The creature rushed us with a bellow that rattled my teeth.

  It was enormous. Long-bodied and low to the ground. Its head was wedge-shaped, and its jaw was lined with teeth made for crushing rather than tearing. Pale fungus clung to its scales in thick mats, the growth cracked and powdery, releasing clouds with every thunderous step.

  Rocher stepped into its path and swung the ft of his spear up and across, striking it squarely in the face. The impact rang through the chamber like a bell. The beast's charge twisted sideways, its momentum carrying it into the wall in a shower of dust.

  The padins surged forward at once.

  Steel fshed. Ard and Veyne struck first, bdes biting down along the creature's shoulder and fnk. Benet followed, sshing awkwardly while keeping his body angled toward Lumiere.

  Their swords skidded. Sparks leapt. The bdes left shallow grooves but failed to penetrate the scales.

  The creature roared again, already regaining its footing.

  "Back!" Ard shouted. "Fall back!"

  We spilled into the alley beyond the chamber, boots slipping on dust and debris. The passage was far narrower than the roads we had come through, the walls pressing close enough that the nternlight rebounded harshly off them.

  The lizard lunged after us.

  It filled the alley with its bulk, cws scraping stone as it forced its way forward. Its body blocked the path entirely.

  Veyne did not slow.

  He sprinted straight at it, leapt, and vaulted over its lowered head in a clean arc, twisting midair to clear its snapping jaws. He nded cleanly on the far side and kept running without looking back, boots striking the broader street beyond.

  The rest of us were not so lucky.

  Rocher drove his spear toward the creature's head, aiming for the eye ridge. The point gnced off the bone pte there, skidding away with a screech.

  The beast snapped at him in response.

  Rocher twisted aside at the st second, the jaws closing where his shoulder had been. The spear shaft caught between its teeth.

  There was a crack like splitting wood.

  The spear wrenched free from his grasp as it broke in half, the ruined end disappearing into the creature's mouth. He stumbled backward, empty-handed.

  Tomás roared and charged.

  He brought his hammer down two-handed into the creature's ribs. The impact nded with a wet, jarring thud that shuddered through the alley.

  The beast screamed, high and furious, raw with pain.

  It reared—

  "Tomás, move!"

  —and smmed its shoulder into him, pinning him against the wall. Stone cracked. Tomás colpsed in a heap at the base of it, his hammer cttering away.

  Ard and Benet backed up instinctively, bdes raised, trying to keep themselves between the creature and Lumiere. They swiped their swords through the air, attempting in vain to deter the creature.

  The lizard advanced, step by heavy step, tongue flicking as if to taste them.

  They couldn't see it, but I did. The branch behind them ended in a blind turn. In just a few more steps, stone would hem them in on all sides.

  My eyes darted.

  The nest y twenty paces away from where Tomás had colpsed. Somehow in the chaos, it'd remained untouched.

  Before I could second-guess myself, I sprinted forward and brought my heel down. Hard.

  Fluid spshed. The smell thickened, choking and hot at the back of my throat. I ignored it and crushed another, then another, grinding them into the stone.

  "Hey, ugly!" I shouted hoarsely.

  The creature's head snapped toward me, its jaws closing with a sickening crunch.

  It bellowed and charged.

  Too fast.

  I set my feet, bracing for impact.

  Wham.

  Rocher struck it bodily from the side.

  He tackled its head and neck, arms wrapping around its skull as his weight carried them both sideways. They smmed into the wall together, the sound jolting me upright.

  I thought I imagined it.

  A faint flicker of gold along his arms and legs. It was there for a mere fraction of a second, and just as quickly was gone.

  Rocher grunted and dug his boots into the stone, bracing his legs against the wall. The beast thrashed, cws gouging furrows into the ground as it tried to wrench free.

  He tightened his grip.

  And twisted.

  Muscles bunched along his shoulders and back. His jaw clenched, breath tearing in and out of him in harsh bursts. The creature screamed again, its body bucking, trying to shake him off.

  Rocher strained, shifting his stance, pressing his boots harder into the wall to gain leverage. Bone protested—a wet, resisting creak.

  And then with one sharp, final crack, the beast went sck.

  Its body colpsed sideways, its weight dragging Rocher down with it. He hit the ground hard.

  I rushed over, but found Lumiere already crouched by his side.

  "Rocher," she said sharply. "Are you alive?"

  "Somehow," he managed, voice hoarse. He rolled onto his back, chest heaving.

  I sighed in relief.

  Lumiere raised her head to me. "I will tend to him, Cire," she said. "Go see to Sir Tomás."

  I nodded, already moving.

  Tomás y crumpled against the wall, his breath coming in short, uneven gasps. His face was flushed, eyes unfocused. One hand cwed weakly at his chest.

  I knelt and pressed my ear close, listening.

  There was a wet rasp beneath each breath.

  "Your lung is punctured," I muttered. "Some of your ribs might be broken."

  I fumbled for the potion at my belt and uncorked it with my teeth, then lifted his head enough to get the vial to his lips.

  "Drink," I said.

  He swallowed reflexively, coughing as the liquid went down. Color bled back into his face inch by inch, his breathing evening out just enough.

  I turned around. "Sir Benet," I snapped. "Don't just stand there."

  He hesitated, mouth working.

  "Get over here."

  He strode over and knelt opposite me, hands shaking. "What do you need?"

  "Your strongest healing spell," I ordered. "You said you used to be a priest, right?"

  "A shit one," he replied. "With equally shit magic."

  "It's better than nothing," I said. "Do what you can for now. You can reckon with your personal failings ter."

  He swallowed and pced his hands over Tomás's chest, murmuring the words of a basic healing rite. The glow that followed was weak and uneven, but it helped. Slowly but surely, Tomás's breathing began to ease.

  I stood, shaking the cramp out of my legs, then peered over at everyone else.

  They were flushed. Sweating. Breathing hard.

  But alive.

  Ard was helping Rocher to his feet. Lumiere stood beside them, checking in.

  Veyne reappeared from the main road with his sword still drawn, eyes sharp. "Is everyone all right?"

  "Yeah." Benet brushed off his knees. "No thanks to you."

  Veyne only shrugged, stowing away his bde. "So what do we do now?"

  He looked to Ard, but I spoke up first.

  "We take Sir Tomás back to camp so he can rest," I said. "He's in no condition to fight."

  "But—" Tomás stirred.

  "We nearly lost you to one creature," I said. "The deeper in we go, the more of them there will be. And it's not just the numbers. It'll be different species. Different threats."

  I gestured back toward the alley.

  "That choke point almost got three of us killed. That was with everyone at full strength."

  "I just—" He bit his lip. "I want to make it up."

  "You'll get your chance," I said. I crouched down to his eye level. "Let's take a moment to recover, okay? Resupply. You'll be back by the time we reach the seal."

  Lumiere stepped up. "I'll make sure you're ready for it. I promise."

  Tomás gnced between the two of us, and nodded.

  "Any objections, Sir Ard?" I said without looking at him.

  Ard shook his head.

  "No," he said. "Rest will be good. I think I pulled something back there."

  He pressed a fist into his lower back and grunted.

  "We retreat for now."