“Do you smell that?” Bunny asked with a look of disgust. “Something stinks.”

I sniffed the air and caught the scent she was referring to. It did stink, but in a familiar and almost comfortable way that vaguely reminded me of my childhood.

“That,” Turtle announced, “smells like fresh organic fertilizer.”

“It smells like a farm,” I agreed.

I looked around but didn’t see the source of the scent. What I did see were a lot of grassy fields that were broken up by numerous large rock formations. There were no animals in sight.

Now that we were all cleaned, rested, and fed, we were back on the road, following both the path and the guidance of the little mirror ball that the Guide had given me. I felt a lot better than I had in some time, and I knew that I wasn’t the only one. A nice bath, even in cold water, was better than being caked with mud and filth.

What I had been pleased to discover was that our clothes had all dried much faster than they should have. I suspected that this was an unmentioned benefit of the safety zone, or perhaps, the Labyrinth’s way of hurrying us on our way. Whatever the reason, I was thankful for it.

“At least we don’t have to hurry as much,” Ace said. “Since we don’t need to follow their dead monsters anymore, we can take our time occasionally.”

“We may not have to worry about their monster trail,” Maya pointed out before I could, “but we still have to hurry.”

“Remember,” I told him, “Raze is after some kind of power, and if he gets it before we find him. Well…”

“I don’t know what kind of power Raze is after,” Olivia said, “but I am certain that it would be bad news for everyone else. Us included.”

“Us especially,” Tank agreed.

“He’s dangerous enough as it is,” Bunny stated firmly. “They all are.”

She paused to scratch Sir Fluff behind the ears. The large rabbit seemed to enjoy that because he leaned into it and let out a contented sigh.

It was just a minute later when Ace abruptly exclaimed, “Monsters.”

“Where?” Bunny demanded. Sir Fluff was immediately standing in front of her, sword drawn and ready.

Ace pointed off into the distance, where I saw what looked like a very large and hairy cow. Or bull. It had very large horns.

“So,” Bunny said with a sigh. “Now we have to fight giant wooly cows.”

“Let me get my red cape,” Turtle joked.

“I think its an auroch,” Maya said, squinting for a better look.

“A what?” Ace asked.

“A prehistoric cow,” Maya explained. “They’re extinct.”

“Well, it hasn’t seen us yet,” I pointed out.

Then I noticed something. The massive cow…the auroch, was munching on grass, just like any other cow. It took me a few seconds to realize what that meant.

“I think it’s a real animal,” I said. “NOT a monster.”

There were some major differences between monsters and real animals. For one, monsters were ‘kill or be killed’ at all times. They were always aggressive, and they seemed to have absolutely no survival instincts. They would keep attacking, even when it became obvious that they had no chance of winning or surviving. Real animals, on the other hand, had plenty of survival instincts and were more than willing to run away from a serious threat.

Of course, there was also the fact that I had never seen an herbivore monster before, and I seriously doubted that they even existed. Since that cow…auroch was eating grass, it could only be a real animal.

We’d seen real animals in the Labyrinth before, though not often. Those animals were usually things like birds and squirrels, creatures that were able evade or hide from monsters long enough to stay alive. This was the first time that I’d seen a real animal of this size, and I had absolutely no idea how it could have survived the monsters.

“And that is where the smell comes from,” Turtle said, gesturing to the grazing animal. “And there.” He pointed to another auroch in the distance. “And there.”

“Interesting,” I commented. “Very interesting.”

As we moved down the path, we saw even more aurochs out in the field. That was strange enough, but what was even stranger was the fact that we began seeing fences, stone fences that stood about four feet tall. Many of these fences created a lattice of grids, some of which contained aurochs while others contained gardens or fruit trees.

“Is someone actually farming in here?” Turtle asked in surprise. “Or is this just another Labyrinth setting?”

“The Guide told us that the Labyrinth swallowed up areas of other worlds,” I pointed out. “This might be one of those.”

The idea was mind boggling, especially since everything looked active and cared for. A chill ran up my spine as I considered exactly what that suggested.

“Look,” Bunny exclaimed.

Bunny pointed to a structure that looked like a grid square, which was much smaller than the others that we’d seen, but with walls that had to be twice as high. The stone walls were about eight feet high, so we couldn’t see past to tell what was inside.

“I hear growling inside,” Bunny whispered, her eyes going wide. “I think… I think that’s a corral for monsters.”

“She’s right,” Turtle agreed. “Look at the way those other walls narrow in…like they’re funneling something into it.”

“Could be more of those wooly cows,” Ace suggested, but his tone indicated that he wasn’t convinced himself.

“I hear growling and clawing at stone,” Bunny insisted. “It sounds like monsters trying to get out.”

“Wow,” Maya said, letting out a whistle. “That is one novel way of dealing with monsters.”

“Contain them,” Olivia stated.

“Lure them into a kill box,” I said, having done something like that myself in the past. “Get them all in one place, and it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. Especially if you have enough firepower.”

