Henry stood at the far side of the greatest cave in the citadel, overlooking the assembly of at least two hundred crawlers around him in the light of the quietly crackling brazier. He had asked Cevian to call a meeting with all the crawlers in the fortress, and here they were now—more than enough for his plan—eagerly awaiting his input.

Henry went over his plan once more to be certain he hadn't forgotten anything. Then Cevian, who stood a little offside, signaled that they were all here, and he cleared his throat to make his announcement: "I know how to defeat the cutters."

The bold words caused a wave of murmurs. "We cannot fight them, we cannot. How can we defeat them then, how can we?"

Henry turned his head when a singular voice spoke and saw a crawler cowering at his right, antennas raised. On a whim, he asked, "You—are you the same one who led me to the map? And talked to me earlier? Are you their leader?"

The crawler twitched his antennas in approval. "Zick, my name is, Zick. I am the leader of the crawlers in the citadel, I am."

They had a leader. That would benefit his plan. If he got their leader on his side, the rest would be more inclined to follow him.

"That is good to hear," said Henry. "They will need a leader if my plan is to work." He even gave something like a smile. Louder, he continued: "Yes, you understood me correctly—we will not run away, we will not out-stubborn them—we will fight them. And we will win. If all of you help, that is."

By this point, he had everyone's eager attention; even Cevian eyed him curiously. "Well," she said. "Don't keep us waiting any longer, will you?"

"See, but that is the fun part," Henry said with a crooked smile. He savored the moment of undivided attention a little longer. If she could see him, would Solovet finally be proud? If they are to respect you as their commander, you have to act like a commander too, she said in his head; it had been her very first lesson. Henry had never actually been a commander yet, but he had rehearsed the situation enough to be able to fake the experience he lacked.

He took a deep breath, straightened out his back, and lifted his chin before raising his voice again. Would he have to make this into a whole motivational speech? Henry had always excelled at motivating others, but never had the stakes been this high . . . or did he have an audience of crawlers. Oh well, what could go wrong?

"I am aware that you are not warriors," he began. "Cevian and I are, but so are the cutters, meaning they outnumber us by a great deal." Henry thought he would have heard a hairpin drop in the enormous cave. He smiled, allowing his mind to take him back to one of his many classes on military strategies. He recalled Solovet's stern face and her confidently raised finger, and he automatically raised his own. "So, what do you do when your enemy outnumbers you? An ancestor of mine, who lived not long after Sandwich himself, once solved this problem with great effectiveness. He had even claimed that his own strategy was based on one that had, long ago, been used in the Overland."

Henry explained that the human general of ancient had been facing an outstandingly superior number of gnawers. So, instead of seeking direct combat, he had lured them down a narrow tunnel with multiple side entrances and, from there, set a trap: the humans would wait in the side tunnels, and once the gnawers, inevitably forced to traverse the tunnel in a column, passed through, they attacked and split the single line of rats into multiple groups to fight separately. According to Solovet, it had been one of the most glorious and unexpected victories the humans had ever celebrated.

"My plan now is simple," Henry said with a very un-commander-like, crooked grin. "We may not have a narrow tunnel or the number of warriors to split a mass like the cutters into sections like my ancestor," he paused, "but we have something else—we have you."

Henry had to raise his voice to be heard over the rising murmur. "Hear me! If Cevian and I can swim through the river and reach the cave outside, we can make that our battlefield. We can drive as many as we can into the three tunnels that lead out of it and, in this manner, split their forces into four sections. It is here that you come into play."

Henry explained that the crawlers could come out of the citadel when the cutters were distracted by him and Cevian. They were to block the tunnels Henry and Cevian would have previously filled with parts of the cutter army, as well as the entrance to the citadel behind them.

"That way, Cevian and I can take them out in segments. First, we kill those who remain in the cave, and then you may open up tunnel by tunnel, letting the previously sealed-out cutters in—to run into our sword and claws."

