“Maybe so, but he could kick your ass.” I give him a playful shove and accidentally push a little too hard, nearly knocking him off the bench. “He’s been with me in almost every fight and is only a couple of levels below me now.”

  Taryn returns with another round, noticeably more intoxicated.

  “I never knew you liked to drink,” I say, taking the mug.

  He flashes me a goofy smile. “I didn’t. I tried one of Pop’s beers once. Tasted like piss. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a dwarf or what, but it goes down so easy now. Not to mention the feeling. It’s like my whole head is vibrating, like a gentle buzz.” His eyes light up like he just had a realization. “Wait! No way! Is that why they called it being buzzed?”

  My deep laugh startles the nearby table, causing one man to knock over his drink. “I guess so. You know, I can’t eat fruit since becoming a troll. My palate has completely changed. I can eat raw meat, but I can’t eat fruit.”

  “That’s wild, bro.”

  Several hours pass as we drink and chat. It feels so good to have Taryn here, to let my guard down and just chill out like before. Eventually, we both stumble to our rooms.

  When I close the door, I’m greeted with a notification

  Welcome to The Dancing Donkey! You may set your respawn point in your room for as long as you are staying here. Once your stay is over, your respawn point will be reset to its previous location. Would you like to bind here?

  I decide not to, since we are only staying for the night. It’s a useful feature if you are paying for an extended stay.

  Limery grumbles as I carefully place him down on the bed, but he doesn’t wake. The little guy is out cold.

  Feeling completely content, I drift off to sleep.

  17. The Bear Necessities

  Sun spills through the window of my second-story room at The Dancing Donkey. The daylight assaults my sensitive eyes, so I bury my head beneath the blanket. My head pounds, like a tiny gnome has crept into my brain with a sledgehammer. Not to mention my parched mouth. I stumble from the bed in search of the pitcher of water and accidentally knock Limery to the floor. He falls on his head with a thunk, letting out a confused groan. When he stands up, he looks every bit as hungover as I feel. His bulbous eyes are bloodshot and squint at the burning light as he sways back and forth searching for his balance.

  “Some night, huh?” I ask.

  He responds with incoherent babbling.

  We gather our belongings and I head to Taryn’s room to check the damage he inflicted on himself. He opens the door with a smile.

  “You look like hell.” He laughs. “Both of you.” He’s already packed and stands there, staff in hand, with his satchel tossed over his shoulder.

  “Why aren’t you hungover?” I ask.

  He shrugs. “Dwarven immunity?”

  Limery clings tight to my shoulder. “Chods, more quiet, please,” he whispers.

  “You two need some breakfast,” suggests Taryn, grinning. “It’ll fix you right up.”

  True to his word, breakfast does wonders for our hangovers. After devouring loads of eggs and sausages, we leave The Dancing Donkey.

  We slept through most of the morning and the sun sits high overhead. When we step out into the market, Taryn grabs me by the arms and points to the square.

  “Aren’t those your people?” he asks.

  There are several groups of trolls spread around the market in pairs.

  “Yeah, but they shouldn’t be here yet. Not without Lillith and the imps.”

  Malak and Jojin stand in front of a table laden with knives. So many types of knives that I don’t even know the uses for them all. Some are short, others long. Most are plain, but a few are embellished with jewels or engraved with runes. I don’t remember seeing this table here when I left yesterday. It must be new.

  The two guardian trolls carry some of the looted armor from the village. They must be here to trade. Malak sets the weapons down on the table and picks up a knife, examining it with great interest. With such sharp claws, trolls don’t really need knives, but trading the weapons away will bring the two sides together.

  I want to say hi, but something tells me to stand back and watch the interaction. There are no imps here yet, so they can’t communicate other than by pointing at the items they wish to trade. Why would Chief Rizza send out the trolls without translators? It doesn’t make any sense.

  The man behind the table eyes them suspiciously. He wears a royal blue tunic, much finer than most others in the market. My guess is that he travels from village to village selling his items. His acquaintance seems to be his muscle, clad in all black with broad shoulders and a sword by his side. His bald head is scarred in several places.

