by Jade Kerrion
Some part of his mind recognized it. A spi—
Most of his mind refused to acknowledge it. Not a spider.
It couldn’t possibly be a spider.
Chapter 12
Varun twitched.
Air slammed into his back, shoving him to the ground as the “branch” swiped right through where his head had been.
Ashe snarled into his mind. I said don’t move.
Varun twisted onto his back and found himself staring into a spider’s bulbous eyes. They were the size of oranges. Its glistening fangs were larger than incisors he had seen on tigers and lions. Varun’s breath stuck in his throat as his gaze jerked over the rest of the creature. The spider’s front segment was larger than a yoga exercise ball, and its back segment could have contained an entire obese person, with space to spare.
The spider lunged at Varun, but something seemed to hold it—as if an invisible net were wrapped around its front and was pulling back hard.
Ashe grunted. Even her mental voice sounded strained. Now, you can move.
Varun scooted backward, his heels kicking up dirt. “Can you throw it?”
Not without summoning a wind that will rip up most of the trees as well. Tornados aren’t too picky about what they grab. How about you start running? I’ll catch up.
Ashe’s flippant tone grated on his nerves, but he would have to take it up with her some other time. Varun scrambled to his feet, grabbed the backpack, and pushed through the undergrowth. The angry howls of the natives were swallowed by the jungle, and even the wild thrashing of the spider’s eight legs against the undergrowth faded into silence beneath the other songs of the forest.
He had left her behind to deal with all that.
Damn it.
Varun skidded to a halt, his chest heaving with each pained breath. What the hell was wrong with him? When did he start running from trouble? When did he start leaving a woman to deal with the problem?
When she’s not human?
Not the point. He grimaced. Human or not, it just wasn’t done. He would have to go back and—
A low-pitched sound caused him to stiffen. It was like the rumble of a tractor, but that was impossible. There could not possibly be any tractors on Atlantis. He turned slowly to see eyes glinting back at him through the dense foliage.
The eyes were higher off the ground than his.
He backed away slowly as the eyes advanced. The leaves were pushed aside as the head of a black panther emerged. The animal was even larger than the ones the Atlantean warriors rode into battle. Its head skimmed over Varun’s. Its legs were as thick as tree trunks.
The panther’s upper lip pulled back into a snarl.
Varun flung the backpack at its face.
The panther swiped with its claw, but Varun only saw the motion out of the corner of his eye. He was already turning, already running. He wove through the chest-high undergrowth. Twigs caught on his clothing, then snapped as he dashed past. More than once, he felt something catch on his feet, an instant before air whizzed past him. He spared a quick glance back. Darts, released by the trap he had triggered, were still quivering in the trunk of the tree.
If he had been walking, the darts would have hit him.
Something struck him hard in the back and flung him forward. He slammed into a tree trunk, then crumpled to his knees, his vision flashing yellow and green against encroaching darkness. He raised his head and saw two black fuzzy tree trunks in front of him.
The puff of air against the top of his head stank like a butcher store.
A growl rumbled from the panther’s chest like thunder before a storm.
Varun could feel the air displace as the panther lowered its head. Odd how he had become so attuned to even the slightest movement of air.
The stink of blood and fresh meat poisoned the air around him. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to clear his vision. The air shifted again. The panther was pulling back, but not all the way. Just far enough for a final lunge and snap of his jaws.
Everything seemed to hold perfectly still for a single moment.
Then something twitched.
It might have been the panther’s whiskers.
Varun wasn’t waiting around for the rest of it. His vision still hazy to the point of uselessness, he rolled to the side. Grass and weeds tickled his face. Thorns pricked him. Vaguely, he was aware that dark gave way to darker. He blinked hard. Leaves hung in front of his face. The rumbling of the panther—now an irritated snarl—hovered over him. Its paw swiped through the bushes under which Varun hid. The canopy of leaves above his head parted. Varun rolled to the side, and a heavy paw slammed down where he had been lying, flattening the grass.
