“CHUG, CHUG, CHUG,” Basil yelled, waving his arms madly like an inflatable tube at a car dealership. His arms were breaking it down in style.

  Haunt was waving his two front legs in a little dance. His front feelers twitched in the air as he followed Basil’s movements. “Consume, Grow, Hunt,” he said, repeating a mantra I’ve heard him chatter on and on about.

  Lesi lazed in the back as she licked off some stomach acids from the nearby Pitcher Plants.

  Is eating the bodies of these plants really that important??? I collected the remains of the monsters we had just killed and had my roots siphoning the rest of their sap. The influx of the tender fluid rapidly filled my mana banks.

  The bodies began decreasing at a rapid rate. The once lush green remains wilted into brown sludge and viscera. The skeleton remains of the robin they ate before our intervention interjected its bleached white bones in the sunlight.

  “…Thanks for the encouragement, everyone…I appreciate the enthusiasm,” I coughed.

  “You’re welcome Sallix! It’s always a pleasure to support a friend—”

  “He is sarcasting,” interjected Haunt. He stuck his fuzzy little spider head at me and turned away to look at a nearby tree. Don’t wiggle your butt at me! The two little spinnerets at the end of his abdomen jiggled in the air. They’re mocking me, I know it.

  “Ah you’re being such a downer little spider. I’m sure Sallix appreciates our efforts,” Basil laughed. He poked around at the brown sludge with his foot. The hollow bodies gave no resistance as his foot crashed through the hollow exterior. There was nothing left of the former voracious plants. “They taste any good?” he asked.

  “I can’t taste as a plant. And I’m pretty sure I’d prefer not to taste random plant juices. But it’s a lot of energy. Whatever animals they ate, I’m composting into energy for myself,” I replied.

  “Shame, I wonder if they help with muscle building…” Basil said, kneeling on the ground as he examined the flaky brown bits. He placed an elbow on his leg and rested his chin on his knuckles. What a thinker.

  “Dumb man act smart. Many useless animal act poisonous,” murmured Haunt.

  Lesi massaged Basil’s shoulders as he continued pondering into the carcasses. Was he actually going to have an epiphany over my lunch?

  “Nah don’t know,” he replied as smoke bellowed from his ears. Alas, they were only metaphorical ones. He pried a piece from the remains and crunched it between his teeth and swallowed it down his gullet.

  “Why,” Haunt and I cried.

  “I need to try. If my brain can’t brain it, then my stomach will certainly stomach it,” he said in between munches.

  “Any key insights? Any innovations coming out?”

  Basil maybe thought to himself. “Nah,” he retorted.

  “Why would you do that to yourself, man? Besides, that probably doesn’t have good protein anyway. Chicken and eggs are probably your best bet,” I muttered.

  Basil swivelled his head towards me. His back was facing me when his head careened over like an owl. I guess he can overcome the laws of bodily movement when it comes to working out.

  He lunged towards me and grabbed my sides. “What is this protein you speak of?” he hungered. His eyes leered into mine with the desperation of a seagull fighting another over the last corn chip on a sidewalk.

  “…it’s what you can eat to help with building muscles,” I said, regretting ever broaching this topic. A few roots attempted to pry his hands away from their vice grip. He continued his soul gaze.

  “I never considered this before…you indeed are what you eat,” he said.

  “What did you normally eat?”

  “Whatever my mom cooks for us,” he said. The image of Daena cooking up monster meals to fit Basil’s criminal appetite flitted my mind. The pile of groceries Basil carried today began to make sense.

  “She makes great food no doubt. But if you optimized your diet, you could probably improve.”

  Basil’s arms fell from my sides. Imprints of his fingers were embedded in my bark. I hope this heals over the next year. He dropped to his knees. “Teach me your ways oh Elder Treant,” he said.

  “We can use him as bait,” replied Haunt.

  A tree, an elf kneeling in front of it, a dog-sized spider, and a disinterested bear, a situation as obtuse as this run-on sentence.

  “Okay, let’s walk and talk then,” I muttered. It’s time to dig up whatever remaining memories I have of high school nutrition class. Maybe I can start up a nutritional science academy in Krailas. What a terrible premise, I need to preserve Himavanta first.

  “Perfect!” Basil interrupted. “I will take your moment of pause as further support!”

  “…Sure,” I said.

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  **********

  “Alright, we’ll set up camp above this river,” said Basil. For the rest of the day, no monsters beset our path. Occasionally, Haunt and Lesi would disappear to hunt. By the end of the sun’s shift, an assortment of fauna was stacked together at our campsite.

  “Why not settle camp downhill closer to the river?” I asked.

  “You could, but it’s harvest season and the weather’s colder in these areas. If you’re downhill, all that cold air settles in and you’ll be in for a bad time. Then again, if you go too high up, it’ll start getting cold all over again,” Basil replied as his shoulders reflexively shivered.

  “So you can commit brain space to stuff outside of working out?” I asked.

  “I had to!” Basil shouted, “Or else how can I stay for longer outside? That’s where the good spots are.” Basil continued to shove fallen tree branches into the ground. He pulled them together at the center, forming a rudimentary skeleton of a wood tent. “Little help Haunt?”

  Haunt begrudgingly shot some webbing into Basil’s hand. With the other still holding the branches together, Basil tied a thorough knot in the middle.

