Touched

“M-my name is F-Finzen”, stammered the Halfling. “W-what’s yours?” He blinked hard, forcing the sleepy haze from his eyes, one pale blue, one brown.

In his right hand, he clenched a falchion that looked far too heavy for his stature. A leather strap protruding from the pommel, was wrapped tightly around his wrist. Finzen stood almost naked save for a magically patterened breastplate and a loosely wrapped sheet of cloth.

From the shadows behind the Halfling, emerged a medium sized dog. It padded forward slowly, sat down to his left. A reflection of the campfire flickered in the dog’s eyes, one brown, the other pale blue. It stared intently at the newcomer and growled softly.

Finzen raised his spare hand to head height and scruffed the back of the dog’s neck. “Th-this is B-Brutalus. He’s my m-most t-trustworthy f-friend.” Finzen smiled broadly. Brute, were it possible, would have smiled just the same.

The demon snarled and spat at the comparatively diminutive pair.

“W-well, if it’s g-going to be l-like that…” Finzen trailed off. With a warbling wail and no further delay, the tiny warrior dashed towards the intruder. Brutalus, suddenly frothing at the mouth, snarled menacingly and charged after his master.