Bam fled for her life down a narrow path between two stone buildings, the heavy footsteps of her pursuers pounding into the packed dirt. She skidded around a corner, hooves flailing, then shot down the larger road, surprised people shouting as they jumped out of the way. A vendor had a small stall with produce, so Bam veered off to the side, almost knocking an elderly lady off her feet, and dashed towards it.

The stall owner saw her coming and panicked, leaning over his goods to protect them with his arms. She tried to weave her head in between them but failed and ended up smacking head first into the man. The stall rocked, a carrot fell free, but before it hit the ground Bam had snatched it up between her teeth. Shouting came from nearby, and she turned, carrot half in her mouth, to see two men and a woman charging down the street after her.

Bam swallowed, choked, coughed up a chunk of half chewed carrot, then started running again. Heat built within her as she broke free from the crowd, and in a flash of light she blinked up onto the roof of a nearby home, hooves clattering against baked clay tiles. She smugly glanced down at her pursuers, only to see a broad man with small curved horns protruding from his head flying towards her, lightning wreathing his body, sword half drawn.

She panicked and slipped, falling onto her side and tumbling down the roof. The man overshot her and landed a few metres away, and a wall of shimmering wind appeared before Bam as he raised a hand. In a panic the deer blasted twin beams of light from her eyes, slicing them back and forth across the barrier.

“Oh no.” One of her enemies, the woman still on the street cried. “Olav, drop the skill, she just set the barn on fire!”

The barrier dropped, and Bam scrambled forward. The roof continued on seamlessly to connect it to the next building, so she ran as fast as she could. It was only when she fell through the tiles as if they weren’t there that Bam realised she had been tricked. The alley between homes was narrow and dark, and it was occupied by a man with a spear, the weapon’s tip pointed down.

“It’s over, come peacefully.” He said, rainbow light flowing between his fingers.

Bam glared at him defiantly, then teleported through the nearby wall, bursting into the living room of a home and promptly tipping over two chairs, slamming into a cabinet and knocking a ceramic jar filled with grey powder onto the floor.

She fled, crashing into furniture as she made for the far wall, but her legs got tangled in a woven carpet. Bam let out a squeal of impotent rage, then teleported once again, leaving a smoldering mark where she had just been, her soul twinging from skill overuse. She hated houses, this was why she couldn’t be blamed when they burnt down. A quick detour into a pantry later, she emerged onto the street, her face covered in flour and a line of sausages dangling around her neck.

People stopped and gawked, one woman clutched her two babies to her chest. Then lightning cracked and the big idiot with the stupid sword fell from the roof, his landing kicking up a cloud of dust. He raised a hand, and a blast of wind cleared the air around him, making ornaments hanging from nearby homes jingle and the sausages around Bam’s neck flap wildly.

“You will learn to deal with the consequences of your actions.” The big mean idiot said.

Never. Bam thought, then she turned and started running as fast as she could. If her problems couldn’t catch her, then they didn’t exist.

Unfortunately she sprinted straight into the path of an oncoming cart, the large vehicle being pulled by a lumbering beast down the road. It was like a bolt of lightning struck her brain, and Bam froze, suddenly unsure what to do. The cart rattled forward, and it took several terrifying seconds for the driver to notice her. The man, his beard bright red and gangly, yelled and tugged on the reins, the yak pulling the cart letting out a bleat as it lurched, not to a stop, but off to the side.

When Bam’s brain finally unfroze the vehicle had come to a stop, its front wheels parked on the grass growing alongside the road. Bam lurched into motion, legs flailing, and ran headfirst into the side of the cart, promptly knocking herself unconscious.

===

Bam floated, or maybe swam, within a sea of darkness for what felt like moments and an eternity before she jolted awake, eyes wild and searching. But things were still dark, strangely so, even though the heat of the day was radiating down upon her, and the packed dirt beneath her body was definitely that of the road. Her head hurt, and her soul ached, and it took her several painful seconds to figure out what had happened. She tried to move, but found her legs stuck, all four of them. Bam panicked, this was bad, it must be the dreaded rope.

They got me. She thought, frantic. Then a second thought went through her mind a moment later, likely just as important. Where are the sausages?

“You really gotta take better care of yer pet lad.” Someone was saying. “It damn near scared me to death when I saw it run out in front of me cart.”

“Right… sorry sir.” Olav said. “She’s untrainable, we’ve tried so damn much. But once we run out of food she stops listening.”

Bam raged, she was fury incarnate, a burning fire of indignance and power. How dare they speak of her like this? She was mighty, the strongest of all- she smelt something and opened her mouth, tongue eagerly licking at what tasted like melon.

“Calm down, we caught you fair and square.” Samil said, his hand brushing her upper back. “And please don’t try to burn away the blindfold, it won’t work since it doesn’t really exist.”

Bam chewed once, twice, then tried to burn away the blindfold covering her eyes. Nothing happened. She grunted, at least the melon was tasty.

“Look here, you can see a dent where it ran into the side of my cart. I wasn’t even movin, I swear.”

“Yes, well. Bam is unfortunately an idiot.” Olav said rudely. “You hear me, you stupid gods damn animal?”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Bam did, but she ignored him. He was the stupid gods damn animal, and the melon was too yummy for her to seek out revenge. At least for now, she would eat his socks later.

Hurried footsteps approached, and for a moment Bam thought her saviors had arrived. Surely she would soon be free. This whole situation was unfair anyway, it hadn’t even been completely her fault this time.

