But Watch Out

It was a long flight from the Harrow Outlands to Easthaven, but Ghighi had a trusty steed whom he could rely on for free transportation. Or, rather, the only reason Ghighi was in need of money was because he had a habit of collecting pets that needed something to eat. So, he and his steed flew for days over the endless blue ocean with all their belongings strapped to the oxin’s back, resting only on ice floes and icebergs the two conjured on the surface of the endless sea. 

They were all more than relieved to finally get their paws on solid land again, even if it was the sharp rocks of an uninviting beach. Venni, the most exhausted of all of them, flopped down on the beach with a huff and refused to take another step. Ghighi took this time to whip out the map he’d stuffed into his saddlebags and took a closer look at it. 

“Alright,” He announced to his steed and the pets emerging from his saddlebags. “It shouldn’t be too long of a walk from here to the affected city. Remember,” He crouched down to his three pets. “You guys are lookouts. When something big is approaching and I’m not looking, you guys warn me. Just don’t be too loud about it, okay?”

Spike the Croager let out a ribbit, Album the Poffin chirped, and Weeps the Gickle stuck its tongue out. These three would be his partners in crime while Venni the Oxin took a well deserved break. 

After a rest, they were ready to set out on the last leg of their journey. Venni stuck close by as they walked, but refused to let anyone put anything on their back. 

To find the place the rihog were infamously attacking, Ghighi followed the streams of fleeing townsfolk and the consecutively more ruined buildings. At first, some had impact spots where the paint was slightly chipped. Third hour of walking, there was nothing but scattered bricks and hoofprints where a house once was. 

“Hello, we’re here to kill the Rihogs!” Ghighi cheerfully informed an aphex attempting to assist a med team with a patient. 

“...Thanks?” The aphex asked, glancing to one side as they searched for an excuse to help Ghighi get lost. “If you fancy yourself good at fighting, can you stand guard by that tent over there? Tell ‘em you’re next for lookout duty.”

“Will do!” Ghighi nodded and headed off to do as he was told. 

Lookout duty wasn’t exactly taxing, all he had to do was look through a pair of busted binoculars that now functioned as a cracked telescope and tell whoever was below him whether he’s seen a rihog recently. The answer was no for most of the day until the sun set, after which time Ghighi handed the job off to some other questing traveler with a night vision affliction. 

Ghighi found Venni and the pets all curled up to sleep, so he snuggled down with the rest of them and tried to get some sleep. 

“Peep!” Album chirped. 

Ghighi cracked an eye open. He still felt groggy, and it was much darker than before. 

“Croooak!” Spike sounded oddly far. 

Ghighi sat up, squinting into the dark. 

Thip. Weeps was on Ghighi’s shoulder, and wasn’t moving much. 

Ghighi couldn’t see why, but Venni’s oxin senses could. A Rihog had come to the camp. 

It was twice Venni’s size, and most of the bulk was muscle. It lumbered slowly, as if on a carefree midnight stroll. It was making its way to where the medical team was treating patients. 

Ghighi put all of his pets onto Venni’s back, silently telling them to get to safety through their mind link. Venni trotted away, and Ghighi circled closer, trying to put himself between the rihog and the medbay. 

The rihog stopped, and so did Ghighi. Then, it suddenly turned and charged the houndling, and Ghighi turned his magic ice blast on the beast. It crashed into the ice beam and just kept going, Ghighi had to dive to the side to keep himself from getting bitten in half. 

The Rihog roared loud enough to wake the whole camp, and when the lights flickered back on Ghighi saw his opening. He aimed his ice beam one more time, and fired it when the huge beast had opened its mouth. The rihog swung its head around, disoriented, and with a few more ice blasts the rihog stumbled to a halt and fell into a deep sleep to conserve its body heat. 

The camp was grateful at first, but less grateful when morning came and the ice all melted into mush that made the campgrounds unusable. When they had all finally relocated to a less muddy spot, Ghighi was officially put on cold drinks duty to make sure he wouldn’t cause any more trouble.