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Celiakept going.Shewas sure that the glow she saw must be the moss—it was a soft flickering light that changed from gold to green to scarlet and then back to gold again.Thathadto be it!
Asshe entered the narrow passageway, she registered a strange, musky odor that made her nose wrinkle.Whatwasthat?Itsmelled like the big cat enclosure at the zoo—a wild, overripe mixture of a big predator and the prey it had been eating.
Butthe next minute, she forgot about the unpleasant smell because there, twinkling on the walls and looking for all the world likeChristmaslights, were huge patches of jewel moss!
“Oh, look—there it is!Iknewit was in here!”Celiaran forward just asFierceshouted,
“Celia,wait!”
“Why?Thisis it—can’t you tell?”
Shehalf turned her head to look at him but she was still in motion.Notlooking where she was going cost her and just before she got to the wall, she tripped over an enormous pile of laundry that someone had left and went sprawling on the floor.
“Oof!” she gasped as the wind was knocked out of her.Honestly, had the people who lived here been in such a hurry that they couldn’t even take their dirty laundry?Thatmust be where the unpleasant smell was coming from!Itreallystunk.
Celiagot to her knees but when she looked up, she saw the mound of dirty laundry stir and twitch—almost like there was something inside it trying to get out.Wasthere an animal burrowing inside it?
Shelooked closer—the mountain of laundry seemed to be covered by some kind of blanket or tarp—a dark turquoise one that was furry.Whata strange blanket!It—
Suddenlytwo large, glowing eyes opened and the enormous pile of laundry stirred again…only,Celiafinally realized, itwasn’tlaundry.Andthe furry turquoise blanket covering itwasn’ta blanket.
Thething she had tripped over was a wild animal and it washuge!
“Celia, sweetheart—don’t move.”Fierce’sdeep voice was hoarse with fear. “Youdon’t want to make yourself its target.”
“What…what is it?” she whispered in a quivering voice.Shefelt like she couldn’t look away from the glowing eyes and her legs were horribly weak.Insideher mittens, the palms of her hands were sweating.
“Ithink you’ve woken a sleepingV’ranna,”Fiercemurmured. “Itmight go back to sleep if you just—”
Atthat point, theV’rannaopened a hideously large mouth filled with sharp white fangs androared!
Celiahad read once on some website about wild animals that a male lion’s roar can travel for miles over a savanna.Shecould well believe it now.Thesound coming out of that horrible, fanged maw sounded like a mixture of a lion’s roar and a bull’s bellow with a note of alarm klaxon thrown in.Itwas deafening, even when she clamped her hands desperately over her ears.
Whenit at last died away, her ears were still ringing.Andthen the enormous creature began stalking towards her.
“No—no!Here—over here!” she heardFierceshout. “Hey—over here, you big bastard!”
Fromthe corner of her eye, she saw movement—it was theDarkTwin, waving his arms in the air and shouting to try and draw theV’ranna’sattention.
Thetactic worked…but not in a good way.Theenormous beast shook itself and suddenly rose from its crouch to tower over both of them.
Itmust be twelve feet tall!Celiathought, feeling sick.Shefelt like a tiny kitten next to the huge creature—a tiny,helplesskitten.
TheV’rannaspread its shaggy arms wide, revealing paws bigger thanCelia’shead, tipped with razor-sharp claws.Standingon its hind legs, it looked like a cross between a tiger and a grizzly bear, she thought faintly.
OhGod,I’mgoing to die,whispered a little voice in her head.Thisis it—it’s going to kill me and eat me—probably eat the guys too.We’reall going to beV’rannachow, just likeFiercesaid!
ButtheDarkTwinapparently wasn’t ready to be eaten just yet—or to letCeliaget eaten either.
“Staystill,” he told her in a hoarse whisper. “Don’tmove—I’lltry to draw it outside.”Thenhe began waving his arms again and shouting. “Hey, you big bastard!I’mthe one you want—come here!”
TheV’rannaseemed to take the bait because it took two lumbering steps forward, towards the big warrior.Itwas still so close that the long, turquoise fur on its legs brushedCelia’sface…which, she now realized, was wet with tears.Wasshe crying from sheer terror?Itseemed that she must be, because now everything was blurry.
“Comeon, you big bastard,” she heardFiercesaying. “Justa little more—just get away from my female soIcan blow a hole in your hairy hide…”
Andthen everything happened at once.
TheV’rannarushed at him suddenly, just asFiercewas drawing his blaster.Therewas a hissing, zipping sound of the blaster being fired and brilliant blue light lit up the narrow passage.
