Sparrow’s mouth fell open. “Incredible,” he gaped. “Impossible ! There’s no way an elvan can be that strong !”

Helmut stepped away from the recovering monster, maintaining a competitive stance. “Lucky for you, I’m not an elvan,” he remarked, fists tightening.

The creature’s neck craned upward, carrying its automobile-sized head aloft and thrown back, releasing another gout of black flame, which this time Helmut noted left a viscous residue in its wake.

“Eeww,” he summarized, watching the oversized loogie chew through solid rock.

Meanwhile Sparrow had landed five more arrows to affect that held a resemblance to his previous attempt. “Damn, I have to get closer,” he decided, reaching into his satchel. “Can you keep him distracted ?”

“No problem,” shouted Helmut, tantalizing the monster with his footwork and landing a quick jab when it took the bait, always just outside of its range. “I think it likes me.”

Predictably, the monster made another neck-lunge that Helmut parried and landed his sixth consecutive blow; however, this time, when withdrawing its head, the monster’s tongue shot out and wrapped around Helmut’s sides. The startled human yelped as he was jerked off the ground, drawn towards the contents of the predator’s belly.

An arrow imbedded itself in the monster’s tongue, easily measuring the size of a full-grown adult in diameter. This coaxed a screech of pain that caused the monster’s tongue to unwind and Helmut to be drawn towards a slightly more welcoming earth.

“Gotcha,” exclaimed Sparrow, catching Helmut during a swing across the cave, from the ledge that he had been standing on to the ledge that Helmut had been standing on. Sparrow decided to leave the wasted arrow imbedded in the cave ceiling and fired another roped arrow around the monster’s neck. This time, the rope was attached to his belt, which left both arms free to launch an arrow into the monster’s eye as he swung into and out of distance. Sparrow had assumed that his arrows would be able to pierce at a closer range and since there was nothing stable close enough to stand on, he had to make due.

It had paid off, according to the creature’s second cry of pain. The bad news was that the arrow imbedded in its neck ended up coming loose in the resultant thrashing, launching Sparrow not unlike one of his arrows against a cave wall.

“Sparrow,” called Helmut, voice soft and coarse; the monster’s tongue had to have been laced with some kind of paralysis-inducing poison, his body was going number each second and it was rapidly becoming impossible to prop himself up with is hands.

Sparrow regained consciousness in time to curse his fate, haggard body carrying him in a series of steps roughly six feet before he stumbled on the uneven terrain. What a day; a bloodied lip, a broken nose, as well as intense internal bleeding, broken ribs, and broken fingers to add to the list. The monster eyed Sparrow with an uncharacteristic calm, as if aware of the broken bow and useless arrows scattered around a corner of its lair.

“Move,” snarled Helmut, dragging himself towards the ledge, “move…!”

Sparrow didn’t move.

The monster’s neck snapped forward like a giant’s whip, seconds from its next meal. Less than a second later, the monster was flash-frozen. In fact, the cave’s temperature had dropped substantially and Helmut could now perceive the condensed air of his breath. How…?

“In case you weren’t already aware of this,” began Nina. “I expect to get paid.”