Chuck woke up with a start, smacking the back of his head against the wall. Ouch! Guess I fell asleep anyway. Wonder how long? He instinctively ran his hand over his face. Ugh, drool. Sure that made an impression on her. Chuck glanced over. Brytha sat next to him, her mouth wide open—sleeping soundly. Good, she didn’t see.

  He stared for a few minutes, studying her face. Her hair falling over one eye. Chuck tensed and squeezed his eyes shut. Stop it! I’m a freak and need to accept that friends are as far as any relationship will go, if there even can be a relationship beyond this quest. Ha! Guess it’s a quest, Chuck the hero on a quest. Finds a woman and…stop it, pity or whatever this is, ain’t helping no one. He stood up and stepped to the edge of the dome.

  “Enjoy you nap?”

  Chuck turned to face Brytha. “I did, but you seemed to enjoy yours more.”

  She stood and wiped at some dirt on her pants. “Didn’t even think I was tired, but I slept hard. Hope my snoring didn’t wake you.”

  “It would be an arduous task to declare which one of you surpassed the other in volume.” Glyrgaph floated over to the others. “Good thing I don’t require the same type of sleep you do. Just have to go dormant every so often.”

  “Brings up a bunch of questions, but I should table them for later. Oh, hold on.” Status check.

  << STATUS

  Health: 72/80

  Magic: 108/108

  >>

  “Whoo hoo! Fully recharged in magic, and health almost there. That means we’re ready to go. I mean once we get a plan and confirm y’all are ready.”

  Chuck resisted the urge to stare as Brytha raised her arms above her head and then arched backwards. Her quick smile at him as she straightened told him he had failed the task.

  “I would suggest leaving the dome up,” Brytha said. “That way, if we need to run back to it, it’s there. If I take it down, we lose it completely. It’s not dependent on me staying near it to keep running.”

  Chuck shrugged. “I don’t think we have any other option. We may not make it back to the dome, but I’d feel better knowing it’s here if we need it.”

  Brytha nodded. “Not much more to plan, is there? We just walk around that corner up ahead and hope the ground stays solid. I’d like to make sure of that as we go, wouldn’t want to not know when the fight begins.”

  “True, but with this place, the next step could be the opposite of the previous one.”

  “Chuck, don’t give them any ideas! But you are right, have to be ready no matter what.” Brytha pulled out her sword and flexed her wings. “Ready if you are.”

  “Glyr, you ready?” Chuck asked.

  “I require little in preparation time. I’ve been ready since you both awoke.”

  “Sounds like a yes to me. Let’s get moving.” Chuck stepped away from the dome’s protection. Brytha and Glyrgaph followed.

  “Nothing screaming at us. That’s better than I expected.” Brytha swiveled her head as she spoke. “Since I have the sword, I’ll take the lead.” She stepped past Chuck.

  “Makes sense.” I don’t mind at all, for many reasons.

  The three of them advanced cautiously, eyes darting in every direction as if the shadows themselves might pounce. With each tentative step, the tension thickened, wrapping around them like a suffocating shroud. The air was heavy with silence, their voices stifled by the looming sense of dread. The only noise that dared to break the oppressive quiet was the harsh, grating scuffle of their feet against the sand and jagged rock, each sound echoing like a warning of impending doom.

  Chuck broke the silence with a whisper. “Does the air feel heavier, or is it just my nerves?”

  “It has increased in density,” Glyrgaph answered in a tense whisper.

  They took a few more steps toward the turn ahead. Chuck noticed he could hear his breathing mixed in with the sounds their feet made.

  “Shouldn’t the air be getting lighter or thinner if we’re going higher?” Chuck whispered again.

  Brytha turned to Chuck. “Magic? Or we’re not going higher?” She matched the hushed tones of the other two.

  “We are staying at the same altitude, slight alterations in both directions, but nothing significant,” Glyrgaph answered, then asked. “Why are we whispering?”

  With a shrug, Chuck answered, “Seemed like the right thing to do.” He continued to whisper.

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  “Hmm.” Was Glyrgaph’s reply.

  The group continued their cautious advance, reaching the sharp turn.

  “Didn’t expect a switchback here. Can’t see where we’re headed without sticking a head around the corner. Glyrgaph, if anything is waiting on us, it’s less likely they're waiting for something to be peeking from higher up. You mind taking a look?”

  Glyrgaph floated forward without a sound, then floated down so he could be heard. “A short straight with another sharp turn could be one of these switchbacks. The ground is still more stone than sand.”

  Brytha nodded and turned the first corner, her sword ready. Chuck followed close behind. They stood there for thirty seconds before heading toward the next turn. They repeated this pattern five times. Each turn added to their anxiety. Chuck felt like screaming, just to relieve some stress.

  “Not sure I can keep this up.” Chuck kept his voice low.

  Brytha nodded. “Getting harder to breathe and like you said before, I’m not sure if it’s the air or my nerves.”

  “I would posit that it is our nerves, or magic.” Glyrgaph stated.

  “Posit? You have that thesaurus memorized now?” Chuck stifled the urge to laugh hysterically.

  “Only half of it at this time.”

