Was there more than one? Or were all these tunnels connected and it had made a loop? They weren’t far from the chamber, but the being came around the corner, rushing toward them once more. They wouldn’t make it to the room before it was upon them.
“New plan!” Casimir shouted as he wove vines and roots as tightly as he could, blocking the tunnel to buy them time. Ava and Raine joined, making the obstacle as thick as possible. “Turn around and run!”
They took off, backtracking on swift feet the way they had come, hoping the vines would hold. Raine’s heart pounded with every stride, pushing himself as hard as he could, the rest of the group on his heels. His eyes searched for something, anything, to help. Another chamber, more tunnels…a way out…
“It just cut through the vines!” Casimir yelled from the back. “Faster!”
Raine could barely breathe through the pounding in his chest. Faster. Faster. Faster.
A blood curdling scream echoed behind him, and somehow he knew…knew deep within his soul whose scream he had heard. Skidding to a stop, he spun around, meeting eyes with Ava and Casimir as they froze, panting.
Someone was missing.
“Where’s Maeryn?” he shouted. She was gone. “Where the fuck is Maeryn?”
He could barely contain his terror, his eyes darting around as if she’d appear from the walls.
“She was right here,” Ava said, searching the tunnel.
Another scream. They spun toward the source. An arm disappeared into the cavern they’d originally planned on luring the monster into. Maeryn was being dragged inside.
Raine took off sprinting, ignoring the shouts of his friends. He had to reach her, had to hurry. Steps pounded behind him as they followed. He reached the entrance, when a strong hand grabbed his shoulder and slammed him into the wall.
“Take a moment and calm yourself,” Casimir ordered.
White hot rage shot through Raine as he glared at his friend. “I won’t lose her,” he snarled.I won’t lose her like I lost Finnick. Not again. Please, not again.
Casimir’s eyes bored into his. “I know. But if you go dashing in there without a plan, you’ll get her killed. Take five seconds.”
“If you don’t release me right now, I’ll break your fucking nose.” He’d never been so angry, almost couldn’t control it.
Casimir pushed him harder into the wall, his forearm pressing against Raine’s chest. “Take a deep breath. Right now,” he ordered.
Raine growled at him.
“Listen to me.” Casimir’s voice softened. “I know what you’re feeling. But please, trust me. If you can’t stay calm, you’ll put her in greater danger.”
Ava stepped forward, grasping Raine’s hand. “He’s right. We’ll get her back. I promise. Just breathe.”
Raine glanced in between his friends, swallowing hard. After a moment, he nodded, taking several breaths, at last gaining control of his emotions. Casimir stepped back, releasing him with a reassuring clap on his shoulder.
“I peeked into the cavern a few seconds ago. It’s not eating her,” Ava whispered. “It seems like it’s…waiting.”
“What do you mean, waiting? Is she okay?”
“She’s unconscious. It set her down and went to another part of the chamber. It looks like this is where it brings its prey. Maybe to save for later?”
Raine clenched and unclenched his fists, taking another breath. “What now?”
“We enter quietly,” Casimir said. “The ceiling is high enough that I can use gravity on the monster, but I doubt I’ll be able to keep it in the air for long. You and Ava will need to get beneath it and use your weapons on its belly. We may not be able to kill it, but if we can injure it so it can’t chase after us, that should be enough.”
“And then?”
“We grab Maeryn and get out of this place.”
Raine unsheathed his sword. “Let’s go.”
They crept into the chamber. It was larger than Raine expected, with plenty of room for them to maneuver. Off to one side, was a mound of ivory, porous debris.