The panther’s paw struck again, this time narrowly missing Varun’s head.
He twisted away, but the animal’s third strike landed on his hip and left leg. He choked back the scream and pulled his body into a fetal position. Nothing broken, he realized grimly. Yet. He could not move quickly though. It was only going to be a matter of time before the panther got lucky—
The leaves parted again, the prelude to the descent of a heavy paw.
Varun grunted as he tried to move, but his strained back and leg dragged at him. He would never be able to get out of the way—
A vicious squawk ripped through the panther’s low growl.
Varun looked up as the leaves bounced back into a green canopy. On the other side of the bush, the panther swung around, like a cat chasing its tail. Varun gritted his teeth. Maybe it was distracted enough for him to get away. His back and leg still shooting spasms of pain, he crawled out of the underbrush, then looked up.
His jaw dropped.
Jinn darted around the panther’s head in a flurry of gray wings, striking beak, and outstretched claws. The litany of curse words flying out of Jinn’s mouth—none of which Varun had ever heard Ashe use—was even more distracting. Most of the words did not even sound like English.
It was his chance to get away.
Varun stumbled toward a copse of trees, the thick trunks tightly packed together in a natural defense against the oversized panther. He squeezed between the trees, ripping his shirt and scraping his skin in the process.
Behind him, the panther roared, a furious, frustrated sound.
Jinn had always had the talent for pissing off any living being, except perhaps Jackson.
Varun looked over his shoulder as the panther lunged, swiping the air with a massive paw. Jinn’s screech was silenced in mid cry. His gray body plunged from the air and hit the ground with a soundless thud.
The panther growled low in its throat, a rumble like an impending storm, as it leaned forward, fangs bared. Broken wings beat feebly on the ground.
Varun dug his cell phone out of his pocket and switched on its voice recording function. He snatched up several stones and stepped out from among the trees. “Hey, you! Hello, kitty!”
The panther’s head snapped up and swung around toward Varun. The emerald green eyes narrowed.
“That parrot’s a scrawny little thing. And I guarantee you don’t want a mouthful of feathers. So how about you pick on something bigger?” He stopped the recording then flung a rock at the panther. The stone struck the creature squarely in the chest.
Varun ducked back among the trees. The tree trunks were like the bars of a cage, for which he was immensely grateful. The panther managed to stick a paw in, but could not squeeze through. Varun retreated deeper into the foliage, until he was certain he was concealed in shadow, then he set his phone down, turned up the volume, and hit the repeated playback button.
Then he crept away, along the tree line, toward where Jinn had fallen while the panther roared and swiped at the shadows and at Varun’s recorded taunt.
The weak flutter of gray wings caught his eye. Jinn was about fifteen feet away, but out in the open. Varun spared a glance at the huge cat still clawing at the trees.
Could he race out, grab Jinn, and make it back to the cover of trees?
With a strained back?
Varun grimaced, then sprinted out into the clearing.
The panther twisted around, its furious roar softening into a meep of surprise.
That moment of surprise bought Varun five seconds. He snatched Jinn up and yelped when the bird’s beak snapped around his finger. “Stop it!” He cradled the parrot to his chest and dashed back toward cover.
The panther was right behind him. He did not need to look back to know it. The air behind him spread like palm leaves in the face of a hurricane.
He flung Jinn ahead of him. Shrieking like a banshee, the parrot landed in the thick underbrush.
Sharp pain snapped around his right calf. Varun twisted onto his back. His muscles spasmed, but he scarcely felt them over the agony ripping down his leg. He kicked out with his other leg. His boot slammed into the panther’s nose, and the animal’s eyes flared wide.
The huge jaws slacked for an instant. Varun yanked his leg free and scooted back between the trees. The panther snarled and lunged forward, but the blockade of trees bought Varun his desperately needed miracle.
The trees held up to the panther’s charge.
