As Sav doused me with the healing water from the basin, I couldn't help but feel both relief and …well, embarrassment.

Here I was, sprawled in the mud, getting babied by a guy who’d just demolished a creature that nearly ended me. The cool liquid did its work, easing some of the pain and burning sensation, but it wasn't a cure-all. My vision was still blurry, and my body ached all over like I’d been on the losing end of a bar brawl. Apparently, for as much as he’d brought, there wasn’t enough water to fully heal me.

That would have been alright, but…now there was a weird, lingering burning feeling in my limbs and torso. It was like fire ants marching under my skin. My mind, ever so helpful, started racing with panic.

Nerve damage. That’s gotta be it.

I’d Googled the symptoms enough to know this weren’t good.

"Damn it, Sav," I coughed out, "I think I've got permanent nerve damage. Fuck. FUCK. Goddammit shit. Shit, shit, shit. My body's all tingly and burning. This is bad."

Sav looked at me, his expression as blank as a fresh notebook page.

"Nerve damage?" he echoed, the confusion clear in his tone. “Seemed fine to me.”

“What?”

“Your nerve,” he said. “You didn’t run during the fight.”

Oh, he thought I meant bravery.

“Oh, not that kind of nerve,” I said. “Nothing to do with gumption, and everything to do with sensory capabilities.”

“That means nothing to me,” Sav said with a sigh.

"You know, like when your nerves are all shot to hell. Don't y'all have that kinda thing here? The, uh, things in your body that let you feel stuff. Like pain, or…uh, other things."

"Pain is from wounds," Sav stated plainly, as if that settled the matter.

"No, no, it's more complicated than that," I said, my voice rising in frustration and fear. "It's like… okay, imagine tiny little messengers in your body that tell your brain when something's wrong. And now imagine they're all screaming fire. That’s what’s happening to me."

He looked at me, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Might be you’re just on fire?"

I groaned, realizing this was going nowhere fast. "Forget it. Just… swamp Galdur stuff, I guess. I'm probably just overreacting. Probably. Fuck, maybe not. This doesn’t seem normal.”

I was overcome by the sensation of panic again as my anxiety spiked. So, I tried a different tactic for my own mental health. “So…do you ever get a feeling like everything's on fire inside you after a fight?"

Sav shrugged, a gesture that seemed to sum up his entire philosophy on life. "Fights hurt. Then they stop hurting."

"Man, what I wouldn't give for your simple outlook on life," I muttered, trying to push myself up to a sitting position. "Thanks for the save, I guess. And the, uh, healing bath."

He nodded, then looked down at the remains of the Croak Lord. "Gonna do anything with that?"

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

I glanced at the grotesque pile of what used to be a menace.

The moment my eyes landed on it, something within me beckoned toward it. Marshlore, obviously, but…why?

“Uh, maybe…” I said. “You wanna help me with it?”

Sav nodded, his expression as unreadable as ever. We approached the carcass cautiously, me still wincing with each step. The Croak Lord was a mess, but there had to be a reason why I was being prompted to examine it.

I started poking around the remains, trying to ignore the gruesome state of it all.

"Look for anything out of the ordinary," I instructed Sav. "Like, more out of the ordinary than a giant toad, I mean."

As I rummaged, the tingling in my body persisted, a constant reminder of the recent brush with death. It was like my nerves were still on high alert, every sensation amplified. I couldn't shake the worry about long-term effects, but right now, I had to focus on something else. Otherwise I’d probably start hyperventilating.

"Here," Sav grunted, pointing to a part of the toad's underbelly that seemed less mangled. "This look different to you?"

I leaned in, my eyes finally adjusting to focus on the details. There was a large patch of skin that shimmered differently, almost iridescent. Best I could tell, it was a five-by-five circle. "Yeah, that's interesting," I mused, prodding it gently. "Help me cut this part out."

We each took one of my fang daggers from the corpse of the beast, with me tucking the third into the belt across my chest, and set to work. Together, we managed to extract a sizable piece of the shimmering skin. It was surprisingly tough, yet flexible.

“What is this for?” Sav finally asked, casting a critical eye on our haul.

That’s a great question, I thought.

"Could make for some sturdy armor, maybe," I speculated, turning the piece over in my hands. "Or something else useful."

Sav just nodded, watching me with his usual stoicism.

"Anything else catch your eye?" I asked, still scanning the remains.

He shook his head. "Just toad."

"Just toad," I repeated, chuckling despite the situation. "Well, let's take this shimmering piece back with us. Might come in handy."

Then, however, I felt a prickle in my mind. Marshlore at work once more. I zeroed in on the open wound in the toad’s stomach cavity. Oh, no.

“Actually…” I started. “There might be something else in there.”

“Be my guest,” Sav said, stepping back to allow me access.

Great. Suppose it was too much to hope he’d have offered his assistance, then. Some Squire you are.

Slowly, tentatively, I approached the gash in the flesh. Marshlore was pushing me hard on this one, for some reason. I took a deep breath, then I plunged my hand into the wound.

It was surprisingly cold inside—not that I thought it would be hot, but maybe…warm? I didn’t know how formerly-human-now-giant-toad physiology worked, but I’d been optimistic. I began moving my hand around a bit, trying to find…something. Then, after a moment, my fingers brushed against something hard. I grabbed it, wrenching it out of the toad’s gut and pulled it into the wan light.

It was a…well, it looked like an oversized stone key.

“A key?” I wondered aloud, brushing some of the belly muck from the surface of the item. It was about a foot long, looking very much like one of the novelty keys that car dealerships sometimes hand out for promotions. I remembered specifically seeing one at a Bats game back home; whichever car lot was doing it, I didn’t remember, but they’d driven a Silverado out onto the diamond, and the winning seat won the oversized key, to be redeemed later, I think. Damn, the thing was heavy, though.

I raised it, showing it off to Sav.

“It’s a key,” I said.

“Aye, seems that way,” said the big boy.

“What to, though?”

“A big door.”

I snorted. I wasn’t sure if Sav’s humor was intentional, but it was definitely growing on me.

“Seen any around here?” I looked about myself. Where could something like this possibly…

My eyes had stopped on the tower in the distance, lording over this stretch of swamp.

“Shit,” I said. “I wonder if this belongs to a door inside that thing.” I gestured to the structure for Sav’s benefit. He regarded it, then shrugged.

“Well…” I started, then looked down at the attavita. Otho wouldn’t be useful right now—he’d already indicated he didn’t really know what the place was. Plus, he, apparently, was super prejudiced against Clan Sav, so I didn’t really need him complaining if he caught sight of the big ‘un. However, Marshlore seemed to keep my eyes trained on that tower. Something about it would be, at the very least, interesting. Though I didn’t know what would lie within, nor if it was going to be fruitful. Marshlore didn’t really seem to have a “good and bad” radar—it just led me toward things. Some good, some bad. Hm…

“I need a break,” I said. “And maybe a doctor. Do we have those here?"

"Doctor?" Sav seemed to consider the word.

“Healer?” I clarified. “Resident sore bones? Anything like that? Someone to tell me I'm not permanently screwed up from toxic toad fumes."

Sav just shrugged again, the very picture of nonchalance. "The swamp heals."

"Right. The swamp heals," I echoed, not entirely convinced. "Let's just hope the swamp's got something for potential nerve damage."

I looked at the tower again, then back in the direction I had been heading before this. Was it worth exploring something potentially dangerous, or would it be better to stick to the current trail and try to complete this leg of the Trial?

Decisions, decisions…

Eventually, I sighed and nodded.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ve decided.”