The moment the massive bear finally retreated into the trees, Kaelen collapsed on the ground, panting. His sword clattered beside him as he propped himself up on his elbows.
"Well, that was… an experience," he muttered, wincing as he glanced at his now-dented armor. "I can't say I expected 'giant glowing bear' to be on the list of things that'd try to kill me today."
Lyria, still standing, wiped the sweat from her brow and casually adjusted her sword. "Eh, you should see the things I've fought in my spare time. One time, I went toe-to-toe with a tree that didn't just want to hug me."
Kaelen stared at her, blinking. "A tree? Please tell me you didn't try to fight it."
"Well, I had to. It started throwing acorns at me. Hard acorns." Lyria shrugged. "At least this bear wasn't trying to sell me fruit."
"Fruit? What kind of fruit-slinging tree—wait, never mind." Kaelen put a hand to his face, groaning. "We need a better vacation plan. Like, a really simple one. You know, something where the only thing trying to kill us is boredom."
Lyria grinned. "I'm down for that. But first, we need to finish climbing this mountain. Unless you think that glowing bear was the main event."
Kaelen groaned. "You seriously think I'd ever get that lucky?"
Just as he was about to stand up, a strange rustling sound came from behind them. Kaelen's eyes widened. "Not again. No more bears! I'll trade a bear for an entire army of shadowborn if it means no more glowing animals."
Lyria spun, her sword already raised. But what emerged from the trees wasn't another oversized, murderous creature.
It was… a small creature. A very small creature.
A squirrel.
Lyria blinked in confusion, lowering her sword slightly. The squirrel, perched on a rock with what looked like a tiny wooden spear, stared them down, unblinking.
"I think it wants to fight," Lyria said, her voice thick with sarcasm.
Kaelen squinted at the squirrel. "Uh, maybe it's got a secret glowing acorn it plans to throw at us."
The squirrel twitched its tail in a manner that was almost… insulting.
"Seriously?" Kaelen said, raising an eyebrow. "This is how we die? A squirrel with ambition?"
Lyria stepped forward, crossing her arms. "You know what, I'm not even mad. We've faced dragons, shadowborn, and gods, and now we're being stared down by a rodent who probably just learned how to use a spear."
The squirrel, seemingly emboldened by their lack of fear, pounced from the rock, landing squarely in front of them. It raised its tiny spear like it was about to make a grand declaration of war.
Kaelen and Lyria exchanged a look, and then Kaelen spoke. "Look, little buddy. You don't want to do this. I'm pretty sure I'd beat you with one hand tied behind my back. I'm also fairly certain your spear is made of a twig."
The squirrel gave a high-pitched chitter, the tiny wooden weapon shaking in its paws.
"Okay, fine," Kaelen said, his expression softening. "You want to do this the hard way, that's on you. But I gotta tell you, if I go down from a squirrel attack, I'm never going to hear the end of it."
Lyria raised an eyebrow. "Oh, don't worry. I won't let you live it down either."
The squirrel took one tentative step forward. And then another. Kaelen, not wanting to provoke it any further, took a step back.
"Look, it's your funeral," Kaelen said dramatically, eyes darting around. "You'll be remembered. As… the smallest terror of Eldrath."
But before the squirrel could make its move, there was a sharp whistle from up the path.
"Oi! Enough with the squirrel!"
Kaelen and Lyria turned to see an unfamiliar figure striding toward them. A tall, lanky man, dressed in mismatched armor that clearly hadn't seen a tailor in years. His armor had a strange symbol etched into the chest, but it was mostly hidden under a layer of grime. A longbow was slung across his back, and his hair looked like it had been styled by a particularly aggressive windstorm.
"Well, that's an entrance," Kaelen muttered.
The man waved casually, as though the situation wasn't as ridiculous as it clearly was. "Sorry, he's a bit feisty. You two don't look like you're here for trouble, but he doesn't know that yet." He gestured to the squirrel, who was still standing with its tiny spear raised.
"I think we were about to say that to him," Kaelen shot back, gesturing at the squirrel. "Honestly, though, we're fine. I'm not sure what we're doing here, but I'm really not interested in fighting a squirrel who thinks it's a soldier."
The man chuckled. "Ah, so you've met Thistle." He approached the squirrel and knelt down, lowering his hand to the tiny warrior. "It's okay, little guy. These people are cool."
The squirrel eyed him suspiciously for a moment before, to Kaelen and Lyria's shock, it dropped its tiny weapon and scampered up the man's leg, settling onto his shoulder.
"Well, that's a plot twist," Lyria said, raising an eyebrow.
Kaelen stood up, brushing himself off. "I'm going to go ahead and not ask any questions. This is a new level of weird for me."
The man shrugged, offering a sheepish grin. "You get used to it. Name's Thorne. And yes, I know, I look ridiculous. But I'm actually here to help you. In fact, you two might be just the people I need."
Kaelen shot Lyria a glance, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, great. Just what we need. A guy who hangs out with squirrels and apparently knows who we are."
"I promise, the squirrel's the most normal part of this whole operation," Thorne said with a chuckle. "And I know you two have been running around dealing with Malakar. Well, I've got some information that might make you rethink your whole 'sword and shadows' approach."
Kaelen groaned. "You're really going to make us do this, huh? I was hoping for a nice, quiet day."
Lyria smirked. "At least this one's got better hair than the last guy we ran into."
Thorne's grin widened. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"Yeah, yeah," Kaelen muttered. "Get on with it, before I end up fighting a snake again."
And as the three of them headed further up the mountain, Kaelen couldn't help but feel that, with Thorne's help and his new squirrel companion, things were only going to get stranger. But at least they weren't bored anymore. And as it turned out, that might be the best thing they had going for them.