Chapter 9 #2
When the light fell on Stacia, she could actually feel its warmth on her skin.
It tickled and itched as it ran over her.
It felt invasive, the creature’s gaze, and she wanted to scratch her skin where it looked at her, but she dared not squirm as it finished its inspection.
It paused for a long time as it considered Iriko, stopping at the tiger’s eyes for a long while, and then it made a sort of popping noise with its mouth, puffing out its cheeks hugely as it did.
When it moved on to Zima, the little girl began to wail again.
This time it was actually audible. Stacia was surprised she could hear her.
Up until that moment, she had not been able to hear or communicate with anyone in the strange underwater realm except Iriko, and he didn’t have much to say or any ideas on how to escape.
The light traveled over Zima again and again.
There was rumbling and cheek-puffing from the creature, and he appeared to be quite excited about the little girl.
Even his skin changed colors, showing off vivid hues of green, blue, and purple.
The entire liquid room seemed to vibrate, and soon more bubbles erupted into the room, with other strange creatures joining the first one.
One looked decidedly more feminine, wearing what almost looked like a dress.
Her coloring was more purple than green, and her face and limbs were longer.
The next one wore a hat that shone with a fish-scale band, and he carried a pearl trident.
Another had a belt adorned with little fish skulls.
The last wore a crown of coral and had a deep scar across one cheek.
They erupted in conversation with clicks, guttural vibrations, color displays, and the puffing of various body parts. Finally, the first one who had entered approached Stacia and handed back her weapon, then said, “You want to trade for your life?”
“I do,” Stacia said, nodding.
“Good. Give us ice child. We take. You go free.”
On the word free, a hiss of bubbles rose from his lips and hovered right above his head, hitting the top of their little cage.
Stacia looked up at them, and she could see the river above, flowing over their heads.
If only they could reach it. As she watched, the tiny bubbles slowly rose higher, eventually penetrating whatever membrane was trapping them.
Once they were fully outside, the current of the river caught the bubbles and carried them off downstream.
Stacia narrowed her eyes. “How do I know you’ll keep your word?”
The creature bellowed. His whole body vibrated, and his cheeks turned bright purple. It took several moments for him to settle down. Finally, he said, “We are vodnik. Our deals are unbroken.”
“Like your bridge?”
“You have warning. It is enough. Now, you make deal, or we keep all?”
“We make deal.” Stacia felt a tiger head hit the back of her knee and Zakhar’s hand on her shoulder at the same time.
She held up a hand to calm her companions.
“But I don’t trust you. I’m not from here.
We will exchange, but I want to set terms.” She paused as if in thought.
“You give me three of your bubbles to travel out of this place, and then we trade. Yes?”
The thick liquid around them pulsed as the creatures conferred with one another again. Then the big one turned back to Stacia. “We are agree. You have three pockets for travel, but no trickses. We watch you go first.”
Stacia hadn’t prepared for that. “I want my man going first,” she said.
Zakhar shook his head hard, but she nodded and winked that it was okay and clapped him awkwardly on the shoulder in slow motion.
After she moved away, the creature, his seaweed hair floating around his bulbous head, opened his mouth, forming a large circle with his lips, and then made a sort of gagging motion.
Slowly, out came a bubble that grew larger and larger with each heave of his body.
Zakhar acted as if to move away from it, but one of the others grabbed his shoulders and held him still.
The bubble touched one of Zakhar’s hands first, and instead of popping, it grabbed hold of his hand and began crawling over his skin as if it were alive.
Zakhar kicked hard then, writhing as if he were in pain, but soon the bubble was over his head, and then he calmed down and began breathing normally, his cheeks changing from red to a normal tone.
Stacia peered closely, and she could see there was no more liquid matter inside the bubble.
It had completely encased him in the air.
Interesting, she thought. Once it had re-formed and encompassed his body fully, the creature gave a snap of his mouth, and the bubble broke free.
It began rising to the surface, taking Zakhar with it.
He knelt, his hands on the bottom of the bubble, shouting something that none of them were able to hear.
Once it hit the membrane at the top of their liquid cage, it was slowly absorbed through, taking its human captive along for the ride.
Zakhar kept his face pressed to the bottom for as long as possible; then, with a tiny pop, he and his bubble were gone, flying along the river current.
Turning with hands on hips, Stacia asked, “What happens at the surface? Will he be stuck in there?”
All the creatures started laughing with great puffs of their cheeks. “Don’t be silly,” the one with the crown said. “The minute he hits a rock . . .”
“Or a tree . . .”
“Or a root . . .”
“Or a fish . . .”
“Or even the air, it will pop,” finished the big vodnik. “Them bubbles are fragile. Now, come closer, gal. It’s your turn.”
“But what if he doesn’t know how to swim?”
“Not our problem,” one creature said.
“Guess he’ll learn then, won’t he?” said another, laughing as he reached for Stacia.
“No. Not me,” she insisted. “My cat next.”
“No. No. We are the ones deciding. If you protest, we keep both.”
He started blowing his bubble, and Stacia desperately cried out in her mind to Iriko: What do we do? I don’t know how to save her.
Don’t worry, Red. I’ve got this. Just go.
But without me, how will you see?
I can see from her eyes too.
What? How?
I’m not sure, exactly. But it started down here. When she began crying, I could see from her eyes too. I’ve been switching back and forth to make sure I wasn’t imagining it.
But—
It’s okay, Iriko said. I have an idea. Let me take this one off your shoulders. Go.
Iriko nudged Stacia’s hand and she ran it over his head, squeezing his ear. Just . . . take care of her.
I will. I promise.
Stacia felt the bubble hit the back of her head, and soon it encompassed her just like it had Zakhar.
The burning hit her lungs as the strange liquid evaporated instantly, causing her to cough and her muscles to spasm.
Unlike the priest, she didn’t kneel to watch Iriko and Zima as her bubble began to rise.
Instead, she lifted her weapon and clicked the hidden switch, preparing to pop her escape device the moment she was clear of the vodnik’s trap.
Impatient, she waited, watching as inch by inch the bubble rose out of the membrane, exposing her to the river above.
Wide-eyed fish hurried past her, carried in the wake of the current along with flotsam and debris.
Her vessel rocked, and then finally she was free and rushing along, tumbling head over heels.
Within a moment, the bubble hit the sharp edge of her blade and popped with an ear-numbing blast that sent her down into the cold river.
It took her several moments to get her bearings, and she almost lost her precious walking stick in the process.
Luckily, her bags were tightly tied to her back; otherwise, they, too, would have been lost. She could only hope that Zakhar had been as careful about his things.
If he hadn’t, they might have wasted many of their supplies.
Stacia dragged herself out of the river, squeezing the water out of her tunic and hair and calling out for Zakhar while quickly heading back toward the bridge, which was now far upstream.
It was well past sunset, and as her eyes adjusted, she thought she spied a large rock ahead. But when she neared it, she found it wasn’t a rock at all, but her fallen companion. She knelt and lightly slapped his cheek. “Zakhar. Wake up. Are you okay?” she asked.
He groaned and cracked open his eyes. “I’m alive, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Good. Come on. We’ve got to go back and help Iriko. He has a plan to save Zima.”
“A plan to save Zima? What plan?” he asked as she helped him to his feet and adjusted his pack, picking up items that had slipped out of the bag and tucking them back in.
“But he did save me,” a small voice behind them said. “See? I’m right here.”