p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""No way," I said. "There is no way I am going in a boat." Before they could voice their objections, I continued, "If I touch water, I could die!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Slamacow had traded for a map with a cartographer in the village. The map showed the location of an ocean monument, which is just an underwater temple, often inhabited by spiny fish creatures called guardians./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "You wouldn't have to get out of the boat," Dave said. "Please, I want you to come with us." His words made an echo with what he was already thinking./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I sighed. "Fine. But I'm NOT getting out of the boat."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave smiled, and Slamacow nodded, inspecting the map carefully. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I never figured out what the guardians were guarding, besides the ruins themselves. But players seemed willing to risk life and inventory to see the temple, so there must be something valuable there./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave donned his Spleef helmet and we headed out. Slamacow led the way, going directly away from the village. Dave walked beside me. Eddy had stayed behind because he had some things he still needed to do in the house./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""How long until we're there?" Dave asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I'm not sure, exactly…" he answered. "We aren't on the map yet, so it's at least a couple hundred blocks."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Nothing very interesting happened on our journey over land. Slamacow barely looked at us the whole time—his eyes were glued to the map. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" At one point, Dave asked me, "Have you ever wondered why touching water hurts you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Not really," I said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""What does it feel like?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""It's a sort of burning sensation on my skin," I said, carefully recalling the last time it had happened. "As if the water is actually fire, I guess."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Wow," Dave said, "That's kind of interesting. Water burns you, and sunlight burns me."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""We complement each other," I smiled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" When we arrived at the edge of the ocean, Slamacow produced 2 boats from his inventory. He climbed into one and rowed off without a word, while Dave and I scrambled to get in the second one and follow him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave rowed, since I had never bothered to learn how to. I'd never before thought I'd have any need to go on the water./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt;" The coastline disappeared behind us and the water went on infinitely in front of us. Dave kept rowing. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"span style="font-size: 12pt;""Phew," he said, "I'm getting kind of hot."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt;""Rowing is hard work," I replied./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt;""Not this hard," he panted. He paused his efforts a moment and squinted at the midafternoon sun. That's when I saw:/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"span style="font-size: 12pt;"The leather had worn through./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt;""Dave your helm—!" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"span style="font-size: 12pt;"The zombie burst into flames./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"span style="font-size: 12pt;"In a blind panic, I reached out to try to grab my friend, to do something—anything—to stop him from burning. In a flash he leaped out of the boat into the ocean. The sudden weight imbalance from his departure made the boat tip backwards—dumping me into the water as well./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I can't fully describe what I felt in that moment. At first, relief that Dave was going to be okay—he wouldn't burn. But all that was shoved mercilessly aside when my skin first touched the water./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" In an instant every part of me was burning. The crackling, sizzling sensation reached deep, into my bones. My vision was encompassed by the blue water. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"The sun was gone, the boat was gone./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave was gone./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"All that remained was the searing pain, and the surrounding ocean /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"pushing me further and further into the depths./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"The suffocating pressure only grew and the burning faded into numbness. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"emspan style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"At least Dave is okay,/span/emspan style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I thought foggily as my vision flickered into black. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I then became aware of something…pushing, pulling. The water lightning. I touched dry air. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I gasped, partially for breath, and partially because the pain had returned. Everything was burning, inside and out. My lungs heaved to get the water out of them. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I somehow managed to be in the boat and the air was touching my blistered skin, making it sting all the worse. /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I had touched water before, but never like this. I never wanted to feel this way ever again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Then I remembered Dave./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I moved to look back over the boat's edge, which brought new cries of pain from my cracked skin./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Dave," I called hoarsely. I heard a growly gurgling sound, and a hand reached out of the water and grabbed the boat./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I quickly leaned back to even out the weight as Dave struggled to get a firm grip with both hands. His head popped above the surface, looking a bit bluer and more singed than usual. He smiled weakly at me, then coughed, releasing some seawater back into the ocean./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I kept myself far away from the puddle that was dripping into the boat from his wet hands and said, "Are you okay?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I've been better," he panted. "But what about you? Your skin looks awful."