With the utmost caution Kasla and Mi-mi made their way through the woods. Despite distant birds chirping as the afternoon wore on, neither felt as safe as when entering the forest, their blissful ignorance obliterated. Slowly they pressed on, pausing to check for any sign of high ranking monsters, Mi-mi pulling out the map to check every ten minutes to ensure the safest route. Each footstep was precise, avoiding any sticks or dry leaves, both embodying silent assassins to the best of their ability.

Their pursuit of the missing slime had landed them in the heart of the forest’s hostile territory. Finding their way back and out was agonizingly slow as they took care not to press their luck, weaving around the routes clearly marked out. They could feel the minutes crawl by, their once thought easy mission now stretching into the late afternoon. Their only telling of the time was faint glimpses of the sun through random patches in the trees, seeing it sink lower to the horizon.

Kasla followed Mi-mi closely behind, holding on to Nava tightly. Despite the burning in his arms he was distracted by the thought a troll could come charging out at them at any time. He kept a roving gaze to watch Mi-mi’s back, glancing over his shoulder every so often, trying to not breathe loudly so he could hear.

After what felt like two hours Mi-mi pulled out the map once more. “We’re almost at the edge of the safe zone,” she assured in a shushed voice, glancing back at Kasla. Yet despite safety being so close Mi-mi felt uneasy, her skin prickling. The forest seemed caught in a void, sounds muted and distant. They had been so careful, nothing should have stalked them without them noticing.

Kasla caught Mi-mi’s alert expression and tensed, Nava in his arms beginning to quiver. “What’s—” he swallowed the words as from the darkness of the woods yellow eyes glowed, pulsing with savagery. They seemed to be getting closer, almost hypnotic. 

A loud splintering sound snapped Mi-mi back to her senses just in time to see something hurtling in their directly with a wild whooping sound.

“DUCK!” She dropped down as she dove towards the trees, the map falling to the ground.

“HOLY MOTHER INA!” Kasla ducked as he dove to the side. A large log came flying, just missing them. It slammed into the trees behind, exploding into hundreds of sharp pieces. 

A loud hooting filled the air followed by a unison of roars. Advancing towards them was the war troll, flanked by two trolls half its height at a still intimidating three meters. The trolls began uprooting trees while their larger kin came charging, the ground shaking.

“Mi-mi! Catch!” Kasla tossed Nava to her in a mighty throw as one of the trolls hurled a tree trunk like a javelin over the war troll’s head.

“What are you—?!” Mi-mi let out a grunt as she managed to catch Nava, the weight of the slime nearly making her buckle. The trunk was sailing towards them like a meteor with no time to dodge.

Kasla stood his ground, fist clenched as he focused his mana, his hand beginning to glow. His arm pulsed with power, muscles tensing. Sliding his foot back he took up a fighting stance and struck with lightning speed at the oncoming trunk. As his fist connected with the wood it burst into a spray of splinters, pieces slicing Kasla’s face.

“SHIT!” Kasla winced as he felt blood drawn, rolling down his check. He squinted, trying to avoid any splinters from going into his eye. What large parts of the truck remained fell to the ground in a thud, though the advancing war troll was far louder and faster.

He pivoted and rushed towards Mi-mi, snatching the once more pancake like Nava from her hands. “Come on!”

“Right!” 

They ran, the war troll bellowing as it charged. As the loud and heavy footsteps drew closer Mi-mi pulled out two vials. With a quick twist she flung the potions at the rampaging monster. 

The war troll let out a snarl, battling at the projectiles with its club. As the glass shattered a yellow smoke bellowed out, beginning to fill the area. The purple vial shattered against its face, exploding with a sizzle and smoke as some of the substance splattered on to its club, eating away at it.

The war troll let out an agonizing roar, flailing blindly. In its pain and fury its club smacked into the smaller trolls, sending them crashing into trees. The trolls let out roars of pain and surprise, their collision startling sizable insects who were unceremoniously knocked from their perches. Angry buzzing and hissing filled the area as the bugs decided to exact their fury on their wrongdoers.

“What was that you just threw?” Kasla gaped, arms and legs pumping as his heart pounded loudly in his ears. 

“It’s a paralyzing agent made from the pollen of torgia and an acid cocktail from acid slugs. It won’t last long, but it should buy us enough time!” Mi-mi glanced back at their pursuer.

