Into the tunnels the group marched single file. Maintaining a grip on Ash’s tail, Left Hand pointed where to go, while the Green Golem remained wrapped around Elena’s neck. The Yellow Shooter walked where Left Hand indicated, leading the way. Behind her came Tara and an illusionary light floating continually above her head. Following the Illusionist was Kat, then Cherri, Petals, and lastly Greta.

Elena rounded the first bend in the narrow tunnel.

Glancing back at Petals, Cherri kept her voice low. “Should I put another point or two into my…?”

From around the been came a choking sound from Elena. “I can’t….”

Kat came to a stop, and Cherri bumped into her.

Petals stopped herself before bumping into Cherri. “What’s happening up there?”

Tara stood in the bend, her overhead light falling in both directions. “Ash is tightening around Elena’s neck again. Her face is turning green.”

Petals nodded at Cherri, holding up a hand as though requesting the girl to stop. “Left Hand, please, we aren’t discussing you. Ease up and let Elena breathe, so we can continue.”

Cherri nodded back and held up her hand in the same fashion as Petals. Then she dropped two fingers and her thumb, leaving two fingers upright. She pointed at Petals, mimicked an ocean wave with her hand, and then held up two fingers.

The Pink Wizard returned the nod. If she’d understood Cherri, the Moon Priestess had just assigned two unassigned skill points to her Stop command and wanted Petals to assign two points to her Move spell. That would put the Move spell and the Stop command both at level five. If that was insufficient to deal with Left Hand, they had no hope of dealing with it. But Petals held off assigning her points at the moment. She’d wait to see if Cherri’s level five Stop skill could affect Left Hand, and then act accordingly.

Elena gasped for breath, and the line started moving again.

It wasn’t that Petals needed to keep Left Hand from killing Elena, or Ash, for that matter. The two would respawn, after all. But if the Color Guard couldn’t deal with the hand, it might kill them all, leaving it to its own devices, which didn’t seem like a good thing. Left Hand could clearly get around using its fingers like legs, even if it preferred to hitch a ride on someone with a longer stride.

If their increased skills could overpower the hand, they needed to do it sooner rather than later, and take it back to its pedestal, with the hope that returning it to the pedestal would bind it again. Petals reached past Cherri and tapped Kat on the shoulder. The red-head glanced back, and Petals put a finger to her lips. Kat nodded, and pressed her body against the tunnel wall as Cherri and Petals slipped by her.

The Moon Priestess moved up directly behind Tara with Petals on her heels. Cherri projected her command at Left Hand over Tara’s shoulder. “Gondra’s left hand, Stop.”

Left Hand stiffened and froze in place. So did Ash, still possessed by the hand. In turn, Elena’s upper body came to a halt, held in place by the serpentine coils circling her neck. Her lower body still had momentum, and her feet went out from under her, leaving her head and neck to support her full body weight in the ashen noose. Unable even to cough, she scrambled to get her feet under her.

Petals breathed out her anxiety. Level five skills worked against the magical hand. She’d been worried they wouldn’t, but she also wondered if level four skills might work too. Still, she didn’t want to take the risk, and assigned both her unassigned skill points to her Move spell. “Get ready to use your Stop command on Left Hand again, Cherri.” Petals pushed past the Moon Priestess and Tara, aiming her staff at Ash. “Green Golem, listen to me, from the grasping hand Move yourself free.”

Everyone loosed a collective sigh of relief as Ash’s tail unwound from Elena’s throat and slipped free of Left Hand’s grasp, falling unharmed to the floor. Sucking in air, Elena caught her balance.

The hand remained hovering in mid-air inches from Elena’s throat.

The Yellow Shooter backed away to the edge of Tara’s light. She clutched at her throat and coughed. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t help myself. Something was in my head, forcing me to walk the tunnels until I reached this… thing. I’m sorry I let it off its pedestal. We can’t put it back.”

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do.” Petals slipped around the frozen hand to stand on the same side of it as Elena. “Cherri, as soon as it moves, Stop it again. My Move spell won’t be ready to go again soon enough. After your second Stop ends, I’ll Move Left Hand back through the tunnels and take it to its pedestal.”

