Chapter 83: Separated IV

The narrow passage opened into a chamber lit by pale mineral gems running along the walls. One side had collapsed, leaving a slope of broken stone beneath a jagged opening in the ceiling. A broad slab lay across the centre of the chamber, with only a narrow path between its edge and a standing rock pillar. Beyond that gap, the floor rose towards a turn on the far side.

There was also another opening to the right, though most of it was hidden behind the pillar.

"Stop here," Seth said as he looked over the chamber.

The others remained near the entrance.

"Tessa, check the far turn. Stay where we can see you."

Tessa nodded and moved forward with her Hound, while Seth helped Evan onto the more level part of the floor. Evan’s Bristle Boar remained close behind them, and the other girl’s feline carefully made its way along the edge of the rubble.

Before they could even catch a breather, claws suddenly rattled against the stone above.

Looking up, Seth watched as a Splitjaw crawled out from the collapsed side of the chamber. Another emerged beneath it, followed by more flat bodies slipping through the spaces between the broken rocks.

There were six altogether.

"Through the middle," Seth instructed. "Tessa, take Evan."

The Fire Monkey intercepted the first Splitjaw as it dropped into the chamber. It caught the creature before it could land properly and slammed it against the broad slab before driving one hand through its head rather slowly, using its flames to aid the process.

The other girl’s feline lunged towards another crawler.

"Keep it on this side!" Seth shouted.

She immediately called the feline back, but the Splitjaw had already turned towards it.

The feline dodged across the path of Evan’s summon as he shouted an instruction that sent it forward at the same time Tessa called her Hound back towards him.

For a moment, all three summons crowded the narrow gap.

"One at a time. Evan, keep yours still."

A Splitjaw climbed over the broad slab before they could separate properly.

The Hound jumped away from its jaws and collided with the feline. Both summons stumbled, and when the girl ordered the feline to move back, there was nowhere clear for it to place its feet.

In that brief moment, the Fire Monkey leapt between them and the Splitjaw’s open jaws.

Seth felt the strain through their connection as his summon caught the creature by the head and forced it aside.

"Tessa, get Evan through."

She caught Evan beneath one arm and helped him forward. He tried to hurry, but his injured foot dragged across the uneven stone and nearly caused him to fall as he screamed in pain.

Seth stepped in and lifted him clear, but in the process, something struck Seth’s left thigh.

Pain tore down the outside of his leg as a hooked limb caught his trousers and dragged across the flesh beneath.

Seth shoved Evan towards Tessa before stumbling against the rock pillar, meanwhile, the Fire Monkey struck the Splitjaw with enough force to knock it away from him.

"Go!" He shouted at them.

Using as much strength as she could, Tessa pulled Evan through the gap, despite being smaller than him in frame.

Behind Seth, the Boar was trying to turn while another Splitjaw snapped at the edge of its heel.

The feline had retreated onto a loose pile of stones, but one of its claws slipped between two fragments and became trapped.

"Jump!" the girl shouted.

The feline pulled at its leg, only twisting its body farther to one side.

"Put it away!" Seth ordered.

The girl stared at him.

"Now, before it gets bitten."

The feline disappeared just as the Splitjaw reached it.

"Evan, yours too. Tessa, call the Hound back."

The Boar vanished.

Tessa tried to bring her Hound around the pillar, but another Splitjaw dropped into its path, forcing the Fire Monkey to leap across the gap and strike the creature aside before it could close its jaws around the summon.

"Unsummon it!"

Before the next second, the Hound disappeared.

If one of their summons was torn apart, the shock travelling through the connection could leave its summoner incapacitated at the very least. Seth already had one injured student slowing them down, and he definitely couldn’t carry another.

He pushed himself away from the pillar.

Warm blood ran beneath his torn trousers, but his knee still supported him when he placed weight on the injured leg.

’Could be worse.’ He gritted his teeth as he pulled away.

Seth backed into the narrow gap while the Fire Monkey covered him.

They had managed to handle two, now four remained.

The three younger students had reached the far turn. The other girl caught Evan’s free arm, and together, she and Tessa helped him towards the wall beyond the rising floor.

"Stay there," Seth called. "Keep that passage clear." He ordered.

Following that, they called out their summons again to do as he said.

A Splitjaw pushed into the gap, but the Fire Monkey caught the edge of the slab and swung itself over the creature’s head. Both feet struck its skull and drove it down against the floor, though that was scarcely enough for a finishing blow.

Another tried to cross from above, but a stream of fire shot from the Monkey’s palm and swept across the Splitjaw’s face, forcing it to recoil, its legs scraping against the rock as it pulled away.

Seth stopped the flames as soon as it withdrew.

His breathing had become heavier already. He could feel every burst drawing from his Spirit Energy, while the Fire Monkey had to keep moving between the narrow gap and the top of the slab to stop the Splitjaws from getting through.

At such a moment, fighting so many alone, Seth could use its transformation. The thought remained in his mind as the Monkey caught another crawler and dragged it away from the opening.

’Not yet.’

If he used it now, he needed to be certain that it would get all four of them out safely. He still didn’t know what waited beyond the far turn, and using most of his Spirit Energy to win this fight could leave them helpless in the next passage, not to mention, leave him completely exhausted.

"Seth?" Tessa called from the edge of the bend.

"Get back around the turn. Watch the passage behind you."

"You’re bleeding."

"I know!"

Seth tried to retreat another step.

"And we aren’t alone here either!"

A Splitjaw immediately moved into the space the Fire Monkey had left behind. It didn’t follow him through the gap along the floor. Instead, it climbed over the slab, where it could drop between Seth and the others.

The Monkey caught one of its legs and dragged it away, doing well to avoid its razor sharp teeth whenever it tried to snap at it, its nimbleness helped a lot.

At that point, Seth stopped retreating.

He couldn’t bring his summon back without leaving the top of the slab open. The hidden passage beside the pillar also led towards the younger students’ side of the chamber, and while nothing had emerged from it yet, Seth couldn’t see far enough inside to trust that it would remain empty.

He might have been able to cross the chamber alone... he gritted his teeth, one hand pressed against the wound on his thigh as he looked towards the turn.

"Tessa, can he walk with both of you helping?"

"Slowly."

"Then get him ready."

Seth turned back as the Fire Monkey knocked another set of jaws away from the gap. It was constantly moving well around, doing well to knock back the crawlers to buy time.

As it stood, they needed someone on the other side of the chamber, an instructor, another summon, anyone capable of covering the opening long enough for Seth to pull back.

Until then, he had to hold it.

...

Elsewhere, some time earlier, Leon was still moving through the side passages after following several false signals. He had detected quite the number of life signals, but they turned out to be monsters rather than humans.

The next movement detected by the Mage belonged to another Splitjaw.

By the time Leon moved closer, the creature was lying beside the wall with its head hanging at an unnatural angle after the Swordsman had taken care of it.

’Not a student, then.’ He thought to himself.

Detection gave him a direction, but it couldn’t tell him who or what was waiting at the other end. He hadn’t thought much about it at first, so he actually expected to meet humans before realising.

Another time, he even followed one moving presence into a passage that ended at a narrow opening in the rock that further led to a dead end, leaving him with no choice but to turn back.

The presence he was following now had barely moved during the Mage’s last few checks.

There was still a large amount of rock between them, and the passage curved around it instead of leading straight towards whatever the Mage had found.

Leon stepped over a shallow crack in the floor, staying close to the Swordsman beside him.

"Slow down."