Kronin charged in as a large claw shot out from the water.
Filas fell back in panic, but before the claw could connect, Kronin stepped into its path, his sword intercepting the lashing strike.
The force of the blow hurled the young elf backward into a rock, knocking the breath from his lungs.
Blood trickled down his right arm.
The giant crab climbed from the lake, scuttling up the rocky shore.
Its massive pincer darted toward the downed Kronin.
“Stop!” Saphira shouted.
Too late.
Keldras was already moving, his halberd materializing in his hands, the axe blade trailing behind him.
The pincer came crashing down.
Gripping the weapon with both hands, he slammed the axe head into the crab’s claw, knocking it just enough off course for it to crash into the rock wall instead.
Stone exploded around Keldras and Kronin in a shower of debris.
“Move!” Keldras shouted to the others.
The first to recover, Solnoz began firing arrow after arrow at the beast, but they bounced harmlessly from its hardened carapace.
One of the crab’s eyes turned toward him.
Filas’s knees shook uncontrollably where he sat on the ground.
He watched his friends fighting, then slapped both cheeks hard, the sharp crack echoing through the cavern.
He forced himself to his feet and climbed onto a large rock to get a better view of the battlefield.
Kronin had managed to stand again, his sword arm hung uselessly at his side.
Gritting his teeth, he raised his shield with his remaining good arm.
The crab’s attention shifted to Keldras.
It scuttled toward him, swinging its claw downward with the force of a hammer.
“Move!”
Kronin rushed forward and intercepted the blow with his shield.
The impact nearly knocked him off his feet.
“Its joints look weak! Its eyes aren’t armored!” Filas shouted from atop the boulder.
The crab lunged forward, intending to crush the two boys beneath its weight.
“Don’t let it pin you!”
Filas waved his hands in a mesmerizing pattern before crushing something in his palm.
A ridge of stone burst from the ground in front of the beast, causing it to stumble.
The ridge cracked away under the heavy weight of the beast.
“Aim for the eyes, Solnoz!” Keldras shouted.
Arrow after arrow glanced off the armor around its eye socket until one finally struck true.
“Haicha!” Solnoz cheered as he quickly nocked another arrow.
“When it raises its arms to attack, ram your shield into the joints!” Keldras called to Kronin.
Left, LEFT!
She hadn’t properly prepared him for a creature like this.
The joints!
Aim for the joints!
The next strike came in a wide arc.
“Look out!”
Kronin charged forward and slammed his shield into the creature’s elbow joint.
Keldras thrust his halberd over Kronins shoulder driving the spear tip cleanly into a crack in the carapace.
The giant crab let out a piercing screech.
Behind the two boys, another slab of stone rose from the ground, bracing them against the impact.
The impact drove Kronin backward, the stone behind him cracking apart under the force.
But he held his ground.
Solnoz kept trying to find an angle on the crab’s remaining eye, but it continually shifted its body, using its other claw to block every shot.
He switched targets, aiming for the joints instead, eventually driving an arrow into one of them.
“Boom!” he shouted excitedly.
The beast finally lost patience with the fight and began scuttling back toward the lake.
None of them suggested chasing it.
The boys held their ground, remaining ready in case it changed its mind.
Only after it disappeared beneath the water did they finally turn and run.
Reaching the far wall of the cavern, they collapsed against the stone in exhaustion.
That…
was incredibly stupid, you reckless idiot, Saphira said.
Probably, Keldras replied.
“Keldras…”
A cold voice echoed from one of the tunnel entrances.
Rianna stepped into the cavern, a faint smile on her face that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
The slight twitch at the corner of her mouth betrayed her emotions.
The other three boys slowly turned to look at Keldras.
“We had a training session today. Did you forget?”
I thought I’d be back in time, Keldras admitted to himself.
Getting lost wasn’t part of the plan.
Saphira snorted.
“Idiot.”
Rianna noticed Kronin’s injured arm and immediately shifted her attention, abandoning the lecture she had prepared.
Keldras was already emptying the aura moss and bluecap mushrooms from his pouch.
Rianna checked her satchel.
“I didn’t bring a potion.”
Keldras picked up a flat stone and began grinding the herbs together.
“How bad is it?” Solnoz asked.
Filas examined the arm.
“It’s pretty red.”
Rianna looked over curiously.
“What are you doing?”
“Poultice.”
“Some of the lake water would help,” Saphira said cautiously.
But…
Filas gave him a curious look.
“You know how to make that?”
Saphira scoffed.
Not everyone only reads things in books.
“Lake water,” Keldras said, looking at Rianna.
Rianna started toward the lake.
“Dangerous.”
She immediately understood.
Approaching cautiously, she filled the small watertight pouch hanging from her belt before returning.
Keldras wrapped the herbs in a piece of cloth he had packed in case they encountered any of the area’s more dangerous plants.
As he continued grinding the mixture, he slowly added the lake water until it formed a thick paste.
He carefully tied the poultice around the reddest part of Kronin’s injured arm.
That should hold.
The journey back to Kumora was quiet.
All four boys walked with their eyes fixed on the ground.
Kronin was dropped off first.
His parents were livid.
They thanked Rianna before ushering their son inside.
Next came Solnoz.
His parents were more free-spirited, but even they were furious.
Their son’s reckless behavior wasn’t exactly new, though, so they handled it with practiced patience.
Filas’s parents simply stared at him.
Under that silent gaze, the boy seemed to shrink three sizes.
Finally, they arrived home.
Just inside the doorway stood Valdax, his arms folded across his chest.
“Skipping training?” he asked, thoroughly unimpressed.
“I think your son has something he’d like to explain.” Rianna said.
Keldras recounted everything that had happened.
Stupid.
Reckless.
Saphira was proud of how he had taken control once the battle had begun.
His decision to rush in without a plan, however, infuriated her.
After hearing the full story, Valdax’s expression darkened.
Privately, he was proud that his son had risked himself to save a friend.
But he was furious with how he’d done it.
“Do you know what you did wrong?” he asked.
“Yes.”
You could have gotten yourself killed, Saphira lectured.
He would have died, Keldras argued.
Valdax held his gaze.
“Your training will be doubled for the next few days.”
Luck, Saphira said.
That’s the only reason it worked out the way it did.
If luck hadn’t been on your side, both of you would have died.
Keldras couldn’t argue with that.
Rianna was about to speak when the front door burst open.
A well-dressed young lady stormed inside, magenta eyes blazing with fury.
Her long silver hair whipped behind her as she marched into the room.
“Who’s this Keldras that I’m expected to marry?!”