The group walked back towards the cabin, all extremely happy and satisfied with their wash. Jacob felt like he lost a few pounds from the mud and soot leaving his body. His clothes felt brand new and hugged his body much easier. He walked back with Doc, who seemed to be a little quiet since they met the mountain man.

"Is everything all right, Doc? I can’t help but feel there’s something off with you lately."

"Sorry. It’s just that he was able to sneak up on me so easily. If he wasn’t friendly, there’s no chance that I would still be here right now. It’s quite a terrifying thought."

Jacob patted his back.

"I think I understand. If I was in your situation, I would feel the same. That just means we have to get stronger somehow."

"Thank you. Your concern means a lot. Things just seem to be moving so fast. It feels like just yesterday we were in the kingdom going about our everyday lives, and now we are out here with someone we hardly know and surrounded by potential fairytale monsters. It almost feels like we aren’t even from the same world once we left."

"Are you wondering why nobody in our kingdom knew about the outside?"

"That’s right. The king had to have known, right? Or maybe my brother?"

"If they did know, they probably had a good reason to hide the truth from us."

"It still doesn’t seem fair. And something else doesn’t make sense to me."

"What is it?"

"Why haven’t we had any monster attacks on the kingdom if they really do exist? Wouldn’t you think a large group of people would attract the attention of at least a few crazy beasts?"

This was a good point. If there were hundreds of thousands of humans, a beast may be able to pick up their scent from miles away and lead them to a human buffet.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Well, it seems like we are lacking an incredible amount of information for being such a large kingdom. However, if there’s a reason why monsters are avoiding us, I think I have a theory as to why that is."

"What are your thoughts?"

"Because there may be something stronger than them living in our walls."

Jacob’s heart dropped a bit.

"Do you mean the king?"

"I do not. Did you see that man’s power? I would argue it rivals the king himself, and even he struggled with a mere forest beast. What do you think that means for someone who is strong enough to scare a beast like that away?"

All of these questions seemed crazy, but there was no reason why it all couldn’t be true. However, if there really was someone that strong in the kingdom, something didn’t add up in Jacob’s mind.

"If there really was someone that strong, wouldn’t the king be able to sense him somehow?"

"I’m not so sure anymore. However, there’s another thought I wish to not even consider."

"And what would that be?"

Doc squinted his eyes and stared at Slimo’s back as he walked.

"That he’s lying about fighting these crazy beasts. However, after everything, I’m struggling to determine if I want them to be lies or not."

Jacob put his arm around Doc to comfort him.

"Everything will be okay. We still have each other at the end of the day, right?"

Doc let out a long sigh.

"You’re right. Sorry for being such a downer. It seemed like you all were having fun."

"It’s okay. But it’s never a bad thing to be suspicious. Sometimes, I feel we are too trusting as well."

Doc felt relieved to know that he wasn’t the only one who thought that trusting strangers immediately could be dangerous in the future. Jacob’s support meant more to him than he could have realized.

As the group were about to enter the cabin, they smelt something burning from the inside. Slimo’s face paled and he darted inside.

"I forgot to put out the fire before we left! Everyone, stay out here. I’ll take care of it!"

He ran inside and started stomping on some embers that jumped out of the fire pit in a hurry. To their incredible luck, they fire seemed to have hardly started, allowing for Slimo to put it out efficiently and without the need for water. The living room was slightly destroyed and now reeked of charcoal.

"Sorry guys, I don’t think anyone can sleep here. I have three rooms upstairs. I will stay down here and find somewhere to rest."

Everyone looked at each other.

"Three rooms? There’s four of us though." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Slimo looked at them confused.

"Aren’t you two married? What’s the issue?"

He pointed to Jacob and Maria. Both of them froze as his finger landed on them. Lidia walked over and put her arm around both of them.

"They may as well be. But I’m having Maria sleep with me. These two lovebirds have been going crazy without my supervision!"

Maria started blushing and punching her mom lightly.

"Stop saying things like that! It’s embarrassing and not even true!"

"Mhm. You can’t trick your mom, you know."

Doc slowly walked over and found a nice chair to sit down in the kitchen.

"It’s okay everyone. Maria can have a room to herself. I can keep Slimo company down here for the night."

Slimo seemed really grateful but insisted on Doc sleeping anyway.

"Are you sure? I’m an annoying talker when you get me going!"

Doc smiled pleasantly.

"That’s perfect. I think I will enjoy the conversations."

Lidia seemed a bit upset to not be sharing a room with her daughter but allowed it to happen anyway so they didn’t have to argue.

"I guess that works out then. But no funny business or I will find out! I always do, honey!"

She looked at Maria with round eyes.

"I know mom, you can stop looking at me like that now."

All three of them started walking up the stairs together. They creaked with every step they took. Right before Jacob followed Maria up, he gave one last look to Doc and Slimo.

"Do you guys want extra company?"

Slimo shook his head.

"Maybe another night. You’re young and need your rest. Now leave before I change my mind!!"

Jacob smiled brightly and continued up the steps. At the top, there was a small hallway with one door on each side and a third door at the end. Maria took the room on the left, Lidia took the one in the middle, and Jacob slowly made his way into the one on the right. Before either of them closed the door, Maria and Jacob looked at each other. Jacob was the first to speak.

"I’m really glad we got out of there. I started getting worried seeing how thin you were getting."

"I’m glad too. We couldn’t have done anything without your help."

"Thank you for carrying me when I couldn’t run. I... didn’t really mind it, truthfully. I actually kind of enjoyed it. It looks like my debt is only getting deeper!"

Maria slowly walked up to him. Her figure, her eyes, her lips, everything about her was alluring him. She slowly put her hands on his shoulders and looked at him with her jade eyes.

"You have already more than paid me back. How about we stop competing and call our debts even?"

Jacob’s smile grew harder looking at her.

"Deal."

She wrapped her arms around him and brought her mouth close to his ear.

"Goodnight, Jacob."

He hugged her back tightly and whispered back to her.

"Goodnight, Maria."

Lidia slammed open her door.

"AHA! I already caught you two and the night hasn’t even started!"

Both Maria and Jacob simply looked at her confused instead of embarrassed.

"We were just saying goodnight, mom. We’re sorry."

Lidia was slightly embarrassed by their calm demeanor.

"I... well just go to sleep already! We have long days ahead of us!"

Maria ran over to Lidia and gave her a big hug.

"Goodnight mom, I love you."

Lidia exploded with happy tears hearing Maria tell her that she loved her.

"I love you too my sweet daughter! I was just being difficult, please forgive my rudeness!"

Maria giggled and slowly walked back to her room. She gave Jacob one last wave before entering her room and closing the door gently.