Hump had heard that time seems to slow down as death approaches—he wasn’t sure what idiot came up with that idea. If anything, time seemed to have sped up as the scaledbrute stormed toward him.

With an aching arm, Hump raised his staff, aiming at its face. Its feet thumped the ground louder than horse hooves, and Hump’s heart thundered with it. He met the beast’s yellow eyes and felt hunger and hate radiate from them. Part of Hump wanted to run, but he took that fear and used it now.

Fear was quite the motivator. It got the magical juices churning. Icy pain lanced up Hump’s arm as he channelled his power. He didn’t waste that pain. He gathered it all into one place, an angry flame within him, and he willed it into his staff. Using emotion was dangerous, too much and the magic would take control. But right now, he needed whatever power he could get. The crystal head shone with the natural blue of pure essence, pushing back the dark and eerie light of the essence grove.

“Blast!” Hump shouted, pouring his will into the spell.

Light flashed. Hump’s staff jerked back from the force of the spell. A wave of blue surged forth, and slammed into the creature with enough energy to send a man flying. Unfortunately, the scaledbrute was no man. It was a boulder of a beast, and every inch of it was coated in thick scales and hulking muscle. It threw itself into the blast shoulder first, barrelling through and barely losing a step. The wave dispersed over its armour, broken like water around a rock, scattering into particles of essence that disappeared into the air behind it.

Hump’s eyes widened. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!

He focused his will on raising a shield. The air before him shimmered with magical energy, but there wasn’t enough time. The scaled brute tore at him, its claws seeking to disembowel him.

The spell held. Barely. A moment later and he’d have been eviscerated. Instead, Hump felt as if he’d been kicked in the chest.

The world blurred. Hump felt himself flying. And then he felt the loving embrace of the cavern wall as he smashed into it back first. Every one of his bones shuddered. Pain flared along his spine, in his shoulders; it rose like blinding agony in the back of his head. Light burst in his skull, and the world filled with such loud ringing that for a moment he thought his soul had been knocked straight out of his body.

When the blinding light subsided, the world swam with sickening swirls. He rolled onto his back and lay there gasping, waiting for the world to return to some semblance of normal and for the agony to subside enough for him to have a coherent thought.

“Hump!” Bud shouted. It sounded distant. “Hump!” he called again, desperation in his voice.

The world came back in a rush. The ringing subsided, and his vision cleared. He raised his head a little and saw Bud engaged with the scaled brute.

The knight was a big guy, built as broad and strong as humans come, but the scaledbrute towered over him. Somehow, Bud held his own.

“Celaine, help him,” Vamir shouted. He was engaged with the other scaledbrute, pressing it back with his sword. He shouted something, and his blade glistened as he let loose a slash that turned the air in the blade’s path to mist. It struck across the beast’s chest and sent it scrambling back, screeching. A bloody wound opened where the blade had connected. “I have this one under control.”

A few seconds later, Hump felt a hand on his shoulder. He blinked hard, and saw Celaine above him, her face a blur of worry as she inspected his stomach. “Holy crap. There’s no blood. How are you still in one piece?”

“A wizard… has his… ways…” Hump ground out. He forced himself to sit up and breathed in painfully. “I’m alright. Help Bud.”

Celaine glanced over him one last time, then nodded, rising to her feet. She shot an arrow into the trees, its silver tip shimmering as it vanished into the shadows, empowered by her blessings. Then she bent her knees and launched herself up using Spring Step, a flash of green light trailing behind her as she vanished into the canopy.

Hump fumbled for his potion pouch. A part of him wanted to use his potion of wizardfire already, but the conservative side of him knew better. Instead he pulled out his vial of Second Life. He gulped it down in one, gasping at the bitter taste. Immediately, he felt its effect working. The pain turned into warm numbness; he could still feel the cold, but it seemed distant, and the wave of nausea subsided. Then like a jolt of lightning coursing through him, his body felt full of strength.

He pulled out one of his vials of essence elixir next. He stared at the small vial for a moment, wrinkling his nose, mentally preparing himself for what was about to come. No time to think, just drink.

