It looked like a giant boulder. Like many of the giants boulders around. Then suddenly in a sneak attack, the giant beast descended with the speed and elegance of a speeding truck, engulfing Cala in one go and continuing straight at the Lynx.

It was as if a giant truck would struck a jaywalker on the highway. One moment Cala was there the next moment the truck had passed and there was no trace of her.

White Flower flew instantly in the air and shot a salvo of fire-spells whilst the Lynx avoided in extremis the muscle mountain.

Tina was not yet awoken when the Lynx grabbed her in the air and pushed Spartacius away. Luckily he didn't use his claws to grab her.

“To the grotto!” - the Lynx screamed as he dropped Tina.

Alice, who was shooting fire arrows that only fizzled on the wolshi's gelatinous barrier, nodded. She took Tina's hand and ran with her towards the grotto.

The wolshi, giant muscle covered in that gelatinous sticky substance that it secretes, turned surprisingly fast for its mass and sent a green spray towards the fairy.

White Flower tried to block with an air tornado, trying at the same time to evade, however, the small pebbles coated in acid flew through, tearing through her body as so many poisoned bullets. She fell with a faint scream white healing light illuminated her.

“Take her to the grotto!” - the Lynx screamed towards Spartacius who was near the fairy.

As the wolshi tried to gobble the fairy, the Lynx jumped at it from the side, tearing apart gelatinous skin forcing the beast to turn towards him.

Alice shot a thundering arrow which shattered the beast with a fire explosion. It turned to face her, letting the Lynx evade its attacks. Now Alice ran as fast as she could to avoid next attack.

Spartacius picked the fragile fairy in his hands wondering how easy her body was. Waves of light passed through her body as the fairy healed against the progressing acid and venom of the corrosive spit. The Lynx screamed again:

"Run you, idiot!"

He hesitated for a fraction of a second then ran with all his speed towards the grotto, in his sprint overtaking Tina and Alice.

The next second, the Lynx and Alice rolled inside, with Tina between them.

Even before they settled the Lynx asked Alice:

“Do you have the harpoon skill?”

It was hard to understand him as the wolshi hit against the grotto's entry in a thundering blow, boulders falling all over. The beast was much too big to fit inside.

Alice nodded:

“Yes, I do!”

“Give the cord's end to Spartacius” - the Lynx said, covering with his voice the alien roarings of the beast and the rumblings of falling stones - “when I free her, harpoon her and pull her, else we lose her!!”

Spartacius' eyes blinked as he tried to process the information. He understood only when the Lynx added:

“She is in the offspring's bag. Ready?”

Now he understood: “They want to harpoon Cala!”

He put the fairy down and jumped, taking the cord's end, and yelled to the Lynx “Ready!”

The Lynx did not wait for his confirmation, he was already gone, only gusts of wind reminding of his former presence. Alice raised her bow, getting closer to the entry. Tina was cowering in a corner where she had fallen as Alice had pushed her into the cavern. She raised her head, saw them acting and tried to ask something, then she understood that nobody had time for her. She went to White Flower and asked if she could help.

Spartacius watched them for a moment, asking himself if the fairy will survive, waves of healing spells passing over her whilst Tina was holding her hand. There was nothing he could do. He turned towards Alice.

“Focus, focus idiot, focus” - said he to himself, then wondered - “Will that arrow pull the cord?”

The physics of the action seemed to be off.

He bound the end of the cord around his waist, then held the cord in his hands, watching nervously the happening.

The Lynx was outside fighting the wolshi. Well, not really fighting, everything happened so fast that Spartacius could not grasp most movements but it looked more like a dance or as a game of 'whack a mole' where the Lynx was the mole and the wolshi the whacking bar.

Thundering blows were shattering the earth each time the wolshi-whacking-bar hit the ground, the Lynx each time narrowly escaping. He realized that a certain routine had set in.

Then suddenly, the Lynx jumped at the wolshi the moment when it was raising for another whack, cutting deep at its underbelly. A rain of black tears of various sizes started falling down and between them was Cala's body. He did not even properly process the image when the sonic boom of Alice's arrow shattered the cave, the arrow-harpoon penetrating Cala's chest with a thud. The arrow almost completely passed through, between her right breast and her shoulder, the point sticking out in her back. Was the hit too hard? Too strong? He saw how the body swung in the air from it.

Alice yelled dropping her bow and grasping for the cord herself.

“Pull!!”

He realized the cord had too much leeway but it was too late now to take another grip, he triggered his running-attack skill and his body surged with all the speed he could muster in the opposite direction pulling the cord with him. The running-attack skill to overrun and kill.

There was nobody there to overrun, but still, his skill triggered and he practically flew towards the end of the cave. The giant wolshi's body was already falling towards Cala when the cord tensed, propelling her body towards the cave, but a little too late, the wolshi caught her in the air absorbing her and the offspring back.

Spartacius' was swung heftily backward, missed his step, and fell in a deep pit. As the wolshi hit again the ground Spartacius fell in free fall, the cord tensing suddenly and Cala's body erupted partially out from the beast's maw.

The wolshi pressed hard his rubbery jaws blocking her feet and the Lynx jumped again, his jaws now closing over Cala's pelvis. With his front claws cutting through her bones whilst his hind legs hitting hard against the wolshi, he propelled himself and the three-quarter Cala inside the cave.

He continued running towards the insides of the cave leaving behind a line of blood with Spartacius screaming almost in free fall towards the dark bottoms of the pit.

Another hard stop and Spartacius thought he would be broken in two. He survived the hard stop, but was almost completely knocked down by the violent shock. Luckily the Lynx did not leave Cala fall from his jaws realizing something was wrong.

White Flower, who finally managed to win her fight against the corrosion that was devouring her body, came to help the Lynx. Still healing herself, but able to walk.

Tina ran to pull Spartacius up but she was too weak to do it.

White Flower was healing Cala as much as she could. She screamed to the Lynx:

“Put her down! You're hurting her!”

“Immmcannot, thatnidiotngg in theng pit” mumbled the Lynx and Alice ran at the pit to pull Spartacius up, whilst the fairy was continuing her heal.