He’s dead.

The words echoed through Luc’s mind, freezing him in his tracks. Faro, the one guy who knew what he was doing, was dead. If the proctor for the Gauntlet is gone, then what are we supposed to do?

Luc had no more time to think. Out of the water burst dozens of the same massive tentacles, sprawling over the ground, hunting their prey. Water splattered from their movement, spraying the entire cavern with cold liquid. But that didn’t faze Luc. He was a coward, not a scaredy-cat. Getting out of situations like these was his specialty. Lowering his head, he charged towards the exit of the tunnel. If I can get out of here, I’ll be safe!

A scream sounded from behind him, echoing throughout the chamber. Luc ignored it. My first and only priority is getting myself out of here!

Luc burst out of the entrance to the tunnel, collapsing onto his hands and knees. Wiping the water from his face, he leaned against the rocky wall, catching his breath.

I’m safe.

That’s when he felt the slimy tentacle wrapped around his ankle.

The tentacle yanked on his leg, dragging him back into the tunnel. Luc flailed his arms, trying to grab onto anything to save himself, but his fingers slipped over only the slick surfaces of damp rocks. His stomach lurched as the tentacle pulled him up and off the ground, lifting him towards the roof of the cavern. For a moment he hung there, tentacle wrapped around his leg, suspended in the air. Several of the glowing mushrooms, which he still held in his hand, slipped from his grip. They fell towards the surface of the water, where they revealed a bone-chilling sight.

Near the surface of the water was a gaping hole filled with rows upon rows of sharp teeth. Tentacles grew out from around the mouth, swinging every which way. The tentacle which held him seemed poised right above the monster’s mouth, getting ready to drop him in.

Holy mother of all gods!

Luc opened his mouth to summon Bones, but the tentacle snaked down, wrapping him around the chest. Contracting, it tightened so much that Luc could not breathe, let alone utter a word. Smacking at the tentacle with his fists, Luc tried to free himself with little success. As the light of the mushrooms faded as they fell into the monster’s mouth, Luc realized with creeping certainly what was going to happen to him.

I’m going to die!

As the tentacle twisted around, Luc saw a small glowing object shooting towards him.

A trick of my eyes?

In an instant, Tissa appeared before him, swinging his lance around in a blinding half-circle. The side of the lance struck the tentacle that held Luc. Despite the lance’s blunt edge, the force at which Tissa swung it was enough to cause the weapon to blister through the flesh of the tentacle, tearing clean through it in a fraction of a second. For a moment, Luc hung in the air, still wrapped by the severed end of the tentacle.

Tissa pivoted his entire body in midair, whirling so that the end of the lance faced Luc. As the two of them faced each other, their eyes met. Then, with a wild roar, Tissa hurled his lance into Luc’s chest. The end of the lance smacked into the flesh of the severed tentacle wrapped around Luc. The force of the impact sent Luc hurtling away from the monster with blazing speed.

Pain rippled through Luc’s chest where the lance had hit him. As he shot into the darkness of the cavern, he recalled that Cloud was still tucked inside of his pack. Gritting his teeth against the aches of his chest, he forced the remains of the tentacle off his body and pulled his pack to his chest. He wrapped his arms around the pack just before he crashed into a sandy surface, back first. The impact jolted his head backwards, knocking it against the ground with a thud and sending him out the realm of consciousness.

-

When Luc awoke, the first thing he noticed was the quiet. The splashing, the screaming, the rush of air past his ears – he heard none of that. Even the hushed sloshing of the water was nowhere to be heard. Lifting his head, Luc felt agony prickling down his neck. Grimacing, he reached an arm up to massage it, only making a sharp pain in his ribs throb to life.

Tissa saved me. Luc glared up at the ceiling of the cavern. I hate being saved.

A pair of blue eyes came into view as Cloud prowled up Luc’s chest. Jabbing at Luc’s chin with a paw, Cloud leaped backwards as Luc shook his head.

“Get off me, you little bugger.”

But even as he said the words, a small smile crept onto Luc’s face.

