"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave for five minutes longer"

  Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Philosopher

  By the time Milly and Xavier arrived back at the office in the early evening, the air finally cooling as the sun set in the distant west, they had slain another eight goblins. Enough for them to have leveled up once more. Milly put her points into agility after the final pair of goblins had moved fast enough to tear another strip across the back of her hoodie. The bottom of the precious hoodie below her naval was hanging on by a thread, and Milly had to cut it off completely. Now she wandered around with her midriff exposed to the world and there was nothing she could do about it.

  She had been comfortable enough around Xavier - he'd never gave her a second glance - but now, as they approached the tower, she grew increasingly self-conscious about her belly hanging out. She longed for the protective ambiguity of her undamaged hoodie.

  Her sense of modesty was forgotten when she saw the chaos at the tower. The lobby was full of people rushing around. Many lay seated on the floor of the lobby or on the steps outside, bloodied and bruised as others wrapped their wounds in gauze from first aid kits.

  Milly saw two men in shorts and sandals carrying a body from the lobby, its face loosely covered by a jacket, and laid it alongside another dozen at the intersection of the rainforest and prairies. The men’s faces looked exhausted, their last tears shed hours ago.

  “Xavier…” Milly began, rushing forward towards the lobby.

  “I know,” Xavier said, concerned. They sprinted to the tower.

  They were about to enter the lobby when an angry roar erupted from the jungle. Milly turned towards it, only to see Calista kneeling nearby, her fancy clothing and polished fingernails covered in blood. She was clutching a first aid kit to her chest.

  Has she been helping the injured? No way.

  Xavier rushed up to Calista, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Calista, what the hell was that roar?”

  “It’s back,” Calista whispered, eyes filled with fear. “We told them not to go. They didn't listen.”

  Xavier did not have time to ask for more. Three people in business suits burst from the jungle at full speed. Milly recognized them as three of the people who had gotten off the elevator as they left the lobby that morning.

  “Run! Everybody fucking run!” cried the man in the bright blue dress shirt and black tie. He was drenched in sweat and the spear clutched in his hands had been snapped in half. A woman in a pink blouse ran at his side, and an older man in a white shirt with monogrammed sleeves trailed behind.

  On their heels, erupting from the jungle with a violent snap of branches and footsteps that rumbled the ground with each step, came a ten-foot tall, massive humanoid monster, hairy knuckles gripping a thick branch as a club. It was pale and broad, easily over five hundred pounds. It had two large teeth that stuck out of its mouth, which was curled up into a sadistic grin.

  Xavier hauled Milly behind the nearest tree, its trunk wide enough to conceal them both. “Shit, Milly, that’s an ogre. Another staple in video games. Dumb as a brick, but vicious and tough as nails. What the hell were they doing?”

  “They…they thought they could kill it,” came a whisper from Calista, still standing in the open beside the tree. “It killed their friends this morning. They were distraught and got into their law firm’s liquor cabinet. They wanted revenge. We tried to stop them but… but…”

  “And just how did that go?” Xavier asked sarcastically.

  As if to answer his question, the ogre swung its club and struck the older man with the monogrammed sleeves square in the back. The man sailed forward, body broken, and struck a tree twenty feet away. They could hear the snap of the man’s bones, and Milly watched the man crumple to the ground, his neck snapped at an unnatural angle.

  “Those complete fools,” exclaimed Xavier, removing all the goblin spears they had collected over the course of the afternoon afternoon and resting them against the trunk of the tree.

  Milly watched fear take hold of people as they dashed for the lobby or found cover. A few, like Calista, simply froze in place, unable to move as the monstrosity barreled forward. Milly felt a touch of unwelcome sympathy for Calista at that moment, remembering her first encounter with the goblin.

  As Xavier removed the last spear, Milly watched in horror as the ogre reached forward with his open hand and snatched the man in the blue shirt, lifting him effortlessly into the air. He squirmed desperately as the ogre set his club against a tree and smirked. The ogre grabbed the man’s head in his meaty palms as the man pleaded for help, his voice growing frantic as the ogre squeezed. The pleading abruptly stopped as the ogre crushed the man’s skull. Smiling like a toddler, the monstrocity licked blood and brain from its fingers before he held the body by his feet and slammed it against the ground until little remained but a pile of meat and bone.

