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Our pace was graceless and frantic, but we hurried as quickly as we dared, jagged bits of stone scraping at the torn shirts on our backs. I could smell the tang of blood in the air, the bitterness of panic.
When the recruit let out a pain-filled scream, this one brimming with unbridled agony, two things happened.
First, I dropped Jake’s hand.
Second, I made a run for it.
“Ki!” Jake called out.
They were slowing me down, and I understood that the recruit—whose name we hadn’t had the decency to learn—was either drowning or being sucked under by…something.
The icy heat lit up my limbs, fire and resolve powering my motions.
Someone’s life was in the balance, and I’d been the one to lead us this far. It was all I could think about. The blackness was an afterthought as I scraped my exposed skin, my shirt clinging to my back in tatters.
I slowed as riotous splashing and mangled shouts sounded not far from me.
“Where are you?” I screamed into the void. I called three more times before I got my reply, though it was hardly an answer.
“I-it’s… It’s got me! My…l-leg!”
I possessed no weapons, nothing to use against a creature I couldn’t even see. And yet, I didn’t waste a second.
I dove into the water.
The surface hit me like bricks, the freezing temperature stifling any remaining warmth until only cold remained. Numbness.
When I came up for air, my gasps echoed, mingling with the recruit’s frantic splashing and the beast who wished to make him his meal. His cries were coming just ahead, the current carrying me swiftly to the unlucky recruit, to whatever I was soon to fight.
My limbs were already growing weak, useless. The water was too cold, and itburned.
“H-help!”
A great wave splashed into my face, filling my mouth, my nostrils, with water. I could feel the movements, the recruit’s thrusts and kicks as he fought.
“I’m here!” I choked, not sure if he could hear me over the roar. Over his struggle to live.
With one powerful kick, I was upon the beast, my fingers digging into scaled snake-like skin. The thing hissed, and a snap of teeth sounded next to my ears. From the feel of it, I was grabbing its thick middle, its raised bumps pressing into my hands.
With a guttural roar, I thrust myself upon its flailing back, a mighty tail clubbing my leg, spikes slicing through the cotton of my trousers. In the crushing dark, rushing water on either side, I climbed up its body, struggling to grip the slicked skin.
The recruit gasped for air, and there was more splashing. A minute later, I made out a stifled grunt, and then, I heard dripping water striking stone.
He’d made it to the bank.
“Help! S-she needs help!”
I could have sighed in relief. The recruit was safely on the ledge, but now I was the one stuck weaponless, straddling an underground river beast I couldn’t even see.
Just my luck.
The damned thing let out a hiss, and this time, its teeth scraped my ear as it thrashed. I wound my hands around its neck, both holding on and attempting to choke the life from it.
The creature dove suddenly, its scaly body forcing me below the frigid waters. I hung on like a fool, my grip tightening, numbed fingers jabbing into the hollow of its throat.
The beast jerked from side to side, frantic to dislodge me.
If I let go, it would merely drag me back under, and the upper hand would be lost. It was either stay and fight or turn my back and get a row of teeth imprinted on my leg as the creature hauled me to the depths.
