Tentacles rose from the ground like black cobras.

They coiled around Josh's legs, and thrashed him down to the ground. Even more leaves crunched under his weight. Strange sounds echoed around Shivam, Tiyasha, Arthur, Took, and Josh. The sounds reminded them of catcalls and wolf whistles. They looked left, then right, arms stiff and ready for fight, their bodies taut with apprehension.

"Help, big brother," Josh moaned. More tentacles rose. But before they could touch Josh, bright jets of fire charred them to ashes. Took had flown to his master's rescue. Took destroyed the tentacles which had grabbed Josh, too.

And then the beasts of hell came running down the trees. Some of them looked a bit like dogs. But they were paper thin, with long pitch-black bodies. Each of them had two heads. A repulsive orange fluid drooled from their mouths.

The other beasts were spiders. They were huge, each almost as big as Josh, but that was not the problem. The problem was that they all had human heads. All male, bearded, and all had indescribable expressions on their faces. The catcalls and whistles emerged from these human-spiders' mouths. Josh began screaming, genuinely frightened.

These beasts came rushing towards Josh and the others with frightening speed. Arthur summoned his spear of fire and stopped a few of them. Shivam tried to stop the incoming dogs by controlling their minds, but he failed. These beasts didn't have minds.

Tiyasha's skulls of Hecate worked far better, as did Took's amber jets.

But then one of the human-spiders bit Josh with its mouth, and then giggled. More catcalls, more whistles. Josh's skin began turning green. He stopped screaming.

Shivam started running towards Josh. Took was already busy fighting against three human spiders. Arthur and Tiyasha were attacking the dogs.

But there were too many of them. Before Shivam could reach his brother, one of the two headed dogs dodged Arthur's attacks and jumped onto Shivam. He felt its sharp teeth sinking in his throat. He had a sudden difficulty in breathing, even as he fell to the ground. Then, for Shivam, the world went black.

"Oh NO!" Tiyasha screamed. She directed the skulls of Hecate towards the dog that seemed to be ripping Shivam's throat in pieces. The dog was thrown backwards and upwards.

"SHIVAM!" Tiyasha screamed again. She ran to him, turned him around, and saw that most of the skin from his throat was gone. He wasn't moving. "He's .... " Tiyasha said.

"LOOK OUT!" Arthur's baritone boomed, as he hit three dogs at once with the rings of fire from his spear. Took now seemed to be fighting with five spiders. Green foam was dropping from Josh's nose.

"WE CAN'T BEAT ALL OF THEM! LET'S JUST EAT THOSE POPCORNS AND RUN! I'LL CARRY SHIVAM, YOU CARRY JOSH!" Arthur shouted, fighting and running at the same time.

Tiyasha rose, with blinding white rage in her heart. For a moment, her eyes went all white, too, but no one noticed that. "Wrath of Medusa," she muttered. About five of the dogs near her turned into stone as she waved her palms. Then she tore the popcorn packet Josh had given her, munched on one, and ran towards Josh with blinding speed. She picked Josh up from the ground, and it wasn't easy, for she held the popcorn packet in her left hand and the tiffin box in one of her armpits. Tiyasha still had some popcorns I her right hand, and she threw some of them towards Took. He munched them and shot straight up through the air. In the meantime, Arthur had picked up Shivam, but he was being surrounded by the spiders. Tiyasha ran, lightning fast, through them, crammed some popcorns into Arthur's mouth, and said, "Run!"

And they ran. Not for the tunnel they had dug out, but right through the Forest of Falling Leaves. They ran, fast as the wind, and didn't mind the crunching leaves, the catcalls, and the beasts that tried to chase them. Within seconds, they were out of it. They passed the Infernos standing on guard outside it, but they saw nothing, almost. Only one of them thought that he saw the blurred shape of a woman in a black saree flashing past him.

After a few minutes, they stopped running. "What now," Tiyasha said, putting down Josh on the ground. Arthur did the same with Shivam, then took his pulse. Took came down from the sky with lightening speed. "Josh," he whimpered, quietly.

"Shivam's...gone, it seems," Arthur said.

"Can't we do something?" Tiyasha asked. Josh coughed up greenish liquids.

"Let's take them to the MediMen Town. With those popcorns, we'll reach there in fifteen minutes. But I don't think Shivam will..." Arthur said.

"He will live," Tiyasha said, determined. "Take us there," she said, picking up Josh again.