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I glanced down at my own hands and saw that the water had mostly dried, leaving behind a mosaic of cracks and blisters. I exhaled. "It'll heal," I finally said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave was doubtful, but his thoughts quickly turned to a different matter./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I need a new helmet," he said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""We'll have to get one from Slamacow."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Where is Slamacow?" Dave asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I peered in the direction we had been headed. "I think I can still see him," I said. Apparently, he hadn't stopped when Dave fell in the water. Maybe he hadn't even noticed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "We need to keep him in view," I said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Can you row the boat?" Dave asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I gingerly placed myself in the middle of the boat and grabbed both oars. "Now what?" I asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Move the handles in a circle," he said, "So that they dip into the water at the bottom, and push back up again."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I did as he instructed, while he held onto the back of the boat and kicked to give an extra push./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Every motion of my arms brought new pain, but I had to keep rowing so we didn't lose Slamacow. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" We didn't actually gain any distance on him, unsurprisingly. I couldn't row very fast at all. The only reason we caught up to Slamacow is that he stopped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I rowed the boat up right next to Slamacow's boat, which was empty. He had dived into the water before I got within hearing range of him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Can you see him?" I asked. Dave ducked under the surface for a few moments. The boat rocked gently in the waves. I focused on my breathing—after the exertion of rowing, I was a bit winded. I tried not to move my shoulders too much. I tried not to move much at all./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave emerged from the ocean and shook the water out of his eyes. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""He's coming up," he gasped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Slamacow surfaced and began treading water. He stared at Dave and I./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""What happened?" he asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""My helmet broke," Dave said, "And Bart fell in."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Oh." Slamacow stared towards the temple. "Will you be okay for a few more minutes? I need to get some more loot from the monument."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave and I shared a glance. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I guess so," Dave said finally. Slamacow immediately dove down again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I looked down at my hands, running my fingers over the aching cracks. Dave adjusted his grip on the boat, causing it to rock a bit more./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "It's a shame about your helmet," I said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""What do you mean?" he asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""The memories," I said, "of when we played Spleef together."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I don't need a helmet to remind me of that," he answered. "I don't think I could ever forget."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Hmm," I said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave tilted his head. "It's just a leather helmet. You guys are a lot more important to me than that."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I nodded, forgetting myself. My shoulders and neck immediately protested the movement. I closed my eyes and breathed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""He'll be back soon," Dave said, attempting to reassure me. "I would pat you on the back, but that would probably make things worse."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I smiled weakly. "Probably," I said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I'm not sure exactly how long Slamacow spent underwater—or even how he was able to breathe—but eventually, he did resurface and climb back into his boat./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Are you ready to go?" he asked us./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Do you have a helmet I can borrow?" Dave said, "I don't really want to swim the whole way, and I'd bet Bart doesn't want to row the whole way either."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I nodded my head once, slowly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Okay," Slamacow said. "Uh, I've got some iron I can use to make one…hold on a sec."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" He dove back into the ocean and reemerged with an iron helmet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I had to put down a crafting table," he explained, as Dave donned the slightly rusted helmet. It seemed as if the iron Slamacow used had come from the treasure chests down underwater./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave climbed out of the water, glancing up at the sun and straightening his helmet. I carefully scooted back to my original spot in the boat. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I avoided the wet spots as best I could, but there wasn't much I could do. My hands stung from holding the oars, and the sun radiated heat on my shoulders and head. All of me was aching by the time we reached the shore again, when I could get my own two feet under myself, and on top of good, dry grass./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I don't think we landed at the same spot we set out from—the land all looked different to me. Slamacow seemed to know where we were though, saying he just had to follow the coordinates back home. Whatever that meant./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave stayed close by my side, while Slamacow ventured on ahead./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Hey, guys!" he called, "What do you think this is?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"He stood beside a tree that had a strange-looking block on it. The block was a yellowy-orange color, and had brown stripes running horizontally across it. A buzzing sound came from inside it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave shrugged. He had never seen anything like it, he thought. Neither had I./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Slamacow listened to the buzzing a moment, and then—to both mine and Dave's surprise—he punched the thing!