father.

  Brinn readies for another spin, Mike flinches and looks back at Nat. She breathes heavily.

  They are perfectly communicating non-verbally—I see they want to step into the quarrel and face the opponent right away.

  I quickly glimpse Astrid, but the sudden movement catches my peripheral sight.

  Harald grabs Mike by his thin, veiny arm and looks him in the eye. He gently shakes his head in disapproval.

  “We’re not ready and you know it,” he whispers as quietly as possible.

  “Aaaaaaargh!”

  The tall, muscular, bald warrior does not hesitate a moment and boldly attacks again.

  *Clap*

  “Tssschk!”

  As with Roland and Isabel, Brinn ends up in its grasp as well. But this time it’s different—I don’t see the pressure applied on him.

  “What are you waiting for! Finish it, finish us all!” he screams and spits.

  “You won’t meet your quotas, you know it well!”

  “Ohh, they will descend, and they will burn you with thunders!”

  “Huh?! Hah, hah, hah...” he continues to laugh with coughs.

  *Thud and rumbling*

  A cloud of dust fills the area and we all duck reflexively as the two rectangular cellar windows are blocked instantly with dark brown dust.

  First few moments disoriented, without an idea what just happened, I listen to the thudding.

  It rumbled in place for a while but then it started being distant.

  The gorilla left.

  “It’s gone?” Astrid breaks the silence.

  “Yes,” Mike answers confidently.

  “Yes, but it went the other way and...” I continue.

  “It took Brinn the warrior,” Harald finishes my sentence.

  “It’s time to leave, we need to check Roland,” he continues worriedly.

  “Eu acho que estamos trancados!” (I think we are locked!) Nat speaks as she grabs a heavy, rusty door handle.

  “Hey!” Mike yells, joining her. He grabs the doorknob and keeps pressing it up and down.

  “Hey! Let us out! Or we’ll smash your door!” he yells.

  “Shut up, you brat!” the bulky innkeeper opens the door for us.

  “Be useful at least for something! Go and help! The ape is gone for now!” she yells and grabs Mike by his scarf and pulls him out.

  “Ugh!” she frowns as she pulls his headscarf a bit down, revealing his monkey eye.

  “Papa!” the unharmed little girl calls for her dad.

  “Roland, son! Wake up.” The old lady grasps his hand.

  “Wake up, blacksmith!” Mike adds.

  “Out of the way!” the old man interrupts and shovels them aside.

  He presses his chest and starts reviving him.

  “One, two, three, four, five!” he counts as he tries his first aid moves.

  “This won’t work! Dammit!” he spits around, angry.

  People start to gather from the settlement and make a circle around us and the blacksmith's daughter and mother.

  “Inventory!” Harald pulls out a package with band-aids, straw, and a knife.

  “What are you going to do?” the mother asks.

  “Tracheotomy!”

  “Now, take the kid and go!” he yells.

  “What?” She tilts her head, confused.

  “Go!” he yells out loud.

  *Proceeds to make a cut and inserts a straw in.*

  Blood gurgles, and Roland opens his eyes, breathes in.

  *Some people start clapping.*

  A few moments pass until Roland stabilizes.

  Those people standing around are looking at us like we are the goods in a store, checking us out from all sides.

  Nat holds Astrid this time, and Mike nervously spins around.

  “Brinn...” He tries to talk but unsuccessfully, his throat whistling, but he keeps raising his arm and pointing towards the open space behind the settlement.

  “The strongest of you, go and pull him out... He might not endure.” Roland's mother interferes.

  Astrid, Mike, Harald, and Nat—all of them look at me.