The end of Henry's speech was met with grave silence. Yet the silence wasn't hostile—no, everyone present stared at him in disbelieving shock.

"Henry . . ." Cevian broke the silence first. "This is nothing short of brilliant."

"I know." He shot her a smile. "But we can only do it if you all help," he said to the crawlers. When nobody replied, he breathed in, readying himself to continue his speech and make it more motivational this time. "Believe me," he urged, "when I say this is your one chance to finally rid yourself of the cutters for good. Because—and I am certain of this—if we defeat them today, they will not bother you again in a long time."

Before Henry could say another word, a quiet clicking suddenly broke the silence. Henry turned his head to discover what it was, but then it began multiplying, and soon every crawler in the room was making it, allowing it to grow overwhelmingly loud.

"What in the world are they doing?" He had to raise his voice considerably so that Cevian could even hear him.

"Henry," she said with a smile. "They are applauding."

***

A few hours later, Henry and Cevian were finally rested and prepared for the upcoming fight; they stood in the cave with the river, readying themselves for departure. All they still needed was the signal from Zick that his crawlers were ready.

He had briefed Henry and Cevian on the layout of the cave and pointed out a boulder the crawlers sometimes used to close the main tunnel. The cutters had come from there, so they had agreed to use the boulder to seal out the section of the cutter army that was currently not in the cave and prevent them from providing backup. And then, as soon as Henry gave the signal, Zick himself would lead the other crawlers out to seal the other two tunnels.

"You are full of surprises, Henry," Cevian said suddenly.

He turned and found her gaze to be a mix between amusement and newfound . . . respect.

"I do try my best." He grinned.

"So I've noticed." Cevian shook her head. "I still find it hard to believe that you had something like this in you. The way you spoke . . . It almost made me wonder whether you have experience with the army or at least received military training."

"I did."

Cevian's eyes widened, and Henry found he had to force the smile this time. "Well, sort of," he amended. But he could hardly be truthful about this. He could not tell Cevian that, after Hamnet had disappeared, Solovet had selected Henry to be her successor and the next commander of the Regalian army. The choice made sense—they'd had nothing else to do with him; he wasn't heir to the throne, and she had recognized a certain talent for warfare in him, so it had been decided.

But he couldn't say all that to Cevian, or it would bring up questions about his former family and status.

"Military training, yes," Henry said eventually. Did the special effort Solovet had put into him—the additional materials she had him study and the extra assignments she had written for him—qualify as military training? "I aspired to be a military official at some point." Well, it wasn't an outright lie.

"You? A military official?" Cevian's eyes widened. "Ha!" she exclaimed. "Had you told me this only a day ago, I would have laughed. Yet after your speech today . . . well, it does make sense. That was quite impressive."

Henry still couldn't bring himself to smile genuinely, and this time, Cevian caught on. "You aspired? Was it . . . your own choice? Did you . . ." She scraped a claw across the floor. "Enjoy it?"

Henry snorted. His choice? It had certainly not been his choice. Yet at the same time, he had never really complained. How could he? Not only did he find enjoyment in the study of warfare, but it was technically also a great honor. At least when he ignored the reason why he had been chosen. He was talented, but not so talented that Solovet would have chosen him for that reason. Henry had not been her first choice. Henry had not been Hamnet. Henry was . . . just about good enough. And she had never let him forget that.

Henry gritted his teeth. Maybe they had also hoped that the army would fix him like it did any problem child. Henry had happened to be a prince, so he had been selected for a higher rank. It didn't change much about anything else, though.

"No, it wasn't my choice," Henry said curtly. Before Cevian could interrupt him, he continued, "Yet I was never unhappy with it. In fact, I enjoyed much of the training and the concept. The only thing I could never wrap my head around was the kind of rigid discipline that is expected of a soldier." He shrugged. "I like doing things my way; I always did. In leisure as in battle."

Cevian laughed. "That is exactly why I found it so hard to believe. You don't act like a soldier at all, yet apparently, you think like one."

