‘Damn,’ said Egea, ‘they were tough, weren’t they?’

‘Bleurgh,’ said Walter, rubbing his temples with one hand and reaching for a flask in his belt with the other. ‘How long did we manage to sleep for?’ asked Walter.

‘Quite some time,’ said Ross, ‘I think. Though it’s impossible to know for sure down here without the sun to tell us.’

‘You wouldn’t necessarily be able to see it up above, either,’ said Ursula. ‘This deep into Braxia it’s often hidden by thick black clouds and volcanic smoke.’

‘How come you didn’t wake anyone else up to go on watch, Ross?’ asked Silvia.

‘Um…you all needed your sleep. I thought it best that you get as much rest as possible.’ He looked at the ground.

Horatio realised that the Spellblade still felt guilty about leading the Braxians to the Clarent Sword. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘don’t be too hard on yourself. You need to get your rest too, or you’ll be useless to us, and no good against the monsters. Now come on guys, let’s get moving. However long it’s been, I think we’ve had enough rest for now. The sooner we get out of this Qind-forsaken tunnel, the better.’

They all agreed with him on that.

They packed up the camp and set out again. The far end of the chamber they had slept in narrowed to passageway again, with room for them to walk two abreast, corroborating Ursula’s explanation that the chamber was a deliberately positioned half-way point in the tunnel.

That meant they had about a day’s walk left to go, even if they couldn’t track its progress without the sun. Horatio put one foot in front of the other, at the front of the group. What else could he do? If he thought about what lay ahead, about how much and what they had to do, he would no doubt balk and get stuck. His mind bounced off the prospect, refusing to consider it. But he could just take the next step. And he could only get where he was going by taking the next step. So he just focused on doing that–taking the next step, one at a time.

Today, Helen walked next to him, keeping a keen eye out for any more approaching monsters. She wasn’t much of a conversation partner, but Horatio didn’t mind that at the moment. Occasional chatter drifted over to him from further back in the pack, but on the whole the tunnel seemed to suck and talkative energy out of them, even out of Egea and Walter, the most talkative among them.

Horatio found himself wondering where Ceres was in the pack, and who she was walking next to, but he didn’t look round to check. She hadn’t said anything while they had been walking. He wondered if she was thinking about their conversation during the night. Would she go on thinking about it? Would she even remember it?

Eventually, as was becoming their habit, the party reached their latest sub-destination.

After countless hours of his mind being lost between focusing on his steps, thinking about Ceres, thinking about his parents, and trying not to to think about what lay ahead, a light appeared up ahead.

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A light at the end of the tunnel.

A sinister, red and orange light.

It framed the silhouette of a figure, which was standing in the exit of the tunnel.

‘Be on your guard,’ Helen whispered to Horatio at his side. ‘We can see the end!’ she called back over shoulder to the others. ‘We’re almost there!’

‘At last!’ said Olivia to a chorus of relieved noises from the others.

‘There’s someone waiting for us at the end of the tunnel,’

The relieved noises ceased.

‘Proceed with caution…’ said Primus. As if he needed to.

As they got closer and the figure came more into focus, it turned out to have wide, curvaceous hips, on which it rested its hands, a slim, flat waist, an expansive bust, and long, dark hair which fell down its back.

A woman. A shockingly attractive woman, dressed in very little–only a wrap around her chest, and a pair of short red trousers, which left most of her tanned flesh, the colour of fertile soil, exposed.

Like the rest of her, her face was perfectly proportioned. She was smiling suggestively at Horatio, dark eyes twinkling at him.

‘Hello,’ said the woman in a voice that dripped with honey. ‘My name is Amila. I am traveling across Braxia seeking to prevent the return of the Demon King Brax. May I join forces with you?’

Horatio was aware of someone else in the party answering her question for them, but he didn’t hear the words. His companions, the tunnel, thoughts of their quest all seemed to fade away in view of the alluring beauty of this woman.

Think of Ceres, his heart told him. But Ceres had turned him down. Hadn’t she?

‘A fair response,’ Amila said to whoever had answered her. ‘But why be so quick to be suspicious of me? At least one of your number is prepared to believe me, and is tempted by my offer.’

She held out a hand to Horatio and beckoned to him with a finger.

Horatio felt himself step forward. He had been so focused on just taking the next step forward for so long, why not take just a few more steps into the inviting arms of this beautiful woman, who wanted him?

He shook his head, coming back to himself at last. No. This is a trick. She may indeed be very attractive, but she’s clearly a Braxian. This will only lead to my ruin and death. Whether or not I have any hope with Ceres, I’ll not fall into this trap.

‘I’m not sure you’re right about that,’ said Primus to the woman.

‘That’s right,’ said Horatio. ‘You’re not fooling anyone, Braxian.’

The woman’s seductive smile dropped, and transformed into a scowl.

‘So be it, then,’ she said. ‘You are stronger-willed than I thought, mercernary.’

The woman’s eyes glowed red, and all of a sudden her dark locks thickened, then twisted into ropes, which transfigured into green snakes that began hissing and biting at the air. Her tanned skin turned blue, and first her breasts, then her whole body, doubled in size, so that the wrap and the trousers were torn off. Scales appeared along the front of her chest and down her stomach, and her legs merged together, forming a massive snake-tail that grew and grew and coiled out behind her.

‘A lamia!’ yelled Primus. ‘We should have known! Get it out of the tunnel so we can fight it all at once!’

As lamia launched forwards Horatio roared and drew his sword from its sheath, slicing upwards in the same motion so that it had to pull back to avoid the blade, though he still managed to lop off one of the snake-heads.

The lamia shouted with fury, and Helen got an arrow into it, then Horatio followed up, charging and swiping at it, forcing it to dodge and slither backwards in retreat, out of the tunnel.

Horatio ran after it, driven by anger that in its previous form it had nearly succeeded in seducing him, and heard his comrades pouring out of the tunnel behind him.

Boss: Lamia