Brukrag left us to go back to his home and watch over the reconstruction effort. Paco walked in front of me the entire way back to ours, but not once did he turn back to me, or talk to me. He was down and depressed over a single biscuit, which I thought was stupid, but I tried not to dwell on it too much. He’d be fine, I’d find a way to make it up to him at some point.

  We walked inside. I laid my bow and knife on the table of our living space. I watched as Paco walked over to his manhole cover.

  “Hey, I’m gonna go out into the town for a bit,” I said. He didn’t respond to me. I let the moment settle. Paco stood there. I watched as he decided if he wanted to say anything. He didn’t. His paws reached down and grabbed his door, and lifted it from the floorboards. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you to die,” I said abruptly. The manhole cover closed and I walked back out into the town.

  The sun was starting to set. I quickly made my way to the center of town as the clouds turned shades of purple and orange. Torches flickered in the coming darkness. The air was warm, like a nice spring night just before the sweltering summer came. When the wind picked up, I felt like I could almost use a jacket. Almost.

  I passed by a few vendors, some of which looked familiar. I’d probably seen their faces at Brukrag’s feast. Some sold fruit, others dried meats, one or two of them were selling clothes which caught my eye, but I decided against it. I wasn’t built to wear dwarf clothes. I’d have to learn to make my own, which I was sure was a trait or ability I could level up once I hit 10. Then I wondered if I could make armor, and even enchant it. That would be something I brought up with Brukrag eventually.

  The little row of stalls was still crowded as I turned to the main square of the town. I meandered through, most people leaving me alone as I did. Then, I had the bright idea. And probably the dumbest one I could think of. I tucked myself into an alley. No one walked by as I cloaked myself in darkness.

  “Sly, I need you,” I whispered.

  A door appeared on the wall in front of me. I opened it. The empty void stood in front of me and I stepped through.

  This time I landed on my feet as I felt the pull of the universe grip the hair on my arms, and pores on my face. Sly was sitting at the bar with Jordon.

  “Nice to sssee you again.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “What isss it you need?” Sly’s cloaked head turned to me.

  “I need something to make Paco feel better. He’s pretty mad at me. I figured I could get some coleslaw to go, and then maybe make a trade?”

  I watched as Jordon sighed. “I’m gonna fucking kill myself if I have to keep making this trash.”

  “No you aren’t,” Sly replied.

  I watched as Jordon pulled out a knife. “I’m really do it this time,” he said.

  Sly quickly snapped his fingers, and the knife disappeared.

  I laughed at the interaction, but felt guilty about it at the same time. Jordan was a hostage in his own right, but he wasn’t dead. I wondered if I could bargain for his freedom at some point, but I knew Sly would ask a heavy price for it.

  “Go get some cole ssslaw.”

  Jordon sighed and walked to the kitchen.

  “What do you have for trade?”

  “Not a whole lot. I have a tattered hide from a boar, and all of this meat from the animals we killed.” I pulled up my inventory and let the wet meat splatch onto the bar. I knew that was going to piss off Jordon when he came back. The tattered hide covered the mess for the most part.

  “I believe I can make some use of this. At least for his sake,” the cloaked hood motioned towards Jordon in the kitchen.

  “I’ll take whatever you can give me as long as this covers and cole slaw too,” I said.

  “Deal.” Sly snapped his fingers and the pile of meat disappeared along with the tattered leather.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  In its place was a massive stinger. It looked like it had come off a prehistoric scorpion. I quickly grabbed it and shoved it into my inventory just as Jordon came back and placed a to-go box in front of me. I opened it to make sure. I nodded.

  “Can you send me back to the house?”

  “Of courssse,” Sly said. Jordon went back into the kitchen and carried the wooden door out without saying a word.

  “Thank you,” I said as I turned the knob and stepped through the void once more.

  I was standing outside the house. The moon was in full glow now and I wondered how long had actually passed. It seemed like time moved differently wherever Sly lived. Almost as if he could slow down or speed it up at will. I stepped inside, went to my room and crashed on my bed.

  I woke to a knocking at my door. I quickly got up and opened the door. Brukrag greeted me.