/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Immediately a swarm of small flying creatures emerged, and the buzzing sound grew louder./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Bees!" Slamacow cried, sprinting away as fast as he could./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"The bees were only interested in Slamacow, and paid Dave and I no mind at all. They were pretty angry at him, actually, and chased him for a long time./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"He finally managed to get away by burying himself in the ground. Once the bees couldn't see him anymore, they forgot their anger and started flying to flowers that grew nearby./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Slamacow poked his head out of the ground and looked at the bees warily. He climbed out and dusted himself off./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Well, that was fun," he said, coming back to where Dave and I had been standing the whole time. "Let's go home now."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"And so, we did./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"By the time we got back to the house, the sun had sunk below the horizon. It was a welcome relief to both Dave and I./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Without another word and hardly another thought, we settled down for the night. Our first time in a real house in…days. I hadn't been counting. But the last time I had been in an actual home was back…at the saloon? Had it really been that long?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I thought over our adventures. Pretty much every night we had camped outside. Sometimes Slamacow didn't sleep at all. It seemed like he operated on a different clock than Dave and I./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I was glad to finally have a home. And it was made all the better by my friends being here too./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: center; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;" align="center"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I awoke before Dave. My skin was itchy, but it hurt to scratch. I hoped it would heal quickly. It had all the other times I had accidentally touched water, but this time was different./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave was awake. He rubbed the topped of his head and frowned./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "You okay?" I asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"He nodded. "Just a bit singed. I don't think it'll stay this way."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" He stared at me. "Is there anything we can do to help you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Not that I can think of. I just need to wait it out. But don't worry," I said, when Dave started to say something, "It's already mostly okay. The water's all dried, and the cool air in this cave is really helping." I was putting on a brave face for Dave's sake. I tried to stay as still as possible./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Caves are nice," Dave said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""There's a reason mobs like them so much." I smiled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" A strange noise interrupted from outside. It sounded like a deep and rumbly horn of some kind./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""What was that?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "I don't know." Dave put on his helmet again. "But let's go find out."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" When we emerged from the cave, Eddy was already running toward us, waving his arms and shouting unintelligibly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Slow down, Eddy," I said, grabbing him by the shoulder. "What's wrong?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Look!" he cried. He pointed back to the village. The villagers were running around and going in their houses. Then I saw why./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "What are those things?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Pillagers!" Eddy said breathlessly. "They're attacking the village!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "I can see that!" I started sprinting towards the village, ignoring the renewed protests of pain. "Dave, come on! We've got to—" I stopped short when I noticed that Dave wasn't beside me anymore./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" He was ahead of me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Wielding what I can only assume was a diamond sword from Slamacow's chests, Dave was running full tilt at the village. Eddy and I glanced at each other then chased after him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Eddy helped the villagers get away from the pillagers, who fought with crossbows and axes. I attacked them as much as I could stand, teleporting away when they were about to strike back. The local iron golem helped too, slamming his heavy metal arms into the attackers as fast as they could swarm in./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"But Dave did the most./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"He snuck up behind the pillagers and slayed several with one sweep of the sword. A witch threw potions at us, and Dave quickly disposed of her. A pillager aimed his crossbow at Dave, and he deflected the arrow, then lunged, killing the pillager in two hits. Together, Dave and the golem took down a massive horned beast. The golem was cracking, and Dave's sword became dull./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"And suddenly, it was over. All the pillagers had either run away or been killed. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I came over and stood beside Dave while the villagers all emerged from their houses, looking around warily for any stragglers. The golem ran over to them, checking to see if they were okay./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave swayed and breathed heavily. The sword dropped to the ground, and he sat down beside it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""You did it, Dave," I said. "You fought off the raid."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I had help," he said. "That iron guy is tough."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Oh no. "We can't let him see you," I said, "He'll kill you!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave nodded, but made no move to stand up. I was about to grab him when Eddy approached us./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "They're very grateful to you," he said to Dave, pointing back at the collection of villagers that had now crowded around their center bell to discuss what had just happened./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Without you, the village probably would have been wiped out."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave nodded again, then reached up his hand to me. I helped him back to his feet, supporting him until his sense of balance returned./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Eddy tilted his head. "They also told me that they want to meet you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Really?" Dave said. "I thought they didn't like zombies."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Eddy shrugged. "I can translate for you if you wanna talk to them."