Spence arrived just behind Trey. Morgan had already opened her packs and wrapped a bandage tightly around Caleb’s upper thigh, right above the huge gash. The Cyclops’s club had sliced it open before it sent him flying. She then drew her dagger and cut his pants open further, revealing the full extent of the damage. The skin and muscle were split open to the bone. The blood had slowed with the tourniquet, but it still oozed forth. His pants and boots were soaked in blood, as was the ground where he had stood and the trail he had made coming to the riverbank. Caleb’s skin and face were ashen, and he was unconscious. His breathing was soft and shallow.

“Oh, God, what are we going to do?” Morgan asked.

Spence turned away from Caleb’s leg. He was squeamish at the sight of blood and felt the familiar lightheadedness and nausea. He desperately tried to focus on something else, kneeling and rifling through Morgan’s pouches. He withdrew one of the small, round containers. “It looks like you have the packs of a healer. I would try some of whatever this is on the wound,” Spence said, handing her the container.

Morgan grabbed it, looking at him doubtfully. She finally shrugged and twisted off the lid. Inside was a thick, grayish-green paste resembling mud. She returned the cap. “See what’s in the other one. The gash is too deep for that.”

Spence hastily grabbed the other container. He screwed off the lid and saw it contained a white powder. He handed it to Morgan.

“I hope this works. He’s not going to last long.” Morgan sprinkled the powder back and forth over his wound like shaking salt from a shaker. She used all the powder and handed the empty container to Spence. She then used both hands and squeezed the incision shut. Caleb moaned softly.

“You’re good at this,” Spence said, screwing on the lid.

“I’m thinking about becoming a nurse. At least then I can help people.”

“What about a doctor?”

“My sister is trying to talk me into following in her footsteps. I don’t know if I can stand going to school that long, though. If college is anything like high school, I know I can’t.” Morgan eased the pressure with her hands.

“Wow, look at that!” Trey exclaimed, leaning over Spence’s shoulder.

The three examined Caleb’s leg. The cut was no longer gaping open and wasn’t bleeding. The skin was fresh and pink, and the wound resembled a shallow slice, several days old. “Hand me the paste stuff,” she said to Spence.

Spence handed the other container to her. She stuck two fingers into the paste and rubbed it along the cut. She repeated until she had used all of it to cover the wound and the surrounding skin. It began thickening and drying almost instantly. “He’s still unconscious and pale.”

“Here, try this,” Spence said, handing her the vial of red liquid.

Morgan clutched the vial, staring at it skeptically. “In his mouth?”

“Yep.”

Morgan pried the cork out of the end of the tube and opened Caleb’s mouth with her left hand. Then she leaned over and slowly poured some of the thick red liquid into his mouth. She paused to make sure the liquid disappeared down his throat and then emptied the remainder. She then sat and observed with the others.

Caleb’s breathing became deeper and slower, and color began returning to his face and exposed leg. He appeared more as if he was in peaceful sleep instead of at death’s door.

“You have some amazing drugs,” Trey said to Morgan, still leaning over Spence.

“Too bad I had to use all of them,” Morgan replied. “Nobody else better get hurt.”

Caleb’s eyelids fluttered a few times and then opened. He stared at the sky for a moment and then slowly sat upright. He glanced at the three peering intently at him and then looked down at his ripped pants and exposed flesh. He traced his fingers along the dry, gray paste. “What happened?” he finally whispered.

Spence recounted the past half hour. Caleb just vaguely remembered trying to run and follow the footsteps of the Cyclops from where it had knocked him unconscious. He didn’t remember seeing Trey sending the monster tumbling into the river or their encounter after.

“At least we know what one of the potions does. Thanks.” Caleb slowly regained his feet. When he put weight on his right leg, the paste cracked and began flaking off like pieces of dried mud. He flicked the remaining bits off with his fingers. The skin underneath was pink and smooth. The gash had disappeared, and there probably wouldn’t even be a scar. He then squatted and stood a few times to test it. “Amazing.”

“Look, bro, I’m sorry for last night…and everything. I temporarily lost my head. I don’t know. I guess this place just got to me. I mean, I’m way out of my element here. And it seems like all of you have adjusted better than me. Instead of being the star linebacker, I’m just a nobody here. But I’ve done a lot of thinking and have come to grips with it. I know the only chance we have is to stick together. Forgive me?” Trey extended his hand to Caleb.

