by Sam Ryder
I felt its teeth pincer my skin, muscle and then bone. I groaned, kicking out the leg to try to dislodge it, even as another swarmed onto my back, suctioning onto me with hands that weren’t clawed like its darker cousin, but more webbed and sticky. Good for climbing. Its teeth, however, were every bit as deadly as the Maluk’ori’s, and it wasted no time sinking them into my flesh.
Making a split-second decision, I dropped my demontorch onto the head of the one latched onto my ankle and reached back with the now-free arm to grab the one biting into my upper back and neck. The one beneath me screamed and released my leg while I ripped the other one free, its gnarly teeth taking a chunk of my skin with it.
Goddamn it hurt.
I felt something warm in my chest and I risked a second to glance down, expecting to find an open wound slick with blood. Instead, I found my skin spiderwebbed with the protruding white veins that had been growing ever since the Syrene bit me. The heat rushed through me and I felt a biting pain in my mouth, like a tooth had been ripped out on each side by a sadistic dentist that used rusty pliers instead of sterilized dental tools.
Oh crap. I felt them in my mouth and spat, the two white teeth tumbling end over end and dripping blood.
The pain intensified and I roared, feeling the thrum of energy racing through my body, all the way to my hands and feet.
Everything seemed to clarify, even my already improved vision, to the point where I could see every pore on my enemies’ skin, the exact spot on their chests where their tiny hearts were beating out a frenzied rhythm, the glistening spittle on their forked tongues.
I bit down hard and tasted blood where my own teeth—two of which I could feel were now fangs, having shoved the other two normal incisors out—had pierced my bottom lip.
Holyshitholyshitholyshitholy—
That was what I was thinking, but my body was in a world of its own, all the pent-up energy seeking an outlet in the form of great violence with these demons as its target. I roared again and charged a thick pack of them, baring my new fangs.
The creatures seemed to realize something had changed and started to back away, stumbling over each other to escape my wrath.
They were too slow. I flattened three with a quick swipe of my hammer and leapt on a fourth, sinking my teeth into its flesh, which was more rubbery than scaly, another difference to the Maluk’ori.
In my mind I was thinking how disgusting it was to be biting into the thing and tasting its yellow blood, but my body’s newfound instincts were urging me to sink my fangs in deeper and drink up to sate my thirst.
WhatthefuckamInowsomekindofavampire? I thought, my mind spiraling, running words together faster than I could keep up with them.
As freaked out as I was by the albino demons, I was now more freaked out by myself. That didn’t stop my survival instincts from kicking in, however. I couldn’t truly consider the changes wrought on my own body until I’d escaped from this stone prison.
Easier said than done.
Though I’d clearly made the demons warier with my fangs and blood-sucking attack, they weren’t retreating like I’d hoped. Instead, they seemed to be regrouping, forming twin packs, one blocking my way out on each side. Each critter continued to sniff the air to keep tabs on my location. And the flow of new demons hadn’t stopped, more continuing to emerge from the tunnels and dropping down to join their buddies.
They started forward on all fours, their bodies jerking to and fro, like two sides of a misaligned vice.
Once more, my chest heated up and I felt energy course through my body. I gripped my hammer tighter. I licked the blood off my lips.
My enemies froze, sniffing the air, their heads snapping around violently.
One unleashed a shriek that was a different timbre, higher-pitched and more fearful-sounding. And then, like a flock of zombie birds dispersing when faced with a predator, they clambered back to the walls, climbing up into their holes and disappearing.
Leaving me alone once more.
I blinked, trying to clear my mind, feeling the humming energy in my arms begin to dissipate now that the threat was gone.
Of course, that’s when things got even worse. The thing that had eaten the meat off all the bones in the other tunnel crept out from the shadows.
ELEVEN
UGH. REMIND ME NOT TO GO SPELUNKING AGAIN. EVER.
The thing resembled the albino demons but ten times as large, which made it more than twice as large as me. Its headlight-sized eyes were the same milky white that insinuated blindness. Its nose slits were long and wide and twitched as they took in the various odors created by the recent battle. Blood, some mine, most the demons’, tinted the air with metal. I’m certain it could smell my sweat as well, releasing a growl as its head swiveled in my direction.
Yep, it had big teeth too, just as needlelike as its minions, but long enough to punch through my chest, impale my heart and exit through my back. Sam Ryder shish kabob.
It was like being Bilbo Baggins, always escaping the frying pan only to end up in the inferno of the fire itself.
Then again, I’d been here before. Not literally, but situationally. All odds stacked against me, the end seeming to approach faster than a thunderstorm. Which meant anything could happen if I only thought things through and made good decisions.
Which was hard when you had a monstrous albino demon drooling all over the place because you looked tasty.
The thing coiled back slightly. Not to retreat, to gain momentum for its attack. Before it sprang from its haunches I was already on the move, darting left toward the curving wall with all the holes into which the smaller demons had escaped.
The beast changed direction far quicker than I expected it to, accelerating toward me with the reckless abandon of someone who’d played more games of chicken than they should’ve survived. Still, out of the corner of my eye, I could tell I would have half a step on it in a straight up footrace. I only hoped that would be enough.
