Danu must have been smiling upon them. Within an hour of setting the snares, they were treated to the sound of one being tripped. The scream of the creature that had been caught was disturbing, to say the least. Anduin preferred a clean kill, one with no pain. Unfortunately, their situation was such that they couldn't afford such considerations.

Their prize in hand, the men retreated into the cabin right at dusk. Toby and Jacen nailed the door shut behind them while Anduin cleaned their catch. It was a rabbit, a nice fat one, and Anduin's mouth watered at the idea of a meal.

He put some water in a pot and set it to boiling, emptying the can of corn into the pot as well as the pieces of rabbit that had been skinned and jointed. The innards he kept aside to use as bait for fishing. He picked up the tin of hardtack and pried it open, tossing a couple of the square biscuits into the pot.

What the actual hell?" said Jacen, picking up a piece of the hardtack. "We'll break our teeth on this crap!"

Anduin laughed, "No… not if you soak it in hot water first."

"Whose bright idea were these… biscuits?" asked Toby.

"They date back to about a hundred years before the American Civil War. The armies had no way of preserving bread back then, so they'd make these biscuits for issue to the soldiers and sailors." Anduin grinned wickedly, "Of course… in those days, these would end up with all kinds of… wildlife within them. Soldiers would eat them in the dark, so they wouldn't see what else they were eating."

"Oh, thanks, Anduin. I needed to hear that." Jacen examined the biscuit closely. "Well, it doesn't look like it has any wildlife… so… into the pot with it." He raised a brow, "Let me guess… it was your idea to put these in the cabin."

Anduin smiled, "Along with the oil and salt, yes. Mostly so I could make my fish chowder. The flour in the biscuit makes a good thickener. It's the only thing I know how to cook."

"And now we get to make rabbit chowder," said Toby, laughing. "Maybe we should save a few for tomorrow, in case we catch some fish."

They sat in silence for a bit, each of them with their heads cocked in a listening position, absorbing the sound of the forest.

"Maybe it won't come back tonight," said Toby.

"I hope it doesn't, but we can't count on it," said Anduin. "It knows we have magic. Maybe the only reason it didn't try to break the door down was because our magic level was low. Now that it's higher… for all I know, we could be lit up to it like a Christmas tree."

"Perhaps… you should use some power to conjure," said Jacen slowly. "Toby used his earlier. We want me to store mine. But maybe we should use yours, just in case it comes back and…"

"No," said Anduin, shaking his head. "If power is a beacon, I'd rather keep mine at or near yours. Hopefully, I'll look tastier to it than you will, and it will concentrate on me."

"How do you do that?" asked Jacen.

"Do what?"

"Be so… cool. I mean, I always thought I was brave, but the thought of tangling with whatever the hell was stalking us kind of gives me shivers. You're so matter of fact about it."

Anduin gave him a crooked grin, "That's my job, Jace. I'm the closest thing to the Lord Martial out here, just as you are the closest thing to the Crown. I'm scared too, believe me. But if I have to tangle with a monster to keep the Crown safe… well, so be it."

"Spooky," said Toby. "For a second there, you sounded just like Randel."

"I'm sure he'd be flattered to hear that," laughed Anduin. "Not sure that my dad would."

"Yeah, I was a little surprised when you decided to study under Randel," said Jacen. "I thought for sure you were going to be the next Spymaster."

Anduin shrugged, "Aurelet would have been better for that than me. I don't have the patience or the insight to look at a stack of papers and try to make sense out of what they're saying. I don't ignore intelligence reports, don't get me wrong. But I don't have the skill to cultivate spies or make covert moves. I'm a bit more straightforward."

"Funny how that works, isn't it?" said Toby, laughing. "Sarah thought I would be the one to join the Army and you the one to run the spy ring. And it's the exact reverse."

"Well, Aurelet still would have been a better one than you," said Anduin with a mischievous grin.

Toby returned his grin, nodding in agreement. "That she would. But it wasn't what she wanted. I thought Garthan would be more… disappointed… when she said she wanted to pursue engineering instead of espionage."