  “Goodmorning, Chris. I have something to show you and Paco,” he said.

  I peered over his shoulder. Paco was sitting on the sofa. Still, he did not even look at me.

  “Okay, but can you give me and him a moment?”

  Brukrag nodded, turned and walked outside.

  I sat across from Paco.

  “Hey, I really am sorry about yesterday. I got you some things to make up for it.” I watched as his tiny ears twitched and he gave me a sideways glance. “First, I want you to have this,” I produced the to-go container of coleslaw and left it on the table.

  “Thank you,” he said as he leaned forward, grabbed it and started eating. I watched some life come back to his eyes as he enjoyed the food.

  “And then I got you this,” I said as I stood up and moved away from the table.

  The scorpion stinger clunked to the floor. It had to be at least three feet long.

  “Holy shit,” Paco’s mouth was agape as he spoke. He even dropped the box he ate from and let the cabbage fly all over the floor. He walked over and ran his hands over the stinger. “It’s still sharp,” he said as he touched the point on the end. “Did you kill this yesterday?”

  “No. I made a trade with Sly last night.”

  “Chris, really. This more than makes up for my lost biscuit. Thank you,” he ran over and hugged my leg. There were tears in his eyes, I noticed.

  “I don’t know what you’re doing with all the things you take, but if I can help, I will.” I ran my hand over his head. “Now, get this thing put away, and your coleslaw, then meet me outside. I don’t want to keep Brukrag waiting.”

  Paco nodded and dragged the scorpion stinger down into his room. I waited outside while he cleaned up.

  I waited outside with Bruk who only nodded when I came out. We both stood there, waiting in silence for Paco. Eventually he opened the door, and closed it quietly.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  I nodded before I looked over to Bruk who only grunted in return. We both followed him into town.

  “So, what was that thing yesterday?” Paco asked.

  “The goose?” Brukrag wanted to confirm.

  “Yeah, what was that about? It was only level 1.”

  “That thing is the stuff of nightmares. A God-killer who refuses to ascend to the celestial plane. Rare. Extremely rare. So rare that I’d never seen one in person. The stories are passed down from generation to generation.”

  “The ‘celestial plane?’ And what stories?” Paco looked up to Bruk as we found ourselves in the square. Everyone was out in full force today. Buying, selling, trading, talking. It seemed like a festival was going on, but this time, no one really paid us much mind.

  “The Celestial Plane is where the gods live. The good and the bad. And yes, it is different from Valhalla. Valhalla is where all the dead gods go. The Celestial Plane is like a massive city, or so it's said. No mortal may enter. No mortal may leave. The last known Anomalous Goose in recorded history was after Lord Greatwood—bless his soul—fought Krikrak. It became so enraged for not getting a piece of the Great Biscuit that it leveled entire mountains and unleashed a maelstrom of tornados coated with fire and lightning before raising the oceans to drown the villages. It’s said that that goose took out an entire continent in a fortnight.”

  “Do you think we all just imagined it? You know, being out in the sun the entire time? Maybe we all lost our minds for a bit.”

  “I would hope to believe that. Though, I do not have as much optimism as you on the subject, little one. The histories say that one day the goose will return and the Dragon King will die. When that happens, our people will be free, but chaos will blanket the world, sulfur and hellfire will rise up and block out the sun. The world will go dark and we will have to stay in our homes. Only the righteous devotees of Lord Greatwood will survive the second coming of the Anomalous Goose.”

  “Are you going to tell everyone about the goose?” Paco asked. “You know, so they can prepare?”

  I watched as Bruk took a deep breath and held it.

  “No,” he replied. “If I were wrong, and that was not the Anomalous Goose, then I would create a panic for my people that would surely destroy them all. Besides, I need everyone focused on the current task at hand. I suggest you do not bring up the goose in public, or to anyone besides me and Chris. Now come, I have something to show you both.”

  We were standing outside of the hall where we had our feast crashed. The wood had been repaired as if nothing had happened. Brukrag opened the doors for us, and we followed through the long room before taking a staircase which led down.