Allistor heard himself mumbling to Nancy, but he wasn’t sure if he was making any sense.  A moment later, he felt cool water in his mouth and swallowed.  This perked him up enough to open his eyes.

He was on his back, looking up at the faces of Nancy and Chloe.  The little girl was crying, her tears dripping onto his face.  Nancy was trying to force-feed him something.  Trusting the woman, he opened his mouth.  Something soft and sugary touched his tongue, and he managed to chew and swallow.   When he was able to focus more, he saw that she was holding a Ho-Ho package with one hand, pushing the second of the two treats into his mouth with the other.  He tried to thank her, but his mouth was full.

He lay there for several minutes, recovering his stamina, lost blood, and his senses.  The sugary calories of the chocolate snack cakes processed quickly through his system.  Nancy gave him several more swallows of water to help wash them down.   Five minutes after the fight ended, he was sitting up and shaking his head.

“That sucked,” he said, raising his arm to look at the spot where the wolvite had clamped down.  There wasn’t even a scar.  Just a faint itch.  Looking up at Nancy, he said, “Thank you.  I was pretty sure I was dead, there.  You killed that thing before it could finish eating me, then saved with me Ho-Hos.”

She laughed at the crooked grin he gave her, still not quite himself. “I didn’t kill it.  I just distracted it so it would let go of you.  You shish-kabob’d the thing.”

He shook his head.  “No, I just sped things up.  It was dying.  You should have gotten some experience…” his voice drifted off as she nodded.

“Yup!  I’m level two now.”  She puffed out her chest with pride, and he couldn’t help but stare for a moment.  She noticed and didn’t seem to mind.

Blinking a few times, he said, “Congrats on the ding!” making her smile yet again.

She helped him to his feet as resilient little Chloe, having calmed a good bit after eating ho-hos herself, looked him up and down.  “You look like shit,” she observed matter-of-factly.  He chuckled as her mother admonished her.

“Chloe!  Language!  I’m sorry; her brother taught her some bad habits.”

The girl shrugged, not the least bit repentant.  “Well, he does.  He’s not very good at fighting.  He keeps letting things bite him.”

Nancy couldn’t help but laugh at this, and a moment later Allistor joined her.  “You know, you’re right, little lady.  I should have thought of that myself.  From now on I’ll do my best not to let things bite me.”  He mussed her hair a bit, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

He bent to loot the wolvite, receiving twenty klax, several wolvite teeth and claws, and two pieces of wolvite hide.   He was surprised a moment later when Nancy also bent to loot the creature.   “You can loot it too?”