Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

A scream escaped both the qasi and me as I scrambled leftward. One of the slender, squishy arms whipped toward me and wrapped around my right arm. I flailed in its grasp as I was lifted off the seat and pulled toward the water. A pair of huge glowing golden eyes stared hungrily at me from those dark depths.

"Millie!" I heard Ben shout before I was drawn into the river.

The cold water roused my fighting spirit, and I managed to wrap myself around my captor before biting down hard on its slick flesh. The tendril trembled and its grip loosened. I pulled myself out and kicked hard toward the faint glimmer that was on the surface.

Another tendril shot out and wrapped around my waist. I thrashed in its hold, but that didn't stop it from dragging me back down. I twisted around and beheld the huge face, but there was something horribly wrong with it. The features shifted around and nothing appeared solid. The hideous brown color of its flesh resembled the muck at the bottom of the river, as if it had risen from the depths of rot.

The creature resembled an octopus, but in place of a flat face there was a mouth with two rows of sharp teeth made from driftwood. The forehead was sloped and those terrible eyes were sunken into the sockets. The effect was like looking at a skeleton.

Something dark shot past me and I let out a strangled gasp as I recognized Ben's black Thief attire. He didn't have his wings, but his dark clothing billowed out behind him as he swam through the water like a fish. One of the tendrils slipped toward him, but he sliced the water and cut the tendril clear through. The creature let loose a horrible echoing scream that grated on my ears.

Ben continued on his trajectory and he slammed his shoulder into one of the creature's eyes. The thing recoiled and I was again freed. Ben kicked off against the creature's body and darted over to me. He wrapped an arm around my waist and together we kicked our way through the flailing tendrils and up to the surface.

I let out a gasp as air flooded my starved lungs. Ben drew us over to the empty bank and practically carried me out of the water. The cart was nowhere to be seen as he led me into the woods where he set me down with my back against a tree some ten yards from the river.

He knelt in front of me and searched my face. "Are you alright?"

I spat out some water before I nodded. "Y-yeah, thanks to you."

He didn't quite believe my wheezing reply and began to look me over. "Nothing broken?"

I drew my hair back and sputtered out some more of the water and muck. "I'm fine, but what the hell was that?"

Ben looked over his shoulder and scowled at the shimmering water. "I don't know. I've never heard of anything bigger than fish in these waters." He slipped his arms beneath me and lifted me into his arms before he stood. "But we should hurry on before we discover any other new inhabitants."

I didn't even try to tease Ben about hefting me around. The episode had left me exhausted and with our ride gone, the only way left to us was on foot. That wasn't too much of a problem, however, as the road thinned some hundred yards further down to a point where the vehicle would have been useless.

I warily eyed the waters as Ben, too, kept half his attention on the river. "You think it's a coincidence the river suddenly has a very angry resident just as everything else is going to hell?" I asked him.

"No."

I slumped in his arms and sighed. "Me, either, but this is getting a bit much. How many troubles can one place have at one time?"

Ben pursed his lips as he stared ahead. "This does sound like that legend of the catastrophe that happened a thousand years ago. There were more than just floods then, though I had discounted the others as fairy tales."

I sat up a little in his arms. "Like what?"

He shook his head. "Just rumors of large monsters crawling out of the desert and emerging from the sea. Tales that would scare children into not going out after dark against their parents' wishes."

I wrung a little bit of water out of my sleeve and snorted. "Staying inside sounds like a good idea when we get back."

Ben smiled down at me. "I concur."

He trudged along, never faltering in his step even as the feet turned to miles. The forest blocked much of our view so that I was surprised when the low hills loomed upon us. A few large boulders along either side of the river were the start of those hills. The course of the river itself changed from a relatively straight path to that of a winding serpent.

Ben set me down some ten yards short of the stones and inspected the area with his red glowing eyes. "You should stay here."

I took one look at the water and winced. "Not if I can help it."

Ben pursed his lips but nodded. "Then follow me."

We crept low to the ground with me following behind him on my slightly shaky legs. The boulders grew more numerous and forced us a few feet into the river. They even created several arches over the water that cast deep shadows on the river. Those shadows were deepened by the many vines that hung from the stones and brushed against the surface of the river.

I pressed my hand against the stones to give me balance as I shivered in the cool water. The desert night air didn't help matters.

We trudged along as quietly as we could manage before Ben froze. I nearly crashed into his back but caught myself and watched as his eyes flitted over the area. That's when I heard it. A faint trio of female voices.

"I tell you, there is something amiss in the waters," one of the young women insisted. "I saw a shadow in the second pool only this morning!"

The voice that responded was the one who had spoken to us earlier, Abla. "We must not trouble the king without knowing exactly what is the matter."

"By then it might be too late!" the third protector protested.

"Would you present yourself before the king with only suspicions?" Abla countered. A silence fell among them before she sighed. "My friends, we have been tasked with protecting the ghasl and we will have failed in our task if we cannot discover and root out this impurity. When the sun comes we will venture to inspect every rock and blade of grass to see what may have defiled the ghasl. Before then, however, we must make our rounds."

"Very well," one replied.

"We will do as you say, Abla," the other answered.

Their dresses ruffled in the quiet stillness as they separated to go about their duties. Ben waited for a few minutes before he ducked low and his bright eyes inspected the area around us. I did what I could with my weak vision, which proved to be more of a boon than I expected.

My eyes caught sight of a round shadow some two feet wide that was darker than all the others. The space was partially hidden beneath an outcropping of boulders on our left. I tugged on Ben's sleeve and when he turned to me I pointed at the spot.

Ben nodded and moved forward with me following. We reached the location and he dipped his head so low his chest almost touched the water's surface. He sloshed into the darkness and disappeared out of sight.

I stepped up to the entrance and placed my palm against the boulder above the darkness. My heart pounded in my chest as my ears strained to hear anything from the shadows.

I jumped when Ben's hand shot out and grabbed mine. He gave me a tug and I reluctantly ducked down to stagger into the short space. The shadows were revealed to be hiding a low, narrow tunnel that wound its way over and under boulders in the direction of the hills.

I couldn't see a thing in front of me as we crawled over the smooth stones and shallow streams of water that popped out of the rocks at random spots. The ceiling was so low that sometimes we had to crawl on our stomachs to get through. The stagnant air and tight quarters instilled panic in my mind which I was constantly forced to tamp down. Only the faint outline of Ben's foot gave me comfort.

The path slowly ascended and I was eternally grateful when a faint light appeared some fifty yards off. The faint brilliance streamed in from a hole in the ceiling. Fresh air wafted over us as we neared the exit, though Ben stopped ten feet shy of the opening.

Ben turned his head around and pressed a finger to his lips before indicating I should remain there. He continued onward and stood beneath the opening before he peeked his head out. My pulse raced as I watched him slowly ease himself further out of the rocks until half of him had emerged. He inspected the area for many minutes before he ducked back down and beckoned to me.