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave walked to the villager congregation. They stood quietly and stared at him. The golem made a move towards Dave, but one villager with an eyepatch said something to it and it stopped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Hurr," Dave said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"The villagers mumbled to each other. One came from the crowd and stood in front of Dave, always keeping at least an arm's length away from him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Ir Hrrm-hn," Dave said. Hrrm-hn. Villager friend. He was introducing himself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"The single villager looked over at Eddy, who nodded encouragingly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Ha-hrr, urn per hem-ern." The villager gestured to himself. "Ir a name="_Hlk68899427"/aHern-hrr."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave tilted his head and looked at Eddy. "He's their cleric," Eddy explained. "He makes potions to trade."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Oh, okay." He turned back to the villager. "Urn prr erm na-errn." He pointed to the iron golem, which was spiderwebbed with cracks from his fight with the pillager's beast. Pulling out an iron ingot, he said, "Urn arm ir irr arr?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Hern-hrr turned back toward his village. "Ir-erm arm erm arr prr?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"There were general sounds of agreement. I think. They said 'hirr' a lot, which means yes if I remember correctly. One of the other things they said, Hern-hrr repeated to Dave./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Urn hrr?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave shook his head. "Hrn hrr. Ir irr." He held the iron out again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Hern-hrr shook his head emphatically. "Her! a name="_Hlk68899489"/aIr-erm irr hr. Hrr hur!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave gave a defeated sigh. "He wants to trade for it," he said to me. "He doesn't want just a gift."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Oh," I said. "Well, that makes sense, I guess. Trading is pretty important to them. I bet they don't want to be in debt to you for a gift."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave shrugged. "Yeah." He turned back to Hern-hrr. "Ir hrr hr. Urn irr hr ar, ir irr hur ar."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Hern-hrr nodded, and called, "a name="_Hlk68899538"/aPrr-hn! Urn hrr erm." The one with the eyepatch, who was apparently named Prr-hn, stepped forward, holding out an emerald in a remarkably steady hand. Dave gave him the iron ingot, and Prr-hn gave the emerald. The trade was complete./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave put the emerald in his pocket without a second glance, while Prr-hn carried the ingot to their golem. "Prr!" he said, "Ir arr urn!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" The golem nodded and ambled toward one of the buildings, and Prr-hn followed. Then, the other villagers moved toward Dave, burning with curiosity. "Who was this he-ner who could speak their hrrm-urm?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" They bombarded Eddy with questions, and Dave was quickly surrounded by the villagers, who seemed to have overcome their fear of zombies for the time being./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I listened to their chatter, occasionally picking out a word or two that I recognized. Dave on the other hand was talking with them easily./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Soon they were calling him Hrrm-hn instead of He-ner. I smiled. Dave had a lot of new friends now./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Speaking of friends," I murmured. "Where is Slamacow?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Slamacow had traded for a map with a cartographer in the village. The map showed the location of an ocean monument, which is just an underwater temple, often inhabited by spiny fish creatures called guardians./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "You wouldn't have to get out of the boat," Dave said. "Please, I want you to come with us." His words made an echo with what he was already thinking./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I sighed. "Fine. But I'm NOT getting out of the boat."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave smiled, and Slamacow nodded, inspecting the map carefully. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I never figured out what the guardians were guarding, besides the ruins themselves. But players seemed willing to risk life and inventory to see the temple, so there must be something valuable there./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave donned his Spleef helmet and we headed out. Slamacow led the way, going directly away from the village. Dave walked beside me. Eddy had stayed behind because he had some things he still needed to do in the house./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""How long until we're there?" Dave asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I'm not sure, exactly…" he answered. "We aren't on the map yet, so it's at least a couple hundred blocks."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Nothing very interesting happened on our journey over land. Slamacow barely looked at us the whole time—his eyes were glued to the map. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" At one point, Dave asked me, "Have you ever wondered why touching water hurts you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Not really," I said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""What does it feel like?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""It's a sort of burning sensation on my skin," I said, carefully recalling the last time it had happened. "As if the water is actually fire, I guess."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Wow," Dave said, "That's kind of interesting. Water burns you, and sunlight burns me."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""We complement each other," I smiled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" When we arrived at the edge of the ocean, Slamacow produced 2 boats from his inventory. He climbed into one and rowed off without a word, while Dave and I scrambled to get in the second one and follow him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave rowed, since I had never bothered to learn how to. I'd never before thought I'd have any need to go on the water./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt;" The coastline disappeared behind us and the water went on infinitely in front of us. Dave kept rowing. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"span style="font-size: 12pt;""Phew," he said, "I'm getting kind of hot."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt;""Rowing is hard work," I replied./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt;""Not this hard," he panted. He paused his efforts a moment and squinted at the midafternoon sun. That's when I saw:/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"span style="font-size: 12pt;"The leather had worn through./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 12pt;""Dave your helm—!" