"What's going on?" Verin asked, approaching Andy.

"Oh, I was just… I needed to talk to Kermit about something…" Andy said.

"Ah, very well," Verin said, continuing the approach. He seemed saddened, but he was clearly putting on a brave face.

Perhaps he was wandering over here for some interaction. He certainly seemed like an extrovert and a verbal processor. Perhaps he was looking for comfort in company.

Andy hated to seem callous, but he didn't want Verin to know what was happening. Natham certainly seemed very special to him, and he didn't want to give him any false hope of Natham's survival. It'd be best if he didn't know the situation until they could walk Natham out of here, alive and well.

"I'm sorry to say, I really need to speak with Kermit one on one," said Andy. "Kermit, could you join me?"

"Sure!" Kermit said, hopping straight up.

"Very well," said Verin in a polite tone, trying to keep his face from falling. "I didn't mean to bother you."

"Come on," Sven said to Verin, clearly trying to save the vibe. "Come have a seat. I've got some snacks."

Verin exclaimed with delight as Sven produced some wrappers containing fried cakes and pretzels covered in caramel. Andy walked off with Kermit alongside him, headed toward the cabin.

"What's up?" Kermit asked.

"I need you to use your healing powers, bud. Can you do that?"

"Of course!" Kermit said.

"Shhhhh," Andy said. "Keep it down."

"Oh," said Kermit in a hoarse whisper.

"I need to warn you, the situation is very, very scary… but if you are brave, I know you can do it. Ok?"

Kermit nodded.

They entered the house as inconspicuously as possible.

"Through that room, Natham needs our help, OK?"

"Natham‽" Kermit exclaimed.

"Shhhhhhh," Andy hissed. "You have to keep it down!"

"Oh yeah, sorry."

Andy crossed the doorway into the pitch black room, and Kermit followed behind.

Natham lay panting on the ground. Morwen knelt beside him, holding her hand on his sweating forehead.

"Can you do it?" Morwen asked.

Kermit's mouth fell open and his eyes went wide as he gasped. He ran over to Andy's side.

"What is that? What happened to him?" Kermit asked.

"We're not sure," Andy said, "but he's alive and he needs your help. We'll be here the whole time, ok?"

"Ok," said Kermit. He took a deep breath and stood up straight, walking over to the injured man.

Kermit knelt beside Morwen and placed his hands on Natham's shoulders. He bowed his head and began to pray, interceding for Natham.

This was the first time Andy had the chance to pay attention to Kermit's prayers. He had always been too busy or distracted to notice Kermit's words.

"Dear God," Kermit began. "Please give Natham his health back. Please help him feel good again. Make all the pain stop and make all the hurt go away."

Natham's panting became less drastic. He was breathing easier. His groaning subsided.

"I remember when you were there for me in the mines," Kermit continued, apparently still to God. "Remember that? It was just as dark as this place, and I got lost. That's when I said I'd go to church every Sunday if you helped me get out. And you did."

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That's right, Andy thought. He's from West Virginia a century ago… he's obviously familiar with the coal mines.

Natham relaxed further, his jaw going slack and his facial muscles losing their tension. The pain continued to vanish from his countenance.

"I know you can do it," Kermit said. "We want you to heal him. We want him back. We want him to be happy and healthy. He has lots of friends who need him here."

A light golden glow began to surround Kermit's hands, which remained on Natham's shoulders.

His prayer struck Andy. It was just like you'd speak to a friend or parent if you were trying to get some help.

Verin gasped as he burst into the room, followed closely by Arlene and Sven. "Natham!"

Kermit continued his quiet prayer as Verin fell beside Natham.

"Verin," Natham said, becoming lucid as he cradled his companion's hand in his own.

"You stupid fool," Verin said, chuckling between relieved sobs. "What have you done?"

"It was… it was necessary," he said. "You don't understand, I–"

"I believe you," Verin said, kissing Natham's forehead.

"No," said Natham, suddenly trying and failing to sit up. "No you don't understand… I was attempting an operation using the magic of the Elder Plane. I was looking into the futures of Cresthaven."

Verin grew quiet. "Natham, I think you need to get some rest."

"It's not good," the scholar wheezed, barely averting a coughing fit.

"Natham."

The feeble scholar raised his upper body off the floor, propping himself on his elbow and gathering enough energy to muster a phrase. "Verin… a terrible, terrible war is coming."

***

"I'm afraid he's in a state of delirium," Verin said, approaching the group who sat on the hillside, resting and hydrating.

Verin had searched Natham's desk to find and use a house cleaning spell called Three Butlers (common) to repair the cottage.The spell was currently active, using its six blue, ethereal hands (connected to nothing, apparently) to scrub the windows. They were going slowly, so it would probably take the entirety of the spell's 8-hour duration to finish things up.

Many of the minor repairs had already taken effect, but it would likely take hours for the cottage walls and windows to be fully restored. Natham would probably have a more effective spell, but even Three Butlers was near the limit of Verin's capabilities. Verin had done his best.

"But he will become better upon resting," Verin continued. He turned to Kermit. "Thank you, lad, for coming to his aid."

"Yessir!" Kermit said, always happy to be of service.

Andy was impressed. The kid had been scared, as anyone would be. Hell, as Andy was. But he had the courage to do what needed to be done anyways. He had the ability to help with a level head in a tough situation. Andy could tell, Kermit had been through some shit before.

The mines… Andy thought.

"Why do you say that?" Arlene asked. "That he's delirious, I mean."

"I do believe that he was doing his best to control something he wasn't ready for. And I think it got the best of him," said Verin. "He continues to rave about wars and destruction. He's clearly suffering from a touch of madness. I don't blame him. But he will get better. He's suffered worse magical mishaps in the past."

Andy found it difficult to imagine a mishap worse than being metabolized alive by an otherworldly organism and having your genetic material engineered into eldritch zombies.

"What were those things?" Andy asked.

"I don't know," Verin chuckled, "but if I had a nickel for every unidentified extraplanar entity that I've seen come through that summoning circle,I'd have… six or seven nickels. Which isn't a lot of money, but it is a lot of extraplanar entities. They often have bizarre and inscrutable motivations. I'm sure Natham can tell us all about them when he's well again."

"What kind of war?" Arlene said.

"Pardon?"

"What kind of war was Natham talking about?"

"Oh, a full-on apocalypse," said Verin. "Fire raining from the heavens, the pit of hell opening up. The whole thing. But he's finally fallen asleep. I think rest will be good for him."

"Did his foot get better?" Sven asked.

"Yes, yes indeed," said Verin. "We have some very powerful healing potions that did just the trick."

"I have to admit," said Morwen, "between what you were saying about a guild war and this scholar's grim prophecies, I'm a bit concerned."

"Oh heavens no," said Verin. "Please don't be. No guild war in Cresthaven would be a real problem, and it's a problem we need to talk about more. But it couldn't possibly result in the kinds of things that Natham was ranting about. It's just a common case of temporary madness, something many scholars and spellcasters know well."

Morwen remained silent. Andy could see that she wasn't convinced.

"Very well," said Andy, trying to lighten the tone of the conversation. "What about your hunting trip?"

"Ah," said Verin. "Yes… well. I can't imagine Natham would be fully recovered for at least a few days. Could we, perhaps… could we see how Natham is doing and go from there? Perhaps tentatively we could delay travel by a week?"

"Perhaps you should just cancel and devote your atten–" Morwen began.

"I need to do this," Verin said with an uncharacteristically stern tone.

"Well, we'll find a way to occupy our time," said Andy. "Perhaps there's an interesting location or two around here to explore."

"That's the spirit," said Verin.