As Ren and Olivia trudged toward their base near the cliff, the day's events hadn't dampened their knack for absurd conversation.
"So," Ren began, glancing at Olivia, "if you had to pick, would you rather fight one giant chicken or a hundred tiny dragons?"
Olivia blinked, clearly unprepared for the question. "What kind of question is that?"
"A serious one," Ren replied, completely straight-faced. "Giant chicken or tiny dragons? Choose wisely."
"Tiny dragons, I guess," Olivia said, after a moment's thought. "They'd probably be less aggressive than a chicken that size."
Ren shook his head, feigning disappointment. "Rookie mistake. Tiny dragons breathe fire. You'd be barbecued in seconds."
"And the chicken wouldn't?" Olivia shot back. "Have you ever seen how fast chickens move? A giant one would be unstoppable."
Ren grinned. "Exactly! Which is why you distract the chicken with breadcrumbs while I ride it into battle."
Olivia groaned. "I'm starting to think I'm better off teaming up with the tiny dragons."
Ren gasped in mock betrayal. "Fine! But don't come crying to me when your new scaly friends roast your lunch."
As they got neared their base, the fading remnants of their earlier conversation hung in the air.
"So, if you're saying tiny dragon —wait, do you hear that?" Ren froze mid-sentence, his playful tone vanishing.
Olivia tilted her head, her sharp ears picking up the unmistakable sounds of combat,
Ren and Olivia approached their base cautiously, the distant sounds of battle growing louder with every step. The clanging of stone against claw and the occasional guttural roars echoed through the forest. Staying low, they crept behind the trees, inching closer to the chaos near their base.
As they reached the edge of the clearing, the sight before them made Ren's jaw drop. Swarms of monsters surrounded their base, snarling and lunging relentlessly. But what caught their attention was a lone figure in the middle of the frenzy, holding his ground with unwavering determination.
"Wait… is that—" Olivia started.
"Skorn," Ren finished, his voice laced with exasperation.
The reptilian warrior was in his element, quite literally. Towering stone spikes erupted from the ground, flinging monsters left and right. Streams of water lashed out like whips, drenching their attackers and destabilizing them. Skorn, with a gleeful grin, dodged and countered each attack, shouting taunts like he was the star of an action movie.
Ren groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "And I thought this was going to be a calm evening. Guess not. Should've known—Skorn's got more Die Hard energy than anyone I've ever met."
Olivia blinked. "What's 'Die Hard'?"
"Never mind," Ren muttered. "Long story. Let's just say it involves explosions, bad decisions, and a lot of yelling—basically, this."
Olivia stifled a laugh as Ren stood, stretching his arms and cracking his neck. "Alright, let's help him out before he builds a whole stone castle out here and declares himself king of the monsters."
Ren facepalms "Let's save him from himself. Plus, I want to ask why our base turned into a monster magnet."
Olivia nodded, summoning a swirling orb of water in her palm. "Let's make this quick—I'm too tired for another epic showdown tonight."
With that, they stepped out of cover, ready to dive into the fray.
Skorn was in his element—or rather, his element was everywhere. Stone spikes jutted out of the ground, monsters were hurled left and right by walls of earth, and water spears flew in all directions.
Skorn roared with laughter as he slammed yet another serpent-like creature into the dirt. "Come on, you oversized noodles! Is that all you've got?"
High up on a tree branch, Talos was less enthused, carefully aiming his arrows to pick off the creatures swarming Skorn. "Skorn, they're not noodles; they're Orempisuns. For once, try to respect the proper terminology!"
"Yeah, yeah," Skorn yelled back, smashing a charging Orempisun with a massive stone hammer. "They're squishy noodles that hiss. I'll call them what I want!"
Talos pinched the bridge of his nose. "Honestly, why do I even bother explaining anything to you?"
Meanwhile, another serpent lunged at Skorn from the side, its claws gleaming in the faint light. Skorn noticed too late; his reflexes weren't quick enough to dodge.