The smile didn’t last. As soon as Luc tried to get up, the pain in his neck combined with the aching of his ribs nearly knocked him unconscious once more. Gritting his teeth, Luc managed to force himself onto his hands and knees, sweat dripping down his brow.

Looking around, he saw that he was on a small underground beach. It was lit by hordes of the glowing mushrooms growing next to the edge of the water. In the opposite direction of the water, Luc could see a large stone wall, with three dark entrances leading inside. Turning his head back towards the underground lake, Luc narrowed his eyes as he saw something lying a short distance away from him.

A body?

Luc hobbled towards it, making sure to stay a safe distance away. Cloud trotted next to him, without a care in the world. As Luc neared, the light of the mushrooms illuminated the brown satchel lying next to the body. Several vials and bottles were scattered around the beach.

Rith!

Luc did his best to hurry over to the body. Lowering himself to his knees, Luc rolled the body onto its back. Sure enough, it was the body of the teenager, skin pallid and gray. Leaning down, Luc realized that Rith’s body was still. Too still.

He’s not breathing!

Luc knew that he didn’t have the medical expertise to do anything. But there was something else he could try. He grabbed the satchel from next to Rith and began rummaging through it. The health potion was red, right?

Because of the green light that the mushrooms emitted, all the potions had a greenish tint to them. Scowling, Luc turned the satchel upside down and emptied all the vials onto the beach. It did nothing to help. Without a basis for comparison, there was no way for him to know which was which color.

Does he even have a chance to live?

Luc shook his head and turned back to the vails.

His potions saved me once. As the heir of Tosa, I must pay back my debts.

As he looked between the vials, an idea came to Luc’s mind. To find the vial with the red potion, all he needed to do was find a red liquid to compare it against.

Luc reached down and picked up a piece of glass from a nearby shattered vial. Wrapping his right hand around the glass, he pressed the edge against the palm of his left hand. Taking a deep breath, he tried to press the glass down into his skin.

I can’t do it!

Cloud trotted up next to him, bumping into Luc’s right elbow. His arm jerked to one side, slicing open the palm of his left hand. Luc released a muffled scream, biting his lip to try to keep quiet. Rocking back and forth, Luc squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the initial wave of pain to pass.

Curse that dragon whelp!

Opening his watery eyes, Luc clenched his left hand, watching droplets of blood fall onto the sand. When there was a large enough spot to make out its color, Luc leaned down and one-by-one, placed each vial next to the spot of blood. The difference was still difficult to spot in the green light, but there was one vial that Luc felt seemed more similar than the others. Or at least that’s what he thought.

It wouldn’t be me if it wasn’t a gamble!

Luc uncorked the vial and propped Rith up with an arm. Holding the vial up to the unconscious boy's lips, Luc tilted the vial backwards. The potion flowed into Rith’s mouth, some of it leaking out the corner of his mouth. Dropping the empty vial, Luc shoved his hand against the bottom of Rith’s mouth, keeping it closed. He waited for a moment.

Nothing happened.

Luc let Rith slump back to the ground. Hovering his ear over Rith’s mouth, Luc closed his eyes. Nothing.

I messed up!

Luc reached out and placed his hands on top of Rith’s chest, trying to feel for a heartbeat. As he fumbled around, he couldn’t help but notice that Rith’s chest was undeniably…soft.

Soft?

Rith sputtered awake, eyes wide. Upon seeing were Luc’s hands were, Rith shoved Luc away, releasing a high-pitched shriek that surely woke every monster within the cavern. Clamping his hands onto his ears, Luc opened his mouth, ready to rage.

Even in the dim light, Luc could see that Rith’s face was beet red, hands wrapped protectively around his chest. As an upper-class noble, Luc had rarely seen girls without makeup before. But taking a closer look at Rith’s face, half-obscured by shoulder-length blonde hair, Luc realized that his features, from the rounded cheeks to the short chin, were distinctively feminine.

Jabbing an accusing finger at Rith, Luc found he had nothing to say but the obvious.

“You’re a girl!”