Chapter 82: Separated III

"Try not to kick me with that foot," Seth said as he looked at Evan’s right ankle.

"I’m not planning to." He responded with a flat expression, holding back pain.

Seth loosened his boot without pulling it off completely. Evan’s ankle had already started swelling, and Evan flinched when he adjusted the foot to get a better look at it.

’Nothing about that looks convenient.’ Seth thought as he looked at it.

"You didn’t even wear socks?" Seth asked, sifting his nose back a bit.

"Please don’t focus on that at this time." Evan pleaded, more because of the girls than anything.

Using the supplies they had, Seth wrapped the ankle as carefully as he could before helping Evan move farther away from the collapsed gallery.

The other girl held a lamp for him while he worked. Dust covered her hair and the shoulders of her jacket, but she insisted that she wasn’t injured.

Tessa waited beside the lower connection with her Hound, watching for anything that may spring up on them.

The three of them, despite Seth’s advice, had already shouted until their throats hurt. Seth’s radio still turned on, but nobody responded no matter how many times he tried using it.

He could occasionally hear stones moving beyond the collapse, though he couldn’t tell if someone was trying to clear the blockage or if more of the gallery was falling apart.

Seth looked at the large slab blocking their original route. ’We’re not going that way.’

"Tessa, check the lower passage. Only go as far as the bend, and stop if you can’t see the ground."

Tessa nodded before following her Hound into the passage.

Seth watched until she reached the edge of their lamp light. The Hound moved ahead of her and sniffed around the bend before returning.

"There’s enough room," Tessa called. "It slopes down, but the floor isn’t broken all the way across."

That made it their best available option, though from Seth’s face, anyone could tell it didn’t mean he liked it.

"All right. Evan, put your arm over my shoulder." he said.

"Shouldn’t we wait for someone to find us?" Evan said, though he was already doing as told.

Seth looked towards the thin stream of grit falling beside the slab.

"We’ll find somewhere better to wait."

Just then, his Fire Monkey appeared beside him, its baboon-sized body crouching beneath the low roof. It climbed onto a shelf of stone along the wall and turned towards the blocked gallery.

The other girl summoned a lean Grade Two feline. Its long claws remained exposed while it walked, making light clicking sounds against the rocky floor.

"Keep it behind us," Seth instructed. "Don’t let it chase anything." The girl did as told.

They started down the lower passage.

Evan could still place some weight on his injured foot, but every uneven step slowed him down with accompanying pain. Seth shortened his own stride to match while keeping the Fire Monkey close.

The summon used the low ledges along the walls to move without getting beneath anyone’s feet.

They had almost reached the first sharp bend when something scraped against the stone behind them.

The feline, being closest, turned immediately.

It was a Splitjaw that had crawled over the rubble near the entrance. Its flat body moved on six legs, and its jaws opened sideways when it spotted them. Perhaps it planned to ambush them from behind, since it allowed them go through first.

It was already approaching them with speed.

"Take Evan around the bend," Seth said as he handed him over to Tessa. "Keep the Hound on this side."

The Fire Monkey leapt from its ledge and landed on the creature’s back following Seth’s command.

It grabbed two of the Splitjaw’s legs and pulled them apart, forcing the crawler’s body flat against the floor before it could turn its jaws towards the summon.

"Attack underneath," Seth told the other girl.

Her feline rushed forward.

Its claws hooked beneath the Splitjaw’s raised side before its jaws closed around the flesh. The creature jerked once, but before it could throw either summon off, the Fire Monkey grabbed its head and twisted sharply.

Blood flowed from the injuries, but no one cared for that as Seth was already looking towards the entrance, seeing two more shapes that were moving behind the first body.

"Leave it. Come back."

The feline withdrew as soon as its summoner called it.

The Fire Monkey jumped onto another low shelf just as the next Splitjaw lunged beneath it. It raised one hand, and a short stream of fire shot from its palm directly into the creature’s open jaws, causing the Splitjaw to recoile immediately.

Before the flames had completely disappeared, the Monkey dropped onto its back and drove a fist into its head with all its weight behind the attack several times, pounding it.

The final crawler, while the fire monkey was still dealing with the second, tried to pass them along the wall.

"Take the front legs. Keep its head facing you." Tessa ordered her summon.

She stood beyond the bend with Evan resting against the wall. Her Hound rushed forward, snapped at the Splitjaw’s front legs and jumped away when its jaws closed towards it.

"Now. Left side."

The feline attacked the other side. Its long claws found the joint and tore into it.

In a moment of time, the fight was done and nobody was hurt.

Luckily, Early Grade Three Splitjaws weren’t particularly difficult once something stopped them effectively. Most of their danger came from their jaws, and against several summons attacking from different sides, they didn’t have much of a chance.

If one caught a summon from the side with those jaws, however, the fight could become unpleasant very quickly. Luckily, Seth was there, and with his experience, it appeared as child’s play as the others followed his command.

"See?" Seth said as he returned to Evan. "There was no need to race them."

"I wasn’t going to win a race anyway," Evan replied while looking at the dead crawlers.

"Then it was a good plan."

Seth checked the passage behind them while the others returned to their earlier positions.

He could have handled everything himself, but had only used the Fire Monkey’s flames for a short moment. There was no reason to keep them going and waste his spirit energy when the Monkey was strong enough to finish the creatures with its hands, with the help of others.

Once everyone was ready, they continued down the passage.