As soon as they crossed the tree line, Kuro shivered. His breath fogged before him, making him pause to watch tiny ice crystals form and melt as they floated down.

  Nothing about the appearance of the giant trunks topped with thick canopies and underbrush growing around their massive roots betrayed a chilly landscape. It looked like a prehistoric rainforest to Kuro’s eye, but by now, he had learned to just accept the strangeness of this world as a given.

  Dry leaves crunched loudly as they walked, and Kuro flinched at the shrill noises of unseen creatures in the darkness between the green.

  Time seemed to slip away the further in they went. Yet, his burning calves told him they had been walking for at least a few hours. The pack and satchel felt like they were full of rocks. He let out groan after groan as his feet throbbed and his legs cramped.

  Cinti seemed willing to ignore him at first, but as the terrain shifted to an uphill climb, his grunts became verbal complaints. He was a city boy through and through.

  Finally, Cinti paused and looked over her shoulder.

  “Two minutes. Catch your breath, then we move again.”

  He wobbled, staring at her in confusion before his mind fog cleared. Then he sank to the floor, panting hard.

  Cinti shook her head as she scrutinized his condition.

  “How are you this out of shape?” she muttered.

  He tried to laugh but it turned into a coughing fit.

  “Not everyone is as swole as you,” he managed.

  Cinti scoffed. Kuro immediately regretted saying that.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it…”

  After a moment, he asked, “If your strength bothers you so much, why not just stop working out and putting on muscle?”

  Cinti hit him with a blank stare and in the most sarcastic deadpan he’d ever heard from her, said, “Woah! I can’t believe I never thought of that! How do you come up with such creative solutions?”

  She gasped. “Wait, are you a genius?”

  He pouted as she helped him to his feet.

  “You don’t have to be a jerk about it.”

  “I don’t know what that is,” she said. “Anyway, let me explain it so we don’t have any more misunderstandings. Like your orb, my strength is magical. Everyone has a natural affinity, and mine happens to be strength. It’s rare for a woman and it doesn’t match well with my physical form. I’ll never be as powerful as a man with the same affinity. So, I can’t be feminine, and any man in my position is still a better pick for a party. Do you understand now? I’m stuck in the middle.”

  Kuro nodded.

  “Is that why you’re not in one now?”

  Cinti turned and resumed her role as guide. She sighed quietly.

  “Not quite. I used to be in a party. But my mismatch sometimes led to unexpected… consequences.”

  Kuro brushed a hanging cobweb of vines out of his face. He was growing more curious with each revelation.

  “Like what?”

  “Like fainting when I’m under high stress or in any life and death scenario.”

  “Oof.”

  She glanced back at him with one questioning eyebrow raised.

  “Anyway, I don't wish to speak about this any more.”

  The two went silent for a while, trekking up what felt like a mountain. The forest suddenly seemed even more crushing; trees like skyscrapers bore in from all angles tauntingly. Despite the short rest, Kuro’s pace had slowed significantly.

  Soon, Cinti glanced around them and sighed loudly.

  She looked back again.

  “We have about a day’s journey left through Lord Grod’s wood, and I don’t want nightfall to meet us out in the open. There’s an encampment ahead, but we’ll have to move faster if we want to get there in time.”

  But Kuro was wheezing like a beaten mule. He held up a hand, clutching his knee with the other as he doubled over.

  “I don’t think— hold on, heh, I can barely breathe…”

  Cinti closed her eyes, sucking back another exhausted sigh.

  “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” she said finally. “How does a man allow himself to get so badly out of shape?”

  “Hey—” he choked. “We don’t have magic muscles where I’m from. I’d have to work super hard to get fit. How would I know we’d need to carry several pounds of gear up and down rugged terrain just to kill rats?”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  After a few more hard breaths, he added, “Why do we need to go so far anyway?”

  Cinti came around from behind and started pushing him forward.

  “According to the job board in town, the city of Mistifa put out a call for capable adventurers to deal with a muskrat outbreak. They’re willing to pay one copper per rat head.”

  “Is it really worth it considering the distance we have to walk?”

  His feet dragged, snagging on roots and runners.

  “That’s where the money is, so that’s where we’re headed. Now. Stop. Whining. And. Get. Going.”

  She pushed him along, but he leaned back into her hands, letting her do all the work moving him.

  “You know, the least you could do is put those big muscles of yours to use and carry my gear.”

  She pulled away and he toppled onto his backside. His head hit the dirt and he rolled into a feotal position, clutching the back of his skull.

  “Ow…” he muttered.

  Cinti let out a low growl and grabbed him by the shirt. Kuro had the wind knocked out of him when she tossed him over her shoulder.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll do all the work with these big, hideous muscles of mine,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “I never called them that!”

