"Oh, have no fear of that," Crystal said. "We'll both be right here, waiting. In our bat guano. And hurry, we'll be worried sick until you get back. And watch that damned lake. I'd rather not find out what's in there, thank you very much."
"We'll be careful," Jake said. "You remember to be careful, too."
"Are you sure it's safe for us to even walk out there?" Nic asked.
"Perfectly safe, just don't disturb the lake."
Jake left the cave and John reluctantly followed, glancing back over his shoulder at Crystal and Nic.
"Oh hell, I'll be sick with worry until they return," Nic confessed. "What if they're spotted and taken? How would we know?"
"You're right, but we've gotta eat. And we've got to start a fire. Let's get to it."
The two girls wandered to the edge of the cave. At its mouth, the water sat silent just two feet away.
"Shall we just make a dash for it, get it over with?"
"It might be better if we go carefully. If we trip, game over."
"Good point."
Both held their breath as they crawled along the narrow pathway along the edge of the rocky face, bordering the lake. It was the only thing that protected them from what might be a horrific death. Though the water was silent, Crystal watched as small ripples floated away from them to the east. One hint of a direction change and she would fly to safety, in spite of her warning to go slow.
The moment Nic set foot on solid ground she breathed a sigh of relief and pressed her palms together in prayer. "Thank God."
"No kidding," Crystal said. "I can't wait to be gone from this place. I'd rather face Ella, I think."
Nic walked to the small ridge they'd crossed earlier and climbed back over it. "Do you think she's like Jake? I mean, like our Ella, but not like her. Does that make sense?"
"I know what you mean, but I've no idea, really. I just don't know what to make of this place. Everything is so weird."
"I have to say, I hate it," Nic said. "All I want is to find Stu as quickly as possible and figure a way out. I miss home."
"Me too," Crystal agreed. She thought about her mom and Jade. She'd do anything to see either of them right now.
Nic knelt down to gather a bundle of dry wood, and then moved back close to Crystal. "I'm wondering... well..."
Crystal saw how anxious Nic looked. "What's up?" she asked.
"Well, it's about John. I dunno, I guess I've always kinda liked him." This was no surprise to Crystal. "But since we've arrived in Caducus, I'm seeing a side of him that turns me off. But I still like him, and I feel confused and angry with him."
Crystal stared at the pile of wood in her hands. "I dunno. He seems okay to me. Are you sure you're not being a bit hard on him?"
"No."
Crystal didn't know how else to respond to that. "Do you think this will be enough?" she asked.
"Oh, plenty," Nic said. The two were now back by the edge of the woods and sat down to take a break on a fallen log.
"So, are you going off him?" Crystal asked.
"I don't know. I feel like I want to hit him hard on the head with something hard, that's what I feel like." Nic looked across the clearing and stared at one of the great rocks. “I dunno, maybe I’m being silly. This place is messing with my brain, maybe. Have you thought about what we're going to do when we find Ella and Stu?"
"How do you mean?"
Nic rested her chin in her hand. "Well, if he's her prisoner, she's hardly gonna roll over and say hello, nice to meet you. Here's your friend back."
"Frankly I don't know what we're gonna do. When we all settle down tonight, I'll ask Jake if he has any ideas? This world is crazy, and we're just winging it as we go. I don't know what else to do."
Crystal stopped talking and sat bolt upright. She turned to her right, straining her ears. Nic also turned her head. They could hear hooves galloping in the distance. Coming this way.
"Shoot, they sound close. We've gotta hide, and fast," Crystal said.
"Let's get back to the cave."
Without another word the two girls sprang from their seat and ran as fast as they could back to the cave. They just cleared the ridge when the sound of hooves began to slow behind them. Crystal's heart beat violently as she navigated the narrow ledge, and she moved as fast as she could, wary of both the riders and the acid pool just inches from her feet.
Once inside the caves, she threw her wood down; Nic did the same, and the two hid behind a mass of rocks near the entrance; anxious not to be seen but hoping to hear what the riders had to say if they came this close. She prayed they hadn't found the boys already. Crystal put her hand to her chest, terrified the pounding inside would betray them all.
