CLANG!

Telhari stopped, startled by the sudden high-pitched sound that echoed throughout the cavern.

What!?

It was only a second — less than a second— but that was enough. The creature sensed Telhari’s presence, and before he could react, it’s tail whipped around and struck Telhari across the face. He felt the warmth of his blood begin to run down his cheek. The vision on his right was stained red. He then heard the sliding of the creature’s tail across the floor and he ducked.

Crack!

Telhari tumbled out of the way, jumping back into his stance in time to see the tail come toward him again. This time, he instinctively swept his sword across its path. The creature wailed in pain once again and shuffled back, drawing up the spines on its back. It flicked out its tongue and barred its teeth. The severed part of its tail whipped around violently on the ground, leaking blood and something else.

Damn!  

He saw for the first time that the tip of the creature’s tail had a small spine at its end. It was dripping with a liquid of a different density, which floated on top of the pooling blood.

Poison!?

He touched the wound of his face.

How long do I have before—

“I can’t see anything!”

“There! It’s down there, Mary!”

Telhari could hear the voices and footfalls of two other people, who were walking clumsily through the cavern.

“What’s that strange light up there?”

“Shh!”

“Oi, stop shh-ing me!”

The fools!

There was no time.

Telhari filled his lungs and yelled as loud as he could.

“RUN!”

Immediately, the creature lunged at him. Telhari saw it coming and moved out of the way of its bite. He attempted to jump back and regain his positioning, but his body did not move as he was hoping. And so he staggered for a moment as weakness overtook him. Within seconds, a claw cut through the air and he was unable to fully avoid it. It tore through his leather bracers and into the muscles of his forearm. Still, he managed to slash back at the creature, cutting through its hide and taking off a piece of its arm.

Telhari’s heart was pounding, now.

Even breathing was becoming difficult.

The creature’s miasma was far more potent than he had anticipated. This entire cave must have been filled with it. It was dissolved in the water on the ground and was floating in the moisture of the air. And now, it had been introduced directly into his blood stream by the tail strike.

Gathering his strength, he took off running toward the edge of the cavern.

“YOU TWO! GET OUT OF HERE! GO!”

Telhari’s legs became harder and harder to control as the poison spread. He was panting heavily while he ran; there was no way he could hide any longer. He could hear the creature cry out and slither across the floor towards him.

“Who is that!?”

“Telhari!?” 

“We’re coming to help!”

“NO, YOU FOOLS! RUN!”

Telhari turned around: the creature was not far behind. It moved across the wet rocks with its belly to the ground, gliding like a foul serpent: using its six — now five—  legs to propel itself forward. He turned away from the creature to look for Ellis and Marybeth. They wouldn’t have much longer before the poison takes them. Listening carefully, he could hear them fast approaching.

There!

“Telhari! There you a—”

Ellis stopped dead in his tracks. Gazing past Telhari, he saw the immensity of the chimeric, reptilian creature burst from around the corner. Telhari wrapped an arm around Ellis’ waist and hoisted him up. Marybeth was close behind. Before she could speak, Telhari shoved her out of the way.

Snap!

The creature’s jaws closed at the space where Marybeth had been only a moment ago. She staggered backwards, laying eyes on the creature for the first time.

“RUN! NOW!”

Telhari extended his blade toward the creature and wove a spell as quickly as he could. Spiraling from the hilt of the blade were three streams of glowing light. They curled in on themselves, shot out at once and impacted the creature’s face. Marybeth, fear taking hold of her, scurried to her feet and bolted from the scene. The creature drew back defensively and flared its teeth again. Telhari then set Ellis down on his feet and stood between him and the creature.

“Go. Now!”

Telhari drew up his blade and remained fixated on the creature. His arms grew heavier with every pounding beat of his heart, sending the poison further and deeper. He heard no footsteps.

“GO! Are you so stupid!? Do you not know death when you see it!?”

Marybeth, who had managed to put a good bit of distance between herself and the creature, heard Telhari’s voice and stopped.

“Ellis! Come on!”

Something was wrong.

“Ellis…RUN!”

But it was impossible. Telhari did not need to look behind him to know what had happened. Ellis had become paralyzed.

“Leave him, girl!” Telhari shouted, “If you linger too long, the poison will take you too!”

At least one of them will make it.

The creature began to creep closer to Telhari— it could sense him growing weak. Telhari’s arms started to shake, even the wait of his sword was becoming too much.

Still…to think it would end this way…

“Ellis!”

Telhari heard the girl’s voice come from behind him— right over his shoulder. He spun around to see Marybeth tugging at Ellis. She ripped off his weapons and pulled on him until he began to fall over. Tears were streaming down her face.

“Move, you idiot! MOVE!”

What is she doing!?

The creature lunged at them; Telhari somehow found strength enough to grab hold of Ellis’ body, and the two fell forward, just out of reach of the creature. Marybeth, having jumped back to avoid the creature’s bite, ran back toward the two of them.

“What’s wrong with him!?”

“The poison has afflicted him, as it has me…” Telhari managed to rise to one knee. “…Run girl, while you still have the strength. Our time is up.”

