Breaking out of the bushes, Dustin barely managed to stop before running straight into a lake by grabbing the trunk of a tree. Dropping the prince in the mud, he started waving his arm like crazy to get the black beetles that had crawled onto it, off.

“Ugh!” cried the prince, raising an arm covered in muck, exposing a long black worm stuck to his crystal arm. It was a leech.

Dustin jumped back, his feet sinking into the soft mud near the shore. The black lizards had stopped at the edge of the mud, and were watching silently. That couldn’t be a good thing…

“What are those things?” asked Olivia, just outside the reach of the lizards, yet not in the deep muck that Dustin and the prince were in.

Looking over his shoulder, he could see what looked like hundreds of the leeches crawling through the muck. Deeper in the water, he saw a heat signature, that was so large, he couldn’t tell where it ended. Was that one thing, or a multitude of things? Trying to step away from the leeches, he started to hyperventilate as he found himself stuck.

The lizards turned tail and fled moments before a huge mountain of green and pink flesh rose out of the water. All Dustin could see were rows upon rows of teeth, before he was covered in mud. What had happened?? He couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, mud was filling his mouth, nose, ears, eyes…

Suddenly, he was flying through the air, hanging upside down, still blind from the mud. Then he was underwater, drowning, being dragged deeper and deeper. He could faintly feel a tightness around his ankle, that was dragging him through the water. And then he was in the air again, he could see, thanks to the water, but the sight that met his newfound vision, was chilling.

The prince was held for only a moment, in a tentacle, before dropping into the opened maw of some great beast. The tentacle that held his ankle tightened, and he was certain he would drop into that maw next. Could he survive being digested? Even if the acid couldn’t eat through his crystal plates, he wouldn’t be able to breathe!

Curling up, he grabbed his ankle, giving himself the leverage to grab the tentacle before it dropped him into the mouth of the thing wanting to eat him. Pulling himself closer, he bit it.

He was suddenly flying through the air, hitting tree branches on his way, and finally came to rest on the ground, far from the lake. A roar that shook the ground he sat on, filled the air, and everything that hadn’t fled, took the opportunity to do just that. Dustin sat up with a groan. He hurt everywhere. Spitting out the piece of tentacle, he climbed to his feet, shoved it in the port to his PED and started jogging back towards the water.

(GENETIC MATERIAL ACQUIRED. ANALYZING. POSSIBLE EVOLUTION OPTIONS: GILLS, MINERAL EXTRACTION, TENTACLES.)

(INITIATE EVOLUTION?)

Dustin stopped in his tracks. Tentacles? That had possibilities…

Focus Dustin! He shook his head and then realized the mineral extraction meant that thing probably attacked them because of the crystal skin! Oh Shit!

He arrived just in time to see the thing disappearing back into the water. As it dove deep, he saw that those tentacles came out of its butt. Like worms??? Heaving, he threw up at the thought of having bit a butt worm.

Olivia was no where to be seen. He glared at the water, wiping his mouth. The leeches were crawling over and attaching to his crystal plates, but they couldn’t do anything, at least he hoped they couldn’t. He closed his eyes. Oh God, did he have to do this?

Breathing hard, he stepped forward. They would die if he didn’t do this.

“Give me the gills.”

(INITIATING EVOLUTION.)

Diving into the water, he felt the sides of his neck flutter and then he could suddenly breathe. The heat signature below him was slowly fading. He swam faster, thinking it was getting away from him, but as he came up on it, he realized that it was dead. His bite had worked!

Swimming around to the mouth, he grimaced. How was he going to get them out? Could he pry open the mouth? Or should he start cutting from the side and hope he could cut through it fast enough?

“Initiate temporary evolution, bladehands.”

(INITIATING TEMPORARY EVOLUTION.)

(EVOLUTION COMPLETE)

Dustin started slicing, quickly staining the surrounding water with the black blood of the monster. He ignored it, as well as the leeches that let go of his crystal hide, to swim towards the leaking cuts, and continued cutting. When he reached the stomach, the acid that spilled out, started eating his crystal blades, eroding them.

“End temporary evolution.”

(INITIATING EVOLUTION.)

(EVOLUTION COMPLETE)

Gripping the edges of the cut stomach, he shoved his hand inside, feeling around for anything hard. He felt the hand of the prince and jerked him out. He was much smaller, most of his crystal skin having been eaten away.

Letting him fall, Dustin reached back in, trying to find Olivia. There was nothing. He grabbed the edges and ripped it open wider in panic. She had to be here. Hadn’t she?

Swimming back after finding nothing more, he swam down to grab the floating prince, then headed for shore. Carrying him past the disgusting leeches, he set him down on the shore. A few hard whacks on the back had him choking out water and unmentionable liquids. Dustin stepped back out of the way of the spray, when a gleam caught his eye.

Moving further down the shore, just in the bushes, was Olivia’s PED. There was blood where it had been ripped off of her arm. He crouched, looking around carefully, before picking it up. It was still warm. He could see the heat where it had been in contact with her skin.

A feeling of relief washed over him as he realized she hadn’t been eaten. But what had happened? Why was her PED here?