  Milly felt fear and anger at war inside her, and anger won. “Xavier, we need to do something,” she declared, grabbing two of the spears that Xavier had leaned against the tree.

  “Yes, I know. Fuck, why did they have to lead it here? There are a hundred ways to kill an ogre that don’t involve getting drunk and walking up to it looking for a fight. What I wouldn’t give for a conveniently placed trip line or pitfall trap right now.”

  Xavier ducked his head out, scanning the area. “Ok, you go left. I’ll go right. Keep your distance. If we get close, we’ll end up as meat like that guy. Got it?”

  Milly nodded quickly, grabbing two more spears and dashing to a nearby tree north of the ogre, fifty paces away from the lobby entrance. She watched Xavier take a flanking position, as they had with goblins all afternoon, and waited for his signal.

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  Calista’s scream quickly altered their plan. The ogre had seen her standing in the open, frozen in place. It licked its lips, dropped the man’s beaten corpse ,and rushed at full speed towards Calista, his next victim.

  “Calista run! Damn you, run!” Milly shouted, jumping out from her cover as she threw her first spear. It struck the right side of the ogre’s chest, burying itself deep. The ogre quickly forgot about Calista and turned its attention towards her.

  Milly threw her second spear, striking the ogre’s left leg, and rushed over to Calista, still frozen in place. Milly shoved her, trying to snap her out of her fear-driven immobility. When that didn’t work, Milly slapped her across the cheek, hard.

  Milly expected to see hate in Calista’s eyes when she finally turned her head. Instead, Calista meekly nodded and ran towards the lobby.

  “Foolish ditz,” whispered Milly, dashing back to her spears just as Xavier’s first and second throws struck the ogre square in the back. It roared, twisting to locate his new assailant, and in the process caught two of the embedded spears on hanging vines. The spears were torn from its body, taking large chunks of flesh with them. The ogre roared in pain, swinging wildly at anything within reach.

  Milly stepped out from her cover once more, another spear flying. Xavier did the same, and soon the Ogre found itself trapped between the bombardments, unable to decide which target to commit to. Milly and Xavier took full advantage of its confusion, and a cheer start to emanate from the people watching from the lobby.

  “Dumb as a brick,” whispered Milly. “Xavier was right again. I must never let him know.” She threw another spear into the ogre’s chest and saw its eyes flash in white hot anger. She waited for it to turn towards Xavier again, but his spear never came.

  She glanced behind the ogre at Xavier. He was out, fumbling to draw his rusted sword from his inventory.

  “Ah, shit,” Milly swore, dashing away as the ogre committed to her and barreled forward in blind fury. It bled from a dozen serious wounds but still it drove on, its blood drenching the forest floor.

  Milly threw her last spear and drew her mallet from her inventory, never slowing or looking back at the bulldozer behind her. Branches snapped and rocks crumbled in its wake and Milly’s eyes darted around for anything to help. She kept her mind working, so the crushing fear could not take root.

  She spotted a thick tangle of vines running between two banana trees. What had Xavier said about a well-placed trip line? She dashed towards it, signaling her intent to Xavier.

  She reached it just as the ogre closed within grabbing distance. She leapt as high as she could, clearing the three-foot-high vines with surprising ease thanks to her enhanced strength and agility, and hit the ground with a roll.

  As the ogre leaned forward, his feet caught on the vines. It gave a guttural roar of surprise as it lost its balance, fell forward and landed hard, nearly crushing Milly’s feet with its thick skull.

  Milly scrambled to her feet as Xavier arrived, sword in hand, slashing at the ogre’s flesh with expert strikes courtesy of his sword talent. He struck blow after blow on the ogre’s back and limbs, waiting for an opportunity to strike its throat. The ogre bellowed in rage and pain, and Milly held her breath as Xavier found his opening and struck.