  But that was the last thing he could manage before she leapt through the forest at blinding speed. Every jump over a root, log, or bush, sent her shoulder ramming into his stomach and crashing against his ribs.

  He instinctively tensed his abdomen to keep his insides from coming out. Just when he thought he couldn’t take anymore, they skirted to a hard stop, and Cinti tossed him to the ground unceremoniously.

  “Could you be a little gentler—” he protested.

  She covered his mouth with a hand. Her voice came in a barely audible hiss.

  “Quiet. Something's not right here. Be on your guard.”

  She gestured with her chin. Kuro let his gaze follow her direction until he was looking at a patch of trees that were spread a little further than usual. He squinted at them.

  The vegetation seemed to break apart, revealing an encampment that had been cleverly camouflaged. As he trailed the length of it with his eyes, he stopped at what was once a palisade gate. It lay flat on its back face, broken down from the outside.

  Cinti drew her sword and shield. She nudged him behind her and started to advance. The outpost was eerily silent. Not even woodland beasties made a sound. Kuro readied his weapon, sticking close at her back.

  Her boots landed without a noise, sidestepping those pesky leaves and trailing vines. Kuro matched her path. They crept over the gate, stepping between gaps in the wood. It was immediately clear that a fatal skirmish had taken place. Elven bodies littered the ground surrounding a blackened campfire, their throats slashed, the dirt soaking up their blood. To either side of the gate stood a pair of lookout huts on stakes. A body hung from the ladder leading to the one on the right.

  Kuro held his breath. It was his first time seeing death outside of movies and video games. His first time witnessing a real slaughter.

  The stench was overpowering.

  Cinti flipped one of the dead with her foot. She examined his face. Kuro could see strange scars clustered together with holes that oozed a white slime.

  “Yuck… I’d hate to be this guy,” he thought.

  “There’s fallen magic at work here.”

  Cinti had gotten onto one knee for closer inspection.

  “What’s fallen magic?” Kuro whispered, squatting beside her.

  Iron, sweat, and something sulphuric rolled off the corpse, making him recoil slightly.

  Cinti stood abruptly. Her finger was on her lips. She slunk further in, with Kuro at her heels. At every corner and around every crate and barrel, her head turned like an owl’s. Her eyes were unblinking and her sword was poised to strike.

  The encampment seemed much bigger on the inside than the outside. Kuro wondered if it was a visual trick or some sort of magic at work. From the gate, they had passed the lookouts and the campfire, and had wound through the maze of stacked crates, only to come out the other side to what looked like a cluster of two-story huts. Not quite a hamlet, but not a mere encampment either.

  The space around the dwellings was open and unprotected. More corpses lay near the darkened entrances.

  Cinti leaned close and whispered.

  “Fallen magic is used by the Fallen. They specialize in particularly cruel, twisted, and sadistic sorceries.”

  “The Fallen… So, what are we talking? Demons or something?”

  He chuckled, trying for a joke.

  But Cinti looked him dead in the eyes and nodded solemnly.

  He jerked back.

  “Jesus, are you serious? Demons exist in this world? With the red skin and the horns?”

  “So you know of them. Good. But be wary. They come in all manner of colours.”

  She got into a crouch behind the last of the crates, prompting him to do the same.

  “Demons are mentioned in my world’s religious texts and folklore. And never in a good way,” Kuro said. “They rule over Hell and torture humans. Is it… is it like that here?”

  A humid wind blew across the encampment. Cinti tensed.

  “Sounds like them. I don’t know what this ‘Hell’ is, but here, they live in the wastelands of Pergamim. If you ever find yourself separated from me, just stay away from that place and anyone who even mentions it.”

  She continued glancing around the ruined settlement, turning her focus away from Kuro. The silence was getting to him. It was too unsettling. Especially with all the dead elves everywhere.

  “Shouldn’t we leave?” he whispered.

  “Mm hm,” was the only response.

  Cinti wasn’t paying any attention to him at all.

  “Cinti… This place is giving me the creeps.”

  She blinked a few times and turned to stare at him.

  “Night is already falling. Whether we like it or not, we’re stuck.”

  “Are you saying, we have to sleep here?” he snapped.

  She slapped a hand over his mouth and made a face like a real demon. But he continued to speak, his voice coming muffled through her fingers.

  “Can’t you just do your dash-manoeuvre and get us home?”

  “Hush! Quiet, will you?”

  He started to stand.

  “I mean, we’re signing up to kill a couple rats, not take on the forces of Hell.”

  Suddenly, Cinti grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him back down. Her eyes were bright as she pressed herself into him, trapping him against the wall of crates.

  She shook her head with deliberate slowness.

  Past clenched teeth, she hissed, “Someone’s still here.”