As the man, Rok, and I stared at the giant severed head, I already knew what it was.

  Those small creatures that always fascinated us. The ones that never worked alone. Tiny, fragile, and terrifyingly intelligent. Creatures that made people joke, what if they were bigger?

  Some people could imagine it.

  I didn’t have to.

  The mandibles. The circular eyes. The thick, powerful jaws. All things those little ants possess.

  Everything about it was familiar.

  And everything about it was wrong.

  I tore my gaze away. Seeing one at this size…

  The man covered the head again, wrapping it in the cloth.

  “There wasn't much we could do,” he said after a pause. “Out of many we’ve seen, this one wandered off. That’s how we managed to take it down.”

  He looked away. “Even then… It was a struggle.”

  I studied him. “Is there nothing you know about them?”

  He shook his head. “No. They just… appeared one day. We’ve never seen creatures like this before.”

  “After the first attack, we gathered what fighters we had and searched everywhere. Every time, we came back empty-handed.”

  “At first it was just one. Then four. And then—” His voice trailed off.

  He turned to face us. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, “I’m tired.”

  Rok and I said nothing as he finished securing the cloth.

  Seeing the exhaustion on his face, I couldn’t stay quiet.

  “I’ll get you a place to sleep and then—”

  “Underground,” I said, cutting him off. “Have you searched beneath the ground?”

  The man looked at me, confused. “No, why?”

  “Creatures don’t just disappear,” I said. “They come from somewhere.”

  His expression hardened. “That was our first thought. But something this big would leave a massive tunnel. A collapse. Something.”

  He exhaled, rubbing a hand over his face.

  “We did find trails,” he admitted. “Marks in the dirt. Broken stones. Paths that should’ve led somewhere, but didn’t.”

  My grip tightened around the hammer. “Let me see them.”

  Rok nodded beside me.

  The man shook his head. “Not now.”

  I frowned. “Why not?”

  He gestured toward the dark windows. “It’s night. Whatever’s out there moves when we can’t see it,” he said, turning to face me. “I won’t let more people disappear on my watch.”

  For a moment, I wanted to argue. But I didn’t.

  “…Tomorrow,” he said more softly. “At first light. I’ll take you to where the trails start.”

  I gave in and nodded. “Alright… Tomorrow.”

  He turned and motioned for us to follow.

  “I’ll get you a place to stay,” he added. “It’s not much, but enough for the night.”

  The corridor was narrow, leading to a small wooden room. No beds. Just blankets and a single lantern.

  He lit it, glanced back at us once, before closing the door.

  Tomorrow…I’d see the trails for myself.

  I set my things on the table, Rok following suit.

  As I set my hammer down, my hand moved to my pocket out of habit.

  Nothing.

  Fear hit as I checked again—then another pocket. I looked at Rok, wearing the same panic.

  Rok kept searching while I watched in silence—until finally, he found it.

  Mr. Rocky, sleeping peacefully.

  Relief hit us, and we slid down the wall together, breathing in silence.

  I looked around the room, then back at Rok. A question pressed at me.

  “Hey Rok,” I said. “Can I ask a personal question?”

  Rok nodded.

  “The first time I met you, you were in the cave. Were you…always alone?”

  I looked at him, expecting some anger or hesitation but what he said was unexpected.

  “No. I think I had a family,” Rok said. “Don’t remember their faces or names. Just a feeling.”

  I stayed quiet, letting him talk.

  “Sometimes I have dreams,” he said. “People feel familiar, but I can’t remember much.”

  I opened my mouth to say something, but was interrupted.

  “There’s one person I remember,” Rok said. “Her name was Akane. She was my friend. She sometimes scared me.”

  “I promised her we’d duel one day,” he said. “She told me if I didn’t, she’d scour every land until she found me—and beat me up herself.”

  I couldn’t help but to laugh a bit.

  “Honestly Rok, you're a great friend.”

  We both smiled at each other for a second—then immediately looked away, as if mutual embarrassment was a shared survival instinct.

  My eyes drifted to my hammer, resting against the wall. The metal was quiet now. But I remembered when it wasn’t.

  Back then. At the cave. That lightning strike, the way it answered me before I knew how to ask.

  “…When the lightning hit,” I said slowly, “what did it feel like?”

  “I saw black,” he said.

  I nodded slowly.

  “Do…Do you remember how I did it?”

  Rok shrugged at me. “It happened too fast, one moment I was laughing at you—then I got blasted into a wall.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  I exhaled through my nose. “Fair.”

  Silence settled in again—broken by Rok’s loud yawn.

  “I’m tired,” he said. “Night.”

  And that was it. No comfort nor warmth—Rok passed out like that.