They both jumped when Zick appeared beside Henry and poked his leg with one of his antennas. "They are ready now, they are," the crawler said.

Henry blew out a breath, giving him a nod. "Good. We can get going then." He glanced over to Cevian. "You ready too?"

"I am," she nodded. "Father has taught you our language, no?" she asked quietly. "It may be better if we resort to it outside the citadel. I am unsure whether cutters understand Human, but they definitely do not speak Nibbler."

Henry didn't protest; at the same time, he inevitably wondered how much he would embarrass himself. In the end, he nodded and shouldered his sword, checking if all his pockets were sealed tightly. Although it wasn't ideal to face the cutters while wet, they were left with no other choice.

"What about you?" He stared down at Zick. "Are you ready for battle? Also, seal this access point to the river as soon as we're through in case any of the cutters do decide to attempt swimming."

"I will do it, I will." Zick approvingly twitched his antennas. Henry turned to Cevian, meaning to tell her to go first and lead the way out when the crawler raised his voice again: "Believes in us human, believes in us?"

The question caught Henry off-guard. He froze for a split second, then turned back. "Yes," he said. "I believe this will work. I believe in you."

The crawler lowered his head in gratitude and respect, and Henry gave him another nod. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Cevian smile. But then her expression hardened with worry again. "Henry," she said. "Have you considered that your plan rests on the assumption that we will have light? But we cannot carry any fuel or torches through the water."

Henry threw her a crooked grin. "Of course I have." He patted the pommel of his sword. "Do not worry about light; I have us covered."

"Oh? How?"

"That is a surprise." His grin widened. "Just trust me."

Cevian threw him a skeptical look, but she didn't protest. "Fine," she said. "I hope that my trust is not misplaced." With that, she turned and dropped into the water, and Henry followed on her heel.

***

Although the swim lasted only five minutes, to Henry, it felt like an eternity. The water prickled icily on his skin, and the longer he remained in it, the more concerned he became that he might catch a cold.

At least the swim was not physically exerting as they swam with the stream. Henry quickly latched onto Cevian's fur and let her drag him along; in the end, she heaved the two of them out of the water, and he groaned.

"Dammit, I didn't think this through!" Henry complained, rubbing his miserably trembling hands to regain feeling in them. There were no cutters in the side tunnel where they had landed, so he spoke normally.

Cevian shook herself, and the water from her fur gave Henry another cold shower. "Hey!"

"Oh, sorry." She said it with a grin, and Henry glared at her.

They spent some five minutes in the side tunnel, warming up. Only then did they begin sneaking toward the main cave. When they poked their heads out of the exit, Henry snapped his fingers to visualize what they were up against and felt a shiver run down his spine . . . not from the cold.

The image ahead was unsettling. The cutters had surrounded the tall-standing citadel; he could not judge how many they were, for he perceived them as a single mass, almost like a body of water. Most of them sat on the fortress itself, their mass covering the outskirts of the structure like a deadly blanket. Hadn't Henry known better, he would have thought that they were trying to break the stone with their jaws.

"We should go." Henry thought now was the time to switch to Nibbler, and Cevian squeaked back, approvingly.

He used his echolocation again and made out the boulder the crawlers had mentioned. It rested between the two other tunnel openings, and he pointed at it. "We start with the boulder," Henry said, pausing to think of the correct sounds. "We cut off the ones who are still out there and seal in the rest. Then, we lure as many as we can into the other two tunnels and give Zick the signal."

Cevian nodded, and Henry felt proud that he had managed to express such a long and difficult thought in Nibbler. "You sneak ahead and take care of the boulder," he continued. "I stay here and make light."

Cevian eyed him, evidently still curious to find out how he intended to make light, but Henry only smiled. Eventually, she nodded.

Henry nodded back, then his gaze found the cutters again. Soon, he would be fighting them—a species he had never engaged—and that at the side of . . . crawlers. Of all species, it was the crawlers he had as his allies now.