  A wild swing of the ogre's fist caught Xavier in the chest before the final blow landed and he was hurled backwards. Xavier gasp in pain as he landed hard on the forest floor.

  Milly didn't stop to think. She swung her mallet hard, shattering the ogre’s nose. Its angry bellow caused the leaves in the canopy far above to shake. Milly sped away, confident she had its attention so it would not go after Xavier.

  Unfortunately, she had no plan beyond that. She was out of spears. Out of options. She could feel the heavy stomps of the ogre behind her, growing closer by the second. She chanced a glance at Xavier, heart dropping as she watched him trying to rise to his feet only to fall back down.

  “Mil-dead, over here!”

  Milly turned, eyes wide in surprise. Calista was stumbling out of the lobby, carrying a rusted spear. Her eyes were filled with fear, but she kept running forward towards Milly and the rampaging ogre.

  “Catch!” Calista shouted as she threw the spear to Milly.

  Using the last of her strength, Milly caught the spear in mid-air, turned, and hurled it as hard as she could just as the ogre leap forward to grab her.

  Milly felt the little finger of the ogre’s meaty grip graze her side. It was enough to knock the wind out of her and shove her into Calista empty arms. Calista wrapped her arms protectively around Milly as they both fell to the ground.

  The ogre slammed into the ground beside them, skidding forward and leaving a deep groove until its momentum came to a halt. Milly's final spear was pierced deep into its eye.

  Utter silence fell around them. Milly stared at the ogre, counting the heartbeats in her chest. A few seconds later, the lobby erupted into a cascade of cheers and whistles from the crowd sheltered behind the glass.

  Milly leaned back in Calista’s arms, exhausted and gasping for air. Every muscle burned, and every fiber of her being cried out for rest.

  But she was alive.

  She felt alive.

  She felt so very alive!

  Calista still had her arms around Milly, her eyes never leaving the ogre. “Mil-dead…um…Milly. Are you okay? Do you need…um… anything?”

  Milly suddenly realized whose arms she was resting in and bolted upright. She looked at Calista’s blood-covered yet somehow still pretty face, as she tried to form a response. But all she managed to squeak out was “Water, please.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right back,” Calista said, removing her arms from around Milly’s waist.

  Milly looked down at herself, covered in sweat and blood, her stomach sticking out from her torn hoodie. She tried to pull her hoodie down, embarrassed and self-conscious of her bare midriff as the cheers continued, but all she managed to do was further tear her hoodie. She gave up just as Xavier hobbled over and gave her a weak thumbs up.

  “I got two more levels, Milly. Worth it,” he said weakly, then coughed sharply as he tried to inhale. “Shit, I think I broke a rib. I’ll need you to heal me tonight.”

  “Sure,” she whispered through her utter exhaustion. “Sure Xavier, no problem.”

  Xavier stumbled into the lobby, and the roar of the cheers increased. Xavier ignored them and headed straight to the elevator without acknowledgement.

  Milly popped open the message she knew was waiting.

  She left the ring, automatically looted from the ogre, in her inventory. She just laid on her back and stared up at the canopy, watching brightly billed parrots glide between the branches.

  Calista arrived with water a few minutes later and Milly gulped it down like she had not had any for days. Her hands still clutched at the bottom of her hoodie, trying to pull it down over her fat, until Calista gripped her hand gently and moved it away.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Calista said softly. “I…I’m sorry I’ve treated you so poorly. I…I’m just sorry.”

  “All I had to do was kill a ten-foot-tall monster to earn that, huh?” Milly replied, with more venom than she intended.

  “I… yah… I’ll just go then. Um… thanks for saving us, Milly,” she stammered, as she walked slowly back to the lobby.

  “Thanks… thanks for the spear,” Milly called to her, not knowing what else to say.

  “Oh, you’re welcome. And, for what it’s worth, I kind of dig the cutoff hoodie vibe. It gives you a real apocalyptic badass look. You… you look good, Milly.”

  Milly was surprised at the compliment, but Calista was already headed back to the lobby. Milly thought she caught a glimpse of red in Calista’s cheeks as she turned away.

  Was that a blush?

  The Non-Canonical Adventures: