Page 65 of Vasmora

“Tranquilize her!” Loyce ordered.

At another swipe of a loop, I dropped to my knees, ducking out of the way, and crawled toward one of the caves.

An arrow struck the dirt beside me.

I startled and jerked away, narrowly missing another that zipped past my ear. On hands and knees, I quickly beetled toward the cave entrance, shielding myself in the darkness. Once deep enough to avoid the errant arrows, I pressed against the wall, taking deep breaths to calm myself.

“You fucking imbeciles! You better pray those charnelyths have a change of heart, or I’ll send every one of you down after her!”

I didn’t know what was worse–the beasts that lurked in the darkness, or the one who hunted me from above. Of the two, the serpents seemed to have lost interest.

Had that been the knowing look Melantha had given me? Had she known Loyce planned to toss me into the pit?

I glanced down at my arm, pressing my thumb to the drops of blood.

Screeching echoed through the cave, leaving me to wonder how deep it went.

Was there a way out?

“One of you pull her out of that cave. Now!” Loyce bellowed from above.

As many questions swirled in my head, one fact remained true: there was no escape on the surface, but who knew what dwelled beyond that cave?

A long pause followed before a scream reverberated off the walls and a body thudded to the ground with the same ungracious landing as my own. A soldier with minimal armor let out a groan and pushed to his feet, stumbling back a step. He shook his head and squinted back at me. The moment our eyes locked, he lurched forward, and I backed up a step into the shadows.

“Hey!” he said, holding his hands up. “I-I-I don’t h-h-have a weapon.” He waved his hand for me to come closer. “C-C-Come with me. I w-w-w-won’t hurt you.”

When I didn’t move, he took another step toward me, and I backed myself further into the cave.

“C’mon, girl!” A sliver of panic clung to his words. “I don’t want to d-d-die!”

A grinding sound alerted me to an enormous presence at my back, a low growl confirming my suspicions. Spine ramrod straight, I pressed my trembling body against the wall, not daring so much as a breath, while the serpent slid past me.

“No,” the guard whined. “No, no, no. Let me up! Let me back up!”

Opening my eyes showed the serpent had slithered out of the cave, off to the side, allowing me a view of the guard scrambling for the wall of the pit and clawing at the stone in futility.

“Bastards! Let me up!”

The serpent inched closer.

Closer.

A spin of his heel was the only moment the guard had, before the serpent struck fast and coiled its tongue around the man’s leg, snapping him backward into its mouth.

“No! No!” The guard screamed, reaching out from between the beast’s fangs.

His screams bounced inside my skull, and I slapped my hands to my ears, watching the serpent carry off its spoils into the depths of the cave.

I didn’t move, not so much as a twitch, the cold stones at my back sapping the warmth out of me as I waited to see if the other would snap me up, too. Only when the darkness finally swallowed the beasts did I chance a shaky exhale. Then, with careful steps, I quietly padded after them, chasing the guard’s throaty outcries. When my foot knocked into a small mound that clanked like bones, I froze. Waiting.

“Oh, gods! Please! Don’t, don’t, do–!” The guard abruptly silenced.

I skirted what had to be bones, and made my way toward a soft, pale blue glow ahead. A sour stench of rot and decay clogged my nose, so overwhelming in its greasy, putrid odor, I paused to retch. When nothing came forth, I pressed on, keeping the back of my hand to my lips to stifle the urge to vomit.

The light intensified, as the cave narrowed before opening on a vast hollow. An unfathomably expansive grotto where all three of the caves converged, centered around a glowing blue pool, from where steam rose up toward the ceiling. Stalactites loomed above it like massive fangs, the tips of them dripping with the same glowing blue liquid as in the pool. Piles of bones littered the cavern floor, some skull shapes recognizable, while others were species I couldn’t make out.

Both of the larger serpents gathered around a half-dozen much smaller ones, perhaps babies, in a frenzy of growls and hissing. One of them slid away from the group, carrying what looked to be a human arm in its mouth. The other held the torso, stripped of its clothing.