Abigail looked at the map and re-read the next set of instructions for quest completion. They had arrived at the coast of the Plunas Sea. It was as they arrived at the beach, that they were attacked by the drowned. Abigail assumed that this area had been abandoned for a while and that this was separate from their quest. Otherwise, they would have failed. She was unsure what to do next; the dark Kraken was a nasty monster. Regrouping with her party, she handed Vincent the map, "Any idea of where to go next?"

  Taking the map, Vincent said, "I don't know. I guess we walk along the coast until we find another small coastal town, maybe one that is not abandoned."

  "Okay, which way?" Abigail asked.

  "We have two explorers," Ob said, walking up to the two, "send them in different directions. You and I can stay back preparing for how we are going to get to an underwater cavern."

  "That idea is sound," she replied, nodding.

  "Sounds good to me," Vincent said.

  "Me too; we'll be back in an hour and a half," Maeva said. She already turned off and went scouting.

  Vincent said yep and took off. Vincent hadn't done any solo scouting missions in a long time. He was excited he was ready—a chance to stretch his legs and his skills. Running along the coastal line, Vincent felt the water splash with every step. As he ran, he remembered the first time his dad had sent him out to scout. His dad had never entrusted Vincent with such responsibility until that day; understandably, he was nervous.

  He remembered trailing an odd track as he left to search the area. It looked like the hooves of a minotaur but much more frequent than the bipedal beast. He got into a crouching position and slowed his heart rate. This was his first solo scout, and he had to make his family proud. Following the tracks, Vincent heard a loud noise in the distance, crunching. Peering out of a bush, the young hunter saw a truly horrifying sight. A Pegasus' bloody body lay on the ground, being ravished by this creature he had never seen before. The Pegasus had been killed recently as blood was still flowing out of its mouth. This was not a good sign. Whatever this monster was, it killed an animal they would use to guide them to their hunt.

  He knew at that moment he had to go back and report what he found to his dad. As soon as he was turning to leave, he heard something else rustle. Deciding not to leave his post, he looked up to see another of the same creature. The two beasts were communicating and looking around. The beast that was snacking on the Pegasus had a bloody snout, and the face of a hound, and it wore a skull as a piece of armor. The creature had sharp fangs and fiery eyes. The beast's body was that of a more petite horse, thick and muscular. It had hooves with sharp claws a few inches off the ground. The tail was pointed like a bone whip. "Earthhound," Vincent whispered to himself. Earthhounds are terrible beasts. They are a part of the Cerberus bloodline. These creatures typically travel in duos or trios; they hunt in an area for a few weeks. After they have killed and feasted, they move on to the following location.

  Vincent recalled walking slowly and quietly back to his tribal camp. It took him nearly twice as long to return home. His worried mother rushed him as he entered their house, "Where have you been?" she asked.

  "There were Earthhounds, I had to sneak away." Young Vincent said.

  "How many son?" His dad asked, "Are you harmed?"

  "I only saw two. No, I am fine," Vincent said. His dad had canceled the hunting expedition because Earthhounds were hard to kill and notorious for taking out massive parties of hunters. Vincent remembered being disappointed. He wanted to bring back good news and go on a good hunt. He felt like that would be the moment to prove to his dad that he was worthy. This was not the case. It didn't happen like that. Real life was different.

  Vincent smiled at how he used to act when trying to impress his dad. He was proud that his attempts never went too far to get him killed. He was cautious, even as a kid. As Vincent ran along the coast, he ran inland for a bit. Maybe he could find a small village not too far. Ducking through trees and overgrown vines, Vincent spotted tracks. His heart sank; if these were what he thought they were, they were in danger of failing their quest.

  Maeva had run pretty far up the coast from where her party was. She saw nothing out of the ordinary. There were no different scents, no different auras. Everything was normal. Even the plants showed no signs of disturbances; no one had been to this area in a long time. It was like this area was hidden from any living creature. Although a mystery of its own, it was not a part of their quest, so it was not worth staying.

  She began to turn around. She arrived back with Ob and Abigail about an hour later. "I took the boring route, apparently," she said. "It was odd. Nothing was disturbed, nothing was changed, no signs of stress or any other life besides the plants."

  "Interesting," Abigail said.

  "Why is that interesting?" Ob asked.