It had to be or I was toast, soon to join the piles of gnawed bones.
I ran right up to the wall, planting one foot hard and leaping as high as I could, my eyes locked on the lip of one of the tunnels, my arms stretching, my fingers too.
I grabbed the hole’s edge and hauled myself up just as the monster jumped and snapped at my feet, like Jaws himself launching from the water and chomping at Roy Scheider. It missed, barely, falling back to the ground.
I didn’t count my blessings or even turn around to mock my foe. Because I already knew this thing could climb better than me. Hell, it was so tall it could reach handholds well out of my grasp. Which meant going higher would be a mistake. It would catch me in three seconds and drag me down.
So I reached one hole higher, just enough to give the impression I would try to climb away, secured my feet on the base of the original tunnel I’d clambered up to, and then jump out to the side as far as I could go.
My peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the monster’s pale, rubbery body as I flew away. It swiped at me with webbed fingers but I swatted it away with my arm, keeping the shaft of my hammer well out of its grasp.
When I landed I didn’t look back, catching my balance with one hand and using my momentum to accelerate into a sprint that I hoped would win the race to the thing’s tunnel.
Which could result in a dead end. Which would mean I’d have to finally face the thing in a real fight.
Please don’t be a dead end.
I heard the beast land behind me, making a guttural sound that likely indicated extreme rage at having been fooled, and then the sound of its heavy footsteps giving pursuit.
Be faster.
I wasn’t. Although I’d felt faster when I beat it to the wall, I’d primarily won that contest because I’d had a head start, the element of surprise and a short distance to cover. I had the first two again this time, but the distance was approximately double. I didn’t look back, but I could sense I would lose.
Plan B. I waited until what I belie
ved was the last possible second, until I swore I could feel its hot, moist breath on the nape of my neck, and then planted my right foot hard, allowing me to cut left. It wasn’t just a move intended to allow my foe to rocket past.
Fuck that. I was done playing games with this douche. As I angled left I jammed my left foot into the ground, using the natural direction of my motion to spin the rest of me around counterclockwise, whipping my hammer in a wide arc.
I had to be fast and I was. Just as the beast flew past, my hammer caught up to it from behind. Ideally, I would’ve clocked it in the head, giving it a concussion or, even better, a broken skull. Unfortunately, however, the issue was my smaller stature and the angle of the blow, neither of which favored a fight-ending headshot. Instead, I nailed it between the shoulder blades. Still, it was a solid hit that screwed up its balance as the top part of its body sped up while the bottom half struggled to keep up. Plus, there was the magic in my hammer, which exploded with a flash of white light.
The bastard went down, landing on its face and skidding several yards, coming to rest between me and my goal.
If I had time I would’ve done an awkward victory dance, autographed my hammer and thrown it into the crowd of my adoring fans, but I was no sports superstar, and this was life or death. As usual, I did something nuts that felt smart at the time. And maybe it was.
I hurled myself right at the beast, which was beginning to rise, doing a sort of pushup and shaking itself off like a wet dog. In that moment, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was planning. I had thoughts of smashing my hammer into its head, but if I missed it was over. I’d be within grabbing range and once this dude got his hands on me…
The fat lady would be doing plenty of singing.
Time to play monster launchpad. The hulked-up albino demon was still on all fours, making a medium-height tabletop. I jumped up onto its back, landing as squarely as I could, and then pushed off like I was in a slam dunk competition launching myself off a trampoline. Of course, there was no hoop to dunk my hammer into, so I settled for leading with it like a spear, landing in a gallop and running full speed toward the monster’s hidey hole.
I entered the darkness without any light save for my glowing hammer and my new eyes’ ability to see in the dark. Behind me, I heard an angry roar, which only spurred me on more, my feet crunching on brittle bones that shattered under my trod.
I’d expected the tunnel to continue relatively straight-ahead, which it did, except then it came to a fork, which was entirely unexpected. I didn’t have time to pause and do what Gandalf the Grey did when presented with a similar choice in the Mines of Moria, using his nose to decide which tunnel’s air “smells less foul.” Instead I relied on the theory that when presented with a choice of path involving two options, you always go left. And because I was contrarian by nature, I went right, spitting down the left fork and hoping it would leave enough of a scent to confound my pursuer.
Another echoey roar that sounded more distant than before arose in my wake, but I ignored it and sprinted on until I came to…another fork. Ha. Just kidding. I wish it was that easy. I could’ve just randomly picked again, adding distance between me and my enemy as it used its nose to follow my path. Instead, what I came to was the end of this particular tunnel, which made me think my decision to go right had been, well, wrong. Then again, it could’ve been worse. It could’ve been that dead end I’d been worried about. Quite the opposite. The only wall that faced me now was the empty expanse of unbroken air, a sheer drop-off into another cavern.
Somewhere below me I heard the telltale tinkle of falling water.
This is the climactic part of the story where I leap off the cave cliff into darkness, hoping the pool at the bottom is deep enough that I don’t sink to the bottom and shatter my legs.
