Crypian held Alia tight against his chest. Her heart slammed hard against him.
From high above the broken hole, Rosalina's angry shout crashed down like thunder.
"Easier said than done!" she yelled. "I nearly died trying to kill them!"
Crypian's stomach twisted into a cold knot. His mouth turned dry.
All around them, the nightmare beasts snarled louder.
Their crocodile jaws snapped open and shut.
Slimy tentacles whipped the air and slapped the cracked stone edges, sending tiny rocks tumbling into the dark pit below.
He looked like a scared boy, shoulders hunched, legs shaky, face pressed into Alia's hair.
But inside his head, everything stayed sharp and ice-cold.
He remembered the training room back home when he was only 5.
His father had thrown him in there with three older boys who carried wooden swords.
Crypian had nothing. Not even a stick.
"Know the situation," his father had said, voice flat and hard.