"No, I think his disappointment was already expended when I turned the position down," said Anduin quietly. "He was understanding, to be sure. But I think it still hurt him in a way."

"At first, maybe," said Jacen. "I wasn't there for that. But I do know that he speaks in glowing terms about your studies with Randel. I've always gotten the impression that he's rather proud of you."

Anduin sighed, "On some level, I'm sure he is. And I admit, part of the reason I threw myself into studying so hard was in an attempt to impress him. Maybe justify my choice to him."

"I never got the feeling that you needed to do that, Anduin," said Toby. "He's always been considerate of what you and Aurelet wanted in life. Hell, he managed to get the Royal Engineer of the Steelshanks to spend time with his daughter because he knew she would benefit from it. He wouldn't do any less for you."

"Except… listen to me," whispered Anduin. "None of them would."

"How do you figure?" asked Jacen.

Anduin felt his mouth turning downwards, "It doesn't matter how much I study. Or how hard. What the hell can I tell them about war? They who have fought in them… several times… over several centuries." He lifted the lid off the pot on the stove and gave the contents a stir. "I can just picture opening my mouth during one of the meetings and seeing the looks on their faces. They'd be nice about it, I'm sure. Pat me on the head or something."

"You think they'd dismiss your opinions?" asked Toby.

"Dismiss them?" snorted Anduin. "Not in so many words. But really… what could I possibly suggest that they hadn't already thought of or even done themselves, once upon a time. Why would they listen to me? I was that cute little kid that they all played games with, told stories to. Not one of them could see me as… "

"As what?" asked Jacen, quietly.

"As worthy to defend the Kingdom, I guess. As a warrior in my own right." Anduin pulled the bowls over to the pot and started ladling the food. He handed them each a bowl before sitting down with his own. "They never assign me anything of consequence. I'm supposed to be adjutant to the Lord Martial, and they keep me locked up in Caladh like a doll. Or a toy soldier. Hell, even the men in my own unit don't take me very seriously."

"Well… there hasn't really been much going on," said Jacen. "Aside from an occasional bandit raid. I'm not sure what things of consequence you're looking for, short of another war."

"No, I'm not looking for another war. Of course not. It's just…" Anduin broke off in frustration. "Maybe another war won't come. Maybe peace is the new way forward. I hope it is. But… the thing that bothers me is that we don't change anything. They come on in the same old way and we defeat them in the same old way. But one of these days… we're going to come up against something new. Something we have no counter for, because we're so used to how it's always been."

"I'd always wondered," said Toby. "Maybe that's the reason humans have such a short lifespan. We have to fit so much into so little time that we're always in a hurry. Change comes quickly… I mean, a guy who fought in the Civil War could have lived long enough to see the atomic bomb… so many changes in a generation. But here, life goes at such a slower pace. Change comes slowly, if at all. I would expect to feel this way, being a former human, but I'm surprised that you noticed it too."

"Well, I have," said Anduin. "And I wasn't kidding when I said there was a reason that you and Sarah were brought down here. Jareth had his reasons, yes. But Danu did too. And maybe part of that reason is to bring change here Below." He narrowed his eyes at Toby for a moment. "Humans have their drawbacks, yes. But… they also have qualities that are needed. Ingenuity. Flexibility. The capacity to adapt. And it's not just us that needs those qualities. Your dad adopts out a good portion of the children he takes through the Labyrinth to the Fae. Some of those traits have to breed true."

"That might explain why the Fae are starting to like me," said Jacen. "All those wished-aways becoming adults. Maybe some of that human spirit has taken root in them."

"As it has in you, being the son of a human," said Anduin.

"Maybe we're just part of one big divine genetic experiment," said Toby with a laugh. "At this point, I don't think I'd be surprised."

Their meals finished, Anduin noticed that each one of them passed on the Othánas painkiller and went right for the Aboveground ones. None of them wanted to take the chance that they'd be sluggish if their visitor came back.

He was just about to suggest that they take the same watch schedule when he heard the scream.