Together we will rid the Underland of crawlers and spinners and share their land among us, a voice suddenly hissed in his ear. I am tired of having cowards and weaklings as allies! An odd shiver ran down Henry's spine at the words—his words. He had uttered them, what, four months ago?

Henry almost laughed at the plain absurdity of this entire situation. "You mean, I am here now? Am truly doing this?" he asked Cevian, in human this time. "Am leading crawlers into battle against an army of cutters?"

Cevian, who had already leaned out of the entrance to assess how to best reach the boulder, turned back. "You are," she said. "We are."

"Had you told this to my half-year-younger self, he would have laughed at you and called you mad. But here we are."

"Here we are," Cevian echoed. She hesitated, then took a step back in his direction. "One question," she asked. "If you find this so ridiculous, why are you doing it?"

The question caught Henry off-guard; he had already unsheathed his sword and froze with it in hand. "You know why," he said.

"No," she replied. "This attack was not our only chance at survival, and yet you insisted on it. We may have holed up in the citadel, hoping to be rescued, or attempted to sneak past the cutters now. If I am being honest, when you brought up the river, that is what I assumed you meant to suggest."

Henry stared at her pensively. She was right, but . . . "This attack may not be our only chance at survival, but it is our best," he said. This attack at the side of a species I had formerly deemed a useless ally, he thought, but suppressed the irritation the thought evoked at once.

"And . . ." Henry hesitated. "Before I came to the colony, I made a challenge for myself—to survive, no matter the cost. To make the world fight me for every ounce of life in my body. And I am not losing that challenge."

It wasn't like he was doing this to do the crawlers a favor. He was winning this challenge, even if it meant he would have to fight by the side of crawlers. He would do it . . . and yet it remained outrageously absurd.

It was too dark, and Henry wasn't sure, but he thought Cevian smiled. "You will never cease to surprise me, will you?"

"Not you or anyone who makes the mistake of underestimating me."

"Good." They held each other's gaze for a few moments. "Then let us go," she said. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he replied. "If you can, push the boulder into place the moment you see fire. I'll give you a minute sharp to reach it."

They exchanged a nod, then Cevian turned and disappeared into the darkness.

Henry began counting down in his head and fumbled with the wet leather pocket at his belt. He was already at twenty when it opened. Then he struggled to fetch a cloth and apply the correct amount of Ignifer. At least the jar Teslas had put it in was waterproof. Henry almost cut himself on the blade and cursed under his breath. When his count reached forty, he had applied approximately as much of the flammable mixture as he thought would suffice. Henry hastily stored the Ignifer away as his count reached fifty. He fetched the previously readied fire stones, positioned himself in the tunnel entrance, and counted down the last ten seconds . . . Then he ignited the sword.

The blade lit up with a hissing jet flame that Cevian couldn't have missed. The cutters hadn't missed it either, though. Like on cue, every single one twitched in his direction.

A loud scrape disrupted Henry's focus. The fire from the sword illuminated his surroundings even better than he'd expected, and he instinctively held it higher, like a torch. So, he made out Cevian as she shoved the boulder into place, sealing the entrance to the largest tunnel shut.

The last thing Henry took notice of was her staring wide-eyed—likely because of the sword. Then he turned his attention back on the cutters, who were already closing in on him. Instead of retreating, Henry sprinted and vaulted over the rows of cutters heading his way. The clacking of their razor-like jaws irritated his ears like nails on a chalkboard, and Henry gritted his teeth, swinging his burning sword until they drew back, in fear of the fire.

From the corner of his eye, Henry registered that all of them had now left the citadel to fight him and Cevian, who swung her claws to drive a portion of the cutters into another tunnel. He had to get a move on. Quickly, Henry leaped over the rows that closed in on him and began filling the final tunnel with as many as he could.

Just as he had finished driving the next batch into his tunnel, Cevian was by his side again. "We cannot keep them at bay!" she yelled.

