The world seemed to tilt, and I felt myself moving in towards Dex, our mouths dangerously close to each other.
But then, a roar like no other shook the very air around us as large sharp stalactites began to fall from the ceiling, nearly crushing us where we stood and a scream wrenched free from my throat.
The thing I had forgotten, the very important piece of information that laid in the back of my mind, was that nectar could only be made in the lagoon of the deadly Gerataux. A monster so ferocious that there were hardly any stories of mortals that walked away after encountering one.
There was a reason only the gods could obtain nectar, and I was looking at it right now, in all its hideous and deadly glory.
Chapter 26
Dex
The Gerataux. Fuck. How could I have forgotten? The creature stretched the entire height of the cave and was knocking his scaled head against the ceiling, bringing down large boulders that had managed to miss us so far. Its silver-scaled wide body and eight clawed limbs blocked the path back to the tunnel, and there was only one way out.
It towered over us, snarling and snapping its large jaw. This monster could swallow us whole if it wanted to. Often it would choose to ingest its victims and then regurgitate them later just so they could eat it all over again, only in a softer more digestible form. I shuddered not wanting that to be our fate.
Odessa gripped my forearm as she swayed. That nectar had gone right to her head, making her wobbly and a little out of it. Just great. She must have drunk more while in the pool.
I knew the legends just as well as the next person, but in my haste and nectar-filled stupor, I’d forgotten just what lurked beneath the surface of that still water. Plus, all the blood from my head had headed south the moment Odessa started taking off her clothes. Gods, her body was better than I’d even imagined. I couldn’t help but sneak a peek, even though I tried to remain gentlemanly, she’d waltzed out of that pool stark nakedand dripping wet, blowing every fantasy I’d had about her sky high.
Odessa stumbled into me trying to catch her bearings, her hands still firmly wrapped around my forearm. She was shivering now, and her eyes were blown wide with fear.
It was one thing to be facing fellow contestants, but facing a whole ass monster was something else entirely.
The Gerataux let out another deafening roar and more rocks began to fall. As it did, the way back became blocked right as we were about to escape. Shit.
“What are we supposed to do?” Odessa cried, her brown eyes were so unfocussed they seemed to be spinning. She drank way too much of the nectar and it had gone straight to her head.
“Over there,” I pointed to behind the waterfall. If we could make it back there, maybe we’d be able to hide.
Instinct took over, and I called upon my magick, finding the right thread of power to blind him. A bolt of light erupted from me and shot directly into the creature’s eyes. The monster let out an unholy screech, but it did the trick, making it cower just enough to let Odessa, and I pass.
We ran, dodging its large limbs as it blindly snapped at the air before swooping its large neck down to where we were.
“This way,” I yelled, pulling at Odessa just in time to the side, avoiding the Gerataux’s attempt to eat us. It crashed into the hard stone, making everything around us, including the floor we stood on, shake.
The rocks to the waterfall were slippery and narrow. One wrong step and we would fall off the edge. Knowing that it was deep enough to house the Gerataux, I didn’t want to chance either of us falling. Odessa kept a death-grip on my forearm as we carefully made our way along the rocks.
“I think there’s a passage back here!” I yelled so Odessa could hear me over the water.
It was loud and I didn’t know how much time we had before the monster would regain its vision. We were almost there. Only a few more rocks and then we could get the hell out of this godsforsaken cave.
Odessa’s foot slipped on the last rock, and I caught her before she tumbled off into the icy depths below.
“I need you to swing your legs over, okay?”
Odessa nodded her head, struggling against the pull of the nectar and the force of gravity to do what I’d asked.
“I’ve got you. I promise,” I said.
“I’ve heard that before,” she quipped with a grunt as she managed to barely swing herself back up to the ledge.
And just in time too. The Gerataux was looking straight at us as its monstrous body came plunging into the water, as it headed right towards us. The water rippled angrily as it swam.
“Go, go, go!” I yelled, gripping Odessa’s hand and running into the passageway tucked behind the waterfall.
There were large iron sconces lining the walls here. Each filled with enough fire to light the way.
The roar of the Gerataux could be heard, but it was muffled now. Though I was sure he couldn’t catch us, I still kept us at a fast pace, wanting to be as far away from the danger as possible. Even though that wasn’t a reality in Nocturne.
