Kip and Jasssper hung on to their respective horn as Zeke flew through the forest.

  “WE CAN NOT LET THEM ESCAPE!” Said Jasssper as he wrapped himself to Zeke. All the bouncing was starting to upset his incredibly long tummy. He jostled up and down, attempting to keep the contents of his food on the inside. All the while, slowly keeping his mouth closed, “Can you please slow down?”

  “Speed up, Zeke!” Cried Kip.

  “Speeding up!” Screamed Zeke. He pressed his knuckles against the ground and screamed, “Hut, Hut, Strike!” He dashed with imbued speed, flying toward the service tunnel in front of Lethal Lake..

  Kip held on to the horn much better than Jasssper did.

  “We can’t let them escape. If they add this to their daysssider maps… that might be too many human invaders coming in through the lower levels. We might become overwhelmed and they could get the advantage,“ Said Jasssper, “We have to kill the entire party before they get out.”

  Zeke twisted through the forest with his two companions on his head. He dipped and ducked under the trees as he made it to the bay where the tunnel was.

  Kip’s gaze darted to the hollow oak tree. Its position was just slightly out of step from the tree line, imperceptibly standing out to other denizens of Shangra. Normally imperceptibly. Today, the hidden door was wide open.

  “Jasssper!” Said Kip, “Close that door!”

  Jasssper drooped off Zeke’s shoulder and fell off. He slithered toward the tree, covering his mouth with his tail, “At oncccce, sire.”

  He shimmied toward the tree and snapped it shut.

  Zeke forward, Kip scanned the area. The ground was damp from the surrounding moisture. Kip could see an impression of the invader’s feet, clearly laying out a path northeastward.

  “Look!” Kip said, “He went that way. Looks like only one got out so far.” Kip grabbed the minotaur’s horn and pulled him northeastward. Zeke followed Kip’s lead. They followed the tracks through the treeline and could make out the invader farther down.

  “Hey!” Screamed Zeke, “We just want to talk!”

  It was a human, under six feet, although he often told the women at pubs he was six exactly. His hands had long fingers and even longer claws, such that he couldn’t even close his fists as he ran. They stuck out of his closed palm. When he turned back, Kip saw big whiskers and tiny black dots for eyes. The five-foot-eight-inch man had a smirk on his face. It dampened when his beady eyes saw a minotaur the size of a carriage running toward him.

  “We just want to talk!” Said Kip.

  “If you don’t talk to us, we’re going to STOMP you!” Zeke commanded.

  “Unfortunately, that’s correct.” Said Kip.

  Zeke’s large strides closed the gap between the three in two minutes.

  The human turned around and stopped as he got to a cliff.

  Zeke stopped in front of the man, “Sorry, we lied about the talking.”

  Kip leapt off Zeke’s shoulder to attack.

  “Stretchy hands!” He launched his hand at the human’s shoulder. His claw dug into the man, and Kip retracted the arm as he approached the enemy.

  “Ahh!” Said the human, “Blast your confarnit claws. I shall show you real claws.”

  He slashed at Kip’s arm. Kip let out a gnarly scream and pulled his other hand back. Zeke leapt forward, charging with his horns. In the last second of a charge attack, there is a blind spot in the minotaur’s line of sight. He collided with the ground, but he did not feel the man’s soft body pressed against Zeke’s skull. Zeke pulled his head back and stared down at nothingness. Instead, there was just a depressed hole where he’d put his head.

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  “I lost him!” Zeke said, He turned back to Kip, “Did you see where he went?”

  Kip and Zeke both scrambled to scan the area. Zeke looked in differentdirectionss while Kip searched the trees.

  There was a busy noise that went on behind an unwitting Kip as he looked up at the sky.

  “Behind you.”

  Before Kip could turn around, the human raked Kip with his large claws.

  “Excavate!” Shouted the human invader.

  The claws raked along Kip’s shoulder and down his nippleless chest. He fell to the ground. He turned that into a roll and hopped up. He held out his two fists at the human.

  “Oh, you’re not getting away that easily,” said Kip.

  “SAND ATTACK!” The human skittered his foot along the floor, through hours of practice, and it conjured an expert sheen of sand that blasted Kip right in the face. When he turned around, his eyes covered, the human made another claw attack.

  “Excavate!” He scratched along Kip’s face, dropping him to the ground again.

  “Ugh,” Kip said, as he gripped his face, feeling the wetness of the blood pooling in.

  “Okay,” Kip said, brandishing his claws, staring at them. They grew from their normal position, taking on four more inches and sharpening themselves as Kip conjured his new ability, “I’ve seen your claws. Let me show you mine.”