Henry gritted his teeth. He didn't know if he had trapped enough, but he also knew Cevian was right. They would start pouring out again if he didn't give the signal to the crawlers now.

Henry whipped around and put two fingers in his mouth, then sounded a long whistle. Immediately, a stream of crawlers erupted from the previously sealed entrance to the citadel and parted into two groups; a few stayed behind to block the re-opened entrance. One group headed off to seal Cevian's tunnel with their bodies, trapping the cutters she had led in. The second almost swept Henry off his feet, doing the same with his tunnel.

Henry managed to give the crawlers on his side a quick thumbs-up before joining Cevian in the middle of the cave that was now a battlefield. The cutters were evidently confused by what had just happened; Henry heard a pungent clicking sound seemingly originating from every individual that had remained in the cave.

"It's working!" He screamed, positioning himself back-to-back with the nibbler. They had frozen in their tracks momentarily, yet as off-guard as the attack had caught them, it was not hard to determine the human and the nibbler as the source of their trouble.

"It is!" she responded, and swept the first wave that headed their way off their feet with her tail. But the cutters were still many—they quickly encircled the duo, baring their mandibles and relentlessly searching for a hole in their defense. But they could no longer overwhelm them with their superior numbers. Henry struck down one after the other, feeling more and more confident that he and Cevian could take them.

"So, a flaming sword?" Cevian screamed in his ear at one point.

Had he not been fighting for his life, Henry would have laughed. "Does it not suffice for a light source?"

"Yes, but—" Cevian broke off, and Henry had to direct all his focus toward the battle as well. He aimed for their delicate midsections instead of their hard shells or mandibles, and hacked every single ant he could reach in half.

When the cave at last fell silent, Henry almost collapsed where he stood. Beside him, Cevian panted as well. Together, they stared at the heap of dead and dismembered cutters that remained.

"So, is the sword what Father helped you make?" Cevian still hadn't caught her breath.

Henry nodded. "Well, at least I'm not cold anymore." He stared down at his bloodied pant legs and it didn't take long for the pain to sink in. Henry nearly collapsed. Instead, he stood taller and said: "Ready for the next wave?"

Cevian nodded, and Henry raised his still-burning sword in the direction of one tunnel that the crawlers were holding shut. As soon as he gave the signal, the wall of crawlers caved, releasing the second wave of trapped cutters, and joined to reinforce the other tunnel, though some remained motionless on the floor.

On the side, Henry registered that blood specked the ground under his soles and felt another faint surge of pain, but adrenaline now had him in its grasp, numbing his body and his mind. It was not time to think. It was time to fight.

***

The following two waves were considerably smaller, so they finished both relatively effortlessly. Or so they thought until they caught their breath and felt the ache of their injuries properly for the first time.

"This will be the largest wave," Henry said, battling the pain of his cut-up legs. "Or . . ." He inspected the heaps of cutter corpses around them. "Do you think they may flee when they see the massacre?"

Cevian shook her head. "The cutters are a hive. They do not think as individuals. As long as some of them remain, they will not cease carrying out the task their queen has assigned them."

"Oh, wonderful." Henry gritted his teeth and hissed against the pulsing pain. The flickering flames of his blade danced off the crimson pools dotting the stone floor. Something hot and wet trickled down his left arm. His legs were marred with cuts and dirt. He forced himself to raise his sword instead of supporting himself on it like a crutch.

What am I doing . . . he thought numbly as he approached the large boulder that Cevian had used to seal the main tunnel. Getting himself killed? At least this death would be worthy. What else was he to do?

I have to live, Henry thought. To survive . . . to live. This battle . . . it was merely another sub-challenge, like the one in the gnawer arena. He would not lose. I will eventually stand before you as an outcast who is not only alive but also successful. He would not break his promise to Thanatos.

He huffed and wiped his sullied face on his sleeve, calling out to all remaining crawlers to retreat to the citadel and barricade themselves in; their job was done. It had cost the lives of more than a dozen of them, but his plan had worked like a charm, and Henry felt like the overwhelming pride was all that kept him standing.

