When my vision cleared, I saw shadows dropping to the ground and dispersing all around us, the green glow around them fading. Once most of them vanished, I spotted Soatas amongst the fallen horde. His glow was considerably dimmer, with chunks of his body missing including the entirety of his stubby arm. But he rose nonetheless, casting aside the shadows that remained and striding forward once more.

Elmidath and I wordlessly followed him, all too aware of our vulnerability. The tide of darkness would have torn us apart without his help. We’d still almost died even with him taking the bulk of their assault. However, the ordeal had clearly drained him. Now even without impediment it seemed the most he could manage was a brisk walking pace.

New shadows were already appearing on the edge of our light, gathering themselves for another onslaught. It wouldn’t be long until they were ready to overwhelm us at the speed they were massing. I thought about warning Soatas, but he had to know already. Even if he didn’t, what else was there to do differently? We could only go forward.

As he soldiered on, Soatas’s illumination revealed the entrance to a narrow passage ahead. Positioning himself to the side, he motioned for us to continue past him. “The rift is close, go.”

I pulled Elmidath along and we raced through the passage ahead of the swarming shadows. As we were passing, Soatas tossed a particularly bright fragment in my path. I caught it and moved on, using it to light my way. Soatas moved to block the exit once we were in and the wave of shadows crashed over him. Flashes of light and bursts of discordant sound dogged our footsteps, testament to the terrible battle happening just behind us. But we didn’t spare it even a glance; we had only one objective in mind now.

The passage brought us to a chamber that sloped steeply down toward a pit of impenetrable darkness in the centre. We’d scarcely entered before a great winged beast descended upon us from the darkness above, wreathed in a cloak of living shadow that made its form difficult to discern beyond its vast wings.

Only when it was nearly on top of us did its dark veil finally part, revealing a sleek body with grey scales and a toothsome maw spread wide. It struck my hastily manifested aura with a loud crash, tearing holes in my barrier from the impact but it just barely held together under the onslaught. Rather than trying to pull itself free, the monster turned its head toward me and unleashed a spray of noxious green liquid.

My aura caught most of it, but some of it got through the holes. I reacted too slow and it splattered across my armoured chest. As bad as the smell was, the way it spread across the steel like a living thing was worse. I wouldn’t be able to get my mail shirt off quickly enough to stop it reaching my flesh, so I immediately retracted my aura and used it to scrape off the offending substance.

Seizing upon the opportunity I’d given it, the creature pivoted toward Elmidath. Before it could open its mouth to loose another foul deluge, her conjured spear shot at its narrow skull. Being forced to jerk its head back spoiled its aim and the next toxic stream went wide, splashing across the rock nearby. Not giving it a chance to rest, Elmidath was already preparing to strike again.

The instant I’d cleansed myself of the creature’s awful excretions, I threw myself into the fray beside her. Not wanting to exhaust what remained of my pilfered magic, I opted to rely on cold steel. My first swing sent it scuttling awkwardly backward, its folded wings too bulky to allow for agile movements on land. Elmidath had more luck with her next conjured spear, stabbing deep into one of the creature’s front legs. Screeching in pain, it drew back and leapt effortlessly into the air once more.

Despite the relatively narrow confines of the chamber, it wheeled around without striking the nearby wall and retreated back towards what must be the rift. I was going to ask Elmidath what we should do when I saw she was already moving forward, and went with her. Dashing ahead, I led the way with sword in hand. The beast reached the utter darkness ahead, then turned to face us while it hovered in place.

Keeping all my focus on it, I was ready to raise another barrier the moment it struck against us. We continued toward it at speed while it remained where it was, beating its wings to remain in place. Craning my head to keep it in sight, I was taken completely by surprise by the truly bizarre being that shot out of the darkness and barrelled towards me.

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Propelled by four short, stocky legs, the rest of its body was essentially one giant mouth large enough to swallow me whole. I tried to jump back, but the toothless void caught one of my arms in its vicelike grip. Pulling against it accomplished nothing, in fact it was reeling me in by the arm, and I swung my sword at it one-handed. The edge cut a shallow channel in the creature’s thick spongy hide and promptly got stuck. Before I could extract it, the flesh around the shallow wound flowed over my sword.

