Chapter 33: Unnatural Ferret and Raven Group!

“It’s evening,” Emily observed, looking at the darkening sky. “We were in there for at least six hours.”

The cubs immediately started sniffing around, reorienting themselves. Eren checked their position. The dungeon entrance was behind them, and the village was… that way.

“Let’s walk.”

“I hope we don’t run into anything in this hours.” Emily said. She had her katana out again, eyes scanning the trees. “Stay alert. Evening is when real predators hunt.”

They started walking, forming their usual formation. Emily in front, Eren in the middle, cubs on the flanks. The forest was quieter than this morning, but not in a peaceful way. It was the kind of quiet that made Eren’s skin crawl.

His new ring felt warm on his finger. Or maybe that was just his imagination.

They were about halfway to the village when the male cub suddenly froze, ears flat against his head.

[Something wrong. Wrong smell.]

His sister dropped into a hunting crouch. [Not from here. Northern smell.]

“What are they saying?” Emily whispered, already drawing her katana fully.

“They smell something that shouldn’t be here. Something from the north.”

Emily’s face went pale. “North? That’s ferret territory. And ravens. They never come this far south unless…”

She didn’t get to finish.

Five shapes burst from the undergrowth, moving with coordinated precision that spoke of pack hunting.

Three were low to the ground, sleek and deadly. Ferrets, Eren’s mind supplied, though he’d never seen one before. They looked like ferrets but the size of large dogs, with razor-sharp teeth and dead black eyes.

The other two came from above. Ravens, massive birds with wingspans wider than Eren was tall, diving with talons extended.

[Scatter!] the male cub howled. Emily didn’t understand but she was the expert in the group so she acted as she wanted.

Everyone moved. Emily rolled left, her katana already cutting an arc through the air. One of the ferrets tried to follow her and lost its head in a spray of dark blood.

Eren dove right, his knife coming up just in time to block a raven’s talons. The impact sent shocks up his arm, but the leather gloves from the dungeon chest held. The bird screeched and pulled back for another dive.

The cubs engaged the remaining ferrets with savage efficiency. These weren’t dungeon monsters that dissolved into sparkles. These were real animals, flesh and blood and screaming.

A ferret lunged at Eren’s throat. He twisted, felt its teeth scrape his shoulder armor, and stabbed blindly. His knife sank into something soft and the ferret fell away, thrashing.

[Behind you!] the female cub screamed.

Eren spun. The second raven was diving, moving so fast it was just a black blur. He couldn’t dodge in time. His mind went blank with panic.

Then Emily was there, her katana flashing. The raven’s head separated from its body mid-dive, both pieces hitting the ground with wet thuds.

“Thanks,” Eren gasped.

“Focus!” Emily didn’t take her eyes off the remaining enemies.

The fight lasted maybe two more minutes, but it felt like ten minutes to Eren.

When it was over, five bodies lay scattered across the forest floor. Eren’s shoulder burned where the ferret had scraped him. Emily had a cut across her cheek. The cubs were both panting, their fur matted with blood that wasn’t all theirs.

“Everyone okay?” Eren checked each person, his hands shaking slightly from adrenaline. He got some exp when he used his Lovely Eyes skill to one enemy but didn’t even notice the specifics. Reading the system notifications in combat required too much attention.

[We’re fine] the male cub said, but Eren could hear the tremor in his mental voice. [But that was weird. Very wrong…]

“He’s right,” Emily said, cleaning her blade on a ferret’s fur. “Ferrets don’t hunt this far south. Ever. Their territory is at least fifty miles north. And traveling with ravens?” She shook her head. “That’s not natural. Different species don’t coordinate surprise hunts like that.”

“What does it mean?” Eren asked.

Emily was quiet for a long moment, staring at the dead creatures. “I don’t know. But I don’t like it.”

They left the bodies where they fell and continued toward the village faster than before. The cubs kept glancing over their shoulders, and Emily’s hand never left her katana’s grip.

When they finally saw the village lights through the trees, Eren felt his shoulders relax. They’d made it. Barely, but they’d made it.

The village square was empty at this hour, most elves already in their homes for the evening meal. A few people peeked out of windows as they passed, probably wondering why the four of them looked like they’d been through a war.

“We should check what is going on in the forest. But not tonight. I am done for today.” Emily said quietly. “Tomorrow, I will look into it.”

The cubs peeled off toward the forest, heading to wherever they’d been sleeping lately. [See you tomorrow, Dwarf!] the female called back.

Eren waved, then realized he and Emily were alone. Really alone, walking toward her house in the gathering darkness.

She looked exhausted. Dirt and blood streaked her clothes, her hair was a mess, and there was a tiredness in her eyes that went deeper than physical exhaustion.

Without thinking, Eren scooped her up in his arms.

“Hey!” Emily protested, but she was smiling. “I can walk, you know.”

“I know. But you’ve been protecting me all through the dungeon. You must be tired. My pregnant mate can’t be this tired anymore. Let me do this.”

Emily didn’t argue further. She was blushing actually.

“So you give me a new order on the bottom of that insane list huh? What was the last thing?”

Eren smiled. “Covering your belly all the times.. and now not tiring your body.”

She just wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest. Eren could feel her heartbeat against his ribs, fast at first, then slowly settling into a calmer rhythm.

He carried her the rest of the way home, ignoring the curious looks from the few elves still out. When he reached the door, Emily reached down and pushed it open without leaving his arms.

Inside, Eren set her down gently on the couch. She caught his hand before he could step back.

“We should clean up,” she said, but her voice was soft, almost hesitant.

“Yeah,” Eren agreed.

“And eat something.”

“Probably.”

Emily’s green eyes met his, and Eren saw something in them that made his heart skip. Not just affection or attraction, but something deeper. Trust. Safety. Love.

“Or,” Emily said, her voice dropping to barely a whisper, “I know something we could do all night that doesn’t require being clean or fed.”

She leaned up and whispered the details in his ear. Eren felt his face heat up so fast he thought he might pass out.

“That’s… that sounds…” he couldn’t form coherent sentences.

Emily giggled, actually giggled, and pulled him down for a kiss. It started gentle but quickly became something else entirely, something desperate and needy and perfect.

Hours later, when the village was deep in sleep, strange sounds echoed from Emily’s house. Not sounds of fighting or danger, but something else entirely. Something that made the few elves still awake smile knowingly and shake their heads.

Their leader, their guardian Emily, had chosen her mate. And from the sounds of it, she’d chosen well.

The young couple, of course, had no idea their neighbors were listening. Eren was far too focused on Emily, on making her happy, on showing her exactly how much she meant to him. And Emily was too busy enjoying every second of it to care about anything else.

Outside, the forest was quiet. The dungeon entrance glowed faintly in the distance. And somewhere far to the north, in territories that shouldn’t have been empty, creatures began moving south in numbers that would have terrified anyone who knew what to look for.

But for tonight, in this small elven village, everything was perfect. The danger could wait until tomorrow.

Eren was happy with his new relation and magical village life.

He didn’t think about Earth even once for the whole day.

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