“Oh what joy, what joy, to see the face of a friend,” Karamen ran forward and gave John a bear hug. John was very happy to see his friend. Seeing a familiar face was like a tonic when you were in a strange new place.

John laughed, “I never thought I’d see you in this damned place.”

“Damned indeed. We are in the maws of hell.” Maws of hell! Karamen’s descriptions were always very apt.

“How did you get here?”

“I was captured on Aroth. I imagine you were plighted by the same. What possessed you to go to war? Did the realm mistress allow this idiocy?” He had been an idiot. The racism had really upset him, and his view of elven society.

“She didn’t,” John sighed. “I should have listened to her. What happened to Tiluniel and the leader?”

Karamen shook his head sadly, “Tiluniel’s light has passed. As for the leader, I imagine she was captured like us.”

“Do you know what happened to Sor Al and her apprentices?” This was his primary concern. They had become like family to him. Sor Al may have been a tough teacher but she truly cared for him.

“Allay your fears, Wild Child. Humans treat realm mistresses well. She will be held for ransom. She will also make sure to take good care of her apprentices while they’re held captive. Realm mistresses are worth too much money to be treated harshly.”

“That’s good,” John sighed with relief. “Friends,” he turned to the group, “this is my old and dear friend Karamen.”

“A friend from yore. We have passed through trial and tribulation together,” Karamen added. “And got out of it alive. We shall do the same here.” He was always filled with such optimism. It was really good luck to meet him like this.

“What happened to your team?” asked Ara.

“All dead,” Karamen pointed in a direction. “We encountered a herd of elephants. They did not take lightly to our presence. I managed to escape but the others stood no chance.” John wondered what the previous days had been like for Karamen. They must have been hard. He looked so exhausted.

“How far away is the herd?”

“Two miles. They have probably fallen captive to sleep by now.”

“Let’s put some more distance between them and us.”

“Eh,” Big Crow whispered to John, “does he always talk like that?”

“Pretty much,” John grinned. Karamen always thought of himself as an actor on the stage.

“I quite enjoyed his singing though,” Rose joined in on the conversation.

“Eh, you would!”

They walked through half the night without further mishap. They made camp and John took first watch with Karamen.

“Do you think we’ll be able to make it out of here?” John asked.

“Of course. The stage is set. It is too early in the play for the main actors to fall. I also suspect that this is not a tragedy.”

“What makes you think this isn’t a tragedy? Every step of our journey has been fraught with peril and Tiluniel is dead now.”

“It is no comedy, that is certain,” Karamen sighed. “Tiluniel was a good friend. She was like a sister to me.” Karamen pondered for a minute, “I do not know what this is. The playwright is spinning something that could lead anywhere. Is this not the perfect debut? To be a part of an innovative story that may shape literature for millennia to come.”

“Depends on the critics.”

Karamen laughed and hit him on the back.

They were relieved by Big Crow and Lin two hours later. John slept well for the first time in a long while. He was woken up by the birds. There were so many of them, singing their morning tunes. There was beauty in this deadly place he thought, as he closed his eyes and listened. Feeling much more at peace, John fed Sher Khan the last of the meat and played with him for a while.

“Is that your pet?” Karamen asked.

John nodded. “We killed his mother. I couldn’t bear to see him die as well.”

“It is a wild creature, no matter how tame it may seem. You should have let it die.”

“Lin is an expert at taming wild animals. He’s helping me.” He patted Sher Khan on his stomach and watched him burp. “We need more meat. Will you come with me to hunt?”

“Certainly.”

John woke Lin up and left Sher Khan in his charge. Karamen and John crept stealthily through the forest looking for prey, their stealth circuits going at full blast. They killed a few rabbits and decided to head back. The rabbits would be enough for their breakfast. It was best to save the sealed rations for when they really needed them.

While John was walking back to camp he heard a slithering through the trees. Something was dripping on him. Was it dew? It felt too thick to be dew. He looked up and saw a giant horned serpent staring back at him. It attacked before he had time to react. Karamen knocked him out of the way and got bitten on his back. He phased in time to avoid being captured by the serpent’s tail.

“Wild Child,” shouted Karamen, “weave your most deadly elements while I keep it at bay.”

Karamen swung his glaive at the serpent’s head who dodged and bit back with such speed that it whistled through the air. Karamen phased just in time, avoiding death by milliseconds. John cast bolts of lightning but they did nothing against the serpent.

“Use a different element,” Karamen yelled as he pierced his glaive into the serpent’s body. The blade did not penetrate deep enough causing the serpent only slight discomfort. Karamen gave a mighty blow when the serpent darted its head back towards him. He managed to dislodge one of its fangs. Green liquid dripped out of the snake’s mouth.

John cast a multitude of fireballs at the snake hitting its head. The snake became more enraged, slithering speedily towards John, but Karamen phased before it, not letting it continue forward. He phased on top of its head, repeatedly stabbing his glaive into it. The serpent flailed around but couldn’t dislodge the determined Karamen.

“Get off,” shouted John. Karamen jumped off just as John released a series of wind blades. It cut through some of the serpent’s scales near the head. Its green blood dripped down its body like tears. The injury was very slight.

“Try again,” Karamen phased back to engage the serpent, driving his glaive where John had injured it.

John used all his strength and unleashed a rain of dark knives. This was the element of darkness. Karamen jumped off the serpent just in time as the black rain came crashing down on the serpent’s head. Little wounds began to form and open up turning into larger wounds as more of the black rain fell. The serpent tried to escape but John moved the array of dark knives, keeping it overhead the monster with all of his strength. The serpent soon fell down lifeless.

“Good work,” said Karamen.

John was still panting with the exertion, too tired to say a word. After a while they walked back to camp and John asked Lin to treat Karamen’s wounds. Lin took a look at Karamen’s back and shook his head.

“He’s poisoned,” said Lin. “Show me the snake.”

John led Lin to the monster’s corpse while Karamen rested. Lin sighed sadly when he saw the giant horned serpent. “I know this monster. I can’t treat this with a simple health kit. Karamen will die in two days if he doesn’t get the antivenom.”