  “Now to find some leaves and vines to make our walls,” he said, clapping his hands together. In response, Lesi began collecting leaves off the ground. “I’ll make some stew with the meat we got in the meantime.”

  “How long did it take you to learn all of this?” I asked.

  “A lot of trial and error. But it’s worth it,” he said. Basil pointed at the setting sun beside us. The sun was scattering vibrant purples and amber yellows across the horizon. The sky was a canvas for the pastel watercolours. The dull orange hue was gently setting into the world. I wonder if Krailas is as big as Earth.

  “Beautiful fruit,” Haunt said. His fuzzy legs were reaching out towards the sun. One of his fangs extended out, trying to pierce the infernal ball.

  “That’s a star,” I replied.

  “What? No not that thing, I guess the sky is pretty up here. Cool colours,” Basil muttered. I stared at his finger again. It was aimed at a large redwood overlooking the river below us. Based on its size…it could fit on top of someone’s back.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “We consume him here, while brown thing away.”

  “Y’all don’t understand the beauty of a good squat weight.”

  Basil finished digging out a small firepit. He pulled out a small black rod and a knife. He nestled the rod into a ball of kindling. Bundles of dried moss pried from dead branches along our journey were the base. His usually carefree eyes narrowed as he began striking the rod with his knife.

  Sparks flew out and splayed themselves amongst the dried moss. “Survival is rough without magic,” he said. No give, the moss stayed dry. He readied another strike with his hand. “Even with the right components and years of experience, you might not get it on the first try.”

  “Can you or Yen cast magic?” I asked. At the Datsyr’s, Daena could float Yen away into bed. Aktaaf used magic to draw on our map. There was no strain in those casts.

  “Yen certainly can, but she uses it all up by the time she gets home. Practicing with Dad at work and all. The life of a future village chief is rough,” he said, striking at the moss again. A few puffs of smoke lazily creeped out.

  “And you?”

  “Not my style,” he laughed as his ears wiggled in the breeze. “It’s dumb to say but, I never want to rely on it. There are items and spells out there that make mana in the air useless. If I ever get hit with that, how am I supposed to survive? Besides, getting stuff done by hand has a nice feel to it.”

  The moss caught flame. Basil’s fingers flung tiny sticks on top. We had a fire going.

  “That doesn’t mean I will never use it though,” he continued. Basil weaved a magic circle in the air. Circles overlayed on top of each other into a cylinder. A hummingbird made of starlight and summer whispers burst from the cast and flew off. “Gotta tell the family goodnight,” he said with a smile.

  “Learn magic?” the motionless arachnid asked. Haunt’s eyes stared at the hummingbird as it turned a corner through the woods.

  “Ha! Go ask my mom.”

  “So why go out into the woods to work out? Can’t you do it at home?” I asked.

  “What did you hear first when you met me?” Basil replied. The image of his thunderous roar bursting any nearby eardrums viscerally tore into my memories.

  “…Do you really have to shout each time you lift?” I bemoaned.

  “All I’m saying, is don’t be dry on it until you try it. The rush you get is insane.”

  Lesi returned with a bundle of foliage in her mouth. It fell into Basil’s hands, bear spit and all.

  “I got it,” I said, weaving the leaves and vines through Basil’s tent. With tens of long tendrils at work, my roots had finished his work within the minute.

  “Perfect! Now, do we have any good campfire stories or tales to go around with?” Basil said, clapping his hands together.

  “Story of my mom killing my family,” Haunt replied. We stared at the spider busily sucking up a meat slushie. His eyes swivelled at us. “Hmm?”

  “…How about I tell you about the fairies, about Vila and Vehyr,” I said, inching myself away from the Debbie downer.

  “Even better! I got to know about this friend you’re going to visit! Does she lift?”

  “Yeah, she lifted most of my leaves off during one session…”

  Stars rippled through the night blanket. All that remained of our defiant light was a pile of smouldering embers. Basil was tucked into his makeshift tent. His snores sounded like someone being choked to death by a five-year-old child. Lesi had her paws around him, cuddling him into her furry body.

  Haunt swayed side to side underneath my branches.

  “What do after finding her?” he chittered.

  “I need to explore and grow. What we saw in Fleurwind, the kinds of people out there. I can stay rooted in Himavanta and slowly get stronger…that’s not enough. I can get used to eating monsters if necessary.”

  “If you don’t learn, life make you learn.”

  “I hope you find a better family beyond your mom, Haunt.”

  “Need to grow, to protect a family.”

  “Thank you for being here with me…twenty years, I will always remember that. Let’s grow together, alright?”

  “Yes.”

  We continued gazing at the night sky. This is the second chance Nyla gave me. When I go back to her domain to stay, maybe I’ll choose to be a Nighthaunter instead of a Manticore.

  “Story of that song person. Find them again?”

  “Who knows, I wonder how embarrassed they’ll be when they realize I was listening the whole time,” I laughed.

  **********

  “Hey Sallix,” Basil yawned, emerging from his tent. His voice shook me awake from my sleep. “Is there an eclipse going on today?”

  A shadow had covered our entire view of the morning sun. Two bared fangs jutted from an obsidian-colored head. The pile of animals Lesi and Haunt had hunted yesterday were being feasted upon. Eight legs gripped the side of the hill we were camped on.

  Its eight eyes looked towards the piece of absolute dumbness and insanity and pain in my bark and suffering and horrendousness who just spoke.

  “I want to be adopted,” Haunt murmured.