CRACK!
A bolt of lightning split the air, sending the creature flying backward into a tree. Skorn blinked, realizing he was still in one piece, and turned to see Ren standing nearby, sword sparking with residual electricity.
"Hey, Skorn," Ren greeted casually, brushing dirt off his sleeve. "Having fun babysitting your new... uh..." He gestured at the creatures. "Whatever these things are?"
Skorn raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? You don't know what they're called?"
Ren shrugged. "Nope. All I see are angry snake-lizard hybrids with an attitude problem."
Talos let out an exasperated sigh from above. "They're Orempisuns, Ren. Extremely territorial and highly aggressive serpent-like beasts. Honestly, how do you not know this?"
Ren shot a flat look at Talos. "Sorry, professor, I skipped 'Weird Wildlife 101.'"
Skorn laughed, wiping monster ichor from his face. "Talos told me about them earlier. Turns out they get super agitated if you mess with their hunting grounds."
Ren groaned, facepalming. "Let me guess: you found their hunting grounds and started punching everything that moved?"
"Correction: smashing everything that moved," Skorn replied with a smug grin. "Big difference."
"Yeah, big enough to double their numbers!" Ren gestured to the swarming Orempisuns around them. "At this rate, you're gonna have to start paying rent for disturbing their home."
"Relax, lightning boy," Skorn replied. "I've got this under control."
Ren rolled his eyes. "Sure, and by 'control,' you mean nearly getting eaten before I showed up. Real smooth, big guy."
Talos chimed in, clearly unimpressed. "Actually, if you both stopped antagonizing them for two seconds, we might be able to find a way to drive them off peacefully."
Ren and Skorn exchanged a quick nod before charging at the approaching swarm of Orempisuns. Ren's sword crackled with lightning as he swung it in wide arcs, electrocuting multiple serpents at once. Skorn, on the other hand, was in his usual brutish style, creating jagged stone spikes from the ground to impale the creatures or swinging a massive stone hammer he conjured to swat them away.
"Nice teamwork," Ren quipped, ducking under a lunging Orempisun and zapping it midair.
"Teamwork? Nah," Skorn said with a grin, stomping his foot to send a wave of rock shards tearing through a cluster of serpents. "I'm just here to make these noodles regret waking up this morning."
Before Ren could respond, a torrent of water blasted over his shoulder, knocking three Orempisuns off their path. He turned to see Olivia approaching, a sphere of water swirling in her palm.
"Miss me?" she said with a smirk, sending another jet of water to pin an Orempisun against a tree.
"Perfect timing!" Ren shouted back, dispatching another serpent. "You can help babysit Skorn. He's got a thing for picking fights with the locals."
"I heard that!" Skorn yelled, lifting an Orempisun by the tail and hurling it into a rock wall.
High above, Talos sat perched on a branch, observing the chaos below. He waved his hand lazily, sending gusts of wind to knock several Orempisuns off balance before they could surround Olivia.
"You're welcome!" Talos called down, clearly enjoying his vantage point.
"Thanks, birdman," Ren shouted back. "Feel free to come down and actually join the fight, though!"
"Why would I do that when I can assist from here?" Talos replied smugly, sending another whirlwind that scattered a small group of serpents.
Olivia rolled her eyes and slammed another Orempisun into a tree with a whip-like tendril of water. "Less talking, more fighting, please," she said, spinning and launching another torrent to clear her path.
Ren smirked, stepping in sync with Olivia as they fought back-to-back. "You know, for a bunch of oversized worms, they're surprisingly persistent."
"Just means more points for us," Olivia quipped, freezing the legs of a serpent that Skorn promptly shattered with a well-timed hammer swing.
"Points or no points, I'm starting to think Skorn should apologize to these things for whatever he did to make them this mad," Ren muttered.
"Never!" Skorn yelled, laughing as he created a stone barrier to deflect a charging Orempisun. "They started it, and I'm finishing it!"