But long minutes passed, and still nothing happened. Crystal began to think they hadn't been spotted after all. She breathed more easily. Nic looked relieved, too. She was just about to speak when someone near the ridge leading to the cave said, "I think you're seeing things. There's no sign anyone's been anywhere near this stinking place. The sooner we get back on our mounts and out of here, the better. The pool reeks.”
"I'm telling you, I know I saw something, just before we reached the clearing. We should at least take a look around and check it out."
Crystal peered precariously over the rim of the rock. There were two Guardsmen. Both were now on foot and stood near the top of the ridge leading to the sulfur pool. They had their helmets off and were carrying them under their arms. They were scanning the rocks, peering into the caves, searching for them.
The last voice came from a stocky boy with a stern eye. He looked intently into each and every opening, and to Crystal's horror his gaze stopped on their particular cave. He peered into the darkness, as if trying to sense some presence there. She ducked. Crap. Did he see me?
"That one, first," he said. "It's the deepest and easiest to reach on foot." He spat on the rock, as if to mark his determination. His companion shrugged.
Shit. They're gonna find us. Crystal inched round the rock, hoping for a better vantage point where she wouldn't be seen.
"Place still stinks," the other Guardsman said. He was a tall and skinny boy, with a twisted mouth that gave him the appearance of being a little simple-minded. All the same, he followed his companion's lead and drew his sword from its sheath, ready for action.
"I feel in my guts I'm right about this," the stocky man said.
Crystal and Nic looked around for a better place to hide. But there was no place better than where they crouched now. The cavern was large and full of stalagmites and stalactites, which might confuse the guards, but mostly it was an empty shell that led to nowhere. If the Guardsmen reached them, they'd be done for.
"Let's stay put," Crystal whispered. "If they miss us in these rocks, we might be able to make a run for it."
Nic nodded. She put her hand on her short sword and Crystal's stomach contracted in a knot of horror. She wondered if she could use her dagger if it came down to it. She prayed she wouldn't be tested.
The two girls trembled in fear as the riders stepped onto the ledge that led to their cave. All that lay between them both and a bucket-load of trouble was twenty or so feet. The stockier man took the lead and advanced out a couple of inches. Crystal watched as he stared down into the depths of the water. His brow furrowed nervously, as if well aware of the dangers. The skinner man followed, and though he held close to the wall, seemed less concerned by the foul lake.
"I hate this place," the stocky one said. "I've heard too many tales of this lake. Legends talk of a monster that lurks deep within its waters."
"A monster?" The skinny man jumped at the notion, and as he did so, tripped and almost fell into the lake. His stocky companion, just inches away, reached out as the other rider stumbled, and managed to catch him by the arm, just in time to prevent the fall. But his companion loosened his grip on his sword which fell with a splash onto the once still surface. The sword sizzled and hissed and dissolved within seconds. Yet all observers watched as
the ripple generated by the impact spread ominously across the lake. The two men gasped as the ripple halted mysteriously in the center of the pool and turned, faster than the original, and headed straight back toward them.
"Oh shit!"
"Hell, what's that?" the taller rider shouted. His head turned swiftly to the cave then back to the bank, and deciding the latter was closer, he turned to make a dash for it. But before his foot touched the safety of the ridge, a great chasm opened in the waters, and a giant body rose from the depths of the lake.
Taller than three houses, the thing emerged from the abyss, a great man-like body covered in sores and burns where the acid of the waters ate constantly at his raw flesh. The eyes were white and lifeless, the eyeballs long since ravaged by their acidic home. The monster's body was so emaciated, the ribs could be counted one by one, and its stomach and abdomen were shrunken to almost nothing with hunger.
It approached at waist depth, and wet flesh, foul with the stench of its putrid home, reached out to take the first Guardsman.
"Save me, oh God save me," the boy screamed. But his feet could not outrun the reach of the monster behind him. Its huge claw closed about the Guardsman and lifted him high into the crimson evening sky. The acid in the monster's skin, burned into his flesh, and the Guardsman cried out in agony.