Watching the last of them disappear in the citadel, Henry had to admit to himself that—with someone skilled and smart to lead them—they indeed were good for more than he had previously assumed.

"Hey." Ignoring the burning of his legs and even his lower arms, Henry took position beside the boulder and gripped his sword tighter. "Let's end this."

Cevian nodded, and on three, they pushed the boulder out of the way. A hoard of cutters streamed out like a livid red river, and they jumped back, retreating to the middle of the cave, as they had been before.

Looking at the stream of bodies headed their way, Henry felt a first hint of fear. They were more than the first wave—a lot more. What if Cevian and he couldn't take so many?

But he had no time for fear. He had no choice. Henry gripped the handle of his burning sword tighter and stood back-to-back with Cevian again. He raised the blade high above his head and, out of his mouth, ripped a harrowing battle cry. Henry screamed until his throat was sore and his mind void. Until he felt no more pain and no more fear . . . only exhilarating bloodlust.

On the side, he registered that Cevian howled along with him. Then the wave of cutters hit, and Henry saw red. Red bodies, red fire, red blood. Red and hot and burning.

He swung his sword in a livid frenzy, mowing down cutter after cutter. Adrenaline had him tightly in its grasp; there was only the blade and whatever it could reach, strike, kill. In front, behind, left, right.

He had no idea for how long he fought in such a manner, yet slowly but surely he could no longer ignore that his arms were growing heavier. Henry panted, attempting to scream again to reinvoke his adrenaline, but his voice would not obey him. Instead of a scream, out of his mouth came a strained cough.

Numb panic choked his heart when he found his last strength draining. The number of attackers was not decreasing; there was no end to them. They came, and came, and came, and he could no longer fight.

Every ounce of life in my body.

He swung his sword with his leaden hand, not knowing whether he would ever be able to lift it again. A horrific numbness drowned him. They wouldn't make it. They were too many. They were never-ending.

Survive.

Henry's head spun, and his stomach coiled. He stumbled forward, blindly hacking away at everything that moved.

Survive!

His vision blurred, and his legs felt like he was trudging through a sea of broken glass. He could no longer lift his sword. He felt it slip from his aching hand when suddenly an ear-splitting howl pierced the air.

A large shadow swept over his head, and for a second, Henry thought he was dreaming until the shadow veered and yelled in a familiar voice: "Jump!"

Henry hesitated not for a second. As well as his burning legs allowed it, he began to run, nearly slipping on the bloodied floor. Henry disregarded all cutters in his way; they were no longer his priority. Riding the fresh surge of desperate strength, he sprinted, and then he leaped with spread legs. Thanatos caught him instantly, and as soon as he was on the flier's back, a swell of relief crashed into Henry like a tidal wave.

He fell forward, face pressed into Thanatos' fur; the sword hung from his limp right hand. At that moment, he felt an overwhelming desire to shed tears of joy.

"It seems as though my theory that you always get into trouble the moment I leave you alone is holding up," said Thanatos. There was a teasing undertone in his voice, but in that moment, Henry couldn't have cared less.

"You know what? Maybe you're right," he mumbled into the flier's fur.

"What are you even doing?" asked the flier. "Did you seriously believe you could defeat the entire cutter army just by yourselves?"

"No . . . Well, sort of, but—" Henry lifted his head, only then remembering that the battle was not over. "I'll explain later," he said. "Now, let us kill those little shits down there before Cevian is—" Henry cut himself off when his eyes found the nibbler and . . . someone already fighting alongside her. "You saved Cylindra!"

"Did you expect me to leave her behind?"

Henry breathed in and out, allowing fresh energy and hope to flood him. From up here, the cutters didn't seem so menacing anymore. He raised his sword and joined Thanatos' battle cry as he dove toward the enemy.

Even from the air, the battle was challenging but not nearly as straining on Henry's shredded legs. Thanatos soon began to circle above the grounded nibblers, allowing Henry to eliminate any cutters who came too close.