  "Because love, if the area were safe, creatures would be living there and wanting to eat the foliage. It doesn't make sense for there to be no signs of any of that happening and no stress. It is usually one or the other." Maeva replied.

  "I see," Ob stated, "let's mark that and visit that after we have completed this quest."

  "Yeah," Maeva said, "that's what I was thinking too. What did y'all come up with?"

  "Not much," Ob said. "Flying to the cavern wouldn't be a problem. We have enough mountable companions where we could fly. I sent the two lovebirds out to scout to see if there was an island in the middle of the sea that we could make a base for. The biggest issue is diving low enough to the cavern entrance."

  "That is, of course, if it is deep at all," Abigail said. "Maybe the small village will have a way to enter it if we ever find it." Ob and Maeva nodded. An idea popped into Abigail's head, "Maybe you could do what you do, Ob, and friend your way to get advice or an item."

  "I'm sorry, did you just say friend your way? What is that supposed to mean?" Ob asked, folding his arms.

  "We devised a phrase to describe what you do to get free stuff." Abigail said, "So we came up with "Friend your way" make friends to get what you want. It truly is a compliment."

  "Sure, it is. I don't talk to people to get stuff from them!" Ob complained.

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  "I know you do not. It just happens like that. And we have a fun name for it." Abigail said.

  "Anyways, do you think you can do that?"

  "No," Ob said. His aura was rising along with his frustration. "I will not. I do not use people." Anger reaching an all-time high. Ob's eyes flared. They turned a solid blue, the color of his dragon fire. "Using people is a one-way track to becoming an awful person. There's no way I will do that. Ever." He blasted a colossal fire blast toward the sky. "If that is how we operate as a party. Then count this as my resignation." Ob stormed off in the direction where Vincent went.

  Whoa, Vincent said, looking up at a massive blue plume of fire shot into the air. What the hell was that? Vincent picked up the pace; he thought that they were in danger. Vincent arrived to see Abigail and Maeva with shocked faces. "What happened?" Vincent asked.

  "Ob was unhappy about 'friend your way,' and he did that fire thing into the air, then took off," Abigail said sadly. "It was all my fault. I thought it would be funny to tell him. He is always telling jokes and wanted to join in."

  "Abs, why did you tell him that?" Vincent was not amused. "Okay, I'll go get him. We have aquahounds near the town. Those are extremely dangerous, and we will ONLY take them down if Ob is here. You two stay here and figure out the best strategy because we can't use fire on them."

  Vincent didn't wait for a reply. Damnit, Abigail, why did you have to say that? Vincent thought she should have known that Ob was not a fan of that joke. Vincent took a deep breath and started to work on tracking Ob. He then saw two blurs zoom past him inland. He figured that was Eclipse and Zephyrus. He shall follow them.

  Ob was fuming. He couldn't believe his friends would make such a wild accusation about him. He knew that they didn't know about his past. Ob never really talked about how his adopted dad called him a freeloader—someone who is just taking advantage of good-natured people. His dad had claimed that he was not grateful and selfish. There were constant guilt trips and harassment for showing any disagreement with his treatment.

  Ob hated that. He made it his personal mission never to have someone be treated as poorly as he was. Ever. He was 15 when he started taking the time to talk to people who were serving him. He made many friends, from gym workers to cashiers to valets. All of them were always happy to see Ob. At his local coffee shop, he was a regular. He was so regular that the baristas knew Ob's order by heart and would get it ready whenever they saw him walk into their shop. Why was it so hard, though? Why did it still feel like people saw him as a person taking advantage? Or as someone who has poor intentions behind genuine care?

  He was not a bad person. He felt like he constantly needed to prove that to every being he had met. It was exhausting. He was getting tired of it. Right now, Ob needed a hug—a hug from someone who knows Ob deeply and knows how he operates. Ob chuckled to himself; all this magical power, and I need a hug to feel better. I'm still the same. His frustration slowly melted away. He wiped his brow, which was full of sweat from his frustration; he sweats when he gets frustrated. He could hear Daisy call him a hero like she started doing after going out with Ob. She noticed how the workers treated Ob and how he treated them. She saw that he made those people's day. She started calling him her hero from that day forward: Ob, the man who makes people's day, Daisy's brother.

  He smiled. I'm coming for you, Daisy. I promise. He whispered. With a deep sigh, "Why can't they see I'm a good guy just trying his best?"

