Not as many people showed up as the fight between Lord Davorin and Kip, but there was still a crowd of people. Kip saw a few of his brothers taking a break from the labyrinth duties to watch. It was Zip, Pip, and Chip, Rip and Skip. Kip waved at all of them. Kip ran up to them to say hello.

  “Hey, all! Glad to see you. Is mum joining us?” Kip asked.

  “Ma? Nah, Ma’s working a shift. Couldn’t get it off, she said. She sends her love and says she’s rooting for you, though! We all are, Kipple.” Said Skip.

  “No problem, what about Lip? Is he coming?”

  To this, the brothers all looked around, “Eh, you know how Lip is. He’s a little too all work and no play. He’s here in spirit though.”

  Kip separated from his brothers and left to meet his team. Jasssper had agreed to help, although he was not one for physical fights. As well as Stormbristle. He could float up in the air and there were no people too hot to keep him weighed down. But it was the fourth teammate that was still missing.

  “Are you ready, my boy?” Stormbristle asked.

  “Yes,” Kip said, “I think we have a good team, don’t you?”

  Stormbristle shrugged his little piggy shoulders, “It’s a good thing it’s not a direct fight.”

  “Do you think they’ll show? The fourth, I mean. It was a big ask.”

  “I’m sure she’ll be here any minute now.”

  Zeke called out from the other side, “Hey! Is your whole team here?”

  Kip looked back at Zeke’s team. They were all tall, and mean looking, and powerful. It would be difficult. They had settled on the Northern side of the Fierce Forest. It was an area both Kip and Zeke knew very well. But both Kip and Zeke’s teammates were unfamiliar.

  Kip just gave a thumbs up, “Just give us a minute!”

  Zeke leaned into his teammate’s ear and said, “He gave a thumbs up but then said ‘just give us a minute,’ That’s weird right?”

  Kip turned around, he scanned the crowd. Then he saw her, “Azami!”

  Azami was wearing her normal hat, her aquamarine hair flowed behind her as she wore a cardigan with a cat pattern on it, “Hey, sorry I took so long. The swamp’s on the other side of the mall and I figured we’d give the guy a rest before the big show.”

  “That’s okay. You’re sure you don’t mind helping us?”

  “Oh, it was never my decision,” Azami laughed, “Besides, if I’m not going to do it, at least I can lend him out for help!”

  Azami stuck out her hand. A whoosh of wind and wood crossed through the forest and stopped perfectly at Azami’s held out hand, “Swiff! It’s like we talked about. You’re going to be helping out with these boys. Make mama proud!”

  Kip smiled at Azami, “Thanks! So long as we have Swiff, we can’t lose!”

  They all turned back and Kip flashed another thumbs up to Zeke, “Thank you for the patience! We’re all ready!”

  “So they weren’t already!” Zeke asked, “What the hell does this guy think a thumbs up means? I can’t track it.”

  The teammate next to him just said, “Don’t let him get in your head.”

  “He’s already in my damn head! You think he’s already got a series of symbols that he’s using to communicate? Should we do that?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Nah, too much effort. Let’s just stick to the plan.”

  The banshee, Maeve came out and swirled around the top of the jungle, “Okay! We have our next challenge! This time, it’s two best friends pitted against each other! Zeke the Freak and Dark Lord Kip! Wow! They have decided on a game of group tag.”

  Stormbristle turned to Swiff and Jasssper and whispered, “It was weird when she called them best friends. I mean… I'm best friends with Kip. Right? Come on now.”

  “Let's jussst let her finish,” Said Jasssper, who hated Stormbristle.

  Swiff said nothing, but merely nodded their bristles in agreement. Swiff had had some friendly interactions with Kip, although he lacked the ability to speak, but he always had the sneaking suspicion that Kip considered Swiff his best friend. Swiff did not consider Kip his best friend. His best friend was Azami. And Azami’s best friend was her cat named Crystal Ball. And Crystal Ball was kind of a mess.

  Stormbristle turned to Kip as Maeve continued with the preamble, “What do you think about what she’s saying, Kip?”

  “She’s always been a great orator. And the rotting flesh… it works on her, no?”

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

  “I mean about what when she said you and Zeke were best fri-”

  “Excuse me!” Maeve called out Stormbristle who was whispering into Kip’s ear, “Are we all done? I’m about to explain the rules.”

  “Talk later, Kip.” Storm said as he stared down Zeke.

  “So! This is a game of group tag! The way this is going to work is that there are four people who are ‘it.’ As soon as the majority of people are tagged, then the team tagged reverts to being it. The person who was tagged but the majority has not been tagged can only give the ‘it’ back to the person that tagged them. We will run this for one hour, and as Zeke issued the challenge, we shall be starting his team as ‘it’. I would also like to remind everyone that the fate of our leadership relies on two grown men playing a children’s game.”

  “Of course she gets a barb in,” Kip muttered. Kip turned to his team, “Okay. So the plan’s pretty simple. All of us are small and move differently, so we’ll just run in opposite directions and hide somewhere. Storm, you can float upward. Jasssper, you can slither into a hole, and Swiff, you’ll be flying me if you’re okay with that. The name of the game is evasion and speed! We’ve got that in spades!”

  “That’s right, best friend.” Stomrbristle said.