  We step up behind the two trolls, quiet so that they don’t notice. The man selling knives must not recognize who I am because he talks freely to his companion. “They kill these people’s men, then they bring their weapons back to trade. Isn’t that messed up?”

  The other man nods. “That’s why you don’t negotiate with savages. They can’t be trusted.”

  Taryn makes to say something, but I put out my arm to stop him. I send him a message, telling him to let this play out.

  Malak holds the knife in front of him in one hand and the weapons in the other, offering the exchange.

  “No,” says the man. “For you, coin.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a silver coin. “Coin,” he says again.

  “Coin,” Malak repeats.

  The man in black questions the other. “You really think they have coin?”

  “Does a troll shit in the woods?” He snickers. “You think all those poor souls who died in the forest never had coin on them? You think that hero that kept dying kept all his money in the bank? No, they have gold. I’m sure.”

  Jojin reaches into his pocket and pulls out a gold coin. “Coin,” he says to the man.

  The man’s eyes light up. “Stupid trolls,” he tells his partner. “That knife can’t be worth more than five copper.” He reaches for the gold coin.

  “Enough!” I shout, pushing Malak aside. “How dare you take advantage of them because they can’t speak your language. Malak, Jojin, leave us be. I will explain in a moment.”

  The two trolls move out of the way, and I’m leaning across their table before I know what I’m doing. The man in black draws his sword and points it at my throat.

  His partner gives me a sniveling smirk and raises his eyebrows. “This is why we don’t trade with savages. They only know violence.”

  “You were about to rip them off simply because they don’t know any better,” I roar. I’m the only reason he didn’t.

  “It’s a free market. And they are free not to purchase. They can learn their lessons just like the rest of us.”

  Taryn pulls on my arm. “Hey, Chod. I think we should leave them be. We’re drawing a crowd.”

  Fire courses through my veins. I turn around to see the entire market has gone silent.

  Screw them. I’ll tell them where they can all go. “All of you ca—”

  Incoming Message (Taryn): Bro, take a deep breath. You can’t let one bad seed ruin it all.

  He's right. I don’t need to be causing problems before I leave

  I heed Taryn’s advice and take a breath, trying to rein in my temper that has so often gotten me in trouble. If anything, I should be educating the trolls so that they don’t become victims.

  “What’s going on here?” The mayor steps out of Ms. Mcgee’s spice shop.

  “Nothing,” I say. “Just a misunderstanding. Trolls, would you come with me outside the gate? We need to talk.”

  I want to thank Taryn for keeping me in check, but when I look for him, he’s disappeared. I glare at the shady knife salesman as we leave. He’s smirking at me when something splats on his shoulder. He lets out a yell of surprise. “Are you kidding me? I’ve been shit on by a bird.”

  Up above him on the palisade, a red bird sits on the fence. It winks at me as we leave.

  Outside the gate, all of the trolls look confused.

  “Chod, what is the meaning of this?” asks Malak.

  “That man was going to take advantage of you. That coin you were going to give him, you could have bought half that table.”

  “So? The trolls have no need of gold. What does it matter as long as it gets me what I want?”

  I bury my head in my hand. “It’s the principle of the matter. If you let him take advantage of you, then pretty soon they all will. And then the trolls will have nothing left to trade. Why are you here anyway? I thought you were waiting on the imps?”

  Malak hangs his head. “I did not want to wait. I am ready to see the world.”

  I grab him by the shoulder. “The world will still be waiting when the imps return, I promise you. It can’t be much longer.”

  “Fine,” he grumbles. “Let’s return to the forest.”

  Is this what it is like to have children? Constantly needing to watch out for them so that they don’t hurt themselves or get taken advantage of. Or if you’re my parents, hiring a nanny.

  “You did good back there.” Taryn pops up behind us. His brilliant smile pokes through his beard. “I’m glad you didn’t murder that guy.”

