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I threw my arm over my face to cover it. Some still got in my lungs, and I coughed. And coughed. I tried to move from the cloud of debris and forgot one very important thing.
It was too late by the time my foot hit the edge of the first monster’s pit. I lost my footing, landed on my tailbone, and slid.
Slid right past the spurting stumps of the monster’s limbs, right into its mouth, down its throat, on my way to its belly.
CHAPTERSEVEN
Nothing like being swallowed whole to send me into a panic. I lost it for a second, kicking and thrashing, which only served to lodge me deeper down the monster’s gullet. I paused and tried to think, not easy given the situation. It didn’t help that all the tricks my papa taught me so long ago had never dealt with something like this.
If I were choking on something, then I could have shoved my fingers down to yank it out or thumped my chest to dislodge it. But I was the object. The giants might have big arms, but even if they were inclined to stick their hands in the maw of a monster, they couldn’t reach in far enough to pull me out.
In good news, I was miraculously uninjured. I’d not been bitten or broken on the way in. On the other hand, I feared the slime on my skin might be trying to digest me. I really hoped I ran out of air to breathe before the pain of that started.
No negative thoughts. Think of a solution.I had to get out, but that wouldn’t be easy, given the monster remained agitated.
Calming powder. I had some on me. Despite my disguise as a southern lady, I kept a packet sewn into my skirt, along with one for headaches and another that invoked instant hallucinations, great for causing distractions if you needed to have eyes looking away. Not very useful at the moment.
I’d start with sedating the creature. Wedged in its moist tract, it took me a moment to slip my fingers into the pocket and pull the packet free. Then I had to be careful. While I’d spent years conditioning my body with drugs to minimize the risk posed by my own concoctions, there was always a chance I’d succumb. Flesh was flesh after all.
Carefully, I opened the bag. Sprinkled the powder below me into the creature’s digestive track and waited. Would it work on a beast as large as this?
It did. What I didn’t count on was the monster would close its mouth, making it immediately stifling. And then there was some jiggling.
Oh no, it was going back into the ground!
Panic beset me as I tried to climb, my fingers digging into squishy flesh. My feet slipped as I panted with exertion. The air thinned, and I felt myself getting lightheaded when suddenly air rushed in as axes and blades thunked over and over, chopping the monster open. Strong hands reached in and plucked me out.
Jord deposited me on solid ground, and I blinked gooey lashes at him, speechless with relief.
“You okay, Sliver?”
“I hate that name.” A grumbled complaint with no real heat. He could call me whatever he liked after that rescue.
The giant grinned. “Then put on some weight. You’re so tiny you got swallowed whole.”
I grimaced. “I don’t recommend it.”
“Next time bring a sharp knife.” A suggestion I didn’t plan to follow, as I never wanted to be swallowed again.
In some sort of miracle, I’d survived. The giants too. I glanced around. “Where’s Oriz?”
“I dunno.” Jord shrugged. “He was right here fighting with us.”
“Maybe he fell into the other one.” Yaanik went to slice open the other monster for a search and found only the remains of our corshmels. There went our rides. As for Oriz, he appeared to have disappeared. I couldn’t be bothered to care.
I reeked, covered in slime head to toe, but forget washing or changing. The rubble of stone and sand had removed access to the water, along with all our bags. We’d lost everything, including our mounts.
“Now what are we supposed to do?” I grumbled. None of my planning with Qynn had prepared me for not even making it into the city.
“Walk. We aren’t that far. If it wasn’t for the storm we’d have arrived already.” Jord didn’t appear bothered by the idea. He also had legs much longer than mine and didn’t wear a monster-slimed gown that hung heavy. Still, what choice did I have? No one had clothes to spare.
Despite it being a few hours before dawn, we started walking. A miserable affair. The moisture soaking my gown dried into a rigid, uncomfortable mess that chafed. And stank. Bad enough even the giants kept slightly ahead of me.
The sun rose, and the only thing that saved me from baking to death? The rare clouds in the sky. My prayer for rain went unanswered. The goddess Rotha was obviously unable to muster unseasonal weather. The rainy season wasn’t for a while yet, and it lasted exactly three days each time.
Peculiar, just like the road that wound through the great desert. I’d yet to hear an explanation for how this main road, so old no one remembered the builder, remained clear. It didn’t matter how hard the wind blew or how much sand shifted and reformed into new dunes and valleys, the road never got covered. Some whispered that it was magic. Seeing it, I almost believed it.
The city should have been about an hour’s ride had we retained the corshmels. It took us four on foot, and I’d never been happier to see the looming mountain, the stone a dark gray compared to the light gray and sand color in other places.