“Or JUST contain them,” Olivia said. “If you kill them, they just come back. But if you just lock them up…”

“That…makes sense,” I said, impressed by the very idea. “With all those fenced in areas, they contain any monsters that pop up… Then, they just need to control the right gates and lure them through…”

“And lock them all up in that one,” Maya finished, looking at the extra tall one.

I nodded at that. “While I’d love to go in for a closer look…and to verify if there really are monsters in there…” I paused to look at the others. “We really don’t have time for that right now.”

Maya nodded that. “True. But the whole setup…” She paused before shaking her head. “If we set up something like this around all the entrances, we might be able to contain some of the monsters a little better.”

“That is a LOT of area to fence in when you don’t have machinery,” I pointed out. “But there might be something we can do with it.”

After this, we saw even more signs of civilization. There were more monster corals, stone watch towers, and even small buildings. However, we didn’t see a single person, just more of those aurochs.

Then we saw the monsters, trapped inside a couple of the fenced areas. They were short and squat, vaguely resembling turtles with spikes sticking out in all directions. It looked like they couldn’t get past the stone walls, and these particular ones had yet to be lured into the taller containment corals.

“Where are the people?” Tank asked. “Who is running all this?”

“I don’t know where the people are,” Bunny said in a grim tone. “But I do see bodies.”

“Bodies?” Ace asked, immediately raising his scepters.

A minute later, we came to the bodies, a half dozen slaughtered aurochs that were scattered about just beside the path. They had been chopped to pieces by a large blade. We immediately recognized the signature.

“The bodies are cold,” Maya pointed out after examining a couple of the carcasses. “If these had been monsters, they would have melted already.”

“This confirms we’re on the right trail,” I said.

Ace snorted. “Considerate of them to let us know.”

We moved on down the path where we quickly came to a crossroads and even more evidence of our enemies. There were another three dead aurochs, along with two more bodies that looked human at first glance.

“What the fuck?” Ace demanded.

I crouched down beside the first body, that of a very short and stocky man. He had been five-feet tall at most, with a thick and rotund build that made his torso almost barrel shape. His skin was grey, the color of fireplace ash, and it was thick and leathery, making me think of elephant hide. There was a thick beard, which was a darker grey than the skin. And then there were his hands, which each had a thumb and three fingers.

“What is this guy?” Ace asked.

“He looks like some kind of dwarf,” Bunny said.

I nodded at that, though I didn’t know what the man had been, other than not human. He had been mostly human in shape, but all the details were off. What I did know was that the body didn’t show any signs of melting. This was not a monster.

The second body was very much like the first, though obviously female. She had the same short and stocky build, with leathery grey skin. And unlike the man, she’d been armed. Her hand was still clenched tightly around a strangely shaped short sword, one that reminded me a bit of a khopesh.

Both of them were dressed in brightly colored clothes that were actually a bit garish, or at least, they had been before they’d been killed. I absently wondered if the bright clothes were compensation, or overcompensation for their drab natural color.

“They don’t look like dwarves to me,” Ace said.

Bunny gave him a flat look. “Have you ever seen dwarves before? Maybe this is what they really look like.”

“Maybe they were something else entirely,” Olivia suggested. “Something that we’ve never heard of.”

Bunny almost pouted at that as she muttered, “I still think they’re dwarves.”

“Now we know who was taking care of these cows,” Turtle said.

“I doubt they were alone,” Olivia quickly added. “Which begs the question of, where are the other people?”

“By the look of these two,” Maya said with a deep scowl, “you can bet that it won’t be anywhere good.”

I held out the silvery sphere and felt it tugging me towards one of the side paths which intersected the one we’d been on. Then I stared down that path, seeing a large stone structure in the distance. It looked like it might be some kind of castle or fortress, which was probably a large part of how these people had survived the monsters.

“It looks like we have our destination,” Maya said, noticing where my attention was. “Do you think they’re still there?”

“That is where this thing is pointing,” I responded, glancing at the sphere. “They’re either in that fortress…or somewhere on the other side of it. We won’t know for sure until we take a closer look.”

Bunny was staring intently at the structure, then she let out a brief muttered curse. “Damn. It looks like there is some kind of hole in the wall…”

“What do you mean?” Turtle asked.

The summoner continued to stare for a few more seconds before answering, “It looks like something melted a big hole right through the stone.”

“Something?” Olivia sked with a raised eyebrow. “Something like a shaper?”

“Yeah,” Bunny admitted. “That is exactly like something a shaper might do.”

I shifted my hammer and began taking the first steps down that path. “Come on, people. We know where they went, so let’s go see if they’re still there.”

“A good idea,” Maya responded, giving me a flat look. “But I’m the stalker, so maybe let me go take a look first.”

“She does have a point,” Bunny agreed.

I nodded at that and then gestured for Maya to lead the way. “After you.”

“Yeah,” Ace agreed with a weak chuckle. “Ladies first.”

“You know, I used to like that phrase,” Turtle added wryly. “Lately, not so much.”

“I don’t know,” I joked, keeping my eye on Maya as she slipped into the shadows and crept down the path. “It’s kind of growing on me.”