Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Nothing like being spattered by a monstrous rainfall. Droplets exploded and showered Avera as a massive creature propelled itself from the hole in the center of the lake.
Avera dumbly gaped. In her defense, she’d never seen such a thing.
Wormlike in appearance, the body was a very pale gray, wrinkled, and slimy looking.
The creature had several milky eyes set on the side of what might have been its head, not that its body had any distinguishing parts. Not even a mouth that she could see.
It hovered upright and remained still. Was it dangerous? Rather than find out, Avera decided to end her partial bath.
Splash. Splash.
Her motion in the direction of shore galvanized the lake worm. It flopped over, slamming her with a wave of water. The impact sent Avera to her knees.
“Get up and move,” Gustav shouted.
“I’m trying,” Avera huffed as she pushed to her feet and whipped back her wet hair. She might have made it to shore if not for the tentacle wrapped around her lower legs, yanking her down.
She ended up underwater, lungs tight since she’d not managed a breath. The appendage proved strong. It lifted her into the air and she gaped in horror as a spot between some of the monster’s eyes split into a mouth big enough to swallow her whole.
So much for her quest. She was about to be eaten by a giant worm before even making it out of the mountain.
The thought had her mentally slapping herself.
No dying, not today at least, and not so ignobly.
She reached for her dagger and as the worm released its grasp, Avera wrapped her fingers around the hilt.
As she plummeted into the dark hole of its maw, she struck, the tip of her blade catching the flesh of its lip, if it had one.
She dangled, holding on tight lest she drop into its belly.
The thing shivered at the injury, but the pinprick barely bled.
“Avera!”
Gustav screamed for her, but she didn’t have the breath to reply. She huffed as she kicked her feet, seeking purchase to—
Not climb out, apparently, seeing as how the mouth shut, sealing her in darkness. A nightmare she could have never imagined.
The body around her undulated, almost dislodging her. It occurred to her as the monster slithered back to its underwater hole that she couldn’t let that happen, but how to escape?
Her blood obviously didn’t protect her from this threat. Her dagger was too small to cut a hole. What option did that leave her?
The worm paused its escape, most likely because Gustav had engaged it. Could he hack it to death in time to save her?
It struck her then that her dagger wasn’t an ordinary one.
The weapon was still so new she’d forgotten what it could do.
With a slight press, the blade extended, and the monster shuddered as the weapon not only went deeper through flesh but began slicing.
Slicing a little too well. The weight of her body dragged the sharp edge down, not a good thing since she began sliding down the monster’s gullet.
In better news, the mouth opened as the creature exhaled what might have been a cry of agony.
The fetid air it expelled certainly indicated it.
Being able to see again, Avera noticed nodules on the inside of its throat.
Her left foot slid over a slimy bump, but her right foot caught, and she stopped her descent.
Her other foot found purchase, her toes gripping slimy flesh, and she stood, took a deep breath, pulled her sword, and planted it higher up.
This time, she carefully put only a little weight on it, minimizing the tearing, using it more to brace her climb.
The worm shuddered and thrashed, almost dislodging her. Avera flattened herself to its slimy throat and held on. It flopped and Avera found herself falling, but not down to its belly. It had gone sideways, meaning she stood just inside its mouth.
Gustav appeared in the opening. “Quickly now. It’s sliding into the hole.”
The very idea of being dragged with it had her attempting to run, but the squishy flesh made it hard to keep her feet. It didn’t help that water poured in from the lake, tugging at her ankles as it filled the beast, making it heavier. Pulling it down.
Gustav reached for her, and she clasped his hand, gasping as he yanked her from the worm’s mouth, the force rough enough they both fell in the water.
“Are you okay?” Josslyn cried out.
Avera sat up, blinking through wet lashes in time to see the worm’s body slide out of sight. A moment later the lake stilled.
Gustav held out a hand to help her up. “That was unexpected.”
“You don’t say,” was her dry reply.
“Guess that thing explains why there’s no bones. Swallows its dinner whole.” His next unneeded remark.
“You are just a fount of positivity,” she grumbled.
“Is this a bad time to say you smell bad and look worse?” Gustav arched a brow.
