“Snuff out your lantern,” Tom whispered. “And follow the path slowly. Maybe… it hasn’t seen us.”

“I’m about positive that bats have sonar,” I whispered. “And this thing looks like it can see in the dark.” Still, though, it was worth a shot and I complied, the large eyes watching our every movement.

The lanterns dark, the candles no longer lit, we took an experimental step.

And another.

The eyes followed.

We crept slowly. “Maybe this thing will let us by if we’re careful,” I whispered hopefully.

Tom’s foot slid on the slipper stone, and a small pebble fell off the side, plopping quietly into what must be water below.

The eyes widened, and a great, gaping maw opened up, exposing upside-down fangs and a poisonous tongue.

“AHOOOOOOOOOOOL!” it screeched. Wings swept outwards, their swoosh echoing against the walls, and its feet released its hold on the ceiling.

“RUN!” yelled Tom.

Our feet carried us with reckless abandon, no longer worried about upsetting the cave’s resident – it was too late for that.

“AHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!” it screeched, righting itself, staring at us with angry eyes.

Its wingspan: dark, terrible, and leathery, was tipped with a massive claw and seemed twice as wide as Tom was tall. We couldn’t see much at all, feeling at the wall, running as fast as we could to escape the massive bat! Rocks tumbled off of the ledge as we tried our best to not fall ourselves. The cavern was huge – there was no way we would make it in time!

The bat’s wings made gusts of wind, threatening to remove us from the path without even a touch. It followed us and swooped in terrifyingly close, the burst from its wings pushing me into the cavern wall. It was so close, my hands brushed against its matted fur that covered its torso. Tom screamed, and the gigantic bat screeched right back.

“Tom!” I shouted.

I felt his shoulder in front of me; it was wet. Had the bat gotten water or spit on him? His shoulder felt so cold, so hard.

He just winced and whimpered.

“We need to go! Keep running!”

He resumed his pace, taking advantage of the bat’s momentary retreat. It had to be gathering momentum to strike again.

We leapt forward, no longer worried about the size of the ledge, more concerned with speed and getting out of there.

My fingers, running against the wall to brace myself, were suddenly met with open air.

“I feel an exit!” I said. Tom had almost passed it, running blindly ahead in the dark.

“AHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!” screeched the bat again, its scream echoing against the walls, accompanied by the beats of its terrible wings.

I pulled Tom with me, his only response a pitiful whine, and we fell into the opening onto the wet, hard floor. The bat’s gnashing fangs stopped at the opening, unable to fit its massive body through. I scooted us backwards, eager to get as far away from the bat as possible.

“Get up,” I said desperately. “We need to get away.”

I pulled Tomas up to stand, forcing his arm over my shoulders, and helped him walk as best as I could. Fortunately, the new path was wider than the initial opening, allowing for us to walk just barely side by side. I hustled, walking with him as quickly as I could through the darkness, hoping that we were going in some semblance of the right direction.

Several minutes of fevered walking later, in complete pitch black, I had to stop. My breath was too heavy: the exertion from our narrow escape from the cave bat, to the panic, and now, to the cost of adrenaline, all had drained me. I collapsed, Tom falling beside me to the floor, whimpering.

“Tom?” I asked, breathing shakily. “Are you okay?”

He half-groaned, half-whimpered. “It… stabbed me with something…” he said.

“Stabbed you?” I asked, surprised. What on earth could it have stabbed him with? A fang?

“My shoulder,” he said weakly. “It’s in my shoulder. Please… get it out.”

I grit my teeth and pulled my sack to the front of me, rustling in it blindly. “I’ll do my best.”

I couldn’t feel any bandages packed in the bag, so I tore off a strip from the bottom of my shirt, preparing a makeshift bandage.

“When we get out of here,” I said, grimacing, “I’ll bandage you up properly.”

Tom didn’t respond, just inhaled short breaths.

I crawled over to him, as gently as I could without being able to see and fumbled to feel for his shoulder. It had gotten wetter than when I’d felt it in the cavern, what I only assumed to be blood had soaked his shirt. He needed bandaging, and fast. I felt around his shoulder, eliciting choked screams from him. He was trying to hold back.

I choked back the horror, as well, as I felt a huge piece of what must be the bat’s claw sticking out from his shoulder. If I took it out now, surely, he’d bleed out. Especially in the dark, there was no way I’d be able to do this and have him come out alive.

“Tom… you’ve a whole claw in your shoulder.”

He whimpered.

“I’m not going to take it out here. I’m going to try and secure it, and then when we get into the light, we’ll have to get you some help.” I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry in advance about this.”

Before he could protest, I’d taken the meager bandage I’d rustled up and used it to stuff around the claw, trying to reduce the bleeding. He groaned, and I heard his teeth grind together.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, securing the bandage as best as I could, given our mutual blindness in the dark. “But we have got to go.”

I helped him stand, his body shaking. He needed help, and fast. I only hoped that the minimal amount of first aid I’d picked up from reading would be enough.

“Let’s go,” I said, determined. “We’re getting out of here.”

The steps we took were agonizing. Each one seemed to jostle the claw stuck in the meat of his shoulder, and I could only support him so well. At least his legs weren’t injured, so he was able to walk functionally, but he was losing a lot of blood, and I was sure that he felt light-headed and woozy. Not to mention, we both were exhausted and sore from our travels and other narrow escapes.

I heard a pebble fall, clattering to the ground. I shook it off; I’d been hearing that sort of sound all day – or however long we’d been in these cursed caverns. We kept walking, the tunnel getting a little wider every few feet or so, making our walk less and less cramped, and more comfortable. The air, though still quiet frigid, felt warmer. The path, though filled with twists and turns, must be approaching an exit, and quickly!

We were rewarded with our patience; I could see, far off in the distance, a small opening of light. The sunlight shone from far away on our faces, and though it wasn’t near, I swear I could feel the warmth. Another pebble fell, and I barely registered it. We were almost out!

“Tomas, do you see it?” I asked excitedly, no longer bothering to whisper. “We’re almost there!” Something scraped behind us, more pebbles falling. I ignored it, for Tomas’s sake, as he barely seemed conscious. “Wake up, dummy, we’re almost out of these stupid caves,” I chastised, though not unkindly. “You better be able to keep walking to this portal.”

I peeked backwards, but unable to see anything. Of course, behind us was still largely not illuminated by the small amount of sunlight that teased us from up ahead.

We were only a few yards away from the exit.

A blood curdling scream erupted from a few feet behind me.

“Tom!” I yelled, grabbing him and ushering him forward. Something else was here! Whatever it was, it did not sound friendly.

I felt a rush of cold sweep past me, and a large, hulking shadow lurked in front of us, a few feet from the cave exit.

A shadow demon.

I stopped suddenly, and Tom’s nearly limp body knocked against mine, almost falling forward right into the shadow demon.

It screamed again, but this time, almost sounded like words. “For Zaavi,” it screeched, barely intelligible. “Capture the Princess,” it croaked, its humanoid transparent body twisting in pain. Did the sunlight hurt it?

Through its near transparent body, I saw something shiny. Was that… what I thought it was? I hoped to every deity that existed that my hunch and memory was correct…

I closed my eyes, tightened my grip on Tom, and charged through the shadow demon, through the exit – and jumped.