Andy continued struggling within himself, but he couldn’t move his body. As hard as his mind protested, he couldn’t budge.

  He was prone, his sword laying a few inches from his hand. He heard the crawling of the massive Crawfish behind him.

  “Watch out!” Verin called.

  Who’s in danger? Kermit? Arlene?

  Andy willed himself to turn his head, trying desperately to see what was going on, but his neck would not respond. He was bricked.

  Worse than useless, he thought.

  “Gah!” Arlene screamed as an arrow flew past Andy and ricocheted off the cavern wall. It sounded like her body hit the floor.

  “Hang on!” Verin screamed.

  Andy heard the metallic ring of a blade unsheathing followed by a sickening, crunch sound of impact and… squishing?

  The Crawfish let out a horrid hiss as its body slammed against the ground, twitching. Gradually, its twitches slowed and the hissing died down to a faint rattle.

  Finally, silence.

  Andy continued to lie still, unable to move. The crawfish’s venomous tail had pierced his chest cavity. It had been a direct hit, so he expected to remain paralyzed for the maximum duration.

  “Intercede for her,” Verin said.

  “Ok,” Kermit said, his feet scrambling across the floor as he began to mumble reverently.

  Heavier footsteps approached behind Andy. “We’re going to get you fixed up.” It was Verin, unfastening a pouch and uncorking a bottle. “They got you good in the neck huh?”

  Andy felt Verin flip his shoulders to face the ceiling. His head swung around and he saw the room before him: The Crawfish was slumped over, its innards spilled out from its abdomen from a break in the exoskeleton. Kermit knelt above Arlene, who, like Andy, seemed to have been struck with the venomous barbed tail.

  Verin knelt down and poured some liquid from a glass bottle onto a small rag. It smelt strongly volatile.

  “This will counteract the venom and promote rapid healing,” Verin said, bringing the rag down and putting pressure on the wound.

  It felt like he was pouring salty everclear directly into the wound, lighting his neck and chest on fire from the inside out.

  Andy gasped for breath as the paralysis rapidly subsided. He fought back screams and grunted instead as Verin continued to apply pressure.

  “Not much longer,” he said, “but we need to let the potion circulate the wound. The pain will be over quickly.”

  Just as Verin spoke the words, the pain of the potion subsided. Verin stood up, extending his hand. “Want me to help you sit up?”

  Andy took Verin’s head, sitting straight. He placed his hand over his neck. It was almost completely healed.

  “Antivenom,” said Verin, smiling. “Mixed with a little healing potion for good measure.”

  “Quite a cocktail,” said Andy.

  Kermit continued praying over Arlene, keeping her stabilized while Verin approached and used the same antivenom on a fresh rag.

  After a few moments, Arlene gasped as she shot up, doubling over in pain but keeping quiet.

  “Shhh shhh it’s ok,” Verin said gently.

  Andy took his greatsword and stood up facing the doorway they had come through. He didn’t sense any movement, no shifting shadows.

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  He turned toward the vanquished crawfish and studied it. Verin had plunged a shortsword into the abdomen in exactly the same place that Andy had struck.

  I just didn’t go deep enough, Andy thought. But I did strike at the correct location on the underbelly.

  “It’s scary,” said Kermit, coming over to stand by Andy.

  “Yeah but we took care of it, didn’t we,” said Andy, ruffling Kermit’s hair.

  “Yep,” said Kermit, the usual pep in his voice missing.

  “What’s the matter?” Andy asked.

  “Nothing,” said Kermit. “I just…” he trailed off.

  “It’s ok,” said Andy. “You can tell me.”

  “I just… I’m supposed to save people, but what if I can’t save them every time?”

  “What do you mean?” Andy asked. “You’re a great healer. You’ve succeeded every time.”

  “But you don’t succeed at everything all the time,” Kermit said. “Sometimes things go wrong…”

  Andy thought for a moment.

  “That’s true,” said Andy. “Sometimes things do go wrong. But you know what?”

  “What?”

  “When things go wrong, we’ve got lots of people like Arlene and Verin to help us. We don’t do this on our own.”

  “What if I’m alone?” Kermit said.

  “You’re not alone,” Andy said.

  Kermit relaxed a little, as if the sudden change in his thinking allowed a few knots to release in his shoulders.

  “Let’s have some food, shall we?” Verin said, interrupting the two of them. “While we have a safe place to rest.”

  Andy continued facing the exit as he sat down. He was wary of the caves, and he wanted to keep his eyes glued to the path into the cavern room.

  “Some bread?” Arlene said, tearing off a piece of flatbread for Andy.

  “Thanks,” said Andy, taking it. He took a few bites of it, accepting its invigorating and healing effect on his body. He continued staring at the exit.

  “Mmmmm bread,” said Kermit, tearing into it.

  “Well, that was an exciting beginning to our hunt,” said Verin. “Good job, team.”

  “That was not pleasant,” said Arlene, checking her chest, which seemed to have a gnarly scar.

  The Crawfish must have struck her in exactly the same manner as it struck me, Andy thought.

  “Not pleasant at all,” said Andy, smiling. “You OK?”

  “Yep,” said Arlene, “thanks to Verin’s potion.”

  “It’s good stuff,” Andy said as he continued to eat his flatbread.

  Andy heard it again, the faint echo of a blood-curdling scream emanating from the edit.

  “Did you hear that?” Andy asked.

  “Hear what?” Verin asked.

  “Sirens… they’re screaming again. They must be getting closer.”

  The group stayed quiet, slowing or stopping all chewing.

  The faint echo of the scream reverberated again.

  “Yes, I do believe you’re right,” said Verin. “I think we’ve entered an unlucky area of the cavern.”

  “What do you mean?” Arlene asked.

  “I mean, we’ve gotten a Crawfish encounter and now it seems the sirens are drawing closer. I know when retreat is the best option.”

  “Wait, you want to give up?” Andy asked.

  “Oh, heavens no!” Verin said. “No, not at all. But I think it may be prudent to go back to the surface and reenter the cave system from a different entrance altogether. Then, perhaps, we will have less to contend with. What say you all?”

  “Sure,” said Kermit, exhibiting little if any comprehension.

  “Sounds fine to me,” said Arlene.

  “I suppose you’re the expert,” Andy said. “If you say this is unusually bad, then I believe you. Let’s get out of here and try again in a different part of the cave system.”

  “Splendid,” said Verin, packing up his lunch items. “Then let’s be on our way. We’ll want to move quietly to avoid any more attention from the Sirens. This encounter has probably attracted some attention already. If we can sneak out to the surface again, we should be OK.”

  The group rose to their feet, Verin going first, followed by Kermit, then Arlene. Andy stayed in the rear, keeping his sword ready to hand.

  “Everyone, make sure that your enchanted cotton swabs are inserted deeply into your ears,” said Verin.

  Andy pushed the cotton a bit deeper into his ears. His hearing was slightly muffled, but he could still hear well enough.

  “The enchantment will dampen the sounds of the sirens,” said Verin, “but you should still be able to hear for the most part.”

  They scaled the steep passage upward, back to the fork in the main cavern hall.