Avera glared and then, despite the recent trauma, sat in the water and splashed around to remove some of the slime.
Gustav shook his head as he slogged to shore. “When you’re done playing, let’s pack up and get moving.”
“So much for getting a few hours to rest,” Avera said with a sigh as she slogged her way out of the water.
“Sorry, but we can’t be sure there’s not another.” Gustav shrugged apologetically.
Josslyn wrung her hands. “Oh my, that was terrifying. I thought you were going to be worm food.”
“So did I.” Avera spoke woodenly as shock set in. She’d almost become a monster’s dinner. How she missed her room, her quiet life, being a nobody. What she wouldn’t give to be in her storage closet workshop taking apart a Verlorian artifact.
“Let’s get you out of those wet things,” Josslyn ordered.
“I didn’t bring a full extra outfit,” Avera admitted. She’d loaded her bag with mostly food and only packed a single sweater and pair of socks. She’d assumed they’d have to return to Herder’s Respite after they visited the mountain.
“I did,” Josslyn declared. From her pack she pulled a pair of dry britches, a shirt, and even a heavy coat.
They trudged from the cave, tired and subdued until Josslyn quietly murmured, “Did Opal not warn you about the lake creature?”
“No. Perhaps she didn’t know.” After all, Opal claimed to have never used the tunnels. Still, a thing that size had obviously been there a while. What other things had she not warned them about?
Nothing. At least nothing they encountered.
Turned out the spiders and rats were only a minor nuisance, larger than the regular variety, but easily dispatched.
Even Josslyn killed a few eight-legged critters, screaming all the while, but still stomping.
The rats proved easier to distract. Once they’d sliced a few, the rodents turned on the injured and dead to feed.
Gross, but it let them continue their journey with only short rests.
After what seemed like days—and might have been, since they lost track of time—Gustav said, “I smell the ocean.”
Soon they no longer needed the torch as they could see daylight peeking from an opening at the top of a wide sloping ramp.
While the ceiling proved high enough, the loose stones underfoot on the sharp incline meant they still couldn’t ride.
No one wanted to risk injuring the horses.
Instead, they heaved and huffed their way up, emerging on a ledge high up the mountain with a view of the ocean, a dark blue with slight white swells that stretched as far as she could see, but more important—
“Seaserpent Bay!” Josslyn squealed while pointing. “We made it.”
Not quite, they still had to find a way to descend the mountain without breaking their necks.
No clear path existed, and while a goat might have found it easy, they had horses that required them to go on foot and traverse it painstakingly slowly.
It meant Avera had much time to observe the many docks—and their lack of usable vessels.
She might not know much about ships, but the fact the largest had sunk—its deck partially submerged, and its masts snapped—seemed a good indicator it wouldn’t be fit for a voyage.
Of those that floated, their size seemed adequate for a day of fishing but not to travel any sort of distance.
How would she get to Verlora? Of all the things she’d expected, not having a usable boat had never occurred to her.
Once they reached the base of the Spire, and a gentler slope where they could finally mount their horses, Josslyn wasn’t the only one to sigh in relief.
Finally, their feet would get some rest. While Gustav grumbled about riding bareback, Avera had no issue.
Those times she’d snuck out and ridden astride now came in handy.
She had to wonder if Josslyn used to do the same as she cantered with ease.
As they rode towards the port, Avera murmured to Gustav, “I don’t see a ship capable of a voyage to Verlora.” Which she should have expected given she’d read the ledgers. But why would Opal send them here if she couldn’t find a ship?
“Traffic in this bay ain’t what it used to be.”
“What am I supposed to do?” In Horizon’s End, the other Daervian port, the docks were always teeming with vessels, but she couldn’t exactly show her face there.
“If you’re still intent on that madness, then wait. Something will come along. Most likely pirates, but we’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
Wait? After their rush to get here, it felt like just another obstacle in her path.
Avera had to remind herself that in the stories she’d read and heard growing up, quests were never easy. Adversity had to be faced. Avera could handle that. Had thus far. But she couldn’t exactly conjure a ship out of nothing. Which led to her next reminder: how would she pay for passage?