  Chuck clamped down on the escaping laugh. It came out a tortured gurgle.

  “You okay?” Brytha’s eyebrow raised as she asked.

  “Fighting an unnatural desire to laugh, long and loud.”

  “Hmm, the urge I have isn’t that strong—but building. A laughing spell to keep us from being able to fight?” Brytha asked.

  “Well, we are whispering for no real reason. We’ve faced enough attacks to know that whatever it is we’re up against either knows, or is acting under the direction of something that does. All that has done is ramp up my fear. Now I want to laugh hysterically. So magic would be a safe bet,” Chuck answered.

  Brytha nodded again—then shouted as loud as she could. “We know what you’re trying to do—we won’t let you do it!”

  Chuck jumped as Brytha screamed, then he joined in, bellowing growls and grunts. Glyrgaph trilled a high-pitched tone in accompaniment. Several seconds later, all three stopped simultaneously.

  “Something changed,” Brytha commented.

  “I felt the change too,” Glyrgaph added.

  Chuck nodded. “The urge to laugh and whisper is gone, for me, and the air seems lighter.”

  The other two voiced their agreement—all of them speaking at a normal volume.

  “That seemed easy to overcome,” Chuck commented.

  Brytha stood still for a moment, a finger resting on her chin. “What if we didn’t have rest, let alone sleep? We’d just survived the bugs and sandstorm and we’re thinking of using this part of the pass for recovery? We might have taken shelter, made sure nothing was around a corner and then relaxed to recover. I’d guess we wouldn’t have noticed it until we were laughing ourselves to death.”

  “If that is so, maybe these encounters are less adaptive to us, and more following a set of rules. If so, can we use that to any advantage?” Chuck started pacing after he spoke, as he thought through his question.

  A few minutes passed in silence, when Glyrgaph spoke up. “We are not advancing toward the goal. Should we try to think and move forward both?”

  “Good point, Glyr.” Brytha started forward.

  “Wait!” Chuck commanded. “Sorry, that came out stronger than expected. With the time limit and these distractions, especially the easy ones. Maybe they want us to keep moving forward. I don’t know about you, but walking and watching keeps me from deeper thinking.”

  “Good point as well.” Brytha shook her head. “We’re back to where we’ve been all along. Two or more choices that could be right or could doom us. I think moving forward is the better choice, though. Mainly because I can’t think of much of a plan, not knowing what we’re going to face.”

  “Your turn on the good point counter.” Chuck paused, then let out a puff of air in frustration. “About the only thing I can think of is for all of us to look for unusual ways to do things. If the encounters are based on rules, we might find something they didn’t plan for and could be slower in responding.”

  The group navigated another tight hairpin turn and came to an abrupt halt. The ravine expanded into a broad, oblong passage that stretched out before them like a natural amphitheater. Dominating the scene was a massive cave on the far side of the oval, its yawning entrance shrouded in shadow. The muted oranges of the sand created striking stripes across the greenish-gray stone that formed the floor. The walls transformed dramatically from jagged, dark rocks to sleek, silvery metal, reflecting the light in a shimmering, almost ethereal dance.

  A deep rumble sounded from inside the cave.

  “Boss battle?” Chuck went back to whispering.

  “Uh-huh.” Brytha whispered back. “Just waiting on the boss, it seems.”

  On cue, movement occurred at the entrance to the cave. Chuck shuddered as their foe crawled out, upside down, hanging from the top of the cave. It sprung forward, flipping as it did, landing in front of the entrance. It swayed and bounced on its six legs, not moving forward—yet.

  Chuck shuddered again. That is nightmare fuel. Is it a tick, June bug, or cockroach? Combo of all three and a touch of mantis head. I can’t quite make out if it’s two mandibles and teeth, or two large mandibles and lots of little ones in its mouth. A poking in his side brought his focus to back to Brytha.

  “Any ideas? It looks well armored and deadly.” She commented while staring at it.

  “I was trying to figure out what it looked like, relate it to bugs I know something about.” Chuck’s voice was soft and monotone. “It has a hard smooth shell sort of June bug like—which means there may be wings. It’s flat and long like a cockroach, not sure what that gets us. Sort of tick-shaped and the side of the mouth mandibles look tickish—hard to squish? The rest of the head looks like a twisted version of a mantis. So enhanced vision?. And saying all that so I can buy time to think of something.”

  “More than I had.” Brytha spread her wings. “More room for me to maneuver. Wonder if the height restriction is still in place.”

  “I’ll check now.” Glyrgaph floated higher. “The ceiling is at least tripled from the former height. I didn’t go all the way up, didn’t want to stray too far in case the new bug attacked.”

  They gaped at the monstrous creature, their hearts pounding in their chests. Suddenly, it lunged forward with terrifying speed, cutting the distance between them in half with one powerful leap. Rising on its hind legs, the beast unleashed a blood-curdling screech. Chuck ranked it worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. The shriek lingered in the air long after it ceased, and the creature remained standing, its grotesque form swaying menacingly.

  “This does not look good,” Glyrgaph stated.

  “Your most accurate and understated observation so far,” Chuck replied.