Dagger shot a knife at the orange blur, which didn't deter the beast at all. It just grabbed the projectile out of the air, and swiped at Dagger once, giving her a nasty cut while it grabbed the other knife from her hand, before doubling down on its vengeance on the metal bowl.

  "We are doomed..." Tommy intoned.

  "Or dead." the girl replied, weirdly cheerful.

  She was not attacking anymore, sitting down on her haunches and, of all things, was grinding a bunch dried herbs between two riverstones. The powders fell upon a funnel, set over a jar of cooking oil.

  CLANG

  She swirled the powder until the mixture turned blue. The she took out a yellow brick and chipped that down. Joyo , meanwhile, kept getting pushed back, but he stubbornly clung to his shield, warding off the annoying predator, or whatever the thing was. Lester was sitting down as well, his legs crossed as well his arms, still brooding as he tried to follow the ongoing battle with his eyes.

  Tommy too was stuck where he was, not knowing what else he could do. His gaze wandered from one oddity to the other.

  'An endless cycle of eternal damnation.'

  In the process of gaping, the surroundings finally registered to his senses, a chill running up his spine, "The fog!"

  The fog had risen up, creeping upon them. Now, it was boiling out of the ravine onto the surface, as if awoken by the morning light.

  CLANG

  "Do something! Lester! Mage!" Fatty shouted again, more and more disheveled.

  CLANG

  The more the orange flashed, the more shrapnels flew off of the shield. Fatty wailed, yet continuing the miserable mime with the monster. And the bird beast kept badgering him, and picking up the pieces before vanishing. It's outline was clearer in the faint fog, somehow. Nothing was making sense.

  CLANG!

  "Why does it even do that?"

  "Be glad. Could be you." Dagger said, then she shouted, "Drop the shield, Fatty!"

  "Even if I drop it, what then?"

  "I say we make a run for it." Tommy said.

  "I veto. Going into the fog is stupid. Maybe it wants us to go into the fog."

  "Yeah, it's not strong, just fast. Fog's much worse."

  "Just fast? It broke your sword."

  "It may get tired."

  "I'm getting tired!! Help me."

  Dagger still hadn't stopped. She was even humming as she measured the grey mixture with a gourd.

  "What are you doing?"

  No reply. Turning back to Fatty, the two boys headed over and supported him from behind while discussing plans, most of it amounting to - "throw away the shield" and "let's run". Like a stuck record, the conversation went nowhere, restarting with every strike.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  CLANG

  And the beast did what it did. It kept coming back, pounding hard then rushing away.

  "Hey, let's try something?"

  "What?"

  Tommy took out a copper from his pouch, staying silent and keeping it hidden in his fist. Until he threw it away. The monster appeared the moment it bounced off the ground. It shrieked. A loud shrill gleeful cacophony. Familiar too.

  "Where have I heard this?" Tommy blurted.

  "You know this thing?"

  "No, but there's- nevermind."

  "Huh."

  Next, he took out the only gem in his possession. And lobbed that as well. Nothing happened. The gem stayed on the ground, reflecting the morning sun rapidly rising up in the distance. Once he noticed the stones that Dagger had chugged, a hypotheses had taken shape, that had now been verified.

  "That proves it! It only wants metal. See? Right?"

  "Good job, Dummy." Dagger grinned.

  "So we will be fine if we just give it all our metal?" Lester asked.

  "Nope. Not giving it my shield. Over my dead body."

  "But..."

  The conversation felt so familiar. Like a deja vu.

  "We'll die anyway." Fatty was saying, more determined than ever.

  "Drop it!!" Lester too.

  "No!..."

  This time, both Lester and Dagger wrestled Fatty, one wrapping her arms around the neck and fingers in the nose, while the other twisted the arm, eventually managing to grab and throw the shield a few paces away.

  Clang CLANG CLANG *shriek* CLANG ...

  The menace appeared as expected. It started smashing at the seems, not leaving at all anymore, now that its target lay on the ground.

  They still couldn't see much, as if it vibrated in its place. Certainly a bird, that knocked on the shield with its beak. That's all they could figure out. It seemed unable to carry the metal. Worse, its attack was being cushioned and ricocheted off the ground, the additional booming sounds making it agitated.

  Dagger was ready too. Smiling like a madman, she chugged a bottle at it, which exploded on the shield but the thing dodged it. A splash of liquid covered the area, including the shield. Instead of stepping into the liquid, the bird created a massive gust of wind to blow the liquid off and went back to its task, ignoring them.

  "That does it. Dummy, use your magic."