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"span style="font-size: 12pt;"The zombie burst into flames./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"span style="font-size: 12pt;"In a blind panic, I reached out to try to grab my friend, to do something—anything—to stop him from burning. In a flash he leaped out of the boat into the ocean. The sudden weight imbalance from his departure made the boat tip backwards—dumping me into the water as well./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I can't fully describe what I felt in that moment. At first, relief that Dave was going to be okay—he wouldn't burn. But all that was shoved mercilessly aside when my skin first touched the water./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" In an instant every part of me was burning. The crackling, sizzling sensation reached deep, into my bones. My vision was encompassed by the blue water. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"The sun was gone, the boat was gone./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave was gone./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"All that remained was the searing pain, and the surrounding ocean /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"pushing me further and further into the depths./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"The suffocating pressure only grew and the burning faded into numbness. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"emspan style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"At least Dave is okay,/span/emspan style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I thought foggily as my vision flickered into black. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I then became aware of something…pushing, pulling. The water lightning. I touched dry air. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I gasped, partially for breath, and partially because the pain had returned. Everything was burning, inside and out. My lungs heaved to get the water out of them. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I somehow managed to be in the boat and the air was touching my blistered skin, making it sting all the worse. /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I had touched water before, but never like this. I never wanted to feel this way ever again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Then I remembered Dave./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I moved to look back over the boat's edge, which brought new cries of pain from my cracked skin./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Dave," I called hoarsely. I heard a growly gurgling sound, and a hand reached out of the water and grabbed the boat./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I quickly leaned back to even out the weight as Dave struggled to get a firm grip with both hands. His head popped above the surface, looking a bit bluer and more singed than usual. He smiled weakly at me, then coughed, releasing some seawater back into the ocean./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I kept myself far away from the puddle that was dripping into the boat from his wet hands and said, "Are you okay?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I've been better," he panted. "But what about you? Your skin looks awful."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I glanced down at my own hands and saw that the water had mostly dried, leaving behind a mosaic of cracks and blisters. I exhaled. "It'll heal," I finally said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave was doubtful, but his thoughts quickly turned to a different matter./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I need a new helmet," he said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""We'll have to get one from Slamacow."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Where is Slamacow?" Dave asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I peered in the direction we had been headed. "I think I can still see him," I said. Apparently, he hadn't stopped when Dave fell in the water. Maybe he hadn't even noticed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "We need to keep him in view," I said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Can you row the boat?" Dave asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I gingerly placed myself in the middle of the boat and grabbed both oars. "Now what?" I asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Move the handles in a circle," he said, "So that they dip into the water at the bottom, and push back up again."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I did as he instructed, while he held onto the back of the boat and kicked to give an extra push./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Every motion of my arms brought new pain, but I had to keep rowing so we didn't lose Slamacow. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" We didn't actually gain any distance on him, unsurprisingly. I couldn't row very fast at all. The only reason we caught up to Slamacow is that he stopped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I rowed the boat up right next to Slamacow's boat, which was empty. He had dived into the water before I got within hearing range of him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Can you see him?" I asked. Dave ducked under the surface for a few moments. The boat rocked gently in the waves. I focused on my breathing—after the exertion of rowing, I was a bit winded. I tried not to move my shoulders too much. I tried not to move much at all./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave emerged from the ocean and shook the water out of his eyes. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""He's coming up," he gasped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Slamacow surfaced and began treading water. He stared at Dave and I./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""What happened?" he asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""My helmet broke," Dave said, "And Bart fell in."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Oh." Slamacow stared towards the temple. "Will you be okay for a few more minutes? I need to get some more loot from the monument."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave and I shared a glance. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I guess so," Dave said finally. Slamacow immediately dove down again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I looked down at my hands, running my fingers over the aching cracks. Dave adjusted his grip on the boat, causing it to rock a bit more./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "It's a shame about your helmet," I said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""What do you mean?" he asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""The memories," I said, "of when we played Spleef together."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I don't need a helmet to remind me of that," he answered. "I don't think I could ever forget."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Hmm," I said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave tilted his head. "It's just a leather helmet. You guys are a lot more important to me than that."