“There’s only one way to kill a heliskrat.” Rise handed her his bag. “We need to bury it in the sand.”
Liv didn’t like the idea of killing any living creature that didn’t deserve it. “Maybe we don’t kill it? I mean, it’s probably just defending its territory. Or maybe it has a young one nearby.”
“This ismyterritory! I made this dimension.”
“Say we didn’t have a conscience and we wreaked utter havoc wherever we went, do we even have the ability to kill it with what we currently have with us?”
“Seriously? Says the mercenary daughter of an evil tyrant. I have a conscience! I have a well-developed conscience, thank you very much. No, we don’t have what we would need to kill the creature. The creature that’s trying to kill us, I might add, but there’s something else that will at least slow it down.”
He felt the first rumblings on the ground and knew his plan would work. It had been a long shot to even think that Nick could find Coop, but he had sent the horse to look anyway.
“What now?”
As they crouched behind a boulder, he watched her swivel around to assess the situation behind them. He knew what she saw even as he continued to watch the progress of the heliskrat instead. Coop was huge. At least fifteen feet high and five feet across, he was literally a giant. He didn’t have a drop of hair on top of his head and had a forehead that had folds of wrinkles that practically covered his small, dark eyes. Coop’s nose was bulbous and crooked and beneath it, his mouth barely contained his large teeth. He, also, swung a large tree back and forth, no doubt. It was his usual choice of weapon. His body was muscular and wide, like a running brick wall. He was an intimidating sight, which was exactly what they needed.
“Um. Rise, what do we do about that?”
Nick probably ran far behind him because Coop took incredibly long strides when he ran, so she had no idea that this was why Rise had sent Nick away—to find Coop. The fact that he had so quickly was a miracle.
“We say our thanks.”
“What do you--”
But she didn’t have a chance to finish her question as Coop took a giant leap over their heads and landed in front of the boulders behind which they had taken shelter. He gave a mighty roar and swept the twenty-foot-long tree trunk at the heliskrat, sending it skidding and rolling over the rocky ground.
“Friend of yours?”
Rise watched the heliskrat regain its balance and lift to its four legs, shake its head, and charge back toward Coop. Like the scariest of nightmares, Coop opened his mouth and gave an immeasurably loud yell that blasted the heliskrat with a mightywind that went on for a full thirty seconds or more. By the time he had finished his roar, the heliskrat was a skinny, cowering thing that looked like a four-legged piece of charred wood. Coop raised his weapon to attack once more, but he never had to. The heliskrat yelped loudly and turned to run away. Beneath the black of its skin, a slight orange glow seemed to shift and roll but didn’t ignite as the creature retreated just as quickly as it had given chase.
Rise stood up and Liv did the same. He called out to Coop, “I think we’re finally even, my friend.”
The giant warrior turned, his breathing heavy and strained. He searched and found the people behind him. His beady eyes honed in on Rise.
He gave a toothy smile and said, “Riiiseerion! You alive!”
“Yes, thanks to you. You made it just in time.”
“Coop came to help!”
“You didn’t just help, Coop. You fucking saved us.”
“Yeah! You too puny to scare a heliskrat. Only Coop save you.”
“Yeah, yeah! You’re as strong as ten of me together. But don’t forget who gave you permission to stay here. You’ve made this dimension your home, and I’m just glad I had the sense to let you.”
“Nick found me. Knew Riserion needed Coop.”
“Again, thanks, friend. You really saved my ass.”
Liv slipped up beside Rise, and he felt his muscles tighten just having her nearby.
Coop whistled loudly. “Who pretty woman? Riserion’s girlfriend?”
A heated glance was exchanged between Rise and Liv before he cleared his throat and explained, “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s…she’s…”
“I’m his prisoner.”
“What you do to Riserion?”