He tilted his head back and swallowed. Heat burnt at the back of his throat and he gasped. It exploded in his stomach, radiating outward and filling the rest of his body with a painful, itching heat, like fire ants gnawing at him from the inside. His skin tingled with pins and needles. Essence filled him.

He pulled himself unsteadily to his feet, using his staff to help him balance. In his head, he told himself he was waiting for the right opportunity to act. In reality, he was just trying to stay the hell out of everyone else’s way until he got himself together.

The scaledbrute was unarmed, Bud had the advantage of reach. An advantage he made full use of with all the practiced expertise that came from a life committed to training. The beast was faster, stronger, and its scaled armour seemed impenetrable. It came at Bud with a bestial frenzy, striking wildly at him with its claws. Yet Bud met each attack with calm precision. As fast and strong as the knight was, it was his timing that was truly spectacular. He whirled the blade around him as if it were an extension of himself. He was living steel. A storm of ice and fire.

Each time the beast moved; Bud found an opening. A quick jab beneath the arm, where the red-tinted scales were softer. Or a neat chop across the elbow, ringing the joint in ice. Each strike was made with purpose, chipping away at the beast’s armour. Wearing it down. Blood stained its scales, an icy crust formed on its body, and even Hump could see the creature was slowing down. Its movements more jerky, its joints stiff, the cold biting deep into the muscle. Around its neck, Bud had managed to knock a few scales loose and blood trickled from the wound.

The beast was hurting.

But perfection never lasts forever, and Bud was playing with fire.

The scaledbrute let out a roar and launched itself at the knight, this time aiming at Bud’s sword. It struck the edged side of the blade hard, knocking it to the side with its arm and ignoring the damage as it barrelled into Bud shoulder first. Bud fell back hard, rolling across the ground where he came to a stop a few feet away. Shakily, he managed to rise to his feet, staggering as he righted. His sword stance wasn’t as steady as before, and there was a shakiness to his blade that wasn’t there before. The scaledbrute stood upright and snarled down at him gleefully. Then it stomped closer.

Not good, Hump thought. He reached for his power, but the essence from the elixir stormed through him uncontrollably, the cheap potion lacking the purity for him to use it quickly. But right now, he didn’t have a choice. He channelled all the essence he could, ignoring the painful heat that tore at his skin as he did. Essence burst from him in violent bronze rays, embedding into the ground where it tore up fist sized stones.

There was no order to it, he’d pointed it at the ground and the chaotic essence tore into it. He strained to focus enough to bring the stones before him. They whipped through the air, and it was all he could do just to keep them close, even as he gathered up the strength for a final attack, he knew it was too late.

The scaledbrute swung its arm. Bud was on his own.

At Hump’s side, Celaine took aim at the beast, straining against her bowstring as if it had suddenly tripled in draw weight. She chanted something under her breath, almost melodic, and Hump felt essence stir. She screamed as she let loose her arrow. The air popped, and a wind stirred throughout the grove. The point glinted silver as it streaked through the air, digging deep into the open wound of the creature’s neck. The beast reared, screaming, then stumbled back frantically. It swiped at the shaft of the arrow, snapping it in half but leaving most of it buried in muscle. Somewhere in the distance Hump heard an answering snarl.

As the scaledbrute rose for another attack, Hump unleashed all the power he had gathered. Chaotic essence filled the stones before him. “Rockshot!” he screamed.

Hump knew something was off the moment he said the word. The stones blasted forward in a flash of bronze light, but his essence didn’t behave as it should. The stones crumbled in the air as they flew, turning into powder. It exploded over the scaledbrutes face, and the creature reared up, swiping at its eyes, blinded by the dust. It tripped in its panic, falling hard onto one knee.

Bud didn’t hesitate for a moment. He stepped close to the creature, one hand on the grip of his sword, the other holding the blade halfway up. Gripping it tight, he stabbed it up through the roof of the creature’s mouth. Frostfire flared. Ice crystalised upon the scales on its head until it was completely encased. The beast went silent.

In the distance, a furious roar echoed through the cavern.

Bud pulled his sword free and collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.

Hump leant over, panting as well. A chill seeped through him and he began to shiver—the cost of using so much essence, made worse by the impurities of the elixir.

“They’re running,” Bud said quietly.

