16

Zeke wheezed and panted, tearing through the underbrush. His new shiny bounced up and down on his neck. Hard to believe a bear could move so fast, even with a groggy hoglet riding his broad shoulders. Zeke had stumbled a couple times and his hoglet, the older one, had had to help him stay upright. The hoglet was racing ahead of him now, spines bouncing.

But at least being behind meant he knew where Rusty and the raccoon kit were. The pair of red and striped tails were easier to keep track of in the dense forest where branches tore at sleeves and roots tripped tender paws.

He had no idea where they’d wind up, just that the bear had crashed out of the forest during their flight, had bellowed, “Follow me!” and everyone had obeyed.

Lucky for them the bear had waited up while Zeke got the hoglet free of the raspberry briars. And that Rusty’s scream-singing—which he’d only heard before in pubs—could stop a bane dead in its tracks.

Too bad the bear can’t cast or fight for us anymore. Zeke had glimpsed the bear’s blistered paws, noted the war club idle on his back, and figured that must be why even the mighty warmage had turned tail with them.

A branch grabbed Zeke’s sleeve. He punched his shoulder forward, tearing his shirt but not breaking pace.

And I don’t have any more shirts in this color!

Assuming he survived, Zeke was going to make four new—no, scratch that. He was going to hire a tailor to make him four new shirts, in this color. He’d always wanted to have a bespoke shirt, but something had always gotten in the way before.

Stupid stuff. His tongue lolled. You gotta do what you want while you’re still alive to enjoy it!

He stepped on a slimy mushroom and slipped. He floundered, arms circling in the air, but didn’t fall. Glancing back behind him, he noticed a nearby stand of mushrooms, well picked-over.

Didn’t I harvest those earlier? Where was the bear taking them?

Behind him, the bane screamed. That was enough to send ice up the possum’s heart, but then he heard a rustling coming up beside him. It was coming up FAST.

The panic almost made him sick. What could that be? That crazy baroness? What kind of nasty tricks would she have in store for them?

The rustling crashed in his ears. It was upon him. This was it. He’d been caught! HE WAS GOING TO DIE!

His vision narrowed. Black edged in, and then the possum dropped to the ground.

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The newest chapter arrives at tomorrow at noon. The game Armello and its characters are property League of Geeks. Buy it today!

For previous chapters, click the tag “Heroes of Houndsmouth“; older chapters are towards the bottom.

You might also like to watch this four minute video because it shows off more special possum talents.