  He got up from the ground and slashed at where the human was. There was once again nothing.

  “Kip!” Zeke said from behind him. Kip turned around, and Zeke pointed at the ground, “I saw it happen! The little freak crawled UNDER!”

  Kip turned around, and there was a hole about the size of a 5-foot-8-inch man, but three feet wide had been dug in. Kip could hear the sounds of aggressive burrowing. He placed his hands on the other side of the hole and peeked his head in. Instead of noticing burrowing, he was face to face with the human’s beady eyes. The whiskers around his mouth pointed outward as he continued his smirk.

  “Ace in the hole.”

  Then he punched Kip so hard that Kip’s head swiveled back. Kip grabbed his face and said, “He punched me! Why do all these people keep punching me in the nose?!”

  “It’s not their fault, Kip!” Said Zeke as he approached the hole, “You’re mostly nose! You got a great big schnozz on ya!” Zeke took his large mitt and pushed it into the hole to grab the human. He did not feel anything. He shimmied himself further in, but still nothing. He pushed until the hole was at his shoulder.

  “Do you feel him?” Kip asked as he turned around and looked for any emergences.

  “I.. I think I feel something. Hold on.” He pushed himself farther in until he tilted his head, and his ear was touching the ground. He wiggled his hand, attempting to grab something. But nothing happened.

  “Well, Zeke?” Kip asked, “Do you feel something?”

  A voice called out, “Looking for me?”

  The human had emerged behind Zeke. His claws out, “Scratch attack!” he scratched into Zeke’s back.

  “Ahh! Ahh! Kip, he’s getting my back!”

  “Is it hurting?!” Kip asked.

  “NO! He can’t penetrate my hide! But Kip! He’s scratching the wrong spot! It’s making the part of my back that’s itchy even itchier! He’s dangling the carrot, Kip!”

  “No!” Kip yelled as he climbed up on top of Zeke’s back. He looked down at the enemy, who stared up, grinning at him.

  “Just what are you?” Kip yelled as the man with the dangly claws scraped at Kip. Kip leapt up and landed both feet on the man’s face. The man swatted at Kip, but Kip had put on some muscle mass. He was not so easily batted away. He rolled up and stuck his claws out. I’ve been meaning to show you these. His claws started to grow again. His claws extended and pointed menacingly.

  “Daggerous Claws,” Kip said with self-satisfaction.

  The man clasped his hands together and leapt up, then turned his body into the ground, as if he was diving into the earth. He furiously shoveled dirt behind him, having it hail clods on Kip.

  “Dig dig dig dig dig,” the man said as he had already entered the soft ground.

  “Oh no, you don’t!” Said Kip. He leapt forward with a Burst and launched himself toward the man. Kip’s daggerous claws tore through the armor like paper. Entering them into the man’s iron and digging into his flesh. The man called out in pain and took his foot, kicking it into Kip. He dug further into the earth, with Kip following close behind. He could see the man creating a tiny clearing.

  Kip had lost sight of the intruder, but he continued, hearing an ominous voice echo through the cramped tunnel, “You’re in my domain now.”

  Kip didn’t know from which direction it came. He turned to one side, but it was only darkness, even with his dark vision.

  “Where are you?!” Kip asked.

  “You asked me something first. You asked me, “WHO am I?” For a long time, I didn’t know myself.. Digdigdigdigdig dig dig dig.”

  He could hear the rustling of dirt moving.

  “But I discovered myself when I gazed upon the ground and stared at the little creatures inside it. While I struggled with my shoulder and pickaxe… they dug effortlessly. Dig dig dig dig dig dig.”

  Kip faced eastward, where he continued to crawl, hoping it would get him closer to his prey. “So… you’re some kind of mole?”

  “I… am a path of the mole barbarian. And my objective is to dig. Dig dig dig dig.”

  “Okay..” said Kip, “And… what?”

  “Varmint Rage!”

  And just like that, the ground burst under Kip as he fell into darkness.

  When the Tar Pits opened up, all I could think about was: 'Thank god, another potential income stream.'

  My name is Drake. And I'm completely powerless, but I fight the monsters that come out of the Tar Pits every day. Not exactly my preference, but the pay is fine, and I need the money. Sis is in the hospital. One day, one of the big gods joins us on what was supposed to be a routine raid. When things went sour I found myself staring right at that big god with a knife in his chest.

  I could have saved him. I could have... but then I would have stayed powerless. And baby, I got bills to pay.

  And now? I got all the power I could ever need.

  Read the first 5