  “Me too. It just made me so angry to see them taken advantage of like that.” I clench my fist at the memory. His bodyguard has no idea how lucky he is.

  “Some things they’ll have to learn for themselves. You can fight their battles, but you can’t run their lives.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. It’s hard not to feel responsible for them, though. Thanks for taking care of that prick for me.”

  “Anything for you.” He laughs. “Now, what do you say we get me leveled up?”

  *****

  Several miles from Lynchton, I’m only half paying attention when Taryn casts Lightning Bolt and a giant flash of raw energy cracks into an unsuspecting deer, giving him the XP he needs to hit level ten. Daydreams of cleaving the knife merchant in two keep popping into my mind. The way he looked at us, so smug, so superior. I should have rearranged his face.

  “Chod, are you listening?” Taryn glares at me. “I said I can finally unlock Tame.”

  “Tame, what’s that?” I hope he hasn’t already told me, or he’s going to be pissed. If I could only get out of my own head.

  “It allows me to tame any beast that’s less than five levels above me. All I have to do is get it down to five percent health.” His eyes glaze over as he unlocks the ability.

  “That’s pretty cool. Is there a limit to what you can tame?”

  “Yeah, I can’t wait to try it out. It only works on beasts, though—nothing capable of talking. No unique monsters, and for every new pet I tame, I lose five percent influence over all pets I have. So if I have ten pets, they may not listen to me half the time. And I can only tame something new every six hours.”

  “That’s probably for the best. I can imagine some people getting into bad situations with an ability that lets them tame their peers.” Glenn comes to mind. “Is there a limit to how many creatures you can have tamed at once?”

  “I don’t think so, but the more I have, the less they will listen to me. They’ll just be pets, so I don’t have to monitor them, not like your horrors that you are capable of controlling. I can give them orders, but I can’t actually enforce them.”

  “Well, let’s go test it out.” I try to push the thoughts that are bothering me to the back of my mind. I’m here with my best friend, playing the most awesome game on the planet. Enjoy it, I tell myself.

  I cast a few horrors, and we move further north. The mayor’s quest can wait for the other trolls. “What type of pet do you want first? There’s a pretty good variety around here.”

  “I don’t know.” He shrugs, then runs his fingers through his beard. “I always thought it would be cool to have a pet bear.”

  I laugh. “At your size, you could probably ride it.”

  Taryn’s eyes light up at the thought, and I think I just gave him an idea.

  For the next few hours, we see dozens of animals, but not a single bear. Deer, warthogs, coyotes, even a few kobolds and gnolls. But of course, the moment we’re looking for a bear, it’s like they went extinct.

  “Come on, T. Can’t you just settle for a warthog or something? If you grind a little, we can probably even get you a moulhaug.”

  “Dude, a little patience.” He cuts his eyes at me. “What are you in such a hurry for? I’m going to take to the skies. Maybe I can spot one from higher up. Limery, want to join me and leave this crybaby alone?”

  Limery sticks his tongue out at me and takes to the air. A moment later, Taryn transforms into a bird and flutters away. I take the time to rest against a tree while they scour the area.

  It doesn’t take long before I receive a message from Taryn telling me he’s spotted a mother and her cubs. He shares his location with me, and I set off to join him.

  I find Taryn and Limery hiding behind a tree, watching the mother bear and her cubs as they play around an old tree stump. The three young cubs fight for supremacy, knocking each other to the ground. The mother bear is level eight, but the cubs are level one.

  “What’s the plan?” I ask. I don’t think he wants a bear cub, but it also seems downright cruel to take the mother from her spawn.

  “We wait for them to leave and follow them. Hopefully, they’ll lead us to their den,” he says without looking away.

  I roll my eyes at him. “Great, more waiting.”

  Taryn whacks me on the side of the head with his staff, and Limery bursts out laughing, startling the bears and sending them running. I guess that’s one way to get them moving.