Elena cleared her throat. “It won’t work. I felt the restraining magic leave from the pedestal when I reached it. I felt it in the same way I felt my possessor. It was as though my possessor was glad to feel the magic leave, and in that moment I shared its joy.”

“That doesn’t change the plan.” Petals glanced to Cherri. “As soon as it moves…. We’ll take it back to the pedestal and see what happens. If it doesn’t become bound again to the pedestal, we’ll figure out what to do then. But everyone please start thinking about it, in case Elena is right about this.”

Ash slithered to Cherri. “Mind if I ride with you?”

“Sure,” the Moon Priestess extended her arm. Ash jumped on and slithered up to her neck. “But if you choke me, this is the last time.”

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“I could definitely use a higher Spirit Defense stat.” Ash settled his green serpentine body around Cherri’s ebony throat. “Skill-wise, I’m putting my two available points into Oust right now.”

As soon as Left Hand began to fall, Cherri executed her Stop command on it again, halting its downward progress before it struck the floor. “Okay, Wizard, let’s hope this plan of yours works.” She joined Elena behind Petals.

“Kat, you’ll be leading.” Petals aimed her staff, her Move spell almost ready again. “Use your Locate Object skill to get us back to Left Hand’s pedestal. Greta, you’re behind Kat. Tara, you’re behind Greta with your light. I’ll be behind you with the hand. Cherri, you follow me, and Elena, you’re guarding the rear. Ash, don’t let the hand grab you again. And you’re right. You really need to boost your Spirit Defense stat.”

Ash nodded his wigged head, his sunglasses still on despite all he’d just been through. “The next three stat points I earn are going straight to Spirit Defense, at a minimum.”

A hush fell over the group as they waited out Cherri’s last Stop command.

Petals kept her staff trained on the hand. At the first sign of movement, she began casting her spell. “Left Hand, I work my craft….”

The hand struck the floor. Bunching its fingers beneath it, it pounced at Petals.

“… Move yourself….”

Sailing past the tip of the Pink Wizard’s staff, the hand grabbed for her forearm. Cherri thrust her scimitar past the Pink Wizard’s waist. The weapon didn’t impale Left Hand, but thwarted the severed appendage’s attack on Petals.

“… to the tip of my staff.” The Pink Wizard completed the casting of her spell, strengthened by the lengthy poem. Left Hand reversed trajectory and flew to the far end of her staff, to which it latched on. Petals extended the staff before her, positioning the hand as far from her as possible. “Go, Kat.”

The Color Guard rushed back the way they’d come and quickly reached the domed room and the pedestal. Petals hurried to the center of the room and thrust her staff at the pedestal, pushing Left Hand onto the flat top. “Please work,” Petals whispered.

When her Move expired, the hand lunged at her.

"Stop," shouted Cherri, and the hand halted in mid-air.

“Damn,” Petals muttered. “You were right, Elena, the binding magic is gone. Anyone have an idea how to deal with this thing?”

“I think we have to take it to Gondra,” Tara said. “I realize he said not to bring it to him, but I don’t see that we have a choice in the matter at this point.”

“The problem with that,” Petals said, “is that we’ll need to pass through the scarab area. It will be difficult enough getting past the three scarabs still remaining without needing to worry about the hand.”

“We could send a messenger to Gondra,” Kat said. “Just one of us, someone who won’t try to release the scarabs or claim their buffs. Someone who knows how to get back to Gondra. The others could stay here and wait for the messenger’s return with Gondra’s reply.”

“Sounds like you’re volunteering to go, Kat,” Ash said.

The green-skinned Psi-Thief grinned. “I guess I am.”

Petals shook her head. “I don’t like you going off by yourself, Kat. If you run into a shadow monster, it could easily possess you, indefinitely. You don’t want that. And we’d have no one to lead us out of this place. Except for the hand, but we have no idea where it’s wanting to go. Do we have any other ideas?”

“I could go with her,” Ash said.

