Loki moved his hands clumsily.He pointed at his throat. Shook his head. Opened his mouth and tried to force sounds that did not exist.Nothing.
Glances began to cross.
The bald man ran a hand over the back of his neck and let out a long, tired sigh.
"Well…" he muttered. "This is new."
Some laughed quietly. It wasn't a cruel laugh. It was worse. Awkward. The kind that appears when no one knows what to say.
Frank turned his head toward the woman to his right. Black hair down to her shoulders, dark clothing, light armor covering only the essentials. Her eyes examined Loki with cold attention—without mockery… but without compassion either.
"What do you think, Filiana?"
She watched him for a few more seconds.
"He's a lost child," she said at last. "Nothing more."
Loki let his hands fall.
His fingers trembled.
He was tired of trying.
Then he heard a laugh.
Small. Clear.
A girl was looking at him from behind the group, her eyes shining.
"It's funny," she said, without malice. "It looks like he's dancing."
A few smiles appeared.
Loki felt heat rise to his face. He lowered his gaze.
I want to disappear.
The group was dressed alike. Adventurers. Worn clothes, weapons marked by use. All different, but united by the same exhaustion in their posture.
The red-haired woman frowned and turned immediately.
"Cielo. Silence."
She gave her a light tap on the head.
"He's not a toy. And not here. You're going to attract things we don't want."
The girl puffed out her cheeks, annoyed, but obeyed.
Silence returned.
Heavy.
Loki felt every gaze on him.
Frank looked him up and down. Torn clothes. Fresh scrapes. Dull eyes, far too old for such a small body.
"We can't leave him alone," he said finally. "Not in this desert."
No one contradicted him.
The group turned around and began to walk, as if the decision had already been made.
They weren't going to rest.
Loki hesitated.
He thought about running.
But the memory of the monster beneath the sand dug into his chest like a claw.
He moved.
He followed them.
He gripped the stick so tightly his fingers hurt.
The desert stretched under the cold light of the moon, silent, endless.
Suddenly, Frank stopped and turned toward him.
"Tell me something, kid," he said."Can you fight?"
Loki froze.
The teeth. The trembling ground. The desperate escape.
He swallowed.
He nodded slowly.
Even though, deep down… he wasn't sure it was true.
XXX
The footsteps were heavy.
Loki walked a few meters behind the group.
They didn't talk to him.
They talked about him.
The voices were low, whispers that didn't try very hard to hide. The girl and the red-haired woman walked together, laughing softly.
Loki clenched his teeth.
His hands tightened around the improvised stick. At its tip, green leaves swayed with every step, alive, out of place in that dead desert.
"Is that his weapon…?" someone murmured ahead.
Loki raised his gaze.
He saw the group's backs. Real weapons, worn, hanging naturally. Swords, spears, real steel.
Then he looked at his stick.
This stick cuts.
But they didn't know that.
That's why they laughed.
Loki quickened his pace.
Not to run away.
To get closer.
He moved beside the girl.
She noticed immediately.
Loki gave her a small, awkward, but sincere smile. Then he looked forward again, as if nothing had happened.
The girl blinked.
Hesitated for a second… and smiled back.
The murmuring changed.
Cielo didn't mock him again.
Frank observed the scene out of the corner of his eye, without saying anything.
"Filiana…" he murmured. "Did you see that?"
"Of course I did," she replied. "I'm not blind."
She looked at the girl. Then at Loki.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"Hey," said the lancer. "Since when does the grump smile?"
"Idiot."
She gave him a light punch on the arm.
The laughter grew.
Valeria argued with Cielo as they walked.
"Don't tell that!"
"But it was funny!" the girl replied. "The giant crab almost ate you!"
"It didn't eat me!"
"It tried!"
"And then you fell into the mud pit," Filiana added mercilessly.
"Enough!"
Frank let out a laugh.
"And the slime? Remember the slime?"
The group laughed.
Loki did too.
His lips moved. His chest vibrated.
But no sound came out.
Even so, Cielo looked at him… and laughed harder.
For a moment, Loki wasn't alone.
Then—
The ground trembled.
The laughter died instantly.
Sand and stones burst into the air. The air grew heavy.
Loki opened his eyes and pointed.
The creature had returned.
There was no time to react.
In a second, the group moved.
Frank in front.Filiana at his side.Valeria charged forward in a burst of speed, carrying her colossal sword over her shoulder.
Weapons were drawn.
They all stood in front of him.
Protecting him.
Loki watched in silence.
This is how you fight, he thought.
Frank clenched his teeth.
"Damn troublesome woman…"