The Fight of Our Lives

Another shriek tore through the forest, and Daffodil was really starting to think he’d underestimated the task ahead of them.

“Stay behind me,” Asterion said as he moved in front of Daffodil. He assumed a fighting position, holding his sword out to form a barrier between them and whatever lay ahead. Then he started a slow shuffle towards the noise.

Daffodil followed him cautiously, wondering if he should’ve bought better armor before coming here. They continued to creep along for a few more minutes before Asterion stopped abruptly. It took all of Daffodil’s dexterity to avoid slamming into him.

Fifty feet ahead of them stood a pack of what Daffodil assumed had to be Wild Beasts, about ten of them in total. They shambled around bushes absolutely laden with berries and, more importantly, hadn’t seemed to notice Daffodil and Asterion yet.

“Try to stay behind me,” Asterion said. His position tensed and Daffodil could tell he was sizing up the enemy, trying to come up with the best plan of attack. “Their weak point is their eyes. The problem is the eyes blend in with their body almost perfectly, so finding them can be a bit of a challenge.”

Daffodil wasn’t really sure what Asterion meant until one turned towards their hideout. The Wild Beast was vaguely humanoid, if that human had an incredibly arched back and arms permanently bent at the elbow. Long claws replaced fingers and their body was completely covered in an impossible black, almost like it had been submerged in ink. All of the Wild Beasts looked like they were dripping, Daffodil realized, and he wondered if it had something to do with the environment; as they had ventured deeper into the forest, the landscape had turned more into a marsh than the woods he was used to. It was a wonder the berries had been able to grow in such conditions to begin with, and he considered that might be why the Wild Beasts guarded them like they were the most valuable things in the forest.

Both Daffodil and Asterion held their breath but the Wild Beast still cocked its head to the side like it could hear them anyway. Then it pounced.

Well more accurately, they all pounced.

The first Wild Beast let out another shrill shriek and every other head snapped in their direction. The Wild Beasts ran towards them with speed Daffodil had never imagined they’d be capable of, and within a few seconds the monsters were upon them.

Daffodil was dying. The Beasts hadn’t even touched him yet, but he couldn’t escape the feeling that this was the end for him. His chest was constricting until he could barely wheeze out a breath, and his heart was beating so loudly he couldn’t help but think the Wild Beasts were using it as a beacon to find their next meal.

What had Daffodil been thinking? He couldn’t do this! It had been one thing when it was a cute little slime that barely did any damage. These creatures were in a whole league of their own. Daffodil was reminded of exactly why he never fought monsters, never left the safety of his valley. Because WanderQuest was a nightmare!

Daffodil had to get away. Every bone in his body was singing the same song of Run! Run! Run! Daffodil never ran from a fight, but this was something else. This wasn’t him and another guy punching each other behind the school before one decided to yield. This was a hunt and Daffodil came to the chilling realization that he was the prey.

Stumbling out of reach of the first Wild Beast’s claws, Daffodil dashed into the treeline. He didn’t get very far with how little his lungs seemed to be working, but it was better than staying there. He collapsed behind a tree with a trunk thick enough to hide his body and cautiously peeked his head around it to watch the fight. Now that the panic no longer had a steel grip on his mind, he could process what was happening enough to feel guilty about leaving Asterion to deal with an entire pack of those abominations on his own. But as he watched Asterion, it didn’t look like he had anything to worry about.

Asterion seemed to come alive. He fluidly weaved between the Beasts, his footwork sure even though the terrain was wet and uneven. His hair flared out as he spun, nicking a Wild Beast with his sword each time he passed one. Even though the wounds all seemed shallow, the Beasts were already starting to slow down, their once inhumanly fast movements becoming sluggish and uncoordinated.

He’s beautiful, Daffodil realized, watching Asterion wide eyed. It was the undeniable truth. Asterion moved with an otherworldly grace, his body almost glowing in the dim sunlight. Every step he made with confidence, and the look of determination carved into his face somehow made him even more ethereal.

Asterion didn’t seem to be slowing down, but it was clear he wanted the fight to end; even though he never looked back, Daffodil could tell Asterion was keeping track of his well-being on top of everything else. The longer his attention was divided, the more likely something would go wrong. In one quick motion, Asterion opened his inventory and summoned a small cylindrical object that Daffodil recognized as one of the flash bombs he’d gifted the man. Asterion held the flash bomb above him and activated it, bathing the dark forest in light. Daffodil was glad for his Maker’s Own skill—a skill that meant he wasn’t affected by any negative effects from bombs or potions he made—and continued to watch the fight as the monsters recoiled from the harsh light.

