“Prrup! Piirrrrup!!”
Quicksilver, perched on his shoulder, seemed supremely unconcerned by the whole situation. Trent turned his head toward it, before reaching up to try to grab at it, but Quicksilver evaded his grasp.
“Quicksilver, now’s not the time – I have to get you out of here before that pillar collapses!”
This time, at least, he managed to grab hold of the tiny basilisk, holding it firmly in his hands as he started to edge away.
The Bloodcrocodile will be on the loose again any moment now, and I have to get out of here…
“Pirrup?”
Quicksilver seemed to be asking him a question – and then Trent felt the tiny claws on all six of its legs prickling against the skin of his palms. When he looked down, he saw that Quicksilver had turned, and was facing away from him, staring at the Bloodcrocodile –
– And suddenly, there was silence.
Trent blinked.
The Bloodcrocodile was still there, still wedged between the slowly cracking columns. But it wasn’t moving anymore, its jaws frozen half-open, its tail hovering mid-thrash. Its eyes still stared madly into his face, but there was something different about them…
No. There’s something different aboutallof it,Trent realized, as he stared at the giant reptile, which had been writhing madly, but was now as still as – as –
As still as a statue,Trent realized with a jolt.A statue carved out of stone…
Trent stared down at Quicksilver, still sitting calmly in his palm.
Quicksilver is a basilisk. A creature that can turn anything to stone with just a glance,he thought, his heart thudding in his chest. Quicksilver looked up at him, blinking its huge, silvery eyes.
“Pirrup? Pirrp prup?”
It seemed to be looking for confirmation that it had done the right thing, and Trent couldn’t help but reach out, rubbing Quicksilver under the chin, eliciting a purring sound from the little basilisk.
“You really saved my arse that time,” he said, as relief flooded through him. “But… be careful with that power of yours, okay? It’s only to be used in real emergences, and against Bloodcrocodiles who can’t mind their manners, all right?”
“Prrp. Pirrup pirrup!”
Trenthopedthat meant Quicksilver understood what he’d said, as he began edging away from the Bloodcrocodile’s frozen jaws.
That really was a close one…
Looking around, Trent began to head toward the tunnel he’d come in by to start over again with his search for Zina. Evidently, his instincts had somehow gotten muddled, and had led him down the wrong path. But just as he began making his way over to it, he stopped as he realized he could feel a strong, fresh – well, comparatively fresh – breeze blowing on his face.
Huh?
Turning, he was surprised to see a large hole in the wall, behind the now-stone Bloodcrocodile.
Well, that definitely wasn’t there before…
The Bloodcrocodile must have broken down the wall with the wild thrashing of its tail, Trent realized. The miners had clearly dug a tunnel that passed by this cavern without having actually linked them up, but the wall between them had been thin enough to have been smashed open by the Bloodcrocodile violently thrashing around as it had tried to free itself.
Walking over to the new opening, Trent stuck his head through the hole – and was immediately overpowered by the feeling of his mate, somewhere nearby.
She is here,his kangaroo insisted, suddenly back, and all a-twitter at the thought of Zina being nearby.We have found her! We just have to follow our senses!
Stepping through the hole, Trent found himself looking down at a small set of tracks, set into the floor – like a very small railway track.
“Oh, for mining carts, I guess, to transport excavated rock out of the shaft,” he explained to Quicksilver, who cocked its head.
“Prrup?”