The war troll’s agonizing screams morphed into a battle cry. It shook its head, furiously wiping at its eyes to be rid of the acid. Blindly it collided into a tree, earning an angry roar, its moves becoming slow and sluggish. With one last roar and muster of power the war troll swung its club, throwing it towards its prey. 

The club spun through the air with an audible whoosh. It sailed over the duo’s heads as they ducked. It hit a tree ahead of them with a resounding crack, the tree shaking as it began to fall with a mighty groan.

“Kasla!” Mi-mi shoved him to the side as the tree came down. She moved to dodge. The tree fell with a resounding crash that shook the ground. There was an audible snap as it hit and Mi-mi let out a blood-curdling scream.

“Mi-mi!” Kasla looked on in horror as Mi-mi lay trapped beneath the fallen tree, her legs caught. 

“Go!” she ordered in a strained voice, tears of pain in her eyes despite trying to hold them back. She was visibly paling as if she were about to faint.

“NO! I don’t want to leave you behind!”

“Just go, Kasla! I still have my acid cocktails, I can still defend myself!”

“No! I’m not leaving you! You’ll die!” Kasla argued, his panic giving way to anger and resolution. He took a step towards her, glancing towards the war troll that was still blinded, its comrades busy batting away enraged bugs.

“Listen to me, Kasla!” Mi-mi gave him a desperate look, her voice firm. “You are no match for that war troll! If it were alone we would have a chance, but it’s two against three! If you fight we’ll both die. Get out of here, one of us has to live!”

“Who says I’m going to fight it?” Kasla tucked Nava under an arm despite the slime becoming snake-like, thoroughly stretching itself out in its stress. His fist glowed with mana and he lunged at the tree, connecting next to where Mi-mi lay. Bark exploded, leaving a pathway through the truck, freeing Mi-mi.

“As much as I want to punch it in the face and knock its brains out, my priority is to get you to safety. I’m not going to leave you. Can you stand?”

A grunt escaped Mi-mi as she winced, the sudden liberation sending a new sense of pain throughout her body. “N-no, my legs are crushed.” Sweat was forming around her brow, blood draining from her face from the pain. A bone stuck out of her right leg, blood seeping out while the other was visibly swelling and bruising–both were fractured. 

Kasla took one look at the damage before quickly ducking down. He set Nava down and pulled out a handkerchief, hastily wrapping it around the open fracture. He avoided the visible bone, tightening the handkerchief to apply pressure. A gasp of pain escaped Mi-mi but she smothered by covering her mouth. 

He grabbed her hand and slung her arm over his shoulder as he crouched, his back to her. “Hold onto me, we’re going to get out of here alive.” Another cry sounded from the war troll, sending goosebumps across both their skin. “Get on.”

“W-we don’t have much time, the paralysis will disappear soon.” Mi-mi hobbled to pull herself up, winding her arms around Kasla’s neck. She leaned into him, her right leg useless while the left leg seemed ready to buckle. She winced, trying to stay strong and alert. 

“Right, hang on,” Kasla instructed as he stood up the slowest he could given the urgency, one arm tucked under her least injured leg while he cradled Nava like an uncoiling rope in the other. He took off with his heart pounding and muscles screaming. Despite his best efforts he was going slow, weighed down by Mi-mi and the heavyweight Nava.

I won’t leave anyone behind. I can make it. Just a bit more and we’ll be out! 

Kasla clenched his teeth, urgency and determination pushing him forward. He ran as fast as he could, slowing down at times before picking up again, listening for their pursuers. Soon he saw thinning trees and felt a wave of relief. 

The safe zone! He bounded toward the treeline, catching a glimpse of humanoid shadows just on the other side.  

Kasla burst into the sunlight, Mi-mi steeling herself against the pain, her head low, drooping over his shoulder. In the small meadow inside the forest was none other than Chrono and his father. Chrono was busy picking herbs while Misterion was engrossed in his journal, sketching a plant like what his son held.

Praise to the gods! Kasla’s breath caught from relief as he fought for breath. “Misterion!” he shouted, hurrying towards the duo, nearly stumbling.

The mapmaker looked up in alarm towards the source of the sound, Chrono doing the same. At the sight of Kasla, Misterion jumped to his feet, dropping his journal. He rushed over, his expression one of disbelief and anger as his long hair wiped behind him like an annoyed cat’s tail. “What the hell happened?!”