  I looked at him blankly for a second, thinking to myself—How on earth do I keep learning bizarre things about this guy?

  I got up and put the blanket on him before quietly, real quietly slipping out of the room and toward the stand where the cloth rested.

  Carefully unwrapping it, I gazed at it intently.

  Those two, big, vicious eyes.

  I played every little memory I learned and read about them. Creatures that once had no place in my life were now at the center of everything I was worried about.

  Weak when alone. Deadly in groups.

  I stared at the ceiling, my grip tightening just slightly.

  Tomorrow, we'd see the trails. Focus.

  I took a deep breath before wrapping the cloth and putting it back.

  I headed back to Rok before opening the other blanket and lying down.

  The state of the village crept back into my mind, my grip tightening again.

  The thoughts and exhaustion of that man. The stares of the village. The fear.

  As I replayed the scenes, I promised myself there would be peace in this village again.

  No more nightmares for this village…no more.

  Not long after, I passed out.

  —Sunforged party—

  The members of the sunforged party continued to walk deeper into the cave, surprisingly easily.

  Damien raised a hand and glanced back at his fellow members struggling to keep up.

  “Let us…,” one of them said, gasping a bit. “Let us camp here for a bit.”

  “No.” Damien said, “nobody in their right mind will camp in a cave. Pick up the pace and follow.”

  After walking a few steps, Damien stopped in his tracks to glance back. His party members were staying still, some of them unpacking their bags.

  Damien hurried back toward them. “What do you think you’re doing?” He said, calm but edged with command.

  “We’re tired.” One of them said, “we’ll just rest a bit and go in later.”

  “Resting here isn’t an option?” Damien said, voice rising. “Move.”

  “Relax,” another replied. “We didn’t encounter anything along the way. It could be a false alarm in the first place anyway.”

  “Plus,” a third cut in. “If you're that paranoid, you can be the watchman for tonight.”

  The comment drew laughter from the others.

  Damien clenched and gritted his teeth roughly, controlling his anger. Knowing his party wouldn’t listen to him, he distanced himself away from them, guarding.

  “Come on Damien, have some food.” They said laughing.

  All the while they were letting their guard down. Unbeknownst to them, something watched from the dark—silent, distant, assessing them.

  —Back at Nibbleford village—

  I was enjoying my peaceful sleep until something kept tapping my foot.

  I groaned. “Five more minutes.”

  But the tapping just got bigger.

  “Wake up,” a voice said.

  I slowly blinked my eyes open.

  The man stood in front of me again, and beside me, Rok snored away.

  I rubbed my eyes—then realized I’d been using Rok as a personal pillow.

  I quickly sat up straight.

  “Meet me outside when you're ready.” The man said, walking away.

  I let out a big yawn as I stretched my arms. Next to me was Mr. Rocky, all awake and ready.

  I stared at him before petting him with one finger.

  Mr. Rocky and I got ready quickly.

  Rok, however, did not.

  He continued to snore loudly.

  I tried to wake him up. No matter what we tried—shaking him, yelling his name, kicking him, nothing worked.

  He slept like a bear deep in hibernation.

  Mr. Rocky and I struggled until a thought came to our mind.

  I stared at Rok

  Mr. Rocky stared at Rok.

  Slowly… we looked at each other.

  We smiled sinisterly, rubbing our hands together in perfect sync.

  A terrible idea formed.

  I put Mr. Rocky onto my shoulder and lifted my hammer with my other hand.

  I leaned the hammer closer to Rok’s body.

  “Lightning,” I whispered.

  The hammer crackled.

  “I summon you.”

  CRACK.

  Rok shot upright with a roar, eyes wide, fists clenched, fully awake.

  The lightning fizzled. Silence hit.

  Rok stared at me. I stared back.

  Mr. Rocky stared at us.

  “…Morning,” I said cheerfully. “We’ve got a task ahead. Hope your sleep was pleasant.”

  Before Rok could say something, I interrupted him.

  “Meet us outside when you're done,” I said, leaving with a wink.

  After heading outside, I spotted the man waiting. Our eyes met.

  “Where’s the big fella?” he said.

  I shrugged. “Getting ready.”

  The man eyed me for a moment, before asking.

  “How did you two meet?”

  For a moment, I replayed the memories of my first interaction.

  “I think he was laughing at me. I almost killed him.”

  The man stared with a concerned expression.

  “And then after that, we killed a Shadow Stalker.”

  The concern on the man started to intensify.

  I continued recalling the rest.

  “Yeah, I think that was it.” I said, with a relaxed posture.

  The man nodded slowly.

  Rok then came out of the building.

  “Alright, let us go.” The man said.

  As we continued to walk, I sensed Rok glaring down at me.

  So what was the most logical thing to do? Keep my distance.

