Desperate, feeling himself being dragged down, Duncan reached into his belt, grabbed his dagger and jabbed straight down. There came a screeching noise, follow by bubbles shooting to the surface, and the eel wrapped around him went limp.

“DAGGERS!” Duncan shouted to his men.

With the fog walkers gone, the fog finally began to lift all around them, and Duncan could see, all around him, his men following his command, jabbing their daggers at the eels as they were being pulled down. Hisses and shrieks rose up, as one by one the eels were killed and the men began to extricate themselves.

“MAKE FOR THE SHORE!” Duncan shouted, realizing the fog had lifted.

The men all made for the shore, splashing wildly as they waded their way out as quickly as they could. Duncan was dismayed to see that many of his men, unable to stab the eels quickly enough, were sucked down, shrieking, beneath the murky waters—dead before anyone could reach them.

Duncan heard a shout and looked over to see Anvin being dragged down behind him. He turned back and splashed for his friend, leaping into action.

“Take my hand!” Duncan yelled, wading into the eel-filled waters, hacking with one hand while extending a hand to Anvin with the other. He knew he was risking his life, but he could not leave his friend behind.

He finally grabbed Anvin’s hand and pulled with all his might, trying to extricate him from the nest of eels. He was making progress when suddenly several eels leapt from the water and wrapped around Duncan’s forearm; instead of helping his friend, he felt himself being sucked under.

There came a splashing, and Duncan turned to see Arthfael and Seavig and several of their men rushing back to help them. They swung with daggers and swords, chopping at the eels, swinging expertly, just missing Duncan’s and Anvin’s arms. The eels hissed all around them, and soon Duncan felt himself extricated again.

They all turned and waded back for shore, splashing as fast as they could, and this time, Duncan reached it, finding himself on shore, gasping for breath, aching all over from the sting of those creatures. He dropped to his knees, exhausted, and kissed the sand. The fog was gone, the eels hissed in the waters, a safe distance away, and Duncan had never felt so grateful to be on dry land again.

Finally, one nightmare after the next was behind them.

*

Duncan raised his ax and hacked away at the small red tree before him, chopping as he had been for hours, worked up into a sweat, his hands raw and calloused. All around him the air was filled with the sound of his men chopping, of the small trees falling in the clearing. With one final hack his tree fell, too, landing with a whoosh before him.