Relief filled his chest.
“What’s with the slugs?” Mathlin blurted, looking around.
“Valberdon.” Titan spat the vile taste out of his mouth. “He’s dead. But before that, he summoned... an ocean of these things. Flesh-eating.”
Mathlin groaned. “How the hell are we supposed to kill all these? There must be hundreds of them!”
The slugs surged closer. They began to crawl up the bakery walls; Titan barely managed to shut the back door before the slugs could attempt to break through the barrier spells.
A chorus of howls filled the air. Titan watched with relief as several wolves appeared at the edge of the forest, eyeing the slugs.
“Mathlin’s safe!” Titan called out. “But the slugs are flesh-eating. Please help.”
“Ew,” Gavric said. “You owe me so many toothbrushes.”
“And mouthwash,” Vigil said.
“And dental floss,” Crush added.
“I should’ve stayed home,” Ottis mumbled.
In the distance, a shape grew larger in the sky. Flapping wings. As it drew closer, Titan realized it was a pterodactyl with two dark shapes on its legs.
Amidst the chaos of wolves tearing into slugs, the pterodactyl swooped down, dropping Uriel onto the ground next to them.
“Titan?” Uriel scanned their surroundings, his magic humming. He had several scars all over his body, lighter than his original skin. From a distance, the scars blended together to make Uriel appear paler than he actually was.
“I killed the wizard. Used up your entire stack of spells; it was the shield-piercer that let me get through. Thanks.” Titan sagged against Mathlin, his relief growing. “Do you think you could magic away the slugs?”
Uriel winced and looked around. “I’m going to need a while, but it can be done. Just hold them off in the meantime.”
“Woohoo!” Telos said, swinging a human Mav from his other leg.
Mav opened his mouth and breathed a stream of fire at the slugs, crisping up some of them.
Before Titan could thank the alpha pair, rumbling sounds caught his attention. Cars were pulling up in front of the bakery, townsfolk pouring out of them—Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Gonal, and Mr. Salem, along with several others who had shown up at Yasmin’s party. Leading them with a huge pitchfork was Mrs. Everdin.
“Where’s the bad guy?” Everdin yelled.
“Dead,” Titan called back. “But he left these slugs. Be careful, they’re flesh-eating!”
“Charge!” Everdin bellowed.
With a chorus of battle cries, the townsfolk raised their yard tools and headed into the fray.
Mathlin leaned into Titan’s side, rubbing his belly. “This is crazy. Everyone showed up to help.”
“If I’d known we were coming to fight giant slugs, I would’ve brought more people,” Telos said, still flying above them. “I don’t want slug goop on my bare feet.”
Mav rolled his eyes. Mathlin giggled. Titan watched as his friends and family tackled the slugs, finally breathing out the adrenaline from his fight.
“You’re safe,” he murmured, burying his nose in Mathlin’s hair.
“I am.” Mathlin beamed. “And you owe me something.”
30
A PROPER COURTSHIP