Hump glanced at the trees and saw nothing, but he could hear the kobolds shouting in their strange language, growing more distant. “They must have scattered when the scaledbrute died.” He gazed at the big creature’s body. There was going to be one hell of a heartstone in that titan of a chest. “Is it just me, or do you guys think Oswald should pay us extra for this one?”

“We’re not done yet,” Celaine shouted. “Vamir’s still fighting. We need to move.”

Hump looked at her. Her armour was torn at the shoulder, a bloody wound beneath. She must have taken a hit from one of the kobolds amongst the trees. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing,” she said. “I drank the potion.”

“Vamir can handle himself,” Hump said. “That potion isn’t going to protect you from poison.” He stood up straight and stumbled over to her, taking a closer look. From the amount of blood, it didn’t look too deep, but that didn’t mean much if the arrow had been poisoned. “We need to tend to this.”

She shoved him off. “There isn’t time,” she growled. “I’m fine. The kobolds are running, we need to follow them back to wherever they came from.” Celaine didn’t give him a chance to argue as she rushed off into the trees.

“Damn it, Celaine,” Hump called after her. He glanced at Bud.

“Go,” the knight gasped. He was breathing heavily, a nasty red mark forming on his cheek where he’d been struck. “I’ll follow.” He staggered after her in a half-jog.

Hump sighed in a breath, willing his body to kick into motion once more, cursing his luck as he barely dodged past a cluster of hanging vines. In a flash of wizard’s ingenuity, he pulled up the hood of his cloak and wrapped it around himself as best as he could. Hopefully that would be enough to stop him being dissolved by plant acid or draped in poison.

Judging from the fact that he was able to keep pace with Celaine, albeit barely, he gathered she was holding back for his benefit. Ahead of them, he occasionally glimpsed kobolds between the trees. Their prey.

The kobold ran frantically, tripping and stumbling as it went. Lacking the nooks and crannies of the dungeon caves that the creatures could usually skitter away down when things turned badly, it was just a matter of time before Celaine caught up. They were gaining ground.

The trees opened into a small clearing with an even larger tree at the centre, towering all the way up to the roof of the cavern.

The kobold tripped on its roots as it ran, falling to the ground. It screamed and flailed, trying to pull itself to its feet… but something stopped it. A moment later, Hump realised what.

The kobold hadn’t just tripped. It had been tripped.

The tree sprang to life in the fluid motions of a kraken. Its branches moved around it like whips, entwining around the ankle of the kobold and raising it shrieking into the air. The creature writhed and fought against its grip, but its ankle was caught in a vice. Hump watched wide eyed as the great bulging tumour at the centre of the tree’s trunk opened horizontally along the centre. A gaping mouth full of fruit-like-flesh and long strands of saliva. It swallowed the kobold whole and closed its mouth. The branches froze in place, and suddenly the tree was as still as everything else in the grove.

Hump could still hear the muffled cries of the kobold escaping from inside. “It didn’t have teeth,” he mumbled, horrified. He leant on his knees struggling to catch his breath.

Celaine shivered and took a step back away from the web of roots that encompassed the entirety of the clearing.

They both jumped, screaming, as Bud bounded through the trees behind them like a lumbering oaf. Bud screamed too, jumping back and practically toppling over before glaring at them like they were idiots. “What happened?” he asked.

Hump gulped. “That tree ate a kobold.”

Bud frowned then shook his head. “Gods, I hate this place. There weren’t any stories about man-eating trees. Now what do we do? Can you find Vamir?” he asked Celaine.

“He’ll find us,” Celaine said.

“Oh good,” Hump managed between breaths. “I guess we’ll just wait here then and enjoy the dying muffles of the kobold.” He frowned. “Did I hit my head harder than I thought, or is Bud glowing?”

Celaine looked at the knight sharply, then nodded. “Definitely glowing.”

“What?” Bud asked. He looked at his hands, which shimmered blue below the surface. In a bright flash, light erupted from him in a pillar to the sky. A circle of blue ice spread out from his feet, crystallising the grass into perfect blades, and thawing the earth. Along the outer ring of the circle, markings carved themselves into the ice—god glyphs. Bud fell to his knees.

And Hump felt divinity.