"And I'm back! How were the fishes?"
Emerging from the depths of the lagoon, the sea monster, Beth to her friends/pets, surfaced in the underground cave with a bunch of algae on her head.
But she fell silent, her expression changing to a blank one as she saw that the canine was no longer there, and the rat had been bitten.
She extended her massive paw into the water, placing one of her reptilian claws on the squirrel's corpse. And at the same time, a blue light began to shimmer within the dead body.
After a while, the rat had returned to its natural form. Then, she repeated the same spell as before.
"Reviviscor!" With the faint light emanating from the dead body, she would infuse it into the squirrel until it gasped for air.
She withdrew her claw from the squirrel and watched as it writhed, gasping for oxygen, taking a while to breathe properly again.
"Well... I thought you were still in good condition like your canine friend, so I didn't heal you first. I'm sorry... But now you seem better from what I see."
Dave would open his eyes, startled to see the enormous monster in front of him. At the same time, he would look around, confused about where he was.
"Where's the puppy? Did... this giant thing eat him...?" Dave was truly perplexed, while Beth rested her head at the entrance of the cave, letting out a deep sigh that blew the squirrel against the wall, but fortunately, it landed safely.
"Survival instincts... We all have them, but I was supposed to protect them. So small and fragile... you deserve a healthy life and to be safe from this devastating world," the monster's tone sounded duller and less lively than before. Losing sight of the canine made her feel discouraged, as she had been enchanted by how cute he was. "That puppy you're looking for... He went through that hole you see there most likely. I should have closed it, damn it!"
The monster struck the water, causing it to splash like a wave onto the poor squirrel, who would be soaked.
"...Hey, could you go bring him back, right?" Beth's spirits lifted instantly at the thought of a plan.
Though, for Dave, only one thing crossed his mind.
"Where the hell did I get myself into?"
From his perspective, he had tried to save a puppy from forest explosions, had fallen down the waterfall with him, and now, after a long sleep, he found himself facing a giant sea monster.
Dave shook himself to dry off as much as possible, seeing next to him the fishes that seemed partially eaten and some left untouched.
"If... these fishes... you can eat some. But in return, I need you to find the canine. Look." With her claw, the monster pointed towards the direction the puppy had gone. "You must go there to bring him back, there's a nest of rats that can easily kill him."
The squirrel recoiled from the fishes in disgust, but one thing that did interest him was that the giant monster could easily communicate with him.
He didn't trust that thing, but he still worried about the puppy. Remembering him injured before had put him on edge, and he hoped not to find him that way.
So, he turned around and approached the entrance of the path leading downward, a narrow path.
"But first..." The sea monster grabbed the squirrel's tail with two claws, then began to illuminate him with a bright yellow light. "Your stats have been raised to the maximum of what your current level allows me to raise them, but it will serve you well to deal with anyone who gets in your way. Please, come back with the puppy, I swear he'll be better here."
Dave watched as the creature released him after a while, feeling his body stronger than before, nodding at what it had said.
And straight ahead, he would enter the path, going in search of the puppy to rescue him, or in the case he desired: finding him safe and sound.