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"What a gentleman!" Anise said aloud this time, slipping her arm through Antony's and then Touda's so she was sandwiched between the two of them. In truth, she was not only thrilled that someone so good looking was escorting her home, she was also thrilled that Touda had listened to him and was therefore more likely to obey.

On his part, Touda grumbled under his breath, looking mutinous. But he also didn't look as if he was going to break away and sprint down the street yelling half-baked curses, either. "Thanks again for the charms." He muttered to Antony, giving the older boy a bit of a smile.

"Wait, what?" Touda asked, taken by suprise. Then he saw the monster.

Anise also appeared to have the ability to see monsters, because she let out a horridly chilling scream that was sure to catch the attention of any creature, benign or malevolent. The toad-demon was definitely not a friendly creature.

"Run!" He repeated to Anise, trying to shove her out of the way, but she stood frozen in terror.

Anise, snatched by Antony, was shaken out of her stupor enough to run alongside him. Not as if she really had any choice. They hadn't been running long, though, before she tried to stop. "Wait!" The girl gasped out, "Touda!"

Touda, as it turned out, had not run along with them. Instead he stood there, facing the giant monster, his hands on his hips and his legs spread in a wide stance, defiant. He glared at the monster. Touda was not in a particularly great mood and somehow an impossible seeming standoff appealed to him. Plus, he could distract the thing while Antony and Anise got away. He could be the hero. He grinned at the monster, an echo of fire seeming to leap in his eyes.

Anise just stood, staring. She wasn't a stupid girl, but she was a girl who had never faced a monster before in her life and wasn't entirely sure what to do about it. Her nervous hands clutched at Tok, her ever-present stuffed animal and she chewed on his ear while she watched Antony run back towards Touda.

Touda had been about to respond to Antony's insult when the tongue reached out and snapped him up. "No!" That wasn't supposed to happen. Touda felt himself growing righteously angry. His hands and feet felt hot.

"Let go of him!" He shouted at the monster, pointing at it. To his immense suprise, a gout of flame spurted from his fingertips, searing a long and angry looking weal across the face of the monster which seemed just as suprised as Touda.

"You're filthy." Touda observed wrly, avoiding getting too close just in case Antony decided that Touda should be filthy too. "Did you see what I did?" He added, his eyes going bright with the excitement of discovery. "Did you?" He added, just in case Antony hadn't been paying attention.

Anise, now that the frog was dead, had finally fled home.

"I'm sorry." Touda at least had the courtesy to look abashed. "I really am." He sighed. "I'm just tired of being helpless." Eyeing Antony, he smiled a bit. "You could definitely use at least twenty showers. And maybe a scouring pad."

Touda appreciated the vote of confidence enough that he didn't even make much of a face when Antony wiped his hand on his shirt. He watched the older boy walk away, feeling a sense of pride. Then the stench of the slime hit him and he shuddered, turning his own way towards home.