"For the love of Queen Ella, please save me!"
The thing took a moment to observe his prize, and then its great jaws opened; his mouth wide enough to swallow a man whole, while acidic saliva oozed down the length of its yellow fangs. The Guardsman squealed from the pain of the acid eating at his flesh, and then his screams intensified. Crystal watched with terror as he made a final primeval scream before being lowered into that ungodly chasm. And then the great mouth closed, and the screaming stopped.
The second Guardsman, his feet frozen in horror, now realized the enormity of his own predicament, and turned to run to the cave. He was almost there when the creature's other claw descended on him. It didn't hit his mark accurately, but though the creature failed to grasp him well enough to lift him, the impact forced the man down to the rocky ground below.
And then the boy's eyes locked on Crystal. She looked with helpless horror into his face as the thing got a better grip on him and raised him into the air. The rider winced in pain, but kept his gaze fixed on Crystal to the very end. Even as he was lifted, she watched as all hope left his eyes, and her tears flowed freely as the brave man, who never cried out, closed his eyelids one last time before being lowered into that hellish mouth.
Even as the monster swallowed the remains of his prey, Crystal could see the thing's belly fill out as if it'd never known a day's hunger. The scars and burns on its flesh seemed to diminish and heal, and now whole and nourished, it was almost beautiful. Content with its lot, the thing slithered back into the rank depths of the pool, and the waters became quiet once more.
Eternal Agony
Nic was the first to get to her feet and instinctively backed into the wall of the cave. "Holy shit, I don't believe that just happened."
Crystal nodded. The rider's face was still etched in her mind's eye. She sat down on a nearby rock and bowed her head. She needed to compose her thoughts.
Another minute passed before she found her voice. "What's happening, Nic? Why are we here? Why is this happening to us?"
“You got me,” Nic said. "I was hoping you'd know. I mean, what if we die here? Are we dead in the real world too? Is it like a bad dream, where if you die in the dream you die in reality?"
Crystal sat beside Nic and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. "Oh Nic, I wish I had the answers, too, but I don't. All I can say is, when Jake and John get back, we'll figure how to get the hell out of Dodge, and fast. That's all we can do."
Nic nodded and lowered her head into her hands.
Crystal felt sick. Somehow, they were all here because of her. She didn't know how or why, but she knew it was her all her fault. She couldn't shake the image of the dead Guardsman's face from her mind.
"What if that had been you? Or John? Or Jake?" she said.
Nic shook her head. "I know. It sucks, it really does."
There were more footsteps. Crystal moved cautiously toward the mouth of the cave and peered outside. After a second, her shoulders relaxed, and she looked back at Nic. "It's okay, the boys are back."
"Warn them to be very, very careful," Nic said.
Crystal nodded. "Wait," she called to John as he was about to climb onto the ledge. "We just saw what lives in the water. Whatever you do, do not disturb it. I mean it."
John caught the heightened fear in Nic's voice and hesitated. He slowed down, and ever so carefully, inched along the ledge to join the girls in the cave. Jake followed behind him. Both carried dead rabbits by the ears.
"What happened?" John asked. He tossed his dead rabbit across a rock and put his hand out to Crystal. "Lend me your dagger. This needs to be skinned."
Crystal reluctantly handed the weapon over and watched as John skillfully separated the meat from the fur. She grimaced.
"Hey, don't watch if you're easily put off," John warned.
"I didn't know you could do that," Nic said.
"I used to go camping with my dad, he showed me how," John replied. "Where's the fire? I thought you were going to get one started?"
Jake was busy beside him, skewering the raw meat on the end of a thick twig.
"Oh my God, John, I don't think you'll believe what just happened. I'm not sure I can even..." Nic watched as John slipped his dead rabbit onto a similar twig. He stopped what he was doing and looked up into her face.
"You're as white as a ghost," he said to Nic. "In fact, you both are. Tell me then. What happened?"