"Fly a wide coiler around them," Henry suggested after a while. "Close to the ground. And . . ." He hesitated, eyeing his bloodied legs. "If you can, do it upside down."

"I can. If you can hold on."

Henry banished the surging pain and wrapped his legs tightly around Thanatos' neck, along with his left arm. The flier initiated the coiler and, in mid-air, twisted until his stomach was facing upward.

For a moment, Henry was disoriented; his head spun and he nearly dropped his sword, but as soon as he caught himself, he made use of the position that turned out to be as tremendously advantageous as he had hoped. Now, he could strike down more cutters with a single swipe of his sword than ever. And so, the remains of the army were defeated in mere minutes.

***

At first, nobody could really believe it was supposed to be over. Thanatos flew a few extra rounds to ensure all cutters were dead, and the nibblers checked every nook and cranny of the cave.

Only when they all finally gathered in the middle of the cave did Henry dare to mount down. "We won," he spoke uncertainly because he didn't really know what else to say.

"We won!" Cylindra echoed and collapsed on the floor next to Cevian. Both nibblers were covered in nasty cuts; they bled quite badly, and, together with what oozed out of his own shredded legs, Henry thought it would soon make a bloody pond.

He carelessly tossed his still-burning sword on the ground and dropped between Cevian and Thanatos.

"We won indeed," Thanatos said quietly. "Whatever you two were thinking to even enter into this battle."

Henry grinned. He couldn't wait to tell the flier about his plan and his tremendous success. But before he could open his mouth, something suddenly touched his arm.

Henry jerked around and stared at a crawler who sat inches in front of his face; more waited behind him. Apparently, they too had understood that the battle was over.

More and more emerged out of the entrance to the citadel; despite leaving a respectful circle around Henry and his companions, they eventually spread across the entire floor and even scaled their own fortress to secure a spot. In the flickering light of his sword, Henry looked them over, attempting to estimate their number. Were they all the remaining crawlers?

He looked back at the only crawler who had stepped inside the circle to attract his attention. "Zick? That you?"

"It is me, Zick, it is me."

"Did you hear?" said Henry. "We won."

"We won," the crawler echoed. A long pause followed, the silence disrupted only by an undefinable yet ever-rising murmur from the crowd of crawlers.

A minute may have passed when a voice spoke clearly above the rest: "He has saved us, the Wielder of Light, he has saved us."

"Wielder of—wait, what?" Henry frowned, looking around.

The title traveled through the cave and echoed from the walls, leaving the impression that every crawler present was speaking it all at once. And then they began to applaud again. "He has saved us, the Wielder of Light," over and over.

"Henry, I think they mean you," Cevian said, her voice heavy with pain. But there was also overwhelming pride and joy.

"Me . . . Wielder of Light?" Henry's eyes found his sword. "Oh, you mean because of—!" At that exact moment, the fire hissed and went out. Henry barely suppressed an amused snort.

"And yet another part of my theory is confirming itself," Thanatos said into the now unbroken darkness. "Not only do you always find danger when I leave you alone, but also a new title."

"I like this theory," said Henry.

"You know?" Cevian's voice came from his other side. "They will not forget this any time soon." She paused. "For what you did for them today, all crawlers in the Underland will remember you eternally. Even if you only did it to save your own hide."

"Well," Henry shrugged, happy that she couldn't see his pained face. "Let's just call it . . . mutual need."

"However you may call it," Cevian resumed, "you are their savior now. And, for the rest of your life, you will be the boy with the flaming sword who led the crawlers into victory against an army of cutters. Whether you like it or not."

***

As soon as the crawlers had brought them a brazier, Henry and the nibblers spent maybe half an hour tending to their most severe injuries. The crawlers swamped the "Wielder of Light" and his friends with all the fabrics they had, and Henry purified as much water as the little pot allowed to clean their wounds and quench their thirst.