“No!”

“Don’t be foolish—”

“NO! I’m not gonna leave him!”

Her voice was breaking.

“I told you both…” Telhari said with panting breaths. “This life only ends one way.”

Struggling to lift Ellis’ body, she began to sob.

“Get up Ellis…come on!”

“We should not fear death. His time has come. Leave him be.”

The creature’s tongue darted out from behind the wall of teeth that caged it. It crept closer; hardened scales scraped mercilessly across the cavern floor.

“But…” Mary looked up at him with tearful eyes. “I can’t leave him…”

In her look of desperation, Telhari could see something which he had buried within himself for so many years. He knew her pain well. And through the pounding of his heartbeat, he felt time slow. Visions of the past could be kept at bay no longer. Slowly, they crept in upon him: faces lost and failures forgotten.

In a flash, the creature launched forward taking a glutinous bite out of the air. It drew back its head and cried out— its mouth was empty.

Against all reason, Telhari was standing once more, and in his arms he held Ellis.

I won’t let it happen again.

“How…?” Marybeth sniffled.

“Get ready…” he told her.

Telhari’s entire body was pulsing. He fought every second — between every breath— to keep himself standing. The blood continued to flow from the wound on his face, dripping off his chin and onto his tunic.

The creature lurched back and forth in frustration. Within seconds, it could sense them again. All three bodies clustered together, with the warmth of their flesh begging to be torn into. Its forked tongue shot from its mouth and flicked at the air, tasting them.

“GO!”

They ran just as the creature lunged forward, narrowly avoiding its bite. 

Move! Move! Move!

It was through sheer force of will that Telhari could control his legs, though they were heavy as lead to him. Marybeth, having taken the lead, turned around to see that Telhari had fallen behind. She doubled back and began to pull him along.

“Come on!”

But it was no use. Whatever second wind had filled him before, was now quickly disappearing. Ahead of them, the light of the sun was becoming visible through the dim of the cave. Then, Telhari stopped in his tracks.

“What are you doing!?” she cried. “We’re almost out!”

“Take him the rest of the way.”

Telhari hoisted Ellis into Marybeth’s arms; she sank under his weight.

“But…I can’t go alone!”

“You can. I will stop the creature, and you will escape. Both of you.”

Mary looked up at him.

“But, we can’t leave you!” she cried, stomping her foot. “He wouldn’t want it!”

Through the darkness, Telhari could see the glowing “eyes” of the creature— he could hear the sound of its scales scraping across the cave walls.

“You two are friends, correct?”

She nodded.

“Good,” Telhari said with a smile. “Then you must do everything in your power to save your friend.”

He drew up his blade and began to walk deeper into the cave.

As she watched him go, she felt a coldness run up her body. At first, she thought she was imaging it; until she saw her breath grow frosty in front of her. A chilling wave swept across the ground, as frost scattered over the grass and rocks, and the puddles froze over. The wave continued, picking up speed as it entered the cave. She then heard something she had never heard before, like the sound of a string being plucked to a particular tune. But there was more to it. Words, in a language she did not understand, were layered in impossible complexity between the vibrations. Yet somehow, though she knew not their meaning, she was soothed by them as they flowed over her.

Within the deep of the cave, both the song and its melody found new fervor, rising and swelling in intensity. The icy winds began to whip into a spiral with Telhari at their center. She realized then that he was the source of the wonderful music. Soon, the wind began to pull at her hair and kick up loose bits of grass and dirt. Yet even with the sound of the melody filling the cave, she could still hear Telhari’s voice clearly.

“I have no fear of death, Mary. And I should die happy, knowing that you two were able to live.”

The creature was nearly upon him. It gnashed it’s teeth wildly, salivating at the prospect of a fresh meal. Bursting into view, Telhari could see the mesmerizing luster of its false, glowing eyes.

The creature unhinged its jaw and opened wide—

Telhari felt a stillness overtake him as he reached the last syllable. Then, time stood still for but a moment.

A familiar face flashed before his eyes.

It seems you were right…

A blast of frozen wind engulfed Marybeth. She threw herself on top of Ellis and shut her eyes. There was a terrible sheering sound from within the cave, and the high-pitched wailing of the creature was cut off suddenly by the crackling of ice shards.

Then the world fell silent.

Mary waited a few moments. Her body began to shiver and her lungs started to burn from the chill in the air. Finally, she sat up. Looking down, Ellis remained still, but he seemed no different than before. The cloth tying her hair back had been blown loose, and so she drew her hair from her eyes as she looked around. There was frost everywhere, as if a blizzard had come and gone. The moisture in the air had frozen over and snowflakes floated slowly to the ground. Then, she spotted him.

“Telhari!”

Mary ran at full speed toward him; but as she got closer, she slowed her pace. The entirety of the cave, from wall to wall, ceiling to floor, was encased in ice. Though, if not for the coldness in the air, she might easily have mistaken the glacier before her for a massive diamond. Carefully, she approached, looking on in awe through the frosty veil that hung about her.

Inside the clarity of its glittering ice prison, the creature was frozen dead.