  We have to run to keep up with the surprisingly agile creatures. Even the cubs are faster than I would have expected. They lead us across a field and up a hill into a thick copse of trees.

  We’re following them into the trees when a massive brown bear appears out of nowhere. It rises up on its hind legs, easily taller than Taryn.

  Umber Bear. Level 12.

  The reddish-brown bear roars at us, arms outstretched, warning us to stay away from its family. Its dark muzzle reveals powerful teeth capable of snapping bones in half. There’s a beauty in its power and brutality.

  Without warning, Taryn casts Lightning Bolt, hammering the unsuspecting bear with a stream of raw energy. The bear charges him, and Taryn casts Strong Wind, giving himself added speed as he runs away.

  “You gonna help me or not?” he yells.

  I forgot he only has the one offensive ability, and he’s unlikely to smack the bear to death with his staff. How did he manage to get to level nine only using Lightning Bolt?

  “Limery, let’s help him out. No matter what, do not kill the bear.” I cast a Horror of Vitality, slowing the bear’s charge, and then follow up with Horror of Power and Finesse.

  The three horrors attack the bear, drawing its attention and filling my rage meter. I activate Claw, and along with the attack bonus from Horror of Power, my next attack drops its health by forty percent.

  A couple of fireballs from Limery drop it further. The bear sinks its teeth into the Horror of Finesse, crushing the poor thing with its powerful bite. Horror of Power gores the bear with its tusks just before a mighty strike sends it to a sliver of HP.

  Another bolt of lighting zaps the bear, dropping its HP into the required area for Tame to work.

  The bear stands there, stunned, as Taryn moves into position. A green aura surrounds him, and his hands glow a vibrant yellow. The bear looks almost hypnotized as Taryn steps into its attack radius. It places all four feet on the ground and huddles into itself, allowing Taryn to place his hands on the bear.

  When he touches the creature, the yellow glow from his hands transfers to the animal. The bleeding wounds stop flowing and begin to mend themselves. Slowly, the bear’s health recovers until it’s like the fight never happened.

  The bear uncurls and looks around, the menace gone from its eyes.

  18. Marshlands

  Leaving the rest of the bears in peace, Taryn, Limery, and I set off in search of our next battle. We need to level up Taryn so that he can actually be useful in a tough fight. It won’t take long if we can find the right monsters.

  “Tell me, how is it you managed to get to level nine with one offensive spell?” After witnessing Taryn’s battle with the umber bear, it’s clear he’d have a tough go at fighting creatures without my help. The cooldown on Lightning Bolt isn’t quick enough for him to spam it, and the staff he carries isn’t made for bludgeoning. His abilities are nice, but he’s better off as part of a team early on. Once he’s tamed enough beasts, they can do his dirty work for him. Just like my horrors.

  “Very carefully,” he says. He rides on the back of the umber bear as it traipses across the meadow. We’re heading back east, away from the moulhaugs and the mountains for now, to an area that should be more suitable for leveling. After using Tame on the creature, it seems to obey Taryn’s commands, all of the fire gone from its eyes. “I’m sure it’s easy for you, using brute strength to plow through monster after monster. For those of us who didn’t go melee, and aren’t the equivalent of a walking fridge, it’s an actual grind to level up. You can kill a bear by yourself. For me, I have to slay a hundred bunnies. I got lucky and completed several quests in the capital, but most of it has been a real grind. But now that I have Berry, here, we’ll be a formidable force in battle.”

  “Berry? Seriously?” I shake my head. “You cannot name your pet bear, Berry.”

  Taryn turns to me, his face scrunched. “And why not? You don’t think he looks like a Berry?”

  “Unless they’re a fat old man with an alcohol problem, nobody looks like a Berry. You’re riding him into battle, the least you could do is give him a proper name. He’s a beast, not a fruit.”

  Taryn shrugs me off, petting the bear behind the ear. “Don’t listen to him, Berry.”

  Limery snickers on my shoulder.

  “You think this is funny?” I scowl at him.

 

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