“And leave the rest of us vulnerable to possession if a shadow monster comes across us here.” Petals sighed. “I don’t think we should split up like that.”

Cherri used her Stop command again as her previous one expired. “Then you won’t like my idea. I was thinking I could stay here and keep the hand from leaving while the rest of you go after Gondra’s right hand and mouth.”

“You’re our foremost line of defense,” said Tara. “If we run into more raptors, we’re toast without you.”

“Good point,” said Ash. “Ram-Horns has reset, and will eventually trigger again. When that happens, raptors could find their way anywhere in the scenario. It shouldn’t happen again too soon, but we don’t know how long it will take to find the right hand or mouth.”

“I have an idea,” said Elena. “One that won’t split the group or take us back to Gondra.”

Petals raised an eyebrow. “Let’s hear it.”

“We could let old lefty here take us wherever it’s wanting to go. Find out what’s so important to it. Cherri can Stop it when we get to its destination if necessary to prevent it from doing something dangerous.”

“No,” said Petals, Cherri, Tara, and Ash at the same time.

Elena grimaced. “It was just an idea.”

Everyone looked to Petals. She was their leader. It was her decision as to what they do next. She nodded. “Okay. We take the hand out of here. But not to Gondra. When we get back to where the sun symbols were that turned Elena yellow, Elena and I will continue past the scarabs while the rest of you stay back and Cherri keeps the hand in check. Elena and I will find out from Gondra what to do about the left hand. Then we’ll come back to you and carry out his wishes. Does anyone object to this plan?”

Tara raised her hand like a student requesting permission to speak. “One question. Will you be able to repeatedly focus your Move spell enough to get the hand all the way out of the twisting tunnels? It was a good long walk in here. I recall how your Zap spell started losing power after we’d fought those raptors for a while.”

“You’re right.” Petals sighed. “We’ll need to walk fast. I’ll rely on Cherri to use her Stop command if my Move spell becomes inadequate. Fortunately for us, Cherri’s Stop command is reliably consistent and can be invoked quickly. If I falter, she’ll give me the reprieve I need to recover from my mental fatigue and then continue. So, Kat, you’ll lead, using your Locate Object to locate the classroom where Gondra is waiting. Maybe focus on locating the teacher’s desk. Elena, you’re behind Kat with your rifle at the ready. Tara, you’re next with your overhead light. I’ll be next with the hand at the tip of my staff like I brought it here. Cherri, you’re behind with Ash, your Stop spell ready to go if I lose control of the hand. Greta, you’re….”

“Bringing up the rear. Got it.” The Green Warrior held up a flashlight in one hand and her bastard sword with the other. “Ready to strike down any monsters that sneak up from behind.”

“If everyone’s ready then….” Petals aimed her staff at Left Hand. Ten seconds later, it fell from where it had been frozen by Cherri’s Stop command, the cue for Petals to perform her casting. “Left Hand, hear my quip. Move yourself to my staff’s tip.”

The hand was drawn like a magnet to the end of her staff, which she held out ahead of her. “Let’s go, Kat. Fast as you can.”

The group got to moving.

“Hey, Ash,” called out a tiny voice from atop the Pink Wizard’s head.

“What’s up, Buford?” replied the Green Golem from directly behind the Pink Wizard.

“If you need a hand, Petals has an extra one.”

“Ha, ha, good one,” Ash said.

Petals huffed. “You know their names?”

Ash chuckled. “Not all of them. Only the more outspoken ones. I did spend some time in your garden.”

“You want to spend some time in my garden?” Tara asked from six feet ahead of Petals, without slowing her pace.

“Oh, please,” said Cherri. “Can we stay focused on our task?”

“Sorry,” said Buford. “I just thought everyone could use a little levity, and I wanted to give you a hand with that.”

Cherri scoffed. “You make one more hand joke, Buford, and I’ll show you what a hand is for—plucking flowers.”

“Oops,” said Buford, “I didn’t mean for it to get out of….”

“I wouldn’t say it,” said Ash.

“…control,” finished the talking flower.