I clung desperately to the hilt, unwilling to relinquish my only weapon, and brought forth my aura. The solid energy formed a wall in the rapidly shrinking space that remained between myself and the mouth on legs. It stopped me being drawn further in, but I was still stuck and the jaws were tightening around my arm, I could already feel my bones twisting. Near helpless, I looked back at Elmidath and found her contending with the winged beast once more.

I was on my own, at least for now. I’d have to find a way out of my current predicament alone. With no arms free, my chances of harming the creature devouring me were minimal. While I could conceivably kick it, I doubted my legs could achieve much when my sword had already failed to make an impression. Teleporting might work, but it also might simply bring the monster along or leave me without my arms. Neither would do much to improve my situation.

The only tool then that I could rely on was my magical aura. Presently it was the main thing standing between me and a quick trip into a monster’s belly, but I’d have to risk it. Leaving Elmidath to fight on her own was simply too dangerous, particularly when she had the crystal.

Dropping my barrier, I immediately started to lose ground once more. I dug in my heels and fought against the pull as best I could while I focused my aura around my arm within its mouth. Bit by bit I forced back the muscular structure that was crushing my limb. Once I’d opened a bit of a gap, I did the same for my trapped sword hand and ripped them both free before the monstrous maw could drag me in.

I was bruised and battered, but far more importantly; I was free. My foe took a moment to gather itself, opening and closing its mouth, then coiled for another lunge. This time, however, I was ready for it when it came and it struck my aura head on. It reeled back, stunned. I doubted it had suffered any significant injury, but I took advantage of the opening to teleport back to Elmidath.

I appeared beside her as she was staring up at the winged beast, no doubt waiting for it to get in range once more. However, it seemed to be keeping its distance, content to spit down at us from near the chamber’s apex. Seeing that we were in something of a stalemate, I decided it was time for a new plan of action.

“Run for the rift. I’ll cover you.”

“What if there are more of these things down there?”

The four-legged monster charged me again, veering off when I raised my barrier.

“We’ll just have to take our chances.”

There was no point waiting around here, things could only get worse. Soatas wouldn’t be able to hold the shadows off forever and once he failed, we were as good as dead. Seeing that Elmidath was still hesitating, I gave her a shove towards the rift. After confirming that she was moving, I blocked the approaching maw’s path.

This time, rather than relying on my barrier, I swung with all my strength at one of its front legs. The blade dug into the pliable flesh without cutting, but it was enough to send the creature skidding across the ground. Tearing my sword free before the tissue could close around it, I teleported back to Elmidath once more.

The winged beast plunged towards her, loosing its foul payload as it went. I brought forth my aura as a shield and blocked the spray of liquid. In response it changed course, avoiding my barrier and angling to cut off Elmidath’s path to the rift. She stabbed at it again with her weaponry formed of blood, but it was at the edge of her range and was undeterred by the minor cuts it received.

I could already feel the limited well of power within the sword emptying, there was at most one use of Yueryurn’s sanguis remaining. Not wanting to waste it, I used the only other shield I had; my own body. Running out ahead of Elmidath, I took the next noxious torrent to the chest. It hit me square on as I closed my eyes, the sticky substance splattering across my body. My skin burned at the first touch and it only got worse from there.

Blind and in agony, I charged the beast, using my sword like a spear. My arms shuddered as I made contact, the blade penetrating deep in its target. The blow was answered by piercing shriek right into my ears, adding yet more pain to my gamut of suffering.

Hoping my foe was faring worse than I, I twisted the sword free. A pair of long claws skipped off my armour before tearing into my lower right arm. Thrashing, I tried to break free but they were in too deep and the creature had a powerful hold on me.

Left with no other option, I raised my weapon with one hand and clumsily hacked at the offending limbs. The thick scales turned the first strike and the second. But by the third I either got lucky or struck a more vulnerable area. The edge caught, cutting a narrow slice in the creature’s flesh. Pressing down, I tried to widen the wound.

I wasn’t sure if I succeeded, but it was enough for the claws to jerk back. The pain of my various injuries was fading, while an inexplicable chill spread through my extremities. Suddenly feeling rather exhausted, I tried to raise my weapon once more only for it to slip from my fingers. Still blind, I was reaching down for it when the ground rushed up to meet me and I knew no more.