Evidently bored with their conversation, the Bloodhound charged.
All right, here we go!
Quick as a flash, Trent called his kangaroo forward. It was with him in a trice, all its senses straining, all its power his to command. It surged forward, its rage at being kept from its mate blinding in its strength.
We will destroy anyone who tries to stop us from finding her and protecting her!
Thankfully, Trent didn’t have to take any time to wrestle the kangaroo’s rage under his control – he knew he could simply trust its instincts to do what had to be done.
The Bloodhound might have been made of muscle, tall, heavyset, and operating with superhuman strength – but evenhecouldn’t stand against the powerful kick of an eight-foot-tall prehistoric kangaroo’s massive hind legs. Rearing back onto his tail, Trent sent the most savage kick he had it in his power to give straight into the Bloodhound’s chest as he charged forward, the long, curved claws at the tips of his feet digging into his flesh and shredding it.
The kick sent the Bloodhound, huge as he was, flying back into the darkness at the other end of the shaft, out of Trent’s sight; all he could make out was thethudas he landed on the stone floor, followed by a groan of pain.
He might be down, but I doubt he’s out,Trent thought, reining in his kangaroo’s instinct to go stomp on him until he reallywasfinished.I need to get Quicksilver out of here – and I need to find Zina.
Looking around, making use of the kangaroo’s senses and nocturnal eyesight while he still could, Trent saw the entrance to the forking tunnel off to his left. He couldn’t sense any movement from the Bloodhound, and he wondered if he dared to risk staying in kangaroo form for now – he wouldn’t be able to move very fast, just lope along on his toes and forepaws, rather than his speeding bounce. But if the Bloodhound took his time recovering, he might be able to put some distance between themanduse the kangaroo’s senses to find his way to Zina.
It is this way,his kangaroo insisted, tugging at his mind and forcing his body to movement.We must hurry!
Just a second – we can’t forget Quicksilver.
The kangaroo had to admit that was true, and it stopped trying to take over his mind to send them tearing through the tunnels searching for their mate. Trent couldn’t clip the backpack onto his back again with his kangaroo’s paws, so instead he simply reached inside, hoping Quicksilver would still know him, even in his shifted form.
Come on, fella,he thought, as Quicksilver poked its head out of the bag’s opening, blinking at him.You know me. You’re safe with me.
Evidently, Quicksilverdidknow him, because it swarmed up Trent’s foreleg and up onto his shoulder, its tiny clawed feet clinging to Trent’s fur. As it settled there, it let out a smallprrup prrupsound, that Trenthopedmeant it was ready to go.
All right then, little fella,Trent said,let’s get going.
He set off at as quick of a lope as he could manage, keeping his head down. The kangaroo’s senses guided him – it could feel air currents, pick up scents and sounds that Trent would have had no chance of detecting in his human form. And most of all, it could sense the bond between him and Zina, burning brightly in his chest, telling her that she was all right, and guiding him to her.
Just hold out a little longer, Zina, wherever you are. I’m coming for you. I promise.
He hoped the mineshafts all met up with each other at some point – but he had to assume that if the only way to Zina was through the collapsed rubble, his kangaroo would have sensed it and told him to stay put, rather than leading him down a dead end.
As he loped along, however, the kangaroo suddenly felt a thrill of pureterrorrun down its spine at a noise from behind it.
What – what was that?!
There weren’t many things that could faze the kangaroo – it was huge, after all, muscular, and it wasn’t afraid of a fight with anyone or anything. It could disembowel with a kick, not that Trent usually let it do anything like that, no matter how much someone may have deserved it. So the idea of the kangaroo beingthatterrified of whatever was…slithering… down the mineshaft behind it did not make Trent feel very good about anything at all.
What is it?he asked again, once the kangaroo’s mind had cleared from the bolt of terror that had arced through it.
I do not know,the kangaroo said.But I do not like it.
Trent risked stopping, glancing back over his shoulder – and then felt his blood run cold.
There, following him, was the largest crocodile he hadeverseen, moving at a pace that Trent wouldnothave thought such a beast could move at. It was so bulky that its armored flanks scraped against the sides of the tunnel as it moved, its beady eyes trained on Trent.
Oh, what the hell?!he thought, as his kangaroo’s instincts went suddenly into overdrive.That isn’t a bloodhound, oranykind of hound!
Trent couldn’t exactly say what he thought he’d been expecting from the Bloodhound, but he’d assumed that he’d at least be some kind of dog – not what looked to be the direct ancestor of all of his absolute worst nightmares combined. Kangaroos didnotlike crocodiles! They just didn’t get along!
The kangaroo was struggling against him, wanting to take off at a racing bound – but there was just no room for it here in the tunnel. But if he kept going at this loping pace, the crocodile would catch up to him, and there was literally nowhere for him to go. The tunnel was straight, with no forks that he could see yet. There’d be one sooner or later – but right now, the only place he had to go was forward.
And right now, he could move a lot faster in human form, too.
We have to shift,Trent said, as the kangaroo continued to struggle against him, wanting to take complete control of both his body and his mind, and probably bash their brains out on the roof of the tunnel in the process.Don’t fight me – work with me!
