Chapter 30 #2
“Our group is too large to hide out for long,” Jacob said, nibbling at his fingernails.
Hook strode to the center of the group. “Then we go straight to the next layer.”
Jacob winced. “Don’t be so hasty. It takes time to find a suitable entrance. We?—”
A heavy thump rang out as Scotty clapped him on the back. “It takes time we don’t have. The Captain’s right. We find the first entrance we can and go, then worry about the consequences later.”
A jolt of pain spiked through my forehead, that horrible sense of bloodlust pricking at the edges of my awareness yet again. “They’re close.”
Jacob opened his mouth to say more, but Paddy silenced him with a hand. “We have no choice. Now let's find an entrance, boys. And fast.”
Andrew darted past him without a word, his torch illuminating the massive wall just ahead, and a horrible sense of foreboding settled over me as I looked it over.
Thorny vines wove together into a single, impenetrable mass that stretched as far up as the eye could see, and lichen hung in little streamers, flowing in the cool breeze.
He dashed along the wall’s edge, moving right while Scotty moved left, and it didn’t take long for him to call out. “Got one!”
Fetch clicked his beak on my shoulder as we hobbled toward the sound, his nervousness coming through to me as clearly as the frogs’ rage and aggression had. “Not far,” I whispered.
“You good?” Moll asked, grabbing my arm.
“There’s so much magic here,” I said. “It’s hard to shut it all out. I can feel every animal in the place.”
She leaned in further without another word, and we strode the rest of the way to Andrew, arm in arm.
A chill crept up my spine as I watched the vines and brambles twist and writhe like little snakes around the gaping hole the boy had found in the wall.
Pure, unmitigated horror rolled through me as I stared at the twisted, unholy perversion of nature.
A thing that shouldn’t be, but was, nonetheless.
It wasn’t like the wormholes, but close enough that it had me reeling.
“So who’s up first?” Paddy asked, glancing nervously at it.
I tugged Moll forward despite myself, trudging toward the entrance.
The frogs were closing in, and there was no other way out of all this.
I peered into the sloped tunnel of shifting vines, leading down into a realm of unknown horrors, but Hook blocked my path with an outstretched arm before I got too close.
“See you on the other side,” Hook said, striding up to it and gripping one of the writhing vines with his good hand as he stepped through, then sliding down the viny tunnel, his torchlight disappearing in the blink of an eye.
A bellow tore through the air from behind, and Paddy swung his torch toward the sound, gesturing frantically for the rest of us to enter.
No use in waiting. I strode the last few steps forward, sucking in a strengthening breath before charging into the unknown, with Moll tight at my heels.
My torch puffed out like a candle as we slid down the tunnel, and I clenched my teeth to suppress the terror as the walls writhed and stretched against my back, carrying us deeper.
Fetch cawed, his anxiety palpable as I held him tight against my chest.
I thudded into the ground a few seconds later, my knees smarting from the impact, and leapt forward just in time for Moll to land behind me, her hands going on my shoulders as she struggled to regain her balance.
I reached around, pulling her forward as I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. “Hook?”
“Right up here,” a voice called.
I followed the sound, eyes fixed on the dim rays of light that were coming from a side passage. A shiver rolled through me as a vine slid up against my arm, and I winced as another thud sounded from just behind us.
“Gods that was weird,” Paddy said, shuddering.
Pain blasted through my head as I turned the corner, my vision going white as light flooded into view. A dozen colors at once, fusing into a blinding white. Just like?—
“Maelstrom Opal,” Moll whispered.
I nodded, gritting my teeth through the pain as I stepped into the cave. Hook was already there, shielding his eyes as he looked up at the ceiling. “Garth said there was a lot of the stuff, but I didn’t expect this much.”
I tamped down my magic, finding more success than I’d had earlier. It’ll get easier, I told myself in an attempt at reassurance. The ground was still muddy and damp, but the viny ceiling was completely crusted in the Opals, shimmering with every color at once like light shining through a prism.
A thump sounded from behind us, but it was almost completely drowned out by the rumble that split the cavern ahead. “What the?—?”
A furry mass emerged from a nearby cluster of trees, and I reeled, inching back toward the tunnel. A bear? No, worse than that.
The big bear’s saber teeth glinted in the gem-light as it looked over, stalking toward us.
“Back in the tunnel!” Paddy shouted, moving to take his own advice as a little head poked over the side of the massive beast’s furry neck.
“Paddy fookin’ O’Donnelly, is that you?”