  There was a tense moment when no one immediately said anything after that sentiment. It made for a crushing silence before Stormbrsitle finally interjected, “Maybe that’s what we’ll call our team? I was thinking we could call our team, ‘The Best Friends’ And I was trying it out. WE don’t have to if it’s stupid.”

  “No, that’s okay,” Said Kip.

  “It isss stupid.”

  “I like it!” KIip turned to Maeve and said, “We’re going to go by The Best Friends.”

  “Heh,” Zeke chuckled, “That works perfectly, because we’re going to go by the ‘Beast Friends.” Better. More letters.”

  “Right.” Kip said, “We are ready to start when you are.”

  “Okay, everyone get into positions. Beast Friends, please turn around and cover your eyes. We’re going to give the Best Friends a 10 second head start. Ready?”

  The two teams lined up. There was a small circle made of chalk that the Beast Friends all stood inside. And Kip and his team were in a larger circle surrounding that one.

  “3… 2… 1… Go!” Maeve called out.

  And with that, they were on their way. Jasssper whirled off as quickly as he could down the trees. Stormbristle took to the skies, letting himself float up, bouncing up tree branches as he gained distance.

  Zeke turned to his teammates and said, “Just like we planned. I chose each one of you to go after a specific guy. Kip’s great, but he’s a little predictable.”

  “Smart of you, boss,” Said one of them.

  “Yeah. Kip’s really smart so I just thought about what I would do, and I reversed it. Then I made a plan based on that.”

  “How long did that take you?

  “I Noodled over it for about two days. Couldn’t eat. Just a big ol’ chalkboard where I drew out a bunch of stuff.”

  “6…5….4… 3…”

  “Let’s get ready, fellas.” Zeke said, “Let’s stick to the plan.”

  As Zeke turned his back, the three teammates all exchanged looks with each other. They flashed themselves knowing smiles.

  “2…1… Now!”

  Zeke pointed toward Stormbristle, still visible but hiding in the trees.

  “Mason! Toward Storm!”

  Then he pointed in the direction of the snake. “Wolfgang!” Zeke said, “And you, you’re with me!”

  The gargoyle spread his stone wings and ran in a straight line, lifting off and heading toward Stormbristle. A gargoyle’s wings were lifted by propulsion. As he propelled himself, he lifted his wings so the air would make his front lighter. He used this to fly toward the tree Storm was climbing at an increasing velocity. The Direwolf had not been top side. He sniffed the air and was fascinated by all the new smells. But there was one smell he could instantly pick out and that was the one he chose to focus on. Zeke had handed him some shedding that Jasssper had carelessly thrown away outside the study. Wolfgang used it to narrow down his search, and his large paws gained distance quickly. Zeke and his last teammate rushed off in the direction of Kip and the broom.

  A young rook ran as fast as his little legs could carry him toward the challenge.

  “Oh, lord! Oh, lord, tell me I haven't missed it! I asked one of the pawns to wake me! Oh, lord, I should have asked a knight!”

  It was a long traversal from castle Inversa all the way to the Northern Fierce Forest. He wanted to see the fight. He had made sure to get the day off with the queen so that he could come watch the fight between the new Dark Lord and Zeke. He remembered Kip’s promise he made to the little guys.

  The rook climbed out of the worker’s entrance hidden in a tree trunk and bounded toward the north. It was not long before the rook tripped over a root.

  “Oof!” Rook said as he fell down a steep hill. Unfortunately, his natural shape made him perfect for rolling down a steep hill. He barreled down it, clacking against different trees on the way down.

  “Oof! Ouch! Oh no! Oh, lord!” he yelled, before he landed on some hard earth.

  “Well, well, Locke. We must really suck at our jobs. Seems we’ve already been compromised.”

  “I agree, Keelie. One of their best and brightest found us instantly.”

  The rook grabbed the ground and rolled himself over so his eyes were facing up at the two women looking down at him. One blonde, one red-headed, both wearing suits.

  He jumped up, brandishing a short sword and a shield, “Intruders! I may be just a minion, but I'm a minion from Castle Inversa! I mean you no harm if you leave peacefully.”

  “Go on.” Said Locke, “I’ll let you take the first swing.”

  Keelie stepped back behind Lock, to a tree that had a wide trunk. She rested against it and with her knuckles, knocked on the tree, “You love to play with your food.”

  The rook narrowed his eyes, holding firm as the two women stared at him with bemused expressions.

  “Sorry, I’m more of a team player,” Rook said, “You think I’m going to be dumb enough to make the first move?”

  Locke rolled her eyes, took out her blade and bolted forward. Locke stuck out her blade and brought it down on Rook. The chess piece leapt and turned his body, rolling with his perfectly conical body. He circled around Locke faster than she could keep up. He leapt up and bashed his shield against her side, but her blade was there to block it. He lifted his sword up, but Locke’s arm already grabbed her wrist. He stared into Locke’s eyes. Locke stared into his.

  Locke’s smile grew hungry.

  “You won't win," Rook said.

  “Already have.” Locke let go of the Rook’s hand. She sheathed her blade. Rook’s hand was still up, struggling as if she had never let go.

  “W-what are you…” The rook could not move. The rook heard the creak of a door and Locke placed her heeled foot on his chest and pushed him backward. The rook fell back and the next thing he knew, he fell. When he got up, the two were nowhere to be found. Neither were the trees and brush of Fierce Forest. Neither were any trees.

  As the rook looked around, he wondered what had happened to let him land in the middle of a desert.

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