  "You're not a bad person," a voice echoed in his head. "People are not used to truly good-natured people. It is unnatural." Eclipse and Zephyrus landed softly next to him. Eclipse nuzzled her snout into his chest. "It took me some time to come around, but I did. We have a soul-link, Ob, the deepest connection you can form with another being. It took me some time to understand how you operate. Abigail doesn't know. She may never know."

  "She is correct, Oscar." Zephyrus spoke up, "The group may never learn your true intentions are pure. They may only see an alternate motive. You just have to have grace for them and do not change. Do not change your frequency, do not change your reminders, do not change your actions. Remain on the path you are walking. It is noble, it is brave, it is isolating."

  Ob took a deep breath; he was grateful for his two companions. They understood him and knew what to say to calm him down. He gave both of them a big hug. Ob took another calming, deep breath and nodded to himself. "I appreciate y'all big time. Truly, thank you." Ob said. "How was your mission?"

  "Not yet." Eclipse said, "Take some time. Vincent is on his way; I am sure he will want to talk to you."

  "Yeah, he is close; I can sense him." Vincent appeared on the horizon, moving exceptionally quickly. He got to Ob and put his arms around his friend. "I'm sorry, Ob. They should not have told you that." He said.

  "It's alright, bro," Ob started to say but was interrupted.

  "No. Ob it is not. It's not okay that we had that dumb saying. It's not okay that you have to keep proving to us that you are not an evil person. I can't speak for the others, only myself. You deserve nothing but our respect. You have proven that over and over." Vincent paused; he looked Ob in the eyes. "I'm with you. Whatever it is, I'm there."

  "Thank you, Vincent, I appreciate you," Ob responded. "What we gotta do next is head back to the women and figure out what each of y'all found."

  "I found trouble," Vincent said, "big trouble."

  "We found an island with an entrance 25 feet below the island," Eclipse said.

  "Good, that cavern is likely producing Aquahounds," Vincent said.

  "The hell are aquahounds?" Ob asked. The group began running back toward the rest of their party.

  "They are an offspring of Cerberus, but from the sea. This breed of hounds are less aggressive than the other breeds. However, they are crazy hard to kill; once the battle starts, we'll need to finish and finish fast. They may be smaller than their hell counterparts, but there are more of them, and when they fight, they fight together hard. The worst part is that they hunt people, fish, and common pets. They mostly seek children but have been known to take down a human or two." Vincent finished his explanation as they were about 10-minute run from the group. They were close to three miles away. "Ob," he said, looking at Ob's feet. "You're running on air."

  "Oh yeah, a new skill. I can walk on air… more or less."

  "Complete powerset?"

  "Yeah, it is!"

  "Boys, can we stay focused?" Eclipse said. "How do we attack and kill these creatures? Our fire will be worthless again."

  "They have soft skin," Vincent said. "Swords, arrows, claws, teeth, they all work and work well. They just don't let their enemies get too close. We'll have to figure something out."

  "We have to get Maeva some dual daggers or something. We should look into that before we head into the cavern." Ob said. "That would be helpful for monsters like this. She can go around doing small cuts, and Abigail can use her toxic curse to send a cloud of toxins and infect the wounds."

  "That's a great idea, Ob." Vincent said, a little shocked, "That is brilliant! I think that would be amazing. Something to share with the team after we take out the aquahounds."

  "How many are there?"

  "At least 15, all level 65. This is going to be our hardest battle yet. I'm not positive about our survival chances."

  "Damn."

  The group rushed back to the two women, strategizing different ways to win this fight and stop the hounds. "Ob I," Maeva began to say but saw his face. She walked up to the tall man and hugged him. "I'm sorry, love." The hug lasted for several seconds. Ob had to hold back tears; he felt that emotional healing had happened deeply. Ob loved Maeva; she was so understanding of Ob. It seemed like she could always calm him down.

  "It's all good, Mae. It's all good." He said, breathing in her scent.

  Abigail walked over to Ob, kissed him on the cheek, and hugged the big man as well. She didn't say anything. Their embrace said it all. The two were like brother and sister who always fought at home but would defend the other till their death. There was an understanding that all was forgiven, that there was no resentment or guilt, that they were a party and had a quest to complete. A brutal battle was ahead of them.