  I got closer to the man, slowly but surely regretting my decisions.

  “So…how’s the weather today?” I asked.

  Neither of them answered.

  As we continued to walk, Rok’s frustration started to manifest as I glanced every now and then.

  I shifted my focus back on the man and studied him carefully, a full on brown leather cloak, his sword strapped across his back.

  Just then a realization hit me. I had no clue who this man was.

  Normally I'd ask Rok to handle these questions for me. But staring back… maybe not today.

  As I started to sweat profusely thinking how I was gonna learn his name. A certain Mr. Rocky hopped out of my pocket, onto the man’s shoulder.

  We all stopped in our tracks, the man grabbed Mr. Rocky and handed him back to me.

  “Keep him safe.”

  I nodded, gently grabbing Mr. Rocky. “Thank you—“

  The man noticed my hesitation before answering. “It’s Harven.”

  “Ah…” I said. “Thank you, Mr. Harven.”

  The man nodded as he continued to lead us.

  I looked at Mr. Rocky in my hands, as he slowly gave a thumbs up. I nearly cried tears of joy upon seeing, before giving a thumbs up myself.

  “I’m definitely buying you all the snacks when we get back.” I promised, before putting him away.

  As we continued on walking, Harven raised his hand up.

  “Here it is.” He said.

  As I got closer I saw it, some marks and scratches but that’s it. The trail really did end there.

  …Is what I would say if I knew how these creatures functioned.

  “As you see, there really isn’t—“ Harven stopped mid-sentence.

  “You see how the ground is uneven?” I said, pointing. “It’s hard to notice if you don’t look carefully, but that ground is elevated higher than that side.”

  Harven didn’t believe it at first, until he knelt and dragged his own hands across the ground.

  His eyes widened upon the sensation. “By the elder—“

  “It means it’s been here before, not hiding, but digging.” I said. “If you look closely, you can see the trail it left.” I said, pointing out more uneven ground.

  “It could lead you to its position."

  “You mean—?” He asked

  “The nest of these creatures.” I said.

  He stared at the ground, silently.

  “How did we miss this?!” He rambled.

  “These creatures might appear big, but also intelligent.” I answered. “Don’t be fooled by their size.”

  Before Harven could respond, the ground started to shake, some collapsing as others moving around.

  Before I could process it, a giant black creature flung up from the ground, toward me.

  I stared at its jaw, ready to tear me apart.

  My eyes widened. It was too fast for me to pull out my hammer and defend myself.

  But the next thing I saw, Rok, slamming into the giant creature with a roar and sending it flying sideways.

  More and more of the ground started to shake as more ants came out, like Harven said. First two, then four and then more.

  A total of nine were staring down at us, viciously.

  Harven, upon seeing this, trembled in fear, but still took out his sword.

  Before he could rush in, I stopped him.

  “No, not you.” I said.

  Harven looked shocked, ready to argue—but I shut him down.

  “If they appeared here then they might’ve appeared at the village too.” I shouted. “Go back and defend your town. We’ll take care of it here.”

  Harven looked at us, before nodding and running back.

  I watched him leave, then turning my focus on the ants

  I looked at them dead in the eyes, ready to explode.

  “Rok…are you ready?” I said.

  But to my horror when I didn’t get a response I looked at my side. And there I saw Rok slumped on the tree, picking his ear.

  “Rok!” I shouted. “What are you doing!?”

  “Nope. I’m not helping.” He said calmly.

  “Wha—what you mean you're not fighting?”

  “Mhm, not fighting.”

  Before I could ask why, an ant lunged at me, as I dodged it. “Why! Why aren’t you helping!?” I said, running around.

  “I want an apology.” He said.

  I looked at him with such an expression.

  I continued to run around from the attacks. “Fine! I’m sorry!!”

  He looked up at me, thinking about it, before responding. “No, it’s late.”

  I looked at him with a mortified expression.

  Out of desperation and my honor out of the window, “I’ll buy you every food from the outside stalls!” I shouted.

  That was all I needed, next thing I knew ant goo spluttered everywhere as the ant was sent flying away by Rok’s attack.

  “Now it’s on.” He said.

  The moment Rok moved, the tone shifted.

  He didn’t charge. He straight up vanished.

  One second he was beside me—the next, an ant's head exploded as Rok’s club crushed straight through the mandibles. The body skidded across the dirt, legs twitching before going still.

  Another ant lunged for me.

  I twisted, barely avoiding the jaws, and brought my hammer up on instinct.

  “Lightning,” I whispered. CRACK.

  My lightning hammer strike was powerful enough to send the ant flying.

  Rok was already there. He grabbed it mid-fall and slammed it into the ground hard.