"Two Guardsmen happened! They were right here, we thought they were going to find us! But then this thing, this huge, ugly thing, came out of the lake. It, it was horrible, it ate them, it grabbed them up and it just ate them, right in front of us! They, they were still alive, oh God!" she sobbed.
John's horrified gaze darted from Nic, to Crystal, to the silent water outside.
When she finished her tale, Nic was full of tears, but it was Jake who stepped forward to comfort her. He offered his handkerchief for her to dry her eyes on. Crystal felt an unexpected pang of envy at this act of kindness. John scowled and lowered his gaze but said nothing.
They were all quiet for a while. Jake broke the silence.
"We need to get this fire started and cook the rabbits. We'll be fit to face nothing if we don't eat. I, for one, don't plan on dying in this cave, so let's get down to business."
His cry to action snapped them all out of a trance. Crystal was happy to have something to do, and in a little while she and Nic had a small fire going near the entrance of the cave, away from the worst of the guano where the ground was mostly rock. The skewers were balanced between two piles of stones, and the companions set about turning the rabbits as they cooked over the flames.
"I hope the monster doesn't like the smell of cooked rabbit," John said.
"I'd heard of the legend of the creature, but no one in my lifetime has ever seen it," Jake said.
"Pfft, your lifetime," John scoffed. “What exactly is that, anyway? What's with this whole seventeen-year-old thing?"
"I don't know," Jake said. "Perhaps Ella can give you the answers you seek. I cannot."
The smell of roasting meat infused the air and Crystal remembered just how hungry she was. Right now, nothing had smelled so wonderful in her whole life.
"Will it be long before it's ready?" she asked.
"A little while," Jake said.
That was already too long. She needed a diversion. "So, what have you heard about this monster? There must be other stories."
Jake turned his meat on the makeshift spit and the others all inched forward to listen. "The thing has no name. Legend says he's being punished for a wrong-doing long since forgotten. His fate is to suffer the eternal agony of acid's kiss. When the waters are
disturbed the monster rises and will feast on whoever broke his slumber."
"When he devoured the two Guardsmen he seemed to change,” Crystal said. "He became, I dunno, almost beautiful." Everyone looked at her as if she was crazy. Maybe she was.
"I have heard this also," Jake nodded. "If he's fully restored to his former self, we have less to fear from him, since his hunger is satisfied. All the same, I'd still be careful not to disturb the pool when we leave."
"No shit, Sherlock” John said.
The others nodded but said nothing. All eyes were on the sizzling meat, and there were great sighs of approval when at last the rabbits were pronounced cooked and ready to eat. All thoughts of monsters and quests were put to one side while they ate.
Crystal, who generally hated finger food, set upon a leg with a ferociousness that surprised her. She wasn't satisfied till she'd gnawed the last morsel of flesh off the bone, then licked her lips. She wiped the grease from her lips with the back of her hand. "I'll never look at a rabbit the same way again."
"Wait until you try squirrel," Jake said.
"Does it taste like chicken?" John asked.
"Not funny," Nic replied.
All the same, Crystal put the chewed bones in a neat pile in front of her.
"It's not like anyone's going to ask you to do the washing up," John said, with a grin. He threw his finished bone back onto the fire, where it sizzled a bit and caused the flames to flare up before settling down again.
"Old habits," Crystal said, returning his grin. She stretched and studied the cavern floor beneath her. Though the vegetation and guano growing on the rock made the surface a little less harsh, there was no getting away from the fact they'd all be spending a very rough night here. She thought about her warm bed at home, her Mother, and about Jade and how they might be worried sick about where she was. They should be. They were all sleeping within yards of a flesh-eating monster. How am I gonna sleep knowing that? Not only that––where would they pee? And what if, God forbid, she needed a Number Two?
"How easy will it be to find Stu and get the hell out of this place?" she asked Jake. "No offense, I know it's your home and all that, but we're none of us equipped to deal with Guardsman, or acid monsters that jump out of nowhere to eat you. We all just wanna find our friend and get home as fast as possible. So, what's the plan?"
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