They provisorily bandaged the nibblers' cut-up chests and limbs, and Henry finally tended to his legs. He cut the shredded pant legs below the knees and wrapped his lower legs in bandages.

While they tended to their wounds, Cylindra told them about how Thanatos had saved her; when the cutters had attacked, he had carried her into the tunnel Henry and Cevian had later sealed with the boulder. They had hidden close to a river, unable to pass the cutters as the tunnel had a low ceiling, and unwilling to go back to the colony and abandon their friends.

"We would have gone and gotten reinforcements had we not heard of you in three or four days. When your supplies would have come close to running out," Cylindra said. "But the trek back would have been dangerous with so many cutters everywhere. So, we waited."

They had kept watch for whether Cevian and Henry would find a solution on their end. And approximately a day after they had been separated, Thanatos had returned from a scouting trip, informing her that the cutters had all disappeared and the passage was free.

"That was when your battle began," said Thanatos next to her. "They had all entered the cave to fight you. So, we stumbled directly into your battle."

"Luckily!" Henry grinned. "You arrived just on time."

Henry should tell his tale next, Thanatos demanded. And so he told the nibbler and the flier about his plan; occasionally Cevian chimed in to add one or the other detail. By the end, Henry was overwhelmingly tired, although still immensely proud, and Thanatos could barely believe his ears.

"I did not know he had this in himself either," he said to Cevian when they were already readying themselves to fly back. They were all exhausted, and their injuries needed proper treatment, so everyone was eager to return as quickly as possible.

"You should have seen him speak," replied Cevian in a hushed voice. "You may not have recognized him."

"Are you talking about me?"

Both Cevian and Thanatos fell silent immediately when Henry approached.

"Not a word," Thanatos mumbled. "Lest his ego will grow to an even more unbearable size."

Everyone laughed . . . except for Henry, who put his hands on his hips. "Hey!"

He opened his mouth to complain, then felt Zick at his side. "Your clothes are damaged," said the crawler. "Want to take anything, want to?"

At first, Henry didn't understand what he meant, but when Zick led him to a stash of leather and furs, Henry understood he was offering him gifts. Fine, he would give the crawlers that, Henry thought, excitedly examining the stash. They were exceedingly generous.

He instantly gathered together enough leather and fur for a whole new set of clothes and even discovered some elongated bones, just like what Teslas had requested to finally be able to reinforce his dagger.

When Henry emerged from the citadel, beaming happily and burdened with loot, Thanatos shook his head. "Henry, they thanked you, praised you, and entitled you their Wielder of Light . . . And what do you do? You rob them blank!"

Henry shrugged without losing his grin. "I did not rob, they offered. What was I supposed to do? Refuse?"

Cevian, Cylindra, and Thanatos all watched him attempt to secure his opulent haul and exchanged exasperated glances. "As shameless as he is now, you should have seen how he behaved before I had a serious talk with him," Cevian mumbled. "As hard as it may seem to believe, this is a substantial improvement."

"Oh, I believe it," Thanatos responded.

Henry shot them all death glares from beyond his stack of goods. But as annoyed as he was with his judgmental friends, nothing could have truly ruined his mood at that moment. This trip, as hopeless as he had felt at times, had been an enormous success. He had gotten to test the flaming sword in the field, fought and won an epic battle, acquired enough materials to expand his wardrobe significantly, and could now call himself the savior of the crawlers—for whatever that was worth. Whatever temporary discomfort he had and was still enduring, Henry decided that it was more than worth it.

He climbed on Thanatos' back, this time joined by Cevian, who was too injured to run, and once more inspected his new materials. "Hey," he exclaimed. "With all that I have here, I think I may get a coat!"

"Great for you," Thanatos said sourly. He lifted off and performed a last, honorary round through the cave. When he looked back, Henry saw a singular crawler by the entrance to the citadel. Cevian and Cylindra waved and called, "Run like the river, Zick!"

After a final moment of hesitation, Henry raised his own hand, and his mouth curved into a lopsided grin. "Run like the river."