Uh, no thanks. I spun around and lowered myself carefully over the edge, my toes searching for footholds. Thankfully, the cliffside wasn’t smooth like the walls of the tunnel had been. I managed to jam my toes into a few crevices and follow behind with one hand while the other continued to grip my hammer.
More echoey roars exploded from the tunnel mouth, sounding like they were getting closer. Perhaps the fork had slowed my enemy’s pursuit, but the spitting-down-the-wrong-path trick had not fooled it completely.
I climbed down faster, squinting into the darkness and searching for the bottom.
Good thing I hadn’t jumped. At best I’d be dead. At worst I’d be a paraplegic about to be eaten alive. Because there was no pool, just a table of wet rock being constantly moistened by a tiny trickle of water emerging from cracks in the stone wall. The water cascaded off the edges of the gently sloping edges, filling dual streams on either side that burbled away between rends in the stone.
The moment I stepped onto the slick rock, the loudest roar of all announced the monster’s arrival at the top of the cliff. I looked up, able to make out his ghostly outline staring down at me.
There was no way forward other than the two streams. Going back would mean facing the monster again. A waterslide into abject darkness with no clue as to where it ended? Sign me up!
I slid on my butt across the smooth rock and into the water, which cooled my sweaty body as it lapped around me. The current wasn’t strong at this point, and I was forced to push off on either side to gain some speed.
The monster released a final roar that said, “Don’t you come back unless you want me to feast on your flesh!”
I slid down the smooth shaft and into the rock.
~~~
It was pretty awesome, I have to admit. Once I got past that fear of being smashed headlong into a wall or clipped by a low-hanging stalactite, it was a pure thrill ride. The water had carved out a smooth, natural shaft that dipped and turned as it wound its way through the mountain, ever angling downward, pulled by gravity. The water level rose slightly, enough that I began to fear it might cover my face at some point, but then it stopped, just enough to propel me forward at a breakneck speed, the tops and sides flashing past, lit by the glow of my hammer, which I gripped tightly to avoid losing it.
The ride went on for a long time, and soon my jaw ached from clenching it, my teeth hurting from gritting them together. I forced myself to relax, at least until some new threat emerged.
Eventually, the water tunnel widened, the ceiling and walls moving away from me. The angle of descent eased all the way to horizontal and my momentum slowed until I ground to a full stop. Now I had to tread water to stay afloat, the river deepening. Ahead of me was a circle of gold, so bright it made my eyes burn like I was back on Primo.
I pumped my fist and hammered it into the water with a splash. “Hell yeah,” I said to myself.
I’d made it through the mountain.
That’s when I remembered the amulet that was still around my neck. It had risen from the water, hovering in the air and gently tugging at its chain.
It was no longer going haywire, once more focused in a single direction.
Straight toward the light.
I’m coming, Vrill. Finally, I’m coming.
I paddled toward the golden day.
TWELVE
LEARNING IMPORTANT NEW SHIT.
The waterslide couldn’t have ended in a nice, lazy river for me to float down.
Of course not.
I clung to a few protruding rocks at the end of the line, where the stream tumbled off a thirty-foot cliff into a pond that looked deep, but which could be as shallow as a kiddie pool for all I knew.
Climbing down wasn’t really an option this time. I was strong and had become a decent climber here on Tor, but this was next-level Cliffhanger shit, the descent to the bottom full of overhangs that didn’t seem to have much more than fingernail-sized hand and footholds. And I was no Stallone.
Beyond the pool were high, steeply sloped hills and then an unforgiving landscape lit by the golden sun. Before my gaze reached the horizon, I saw the tendrils of smoke, interspersed across the land, twisting and curling into the
sky.
I didn’t know what to make of that.
I watched my amulet, which was moving slightly from right to left. I could only tell it was moving if I stared at it for a long time. The red crystal was moving at a pace measured in millimeters per minute. Still, the meaning wasn’t lost on me. Vrill, and presumably her dragon, were on the move. All I knew was they were somewhere past the mountain. What I couldn’t tell was whether they were moving toward me or away, or simply parallel to the range.
The amulet began to move back the other way, toward center. Strange. Was it going berserk again? I didn’t think so. The last time it had moved it had seemed random, spinning in meaningless circles. Now its movements were slow and subtle. No, this thing was tracking Vrill. She just wasn’t moving in a straight line, carving a path that looped and wound. Which meant she could be on foot, following a trail that wended its way through the smaller hills and mountains that stood before me. Or she was on dragonback and her dragon was taking her on a joyride, cutting back and forth while she whooped and hollered. Maybe she’d managed to escape the Morgoss on her own and was now having the time of her life.
Unlikely, but I’d been surprised on this planet before.
As I stared in the direction the amulet was pointing, I tried not to think about the sharp fangs I felt biting into my lips. What was I?
~~~
VRILL
Vrill had had to kill two-dozen of the creatures before they’d finally backed away, snarling and snapping at her. It was a good thing they’d retreated too, because she was feeling fatigued. The thing that was the most troubling, however, was that she’d felt the Morgoss’s influence on the battle the entire time. They’d given her a measure of their strength, filling her with an uncanny power through their link that felt like the inflow of shadows into her bloodstream.
