That’s all we feel as we walk with this Hero. Lilac and her pet owl have already proven to be a threat once, choosing to attack me for seemingly no reason. She says she doesn’t kill monsters for no reason, but I suppose her pet didn’t understand that last night. Glancing at her as she walks between the Viperion and Mange, she seems rather comfortable, calmly walking with us. The Viperion seems on edge, fighting the urge go attack, while Mange, on the other hand, is quieter than I have ever seen.

How did she hide so well? For that matter, why was she randomly hiding there? Brown hair, green eyes, slim pale body, shorter than me in stature. She seems quite dainty for someone that Mange fears. More on the feminine side, if I can assume that much. Her armor looks masterfully crafted. Straps holding together a tight top and pants. Chains hanging from the shoulders with charms dangling from them. I can only imagine how much stronger that armor is than mine, despite being made of a lighter material. I make my way over to Mange and tap his arm. He glances down at me as I flick my head towards Lilac.

Mange looks forward again. “Guess ye can say… she’s an old acquaintance.” Lilac chuckles a little as she slaps Mange’s back. “Hah! An old acquaintance? That’s the most you can say about me?” Mange seems to be refusing to make eye contact with her. “Ya can’t call yerself a friend after what ya did, now can ye?” Lilac gives Mange an irritated look. “Even now, you still think I had something to do with what happened?” Mange snorts as he pulls a bottle from his side, taking a long drink from it. Lilac looks away from Mange. “Old drunkard…”  She seems kind of… disappointed. She turns to the Viperion. “Sorry for that awkward interaction! I see you’ve tamed a squirrel! Apologies for the way Guillotine handled him!”

The Viperion seems too nervous to respond. “Oh, I know! How about I give you a name as an apology!” The Viperion and I quickly turn to Lilac in shock at the proposal. “W-why would you do that?” The Viperion asks. Lilac reaches out to Guillotine, petting him. “Let’s just say it’s a gift from one tamer to another.” The Viperion still seems reluctant to accept. “But… you’re a human… why would you do anything for a monster?” That’s really the burning question here. Not only that, but she’s an exceptionally strong human. Lilac looks up at Mange. Her expression looks a little sad. “We’re not all as bad as it seems…”

Lilac closes her eyes as she thinks for a moment. “Oh! How about rose or Lilly? Something that can match my flower name!” The Viperion looks away. “I’m… not sure a flower name would suit me…” Lilac begins thinking a little more. “Maybe… Sapphire? Or perhaps Emerald, since your scales are green?” The Viperion looks at her hand. “ I’m sorry…I’m not sure I want to be named based on my color…” Her rejection of those names now has me wanting to come up with something. “Fivi.” Mange whispers. We look up at him. “Means snake or serpent where I’m from.” Lilac looks back to the Viperion. “It’s unique to any serpent I’ve known. Perhaps that would work?”

The Viperion smiles a little. “Yes… I suppose that will do.” Lilac smiles. “It’s settled then! Your name will be Fivi from today on!” A light flashes around Fivi as her name is now set. Fivi shyly hides her face away. “Th-thank you…” She says in a soft, quiet voice. While I feel happy for Fivi for getting a name, Mange speeds up, getting further away from us, and walking beside the leader. Fivi and Lilac look at me as if I know what’s going on. I just shrug my shoulders and speed up to catch up. Mange stands to the leader’s left as I stand to his right. Curious why Mange would care to be near the leader considering their friction.

Silence, apart from footsteps. This is even worse than when we helped Gibson. The children aren’t even making noise. I think their parents are maintaining them closely to prevent conflict with Lilac. However, it just increases the awkwardness of this painful silence. Looking around, I can barely see the forest we had walked through. We have a substantial amount of field to cross before we reach another location that we can hide in near a mountain range. Apart from that, there is a lake at a fair distance to our left, and far off in the distance to the right appears to be more human residents. Large squares of land seem to be growing crops of some kind. Very undiscernible from this distance.

Either way, we are now at the heat of the day. The monsters who have heavy fur seem to be struggling in the open like this. We must find shade and cool off, or we may have more problems than just getting attacked. I step closer to the leader and tap his arm. He looks over to me as I point towards the lake. “Hm? Do you need a drink?” The leader asks. I point back to the Wolfen and Minotaur people. They are panting heavily as the heat exhausts them. The leader looks to the sky, holding his hand over his eyes as he inspects the sun’s position. “I suppose we have time to visit the lake for a rest. However, we cannot stay long.”

The leader waves his hand as he shouts. “Everyone! We’ll take a momentary respite as we stop at the lake!” The relieving sighs that wash across the group seems to echo across the valley. They really needed this break. We change directions and walk towards the lake. As we approach, the children can no longer contain their excitement. They escape their parents grasp and rush to the water. Some of the adults even pick up the pace and rush to the water. Many of them immediately jump into the water without a second thought while others pace themselves, getting into the water slowly to relax on the water’s edge.

Mange and the leader sit down away from the majority of the group. Mange takes out his bottle and begins drinking. Fivi sits down by herself. Lilac seems conflicted as to where she wants to sit. She eventually chooses to sit next to Fivi instead of Mange. I guess she doesn’t care to try talking to him as much as he doesn’t care to talk to her. I sit by Mange and the leader. I’ve no real need to cool down. The breeze blows through my bones quite effectively, even in this armor.

