“Watch out,” Madi screams, pointing ahead.
I turn around just in time to see a fallen stone almost as big as me. I jump to the right, slipping on loose gravel before picking up speed again.
My feet pound the cobblestones, and I’m glad I worewater shoes. Caspian isn’t so lucky. His bare feet slam with loud smacks as he runs.
The beast jumps over the rock we just dodged, clearing it with ease.
“We can’t outrun it,” I say, heart pounding in my ears.
The creature lets out a sound somewhere between a roar and a seal’s bark. The hair on my neck stands on end when an answering sound comes from somewhere up ahead.
Hunter skids to a stop, picking up a rock the size of his fist and hurling it past us at the beast. It hits its mark, slowing the animal down just enough for us to spin around another corner and immediately turn again.
It doesn’t help. The monster keeps coming, angrier than before. We’ve encroached on its territory. Prey that’s fought back. It’s enraged. Another roar is answered by a second, closer one.
I grab Caspian’s free hand, tugging him forward while he pulls Madi, a swinging chain, darting around debris. Vibrations slam through my legs, shaking my joints. We’re not gonna outrun it. We need a plan.
Hunter must think the same thing because he stops at one of the few intact doors, yanking it open. “In here!”
With linked hands, we dash through the door and slam it closed behind us. A few seconds later, there’s a bang from the other side as something crashes against the thin metal.
The door holds.
Hunter and I lean into it anyway, using our weight to ensure it stays shut, but we need something more. This place is old, and we have no idea how sturdy this door is. The two of us won’t be enough to keep it closed for long.
“There,” Hunter points to a stone table along the other wall. He looks at me, and I know exactly what he’s asking.
“Go,” I say, throwing all my strength into the door. “I’ve got this.”
Hunter runs to the table, and together he and Caspian drag it forward, huffing as they turn it on its side.
“What the fuck is that thing?!” Madi cries, her question directed at Caspian.
The merman shakes his head. “I have no idea. We don’t have those in our cities, not any I’ve been to anyway.”
“It’s like a sabertoothed tiger and an arctic seal had a baby with a marlin!”
I glance back at the omega. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Itdoesn’t make sense!” she retorts, pointing at the door just as it shakes from the force of the creature’s weight.
Hunter and Caspian finally get close with the huge table, and I move out of the way, so they can push it against the door as the beast on the other side hits it again. The wall rattles, but the door stays secure.
Panting, we meet each other’s eyes, relief washing over me as I see that everyone’s okay. We can’t stay here, though. We need to keep moving and find somewhere to hide until that thing gives up on us.
Taking in the space, I notice a set of stairs in the corner. Madi silently points up. In answer, I move, taking the steps carefully to make sure they’re sturdy enough to hold us. They’re built of some kind of stone, but I still worry about erosion after all this time.
At the top of the stairs, there’s a landing that leads to a hall with three doors, along with another set of stairs. Onone wall, there’s a narrow window that looks out at the street. Hunter edges over to it and shakes his head, letting us know the animal is still prowling outside. He holds up two fingers. There’s a second beast now, just as I feared.
I shouldn’t be surprised. With no inhabitants, it makes sense that the wildlife would take over possession of the city.
“Let’s keep going up,” I whisper, pointing to the second staircase. If we can get high enough, maybe we’ll be able to see the city center.
We make our way to the next floor and silently keep going up another set of stairs. Having not studied the creature yet, I’m not sure how well it can climb, but whether it can or can’t, the higher we go, the more illusion we have of safety. It helps that we can still see it pacing the street. It hasn’t broken past the door yet. I’m starting to think it might not be able to, after all.
We’re all breathing hard when the stairway finally ends, opening onto a narrow hallway. Hunter goes first, then Madi and Caspian, clutching hands, with me bringing up the rear. A few feet in, the light from Hunter’s flashlight reflects back to us as it hits a wall of water. A quiet waterfall.
When we get to the end of the hall, three thick stairs lead down into a room that must be part of the cave itself. It isn’t large, maybe twenty feet at its widest, but the entire back wall is rough hewn stone with a thin sheet of water trickling down it. It’s almost like one of those fountain walls you’d see at some fancy hotel. The water doesn’t make much noise, which is why we didn’t hear it before.
