Monster!

"Is it an orc? No, more like some kind of bugbear," I muttered.

The beast, for surely it was a beast, was upright, as a person would be, but it was at least half as tall again as a fully grown adult. There was no clothing, but it was covered in matted, dirty fur. The face was a cross between a human and a wolf, with yellow, hate-filled eyes and a muzzle full of sharp teeth. At the end of the muscular arms were a mix between paw and hand, but with wicked looking claws.

With a howl of rage, it lurched forward at me.

To this day I don't know how I did it. Maybe it was because I had been thinking of casting it anyway, maybe it was the old reflexes kicking in, or maybe it was some instinct given to this body from Midex, but I held my hand out and conjured Concentrated Storm Ball with as much force as I could muster.

I was still knocked off my feet by the recoil, but I had adjusted the spell slightly, even though this was my first test, so this time I saw the effect it had. 

And boy, did it have an effect.

A concentrated ball of wind was what it, essentially, was, which may not sound like much, but when I say concentrated, I really mean it. It was like compressing a tornado down to the size of a football. And that football hit the bugbear, whatever it was, in the chest. And carried right on, blasting through the creature's body in an explosion of blood, meat and bone, scattering claret and white bits over a wide area behind the impact zone.

The Concentrated Storm Ball didn't stop though. It carried on into the woodland behind, smashing its way into the undergrown and toppling at least one tree before finally dissipating.

For a few seconds, in the silence that followed, I simply lay back and panted hard. That had been intense! Then realising the small green creature was whimpering, I picked myself up off the floor and dusted myself down.

Stepping up to the green girl, I knelt down by her form. She, cautiously, uncurled from the ball she was in, slightly at least, and peered up at me with one large, amber coloured eye.

"Hi there," I said, with a smile. "My name's Theodore. What's yours?"

~*~

She gave a small shriek when I spoke, and curled up tight again. This wasn't going to be easy. Patience was the key. I sat back on my haunches and simply waited.

Eventually the ball uncurled again, and once more, the amber eye looked up at me. 

"Hi," I said again, not moving. 

"Sho ifaos faioj?"

"Nope, sorry, didn't catch that." I shook my head.

"SH… N… No k… kill."

"Oh! No, no I'm not going to hurt you. What am I? A monster?"

Blank stare.

"No kill."

The girl relaxed, very slightly, and sat up. Now I was gazed at, quite intently, with both of those eyes. They were really quite attractive. After a moment or two, the gaze turned to the rather bloodied remains of the bugbear thing. She gasped, hands going to her mouth, and then looked back at me.

"SKfa kjaf askjalsd assisis!" She pointed at me.

"Again, not following. However, you're welcome. Of course, it was in self-defence really, so… does that count?" I scratched my chin.

I was rewarded with a blank look. Time to move this on. 

Standing up, I held out my hand. 

It took a moment, but eventually her green one reached up and took it, allowing me to help her up, although, to be honest, I was nearly pulled down. She was stronger and heavier than she looked!

It turned out I was slightly shorter than she was, when she finally stood in front of me. She was quite pretty, I thought. 

Shaking my head of those thoughts, I spoke again, slowly, pointing to her. "Your home. Where?" 

She seemed to understand this, or maybe not, I don't know, but she pointed up, towards the forest. Great.

"Come on then, let's get you home." I nodded in the direction she indicated.

Those wonderful eyes went wide. "KS siffor afflru assss?"

"Yes, why not?" I had to assume she just asked me if I was sure.

After a puzzled look, she nodded, and walked a few steps, before stopping and looking back at me. 

"Yes, coming." 

She skirted the dead monster, but apart from that didn't seem squeamish about all the blood, and led me where I really shouldn't be going. 

Into the woods.