This is relaxing. It’s been so long since I’ve got to sit near such a large body of water. The rolling ripples as the breeze blows across the surface. The small birds flying through the sky, calling amongst each other. Such a soothing symphony of mixed sounds that work so well together. “Why did you insist on sitting beside me?” the leader suddenly asks Mange. Mange pulls the bottle from his face. “Th’ point of it was that ya don’t like talkin’ ta me.” The leader looks away for a moment before looking over at Lilac and Fivi, who are both laying down, absorbing sunlight. “That human… Can’t you give us any details of her?” The leader has finally asked a bold question that all of us would like to know.

Mange stays silent. The leader leans back to take in some sunlight himself. “I’m merely asking of interest in how you’re affiliated with humans. If it is too much to answer now, we may speak of it lat-“ “She was a friend…” Mange cuts off the leader. The leader sits back up as he listens. “Tha’s what I thought, anyway. ‘Til she stabbed me in th’ back. Her an’ that animal Malachai.” Mange begins gripping his bottle tightly. “Don’ go trustin’ her… jus’ cause she’s actin’ all nice…”The leader and I can see Mange struggling to talk about this. The leader lays down on his back. “It’s alright. I don’t trust humans in general! What would make her special?” The leader seems to be falling into more of a relaxing state, but Mange… something is wrong with him, and I don’t think he’s going to get over this without talking about it.

I stand up and walk over to the water away from the others. I look down to see my reflection looking back at me. The glow of my eyes, the bulky shine of my golden chest piece. My dirtied white bones. A handsome young skeleton, if I do say so myself! As I continue looking, I begin to see movement past my reflection. Something… large. A flat head with eyes looking up at me from the water. The jaws of this creature open up as it quickly snaps up towards me! I narrowly lean back in time to dodge! The creature pulls its head back as it turns to head into deeper waters, leaving a massive wake as it flees! I’m not sure what that was, but I must warn the others!

I rush around the lake to where the others are! As they come into view, I frantically wave my arms, signaling them to get out of the water! No one seems to understand what I’m doing! I take my sword and shield out, slamming the two together, making a loud racket! Everyone stops moving and looks at me! The leader looks over at me, then jumps up quickly! “Everyone out of the water!!!” The leader quickly shapes into his dragon form, flying overhead for a sky view! As a cloud passes over the sun, multiple large shadows can be seen under the surface of the lake! We need to act fast!

The leader begins swooping down, picking up monsters from the water. Mange springs up, quickly rushing into the water to defend those who were further out! Fivi and Lilac stand on the shore with their bows ready! I… I want to help, but… I can’t swim! I stand in the shallow water, grabbing people by the arms, and pulling them from the water! Mange looks back at me. “The hell’re ya doin?! Get in the drink already!” I stand on the shore and keep stepping forward, then back! I can’t bring myself to jump in! A large mouth snaps up at Mange, grabbing him by the arm! Mange raises his arm up, lifting the creatures head from the water! He takes a small knife from his pocket, stabbing it into the creature’s throat, slicing it open! However, that doesn’t stop the creature from trying to pull him under!

I-I want to help, but I can’t! The leader flies down and grabs me by the arms. “Quit being a coward! Move!” The leader flies me over to Mange, dropping me into the water! Immediately, I begin sinking to the bottom! I’ve never had to swim before! I don’t know how! In the shadows of the dark waters, I can see the movement around me! Creatures of the deep, and a lot of them! I fall further and further into the depths. Less and less light reaches me as I continue falling. I attempt to wave my arms to swim back up, but the water simply passes through my bones. I struggle as the last of my breath leaves my… wait a minute… I don’t have lungs!

I reach the bottom of the lake, stepping into deep, thick mud. I can barely see anything at all, but I can hear and feel the water shifting around me! These creatures are actively scouting me! One dashes very closely! I can’t fight them like this! I open my panel and pan through the different tabs to see if anything could help me here! I find a tab that says “Enemy Health Bar” with a slider that says “Active” or “always” on it! Maybe that will let me see the creatures! I turn on “always,” causing many health bars with the creature’s names over their heads! They’re called Muck Turtles! There’s 1, 2, 3, 4… 7! There are 7 of them! I ready myself for combat and choose one nearest to me!

I charge at one, dashing slower than normal, but floating across the water with moderate ease! I use Impactful Strike, but I completely miss! My speed is slowed underwater! I can’t catch them despite seeing them! I need a new tactic! I stand still and wait for another one to approach me. As soon as one dashes towards me, I quickly turn using my charge, dashing into the turtle’s face as it attacks me! I use my Impactful Strike again, obliterating the head of the turtle! The others turn quickly towards me, dashing after the loose meat from the turtle I had just slain! They aggressively snap and bite, wildly striking around me! I take many bites and strikes across my body! If not for my armor, I’d be shredded to pieces!

I inch my way back away from the frenzied turtles! I watch their health bars move in the darkness and wait for the right moment. As soon as the health bars gather closely together, I use my Wide Slash, cutting across all of them, dropping their health bars to zero at once! The light shines around me as I grow a level from slaying the turtles. For that brief moment, I see the bottom of the lake. The ravaged bodies of the turtles. Small fish eating the fragments of loose meat drifting in the water. The threat down here has been solved, but I’m still stuck at the bottom of the lake with very little health. I fall backwards, dropping into the mud.

I stare up from the bottom of the lake. Darkness. That’s all I see. The cool water drifts through my bones. The feeling reminds me of my days of walking down the cold halls of the dungeon. I close my eyes and listen to the air bubbles slipping from the mud. At this point, patience is my only option. This sense I’m feeling… peace. That’s all I can call it. I… hope someone finds me…