  Not messy. No hesitation.

  An efficient finish.

  I exhaled and moved, assessing their movements, as time felt slow for me again.

  Two ants rushed me together—smart and coordinated.

  “Of course,” I muttered.

  I rolled between them as their jaws snapped shut where my head had been, came up on one knee, and swung low. The hammer connecting with a leg.

  The ant shrieked and collapsed.

  I didn’t stop.

  I brought the hammer down as the lightning rippled across the ant, jumping from limb to limb. Not strong enough to kill. But enough to disrupt it.

  Rok took advantage of that.

  He charged straight through the cluster, shoulder-checking one ant into another. Grabbing a third by the mandibles, swinging it around and throwing it. The creature smashed into a tree and didn’t get back up.

  “Left,” I said calmly.

  Rok reacted without thinking—stopping the attack as the ant charged. Throwing that one into the tree as well.

  Three left.

  They adapted, spreading out and circling.

  I steadied my breathing.

  “Same plan,” I said.

  Rok grinned.

  My hammer was making static noises as I held steadily.

  Rok rushed toward the closest two, tearing through them with ease.

  I stared at the lone ant.

  Memories of the lightning in the cave incident started coming back to me.

  Alright, I thought. Just like before.

  The ant screeched and charged.

  I raised my hammer, concentrated. “Lightning” I muttered.

  I swung, forcing the motion with anticipation that the lightning would blast.

  The hammer sparked…then died.

  “…Come on,” I muttered, backing up as the ant closed the distance. “Now would be great.”

  I tried again.

  But instead, statics crawled up the handle, stinging my palm, crackling, but refusing to break free.

  The ant leapt as I fell and braced myself.

  A blur slammed into it midair.

  Rok.

  He caught the creature by its head and smashed it into the ground so hard the dirt cratered.

  He turned toward me. “You good?”

  I stared at my hammer then him. “…No.”

  He helped me up, staring at me.

  I looked at my hammer intently for a second before speaking. “Let us go back before anymore come.”

  Rok nodded as we rushed back.

  Back at Nibbleford, some screams were heard as we saw Harven going toe-to-toe with an ant.

  Rok readied his club and leapt and swung down towards the ant’s abdomen.

  “Elias!” Harven shouted.

  “Harven!” I yelled. “It’s not safe here.” I said.

  Harven looked at us intently, knowing the truth but without options. “What can we do? There’s no other option for us.”

  Hesitation and fear hit me. He wasn’t wrong— stay here and fight, some would get massacred by the ants.

  Panic struck as I scrambled to find an alternative solution. Hide? No, those creatures will bash through everything. I thought. Fighting would be meaningless, they outnumber them.

  Rok saw the panic in my face, making him feel uncomfortable.

  Before long all thoughts were meaningless until one thought came to mind.

  I shot my head up to look at him. “How many people can fight?”

  Harven looked puzzled, but answered anyway. “A few of us,” he said.

  “That’s fine,” I said. “The guild isn’t far from here. If you can find them, tell them I sent you.”

  Harven looked at us, before frowning. “But this is our village!” He said. “How can we leave everything behind—“

  I put my hand on his shoulder calmly, and gave him a genuine smile. “I promise, you will come back to a safer home.”

  Harven, staring at my face as if searching for deception, relaxed upon seeing the genuineness in my eyes.

  He nodded as he ran back to everyone. “Everyone!” He shouted. “Grab your family members and only the necessary essentials!”

  The people looked at him for a split moment, maybe either due to fear of the ants or respect for Harven, they scrambled. Some shouted for their family as others brought what little they had.

  The males that volunteered formed a circle around them.

  Within a few short moments everyone got into formation as Harven looked back at me one last.

  He opened his mouth as if to say something, but before he could, a massive quake shook the earth, some weak structures started to crack as if it continued.

  Upon seeing this, Harven wasted no time. “Follow me!” He said.

  And soon, they were gone.

  The ground continued to shake while I was scattering my eyes, assessing why the ground was shaking.

  I looked at Rok as he was waiting for me. With trust in his eyes I'd figure it out— as I always did.

  I closed my eyes and focused on the surrounding environments, the nature of ants.

  Visions started to come out as I remembered what Damien said.

  “Our assignment is the cave beyond the village, Don’t confuse it with sightseeing.”

  “We are Sunforged. Big name. Bigger pay.”

  “Nibbleford’s just a stop along the way.”

  Realization hit me as I opened my eyes. The Nibbleford cave. A suitable location for ants to live in.

  I looked at Rok for a split second before booking it towards the cave.

  “Rok!” I yelled. “The cave, come quickly. There’s no time to waste.”

  Rok didn’t question as he followed right behind.

  Damien…he’s still in there.