Caleb stared at Trey’s extended hand and then met his eyes. “To be honest, I still don’t trust you. You had planned to take Spence’s staff and probably kill all of us with it. It’s not like it was just an accident or heat of the moment. I’m too tired to think about it now, though. We’ll camp separately tonight. Maybe tomorrow we can discuss it.”

Trey shrugged and then turned to Spence. “Forgive me, dude?”

Spence wasn’t sure how he felt about Trey. He doubted he could completely change in only a few hours. He went ahead and shook Trey’s hand, though.

“And you, sis?” Trey said to Morgan.

“I need more convincing.” She turned away and repacked her bags.

“Well, I’ll catch you guys’ sometime tomorrow,” Trey said and then turned and disappeared up the bank.

Caleb removed the bandage that had served as a tourniquet and retied it lower to cinch his ripped pants leg together. “All right, let’s find a place to make camp. It will be dark soon, and we’re all exhausted. We should stay in the trees and take our chances that the river monsters don’t get out of the water.” Caleb led the others out of the trees and into the open land.

Spence’s eyes frequently scanned over and around the rolling hills to the west. The thought of another battle made his stomach flutter. He was disappointed his staff couldn’t bring down the Cyclops, even with the lightning bolt and the fireball. He liked the fireball, which followed its target, but he would be dead if he had been alone. Hopefully, not all the monsters they faced would be that tough.

Then he thought about the monster being a cyborg. “What do you all think about the Cyclops being a robot or at least part robot?”

“Pretty weird,” Caleb replied.

“I wonder if the wolfosaurus was a robot too?” Morgan asked.

“I don’t think so. But it was something created or genetically altered—I mean a mammal head with a reptile body?” Spence said.

“So, one way or the other, everything in this world has been created,” Morgan said.

“Just like our world, except we only have one god,” Spence replied.

“Not according to everyone. There are lots of different religions and beliefs, and lack of beliefs,” Morgan said.

Spence was too tired to get into a religious discussion. His legs were shaky, and he was physically and mentally spent. He was relieved when Caleb soon stopped at a clump of trees at the top of the riverbank. They set up camp, with one tarp tied to the trees as a roof and the other spread on the ground below as a floor. Caleb was certainly talented at making camps. Each setup was different, but he completed them quickly and decisively. They were also acclimating to their roles. Spence and Morgan collected firewood as Caleb built a fire pit and started a fire.

They all gathered beneath the tarp in front of the fire just as the sky released the last of its fading light. They ate the same meal for the third night—only the bread was tougher and drier, and the meat and cheese hard and greasy.

“If we don’t reach the Forbidden Forest by tomorrow night, we might have to try to hunt. I haven’t seen many animals, but there must be some rabbits or squirrels around. Morgan, do you think you can manage killing something?” Caleb asked.

Morgan looked up from her cheese and bread. “I guess,” she said softly. “If we’re truly out of other options.”

“If you can find something else to eat, then by all means do it. But I haven’t seen any nuts or berries or any plants I recognize as edible.”

Morgan nodded. “What do you think about Trey?”

“I don’t know,” Caleb replied. “He did save us and is a good fighter.”

“And you might have avoided getting hurt if he had been there hacking on the Cyclops from the beginning,” Morgan added.

“He also tried to steal my staff and would have probably fried you two and possibly me as well,” Spence replied. His heart raced at the recollection of the incident.

“There is that….” Morgan said.

“He’s a bully and arrogant and an idiot,” Caleb said. “But it seems he might finally understand we’re not in high school anymore, and this is life and death. And it sounds like he realizes he is totally out of his element here and can’t survive by himself. I’m sure he won’t be able to build a fire tonight, and he has no tarp or shelter.”

“Do we take a chance on letting him join us again?” Morgan asked.

Caleb turned to Spence. “Spence, you’re the brunt of most of his abuse. What do you say?”

Spence stared at the fire. He definitely enjoyed Trey not being around. The whole mood was different with only the three of them. But Trey did save his life. They would likely face monsters as nasty or worse than the Cyclops. And now Trey knew he couldn’t steal his staff. Maybe he could be a decent human being, at least until they returned to Earth. A night alone might help cement the change. “I guess, assuming he finds us tomorrow. But we have to always watch him and assume the worst.”

“Morgan?”

Morgan sighed. “If we have to. He can be like our pet pit bull…cobra.”