The ball of lightning spun faster and faster, throwing projectiles of dancing light that faded into the air, then it hit the ground in a thundering crash. Jessica was blinded for a moment. She first heard thesoft snif snif sound, like a small animal. Then, as her vision returned, she slowly saw a blue pulsing light on the ground, as big as a swine. Then a shadow eclipsed it, as Chala moved to shield her from the threat. He had a low stance. His shadow gloves were activated, dark oily tendrils twisting through the air. His eyes were locked on the anomaly. It looked like he was focused on defense, observing and assessing. "What is that?" asked Jessica as the blue shape got into focus.
On the ground, the creature sniffed around, confused. It turned on itself and scratched the ground a little. Then it sniffed again. "Skree?" It asked. Jessica squinted, she saw it was very low on its legs, its belly touching the ground. The back was full of long spikes. It looked like a porcupine. A blue porcupine. It continued exploring the area, sniffing around, scratching the ground. Then it shook, like a dog getting out of the water. Crackling lightning spread along the length of the spikes, illuminating the forest once more. Then the light dimmed again. There were just two blue eyes looking at Jessica, low on the ground. "Skree?" it asked again. The female put a hand on her heart, "Aww, it's so cute!"
She didn't notice her hand going forward to pet it. Those crackling blue eyes were calling her.
"STOP!"
Jessica froze at the order. "Stay back," added Chala. Before obeying, she glanced at him, his face was a frown of concentration and worry. Shielded behind Chala, the scholar tentatively said, "I don't think it is dangerous. Look at it, it's just confused and lost, sniffing around." Then she said more confidently, "And it's a porcupine. Porcupines are not dangerous, well, if you leave them alone." Chala had a low exhale and answered, "Yes, because lobsters are known for their murderous intents. Forget what you know from this world, we have no idea what we're dealing with." Jessica felt herself blush, with shame this time, again, she had spoken too quickly.
While they talked, the glowing blue porcupine had stopped moving. Its head was trying to go as high as possible toward the voices. "Skree?" It asked. Then it shuffled forward a bit, shook slightly, sending sparks that lit the night for an instant. "Skree?" Chala was unmoving, his eyes two gems of ice in the darkness. The creature continued toward the dark shape of the man. Lines of blue light danced on the hunter's pants. The beast was three steps away, two, one…
A sharp whooshing sound ripped through the night. The blue glowing light flickered. Jessica's eyes grew wide, and her hand covered a muffled scream. A puddle of blue glowing blood was growing larger on the forest ground—the severed head of the creature lay in it. The blue light from its eyes was fading away.
"You killed it!" Said Jessica, outraged. Chala's answer had the edge of a smile. "You're quite the observer. I understand why the Grandmaster had you in such high regard." Anger flared in the young female at the jab. "Why? Why did you do that? It was not doing anything dangerous!" Chala turned toward her and found her eyes, his gaze piercing. Jessica felt dizzy. Then her mentor sighed, "Everything that gets out of those portals is dangerous."
The blue light from the creature's corpse was fading; its outline could just be seen over the forest ground. Chala produced some thin ropes from a pocket. He carefully knotted them around the remains, then called Jessica. "Grab the other ropes, we need to bring it back." Jessica looked at him, confused. The man smiled, "We don't only fight, we study and learn too." The scholar couldn't help but genuinely mirror the smile. That did sound interesting. Hidden knowledge of creatures from other worlds! That would beat any library.
They slowly retraced their steps through the forest, toward the inn. Their hands grabbed the ropes. Between them, the porcupine carcass dangled in rhythm with their walk, its spikes tracing soft blue lines through the night. "Mind your steps," said Chala. "And watch out for those spikes," he added. After a few paces, he concluded, "They could be poisonous."