Varun’s breath came in rapid heaves. He grimaced as he leaned over his injured leg. The panther’s fangs had serrated his flesh.
A sharp, cracking sound yanked his attention back up.
Wood groaned as a tree splintered beneath the panther’s weight.
“We gotta go, Jinn.” Gritting his teeth against the pain, Varun gently picked the parrot up and was rewarded with another sharp nip on his fingers. “Will you stop that? We’re on the same side here.”
“Dumbass.” The parrot snapped at him.
The panther lunged. The air trembled as another tree snapped.
Varun tucked Jinn under his jacket, taking care not to jostle the wing that hung at an awkward angle. He heard his voice coming from his phone some several hundred yards away, still yammering away taunts at the panther. Varun contemplated the odds, then winced. It was too far away to risk retrieving his phone, especially when he could hardly walk, let alone run. He had to put distance between him and the panther.
The parrot nipped his shirt, but the motion lacked its usual vehemence. Up close, Varun could feel the bird trembling against him. “We just have to find the aether well. We’ll be okay,” he promised.
But the roar of the gigantic panther, vibrating the trees and shuddering against his spine, made a lie of that promise.
Chapter 13
“Hey, you! Hello, kitty! That parrot’s a scrawny little thing. And I guarantee you don’t want a mouthful of feathers. So how about you pick on something bigger?”
After she disposed of both the Atlantean natives and the spider, Ashe had followed the recording—she was fairly certain it wasn’t Varun after he started repeating himself ad nauseam—to a clearing in the forest. It was not a natural clearing. It had been recently trampled down by a large black panther—the same one that was still lunging at trees and snapping with a great deal of pent-up rage.
No doubt the panther had met both Jinn and Varun.
And since the panther was irritated instead of full from a meal, Ashe suspected that Varun, at least, had escaped.
Ashe stared at the backpack Varun had abandoned. It didn’t matter what species were involved—the females were always picking up after the males. But first, she had to handle the panther.
Wind rustled the bushes in the north. The panther’s head snapped up. The wind continued dancing. To Ashe’s critical ears, it sounded like an entire army trying to sneak away, but apparently, the panther did not care for subtleties. It leaped after the noise, its svelte black form vanishing into the forest.
Ashe picked up the discarded backpack and Varun’s phone. The first thing she did was turn off the annoying recording. Air swirled around her, supporting the backpack so that she felt none of the strain of carrying it.
Now, where was Varun?
She flung her fingers out, and the breeze darted away, splitting into ever thinner tendrils as it fanned through the forest. Sights, sounds, and even scents filtered back to her. No, she was not interested in the trail of fresh lizard poop, although she did pause for a moment to enjoy the sight of a mother bird fluttering around her newly hatched chicks.
Air was problematic as a means of reconnaissance; it was not in the least bit discriminatory in what it reported to her.
Then an image flicked through her awareness. Varun hunched over a bulge in his jacket. A gray-feathered wing protruded from beneath the folds of cloth. Ashe’s gaze focused on Varun’s blood-soaked pant leg, and she scowled. She should have left him on the Veritas—Varun, Jackson, Ondine, and even Jinn.
Everything was easier when she did not have to babysit someone else.
The wind returned when she beckoned, swirling around her like a playful child. She strode through the forest, air wrapping around her like a shield. A swarm of darts, released by a trap she deliberately triggered, slammed into an invisible wall an inch from her skin. A net of woven vines dropped from the canopy, but bounced off her head to fall in a tangled mess beside the scarcely visible jungle path.
She caught sight of Varun through the trees. His back was to her, but he was on his feet, moving steadily, if not swiftly, through the forest. His right leg dragged behind him, leaving an impossible-to-miss trail of blood. Each step seemed more hesitant, but he did not stop.
That was admirable, in a doggedly stubborn fashion.
Ashe drew a deep breath and threw her thoughts out. You’re going the wrong way.