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I nodded, forgetting myself. My shoulders and neck immediately protested the movement. I closed my eyes and breathed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""He'll be back soon," Dave said, attempting to reassure me. "I would pat you on the back, but that would probably make things worse."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I smiled weakly. "Probably," I said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I'm not sure exactly how long Slamacow spent underwater—or even how he was able to breathe—but eventually, he did resurface and climb back into his boat./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Are you ready to go?" he asked us./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Do you have a helmet I can borrow?" Dave said, "I don't really want to swim the whole way, and I'd bet Bart doesn't want to row the whole way either."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I nodded my head once, slowly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Okay," Slamacow said. "Uh, I've got some iron I can use to make one…hold on a sec."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" He dove back into the ocean and reemerged with an iron helmet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I had to put down a crafting table," he explained, as Dave donned the slightly rusted helmet. It seemed as if the iron Slamacow used had come from the treasure chests down underwater./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave climbed out of the water, glancing up at the sun and straightening his helmet. I carefully scooted back to my original spot in the boat. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I avoided the wet spots as best I could, but there wasn't much I could do. My hands stung from holding the oars, and the sun radiated heat on my shoulders and head. All of me was aching by the time we reached the shore again, when I could get my own two feet under myself, and on top of good, dry grass./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I don't think we landed at the same spot we set out from—the land all looked different to me. Slamacow seemed to know where we were though, saying he just had to follow the coordinates back home. Whatever that meant./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave stayed close by my side, while Slamacow ventured on ahead./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Hey, guys!" he called, "What do you think this is?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"He stood beside a tree that had a strange-looking block on it. The block was a yellowy-orange color, and had brown stripes running horizontally across it. A buzzing sound came from inside it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave shrugged. He had never seen anything like it, he thought. Neither had I./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Slamacow listened to the buzzing a moment, and then—to both mine and Dave's surprise—he punched the thing!/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Immediately a swarm of small flying creatures emerged, and the buzzing sound grew louder./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Bees!" Slamacow cried, sprinting away as fast as he could./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"The bees were only interested in Slamacow, and paid Dave and I no mind at all. They were pretty angry at him, actually, and chased him for a long time./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"He finally managed to get away by burying himself in the ground. Once the bees couldn't see him anymore, they forgot their anger and started flying to flowers that grew nearby./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Slamacow poked his head out of the ground and looked at the bees warily. He climbed out and dusted himself off./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Well, that was fun," he said, coming back to where Dave and I had been standing the whole time. "Let's go home now."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"And so, we did./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"By the time we got back to the house, the sun had sunk below the horizon. It was a welcome relief to both Dave and I./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Without another word and hardly another thought, we settled down for the night. Our first time in a real house in…days. I hadn't been counting. But the last time I had been in an actual home was back…at the saloon? Had it really been that long?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I thought over our adventures. Pretty much every night we had camped outside. Sometimes Slamacow didn't sleep at all. It seemed like he operated on a different clock than Dave and I./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I was glad to finally have a home. And it was made all the better by my friends being here too./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: center; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;" align="center"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I awoke before Dave. My skin was itchy, but it hurt to scratch. I hoped it would heal quickly. It had all the other times I had accidentally touched water, but this time was different./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave was awake. He rubbed the topped of his head and frowned./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "You okay?" I asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"He nodded. "Just a bit singed. I don't think it'll stay this way."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" He stared at me. "Is there anything we can do to help you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Not that I can think of. I just need to wait it out. But don't worry," I said, when Dave started to say something, "It's already mostly okay. The water's all dried, and the cool air in this cave is really helping." I was putting on a brave face for Dave's sake. I tried to stay as still as possible./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Caves are nice," Dave said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""There's a reason mobs like them so much." I smiled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" A strange noise interrupted from outside. It sounded like a deep and rumbly horn of some kind./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""What was that?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "I don't know." Dave put on his helmet again. "But let's go find out."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" When we emerged from the cave, Eddy was already running toward us, waving his arms and shouting unintelligibly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Slow down, Eddy," I said, grabbing him by the shoulder. "What's wrong?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Look!" he cried. He pointed back to the village. The villagers were running around and going in their houses. Then I saw why./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "What are those things?