“Oh Bam, what did you do?” A voice asked directly into her mind. An annoyingly familiar voice. Bam slumped, there would be no escape this time, only a lecture. A terribly annoying lecture.

She tried to make one of the word sounds the two legs used to communicate, but her mouth was full of melon so it didn’t work. Well, it wouldn’t have worked anyway, she couldn’t speak, the annoying squigglies hadn’t given her that power yet.

Instead she projected the most innocent thing she could think of, pushing the image into the forefront of her mind so Lani could read it. There was a pause in the mental connection between them, as if the other deer had taken a step back with her mind.

“Why are you thinking of people serving you food?” Lani asked finally. “And why are they naked?”

Because I ate all their clothes. Bam thought smugly.

“Hey little brother.” Samil said from somewhere next to her. “How was class? Oh, you too Roy, you two learn much today?”

Wait, Han is here. Bam thought, suddenly alert. He would definitely save her, of all the stupids he was like, the leastest of them. And Roy was always looking for something to eat, this was perfect.

“Yeah it was okay. The guardian dropped off a dead guy half way through class.” Han said.

“What?” Samil exclaimed.

“He’ll get better.”

Bam squirmed, trying to free herself, it didn’t work. She started rubbing her head against the ground to remove her blindfold, which must have looked ridiculous.

Someone knelt beside her, and a small hand started rubbing her fur. “Was it arson again?” Roy asked, as gentle and understanding as ever.

“No, we caught her trying to sneak into the apothecary, again.”

Roy sighed, and he patted her shoulder. “Bam, what would Leif do if he saw you acting like this?”

Bam froze, that question was unfair. But if anybody else knew the tasty protector it was definitely Roy. After all, he had smelt really good after falling out of the sky. She thought about it. Really thought about it. Then she started flailing around like a dead fish. Leif would feed her, then give her scritches, then help her commit arson. She was sure of it.

“Whatever idea you just had, it was definitely wrong.” Lani said treasonously into Bam’s mind.

It wasn’t wrong. Bam tried to think back, but her head was still swimming. I am always correct. Even when I’m not.

===

“One of the hunting parties ran into a pack of undead a day or so to the east. They were hiding in a cellar in one of the destroyed villages. It’s the first sighting in about a month, which is both good and bad, though mostly good.” Samil said, his hands stretched out towards the fire. “Obviously we’re safe from low level undead while near the domain tree, so they don’t pose a threat to anyone living here. They definitely gave the hunting party a scare though, a bunch of undead goblin’s suddenly rushing you from a cluster of ruined and long abandoned houses, terrifying.”

“I feel like we’re going to be encountering undead for decades.” Liv said, the white haired demikin leaning up against the illusion user. “They’re almost impossible to stamp out completely.”

“If it's a fight, we just need to rise to the challenge.” Olav said, waving a leg of chicken in the air, the scent of the seasoning used when cooking it wafting into the air.

Bam started to drool, which made her thirsty, which in turn made her hungry. Her eyes tracked the meat with keen intensity as the large man took a huge bite.

“Where did the undead even come from? Was it because of the war? How did the dungeon even come into existence?” Roy asked, his own gaze on the conversation, a mostly empty bowl in his lap.

“It’s a good question. I have no idea.” Samil said, smiling at the younger boy. “Are you interested in dungeons? You ask about it a lot.”

Roy flushed and looked away. “Uh, not really. It’s just… it just seems important, you know?”

“I want a dungeon.” Han said, jumping to his feet and almost knocking over a bottle. “I wanna fight monsters with a big sword, or something like this.” He punched towards the fire. “It would be so cool.”

“Not as fun as you think it is, little brother. Only the truly strong can enter a dungeon and survive.” Samil said, reaching out to tug Han away from the bottle. Liv snatched it, then Olav snatched it from her. Bam thought it was definitely wine, she could smell it.

“I know that our revered ancestor found one up in the mountains.” Olav said, his tone boastful. “He told me himself, said it was full of yeti the size of houses!”

“Woah!” Han said. “That’s so cool.”

Bam wondered what yeti tasted like. She might need to go up the mountains to find out.

“Now, now. I wouldn’t put too much stock in what that old goat says.” Kala said, the elderly woman hobbling over to the campfire. She eyed the wine, then her gaze flicked up to Bam. “He once told me that he won a game of cards against a dragon. And that was only a week after your father taught him what card games were. He’s terrible at them by the way.”

Olav shrugged. “Perhaps the honoured ancestor works faster than you know.”

Kala sniffed. “I’m sure. I hope you kids haven't been going too hard on the booze, it isn’t good for you.”

“Grandmother, we’re adults.” Samil said.

“Keep telling yourself that, dear.”

“I’m an adult too." Han said with a cheer.

“Not quite, you’re seven.” Samil corrected.

“Aww.”

Kala started grumbling about the half dead man Ram had abandoned right next to her lesson, and the conversation continued from there. Bam watched as the food was eaten, the drink dried up, and the fire slowly died out as the evening went on. She did so from the branch of the domain tree she was hanging upside down from.

When everyone had departed the bluff and the moon had risen, Bam had been left dangling, a gentle breeze making her sway from side to side. The occasional passing animal gave her a curious look, and a pair of birds briefly settled onto her horns before Bam had shaken her head violently to scare them off. She simmered upside down for the entire night, plotting her revenge.

It was because of her vantage up next to the domain tree, that when the fire started in the nearby valley, she was the first to notice. She watched as it grew from a faint orange light in the distance, more than pleased that nobody would be able to blame her this time. But the fire kept growing, a blaze that began to spread across the nearby hill, and a small seed of worry grew in her heart.