Kaden slid the Rakanian-machete into its sheath and fastened it across his back. Spear in hand, an hour or so later he was ready to head out. He made his way to the place that Rakhail had reluctantly told him about.

“This is a good spot, Rakhail said it should be close enough.” He pulled out a borrowed shovel from the grimoire and started digging.

Sofia climbed a tree after deciding to wander around a little; her spider limbs made it a simple task. “Can you cut down some thin branches and leaves while you’re up there?” His voice rang loud from the ground.

“I don’t like this plan of your”, she called back. Nevertheless she started working on his request.

It took a few hours but Kaden finally finished after tying a very taut vine to a nearby tree. “That should hold”, admiring his handiwork.

“It better, your life is depending on it.” Her tone had a hint of concern. “I don’t know why you always risk your life so easily.”

“This place is dangerous, but sometimes it is better to take a calculated risk now so you can avoid something worse later. If this works we can bring everyone with us.” He countered, “All right. Let’s go find a Phinsis.”

It didn’t take them long thanks to Sofia’s enhanced senses and the knowledge Padvor and Rakhail provided them. It was easy enough to spot the telltale signs of a nearby Phinsis.

“There it is”, she whispered from his pocket.

“Gi Vem Es Wif Tn Ess”, he said in a low voice and shoved a Recoberry into his mouth. Taking a deep breath, “Time to poke the bear.” He felt twinge of nervousness starting to grow in the pit of his stomach.

“Just make sure you don’t complain while you’re getting mauled”, her teasing words made him smile. Sometimes she knew just exactly the right thing to say.

“Will do”, he responded more confident.

Kaden picked up a nearby rock and hurled it with all his might. THUD, it struck a now not so happy Phinsis square in the head.

Kaden turned and bolted away with all the magically enhanced speed he was able to muster.

Snarling, it turned just quick enough to see the motion of a few leaves where Kaden had been. After letting out another snarl it took off after him.

Kaden knew the creature was fast and gaining on him. Even with his magically enhanced speed he wouldn’t be able to outrun it.

“Now!” Sofia called just as Kaden leapt over a fallen tree. With a swift motion he pulled the machete from its sheath slicing a nearby vine as they continued forward. A wooden frame with several small spikes shot out from behind a tree just-in-time to catch the Phinsis head on, injuring the creature and slowing its pursuit.

The Phinsis fueled by rage continued forward refusing to give up. “It’s almost on us again, just another few steps”, Sofia called as Kaden leapt over another fallen tree.

It was just a little bit sluggish as it leapt over the same fallen tree; its wounds were no doubt the cause. The creature confident in its landing had one of its paws pulled out from under it forcing it to fall forward into a few well-placed sharp wooden spikes.

It got up snarling; breaking the odd vine responsible for tripping it. The creature was feeling a little dizzy even though had only been slightly injured. Sniffing the air, it managed to locate Kaden’s trail and continued its pursuit. After passing a final tree it came to an abrupt halt. There in front of it was the culprit responsible for everything. It snarled angrily.

Kaden stood there looking relaxed with a big smile on his face. “I don’t think it liked our presents very much Sofia.”

“No? What an ungrateful guest. We even spent so much time preparing a bed and everything.” Her voice sounding almost hurt.

The creature took a step closer to them and paused. It placed its paw down in front of it and pushed gently. The ground collapsed reveling a deep pit. The creature snarled at Kaden as his expression changed slightly.

It propelled itself forward using powerful muscles to cross over the pit. It would only require a single leap for such a short distance. The Phinsis sailing through the air towards Kaden thrust its tail forward for the strike.

THUD

Something heavy struck the creature from above just as it was half way to the other side. The sudden blow sent it crashing straight down into the awaiting arms of several very long, very sharp spikes at the bottom of the pit.

Kaden slid the machete back into its sheath after cleanly cutting a very taut vine. Walking over to the edge of the pit and looked in at the pinned creature.

“Looks like someone is caught between a rock and a hard place”, Sofia’s failed attempt at humor made Kaden groan.

“Sofia if you please”, not wanting to prolong the struggling creatures agony any longer.

Kaden’s plan had involved suspending several very heavy boulders above the pit with more than just a few jungle vines. He was initially going to release them once the Phinsis had already fallen into the pit to try and crush it however things didn’t go exactly according to plan.

“Putting Mothers-bane venom on all the spikes along the way and down there was a good idea. It slowed it down just enough for you to run away screaming.” Kaden wasn’t sure if her teasing remark was a compliment or an insult.

“It’s a strategic retreat!” he responded. “Why fight fair, when you can just run away and lead it into an ambush. To echo the words a very famous Admiral, “It’s a trap”.”

Sofia walked down the edge of the pit and approached the trapped Phinsis carefully. She found a spot where she was sure it wouldn’t be able to strike her with its tail and sunk all her teeth deep into the creature. After they were sure it was completely paralyzed Kaden made his way down and killed it with a very accurate stab from his spear.

“All your, beautiful”, he voice wavered slightly at his attempt to …flirt. Sofia must not have noticed he thought as she didn’t say a word while absorbing the Phinsis.

Earlier that day an intense discussion about how Phinsis are able to instantly regenerate their limbs had taken place between them. Sofia had also pointed out to him that all spiders had the same ability although it took them several days. Kaden felt he could perhaps somehow combine these creatures’ abilities to help fix Alia’s legs. He theorized this from the knowledge of healing he gained from Padvor and the information from Korin’s Jungle Survival Guide. If they used Sofia’s unique talents, he may be able to give a human the same ability. All he needed now was a Titan beetle, a white Chaga mushroom and someone willing to test out the formula.