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Pillagers!" Eddy said breathlessly. "They're attacking the village!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "I can see that!" I started sprinting towards the village, ignoring the renewed protests of pain. "Dave, come on! We've got to—" I stopped short when I noticed that Dave wasn't beside me anymore./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" He was ahead of me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Wielding what I can only assume was a diamond sword from Slamacow's chests, Dave was running full tilt at the village. Eddy and I glanced at each other then chased after him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Eddy helped the villagers get away from the pillagers, who fought with crossbows and axes. I attacked them as much as I could stand, teleporting away when they were about to strike back. The local iron golem helped too, slamming his heavy metal arms into the attackers as fast as they could swarm in./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"But Dave did the most./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"He snuck up behind the pillagers and slayed several with one sweep of the sword. A witch threw potions at us, and Dave quickly disposed of her. A pillager aimed his crossbow at Dave, and he deflected the arrow, then lunged, killing the pillager in two hits. Together, Dave and the golem took down a massive horned beast. The golem was cracking, and Dave's sword became dull./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"And suddenly, it was over. All the pillagers had either run away or been killed. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"I came over and stood beside Dave while the villagers all emerged from their houses, looking around warily for any stragglers. The golem ran over to them, checking to see if they were okay./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave swayed and breathed heavily. The sword dropped to the ground, and he sat down beside it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""You did it, Dave," I said. "You fought off the raid."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""I had help," he said. "That iron guy is tough."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Oh no. "We can't let him see you," I said, "He'll kill you!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave nodded, but made no move to stand up. I was about to grab him when Eddy approached us./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "They're very grateful to you," he said to Dave, pointing back at the collection of villagers that had now crowded around their center bell to discuss what had just happened./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Without you, the village probably would have been wiped out."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave nodded again, then reached up his hand to me. I helped him back to his feet, supporting him until his sense of balance returned./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Eddy tilted his head. "They also told me that they want to meet you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Really?" Dave said. "I thought they didn't like zombies."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Eddy shrugged. "I can translate for you if you wanna talk to them."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave walked to the villager congregation. They stood quietly and stared at him. The golem made a move towards Dave, but one villager with an eyepatch said something to it and it stopped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Hurr," Dave said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"The villagers mumbled to each other. One came from the crowd and stood in front of Dave, always keeping at least an arm's length away from him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Ir Hrrm-hn," Dave said. Hrrm-hn. Villager friend. He was introducing himself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"The single villager looked over at Eddy, who nodded encouragingly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;""Ha-hrr, urn per hem-ern." The villager gestured to himself. "Ir a name="_Hlk68899427"/aHern-hrr."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave tilted his head and looked at Eddy. "He's their cleric," Eddy explained. "He makes potions to trade."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Oh, okay." He turned back to the villager. "Urn prr erm na-errn." He pointed to the iron golem, which was spiderwebbed with cracks from his fight with the pillager's beast. Pulling out an iron ingot, he said, "Urn arm ir irr arr?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Hern-hrr turned back toward his village. "Ir-erm arm erm arr prr?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"There were general sounds of agreement. I think. They said 'hirr' a lot, which means yes if I remember correctly. One of the other things they said, Hern-hrr repeated to Dave./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Urn hrr?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave shook his head. "Hrn hrr. Ir irr." He held the iron out again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Hern-hrr shook his head emphatically. "Her! a name="_Hlk68899489"/aIr-erm irr hr. Hrr hur!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Dave gave a defeated sigh. "He wants to trade for it," he said to me. "He doesn't want just a gift."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Oh," I said. "Well, that makes sense, I guess. Trading is pretty important to them. I bet they don't want to be in debt to you for a gift."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave shrugged. "Yeah." He turned back to Hern-hrr. "Ir hrr hr. Urn irr hr ar, ir irr hur ar."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Hern-hrr nodded, and called, "a name="_Hlk68899538"/aPrr-hn! Urn hrr erm." The one with the eyepatch, who was apparently named Prr-hn, stepped forward, holding out an emerald in a remarkably steady hand. Dave gave him the iron ingot, and Prr-hn gave the emerald. The trade was complete./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" Dave put the emerald in his pocket without a second glance, while Prr-hn carried the ingot to their golem. "Prr!" he said, "Ir arr urn!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" The golem nodded and ambled toward one of the buildings, and Prr-hn followed. Then, the other villagers moved toward Dave, burning with curiosity. "Who was this he-ner who could speak their hrrm-urm?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" They bombarded Eddy with questions, and Dave was quickly surrounded by the villagers, who seemed to have overcome their fear of zombies for the time being./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" I listened to their chatter, occasionally picking out a word or two that I recognized. Dave on the other hand was talking with them easily./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"Soon they were calling him Hrrm-hn instead of He-ner. I smiled. Dave had a lot of new friends now./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;" "Speaking of friends," I murmured. "Where is Slamacow?"/span/p