At the sound of the scream, Jacen hobbled to his feet. He faced the door, pulling his sword. "What the hell-?"

"I heard the snare go off," said Toby at the same time.

"That was no rabbit," said Anduin, as he rose to stand beside Jacen. Toby rose too, his sword in hand. "Jace… stay behind us." Anduin moved to the window, looking out through one of the knotholes in the wooden panel that protected it. Toby moved to the door.

He heard more sounds. A thud. A scrape. Tearing and breaking noises. It sounded like it was coming from the woods near the front of the cabin, right where Toby had set the snares.

Jacen waited, every nerve in his body on fire with tension.

The roar, when it came, was both expected and yet still a surprise. It was bloodcurdling, a mix of a scream and a growl. It sent shivers down Jacen's spine with the amount of rage it contained.

All three of them tightened their grips on their swords. Before Jacen could even blink, a terrible crash sounded at the door, shaking the cabin.

It was trying to get in.

"Stay back!" shouted Anduin as he moved toward the door. He stood right beside it, clearly intending to slash anything that got through. Toby moved to stand in front of Jacen, his sword up and on guard. The door was now shimmering beneath the blows of the creature, the foul stench of it drifting in to tease their senses. Anduin had just turned his head to shout something when they heard an identical blow to the window on the other side of the cabin.

"Oh, holy shit!" shouted Toby. "There's more than one!"

Anduin had never been more grateful for Jareth's hoarder tendencies than he was at that moment. That hammer and nails were clearly left over from the construction of the cabin, and Jareth being Jareth, he'd stashed them in the loft and promptly forgotten about them.

Thanks to that, and the amount of nails he and the others had pounded into the wood, the door was holding. He could hear the glass of the window shattering where the other creature was attacking. He also heard its pained screech as it cut itself on the glass.

This seemed to anger the monster at the door, since it redoubled its efforts to bust it down. He could hear Jacen shouting, swearing, almost screaming as he cursed at the creature. He watched in awe as his Prince bellowed out in a voice that held both rage and terror, suggesting that the monster perform a sexual act on itself involving a rubber hose, some Bog water, and a… porcupine?

I'm going to laugh about that in an hour. I hope.

Taking a page out of Jacen's book, Toby joined in with the cursing, although his epithets weren't nearly as colorful. Anduin stayed quiet… no need to remind the monster of his presence near the door. If it did get in, he had a good chance of killing it before it could close with his Prince.

He heard the monster from the window move away. He strained his ears through the roars and the cursing and picked up a series of deep-throated hoots which were more like growls. After a moment, the monster at the door stopped its assault. Jacen and Toby became quiet too, and all three of them waited in silence. The smell was still there, still strong.

Then, it faded away. He could hear the footsteps of the monsters as they moved off into the forest. After a few more minutes of them frozen in place, the natural nocturnal sounds returned.

Anduin examined the door. The wood was relatively solid, despite the blows it had taken. The nails…

Some were about halfway out. Others had been driven all the way out. But the door held. He turned to look back at Jacen and Toby, who met his gaze with wide, terrified eyes.

"A porcupine, Jace?" he whispered softly. "I don't think I want to know how you got that idea."

All three of them burst into hysteria-laden laughter.

Author's Notes:

Here we get to see a bit of Anduin's frustration at the generation gap. It might seem like an easy thing to share your opinion with those more experienced than you, but Jareth, Garthan and Randel are absolute living legends to the Goblins as a whole, and Anduin feels like he would be insulting them in some way if he were to point out the flaws in their thinking (although I would remind the reader of Chapter Two, where the Elders express their desire for their sons to do exactly that). Anduin is afraid that they still see him as the cute kid they all played with and not a warrior. He even mentions that the men in his own unit don't take him very seriously (shades of nepotism perhaps?).

He's not looking for glory or anything like that, but he does feel that there needs to be change in how they do things. He just doesn't feel that he's in a position to say so.

And yes... Jacen basically told the monster to shove a porcupine up its ass.