Varun jerked to a stop, then turned slowly. Their eyes met, and a slow smile passed over his face. “I didn’t have Google Maps calling out directions.”
Maybe you shouldn’t leave your phone behind, then. She closed the distance and handed him his smartphone.
His hand shook slightly as he slid the phone back into his pocket. “You didn’t kill the panther, did you?”
She shook her head. It’s chasing an imaginary army through the woods.
“Jinn broke his wing.” Varun unfolded his jacket to reveal the sulky parrot. He carefully lowered the bird to the ground. “He attacked the panther and saved my life. Hand me the bag. There’s a first aid kit in there.”
What do you know about setting a broken wing?
“Not much, but we should splint it to keep it from jostling until we get him to a vet.” Varun dug through the backpack. “See if you can find two sticks about four inches long.”
She handed him the sticks, which he placed on either side of Jinn’s broken wing, beneath the bone, then wrapped layers of gauze tape around it—all the while trying to keep his fingertips away from Jinn’s sharp, irritable beak. When he finished, the parrot scrambled back onto its feet and hopped around Varun, its glare both grumpy and accusatory.
“He probably needs a bit of time to calm down,” Varun said. “Why don’t you hold him?”
What? And risk him biting me? Ashe asked, but she gathered the parrot up in her arms. She stroked the feathers on the bird’s head and neck until the annoyed ruffle flattened. Only then did she return the parrot to her shoulder. Jinn’s broken wing extended out behind Ashe’s head, and Ashe layered Jinn in a cushion of air, as much for support as protection.
She could have told Varun that the splints were unnecessary, but Varun seemed so determined to do something for the parrot. Meanwhile, Varun had lowered himself onto the ground, his right leg stretched out ahead of him. Grimacing, he rolled up his pants to reveal deep gashes from mid-calf to ankle.
What the—? Ashe flung her arms out. I let you guys go off on your own for fifteen minutes, and it all goes to hell?
“You should have known better than to leave two guys to their own devices.” Varun shrugged as he poured antiseptic liberally over his open wounds. His breath caught for several long moments, and his voice was not quite steady when he continued with, “We were doing the male
bonding, weren’t we, Jinn?” He flashed the parrot a tight grin.
Ashe’s jaw dropped. Had Varun actually winked at Jinn?
The parrot cackled.
Does male bonding involve almost getting killed? Ashe asked.
“It isn’t any fun otherwise.” Varun wrapped layers of bandages around his calf, then tugged down on his trouser leg. He grunted as he tried to push to his feet, then accepted the hand that Ashe held out to him. “Thanks.”
Do we need to return to the Veritas?
His gaze darted across the dappled light of the forest around him, but his voice betrayed none of his hesitation. “I can keep going. Nothing’s broken. My leg will hold until Corey gets a chance to clean it properly.”
You take the parrot. I’ve got the bag. Ashe transferred Jinn onto Varun’s shoulders before hefting the heavier bag onto hers.
Jinn pecked at Varun’s ear.
He frowned. “You keep that up, and you’ll be looking for another ride.” Varun drew a deep breath before stepping forward on his right leg. His face blanched, and he shifted his weight quickly to his left foot.
Back to the ship?
“We are inches from the heart of Atlantis, and you’re asking if I’m going back to the ship?”
You can hardly walk.
“I’m not turning back now. What will you do if you don’t have someone to save?”
Perhaps a better job of kicking Zamir’s ass.
Varun’s eyebrows drew together in a frown that furrowed his brow. “Do you think you’ll find him here? How would he and his Beltiamatu make it up that cliff and this far inland?”
There’s more than one way into the heart of Atlantis.
“And this aether is at the heart of Atlantis?”
Ashe nodded.
Varun raked his fingers through his sweaty hair. “It’s the aether, isn’t it? It’s altering the things around it. The spider, the panthers…”
She nodded again.
“But the people…they don’t seem excessively large.”
Change happens in many ways. Sometimes the most profound ways are invisible to the physical eye.