The Wild Beasts, who were clearly used to the low lighting provided by the thick tree canopy, writhed around in pain. A few clawed at their eyes and all of them halted as they waited for their vision to clear. Asterion had also been affected by the flash bomb, but Daffodil could tell he’d recovered much faster as Asterion grabbed his sword hilt with both hands and tensed, readying to pounce. He was staring at a specific spot on the Wild Beast in front of him and it was now that Daffodil noticed something gleaming on its body. An eye!

He knew the eyes would reflect light better so he used the flash bomb to find their weak spot while also immobilizing them, Daffodil realized as Asterion lunged at the first Beast. He’d never understood just how much planning went into a fight and was even more impressed at Asterion’s abilities. He could see why WanderQuest’s fighting system was so appealing to some people, even if he was somehow starting to hate it more than he already had.

Asterion stabbed his sword into the first Wild Beast’s thigh, hitting the eye square on. Daffodil wasn’t sure if that was what the beast actually saw through or if it was just eye shaped, but he could understand why they were so hard to find. In fact, now that he looked closer he saw only one Beast that actually had eyes on its head.

The Wild Beast howled in pain. The others looked like they were trying to squirm against their invisible bonds to help it, but they remained immobilized. After a few more seconds of screaming, in which Daffodil thought his ears were going to start bleeding, the creature dropped to the ground, dead. Asterion didn’t even wait to watch the body drop before he moved on to the next one. Daffodil covered his ears as Asterion continued to slash through each monster. But something wasn’t right, Daffodil realized. The Wild Beasts started to jerk more violently. The immobilization effect is wearing off, he thought.

As soon as the thought had entered his brain, a Wild Beast launched itself at Asterion. Daffodil was about to cry out a warning but it died on his tongue as Asterion cut down the Beast without even looking in its direction. The rest of the Wild Beasts swarmed him, but Asterion clearly didn’t have any trouble handling them.

But Asterion was only one man and could only deal with one monster at a time. In order to kill one Beast, he had to turn his back on another. The Wild Beasts were more intelligent than Daffodil had first thought because they quickly picked up on Asterion’s pattern. While he was slicing through one Beast, another crept up behind him, ready to pounce. This time Daffodil didn’t hold his tongue and shouted, “Look out!” in warning. Asterion wasn’t able to turn in time to defend himself but it didn’t matter because the Wild Beast stopped mid-swing to turn its attention to something else. Daffodil.

The creature slowly dragged its head towards him. It was the one that had eyes in its head and Daffodil could tell they were staring directly at him. It pounced.

The Wild Beast was bounding towards Daffodil even quicker than it had earlier, and Daffodil didn’t know what to do. His cover behind the tree wouldn’t provide any protection and those claws would have no trouble slicing through his armor. He already knew his punches were way weaker than they were in real life, and his dagger skills were even worse. If even Asterion needed to hit these things multiple times to kill them, then Daffodil didn’t stand a chance against them.

The only thing he could do was run and hope the creature gave up or returned to whatever was currently left of its pack. Daffodil started sprinting backwards, unable to tear his eyes away from the pursuing creature. It was better to see it coming instead of getting clawed in the back out of nowhere he reasoned. The plan was working decently well until his foot caught on a tree root and he crashed to the ground.

Daffodil was lying on his back, the wind completely knocked out of him. Within a second the Wild Beast had reached him. This is how I die, he realized as the Wild Beast leaned over Daffodil, dripping unpleasantly onto him. The Beast slowly bent down, seemingly wanting to play with its food a little before dissecting Daffodil.

The creature was only a few feet from Daffodil’s face when it let out a scream and halted its progression. Daffodil was terrified out of his mind and had no clue what was happening. That is until he saw a familiar sword protruding from the Wild Beast’s chest. There was a squelch as Ol’ Reliable was pulled out of the creature and it fell to the ground a few inches from Daffodil’s body.

Asterion leaned over him, replacing where the monster had stood moments ago. His face had a spattering of inky black blood across it but there was a small smile anyway. He extended his hand to Daffodil to help him up and asked, “Are you alright?”

Daffodil had a million things he could say. He could play the situation off as not being that big of a deal, even if he was currently shaking like a leaf. He could try to make a joke. Every thought in his head went blank and it felt like he lost control of his own mouth as he whispered, “I love you.”