Chapter 40 #2
Raine took off sprinting, ignoring the shouts of his friends. He had to reach her, had to hurry. Steps pounded behind him as they followed. He reached the entrance, when a strong hand grabbed his shoulder and slammed him into the wall.
“Take a moment and calm yourself,” Casimir ordered.
White hot rage shot through Raine as he glared at his friend. “I won’t lose her,” he snarled. I won’t lose her like I lost Finnick. Not again. Please, not again.
Casimir’s eyes bored into his. “I know. But if you go dashing in there without a plan, you’ll get her killed. Take five seconds.”
“If you don’t release me right now, I’ll break your fucking nose.” He’d never been so angry, almost couldn’t control it.
Casimir pushed him harder into the wall, his forearm pressing against Raine’s chest. “Take a deep breath. Right now,” he ordered.
Raine growled at him.
“Listen to me.” Casimir’s voice softened. “I know what you’re feeling. But please, trust me. If you can’t stay calm, you’ll put her in greater danger.”
Ava stepped forward, grasping Raine’s hand. “He’s right. We’ll get her back. I promise. Just breathe.”
Raine glanced in between his friends, swallowing hard. After a moment, he nodded, taking several breaths, at last gaining control of his emotions. Casimir stepped back, releasing him with a reassuring clap on his shoulder.
“I peeked into the cavern a few seconds ago. It’s not eating her,” Ava whispered. “It seems like it’s…waiting.”
“What do you mean, waiting? Is she okay?”
“She’s unconscious. It set her down and went to another part of the chamber. It looks like this is where it brings its prey. Maybe to save for later?”
Raine clenched and unclenched his fists, taking another breath. “What now?”
“We enter quietly,” Casimir said. “The ceiling is high enough that I can use gravity on the monster, but I doubt I’ll be able to keep it in the air for long.
You and Ava will need to get beneath it and use your weapons on its belly.
We may not be able to kill it, but if we can injure it so it can’t chase after us, that should be enough. ”
“And then?”
“We grab Maeryn and get out of this place.”
Raine unsheathed his sword. “Let’s go.”
They crept into the chamber. It was larger than Raine expected, with plenty of room for them to maneuver. Off to one side, was a mound of ivory, porous debris.
Bones.
Hundreds of skeletons sat in a pile, leftover from the animal’s meals. And curled up on top of the ribs and skulls and spines, was the Jarǒuki’i.
Raine scanned the room. Maeryn was unconscious, but breathing. She looked so small and helpless as she lay there. He shook with the restraint it took not to rush over to her, but she was too close to the creature. He couldn’t risk it.
Casimir crept forward, raising his arms. Ava unsheathed her sword. “Ready?” Casimir whispered.
He began to glow, concentrating on manipulating the gravity around the monster without affecting the rest of the room.
Raine had always been fascinated by his friend’s astral magic, though he rarely used it.
While powerful, astral magic was much more draining than earth abilities—requiring significant concentration and strength—and if Casimir wasn’t careful, he’d use too much and weaken, requiring him to rest and sleep it off.
The animal writhed as it floated a foot off the ground, angry at being disturbed. Its pincers clicked together with ire, tossing its head and flailing.
“Higher, Cas!” Raine called.
“I’m trying. It’s heavier than I expected!”
Casimir’s arms trembled, raising it high enough for Ava and Raine to get beneath. Raine lunged, impaling it between two segments of its body, Ava doing the same a little further down its length.
Blood seeped from its wounds, but it didn’t stop flailing, and didn't appear to be weakening at all.
“Again!” Raine yelled.
They repeated their motions, slicing and cutting wherever they could find purchase. The monster trembled, beginning to descend, then rose again, Casimir’s magic stuttering.
“Move!” Casimir yelled, unable to keep it aloft any longer.
They darted away before the animal came crashing down, the bones crunching and scattering as they flew across the cavern from the impact. Ava cried out as a shard of bone impaled her shoulder.
Casimir ran for the creature, but it wheeled around, its tail slamming into him. He flew across the room, hit the wall, and crumpled to the ground.
Ava screamed.
Raine sprinted forward, sliding on his knees underneath the belly of the beast as he used his sword to slice off several legs. But it hardly affected the animal—the damned thing had hundreds more.
Sensing Raine below, it slammed one of its sharp legs into the ground. Raine rolled away before he was impaled. He sliced off three more appendages, but that only angered it further. Dodging another attempt from the animal, he ran to the opposite side of the cavern, trying to come up with a plan.
Ava was on her knees, trying to help Casimir up, and Maeryn was still unconscious.
Using his magic, Raine tried trapping the animal, weaving roots in between its feet in hopes it would hold it in place long enough to injure it.
“Ava!” Raine shouted. “Help me hold it!”
On their feet again, Ava and Casimir joined Raine in tangling the creature’s legs together. It worked. Raine ran forward, sword raised, when its head turned faster than he could dodge, lunging with its pincers.
Searing pain burst across his face. He stumbled to the ground with a yelp, his sword falling from his grip. Blood poured down his face, the warm liquid dripping into his left eye.
He couldn’t see out of the left side. Oh gods, he couldn’t see.
He groaned, scrambling for his bow off his back, but between the throbbing in his face and the blood in his eye, he was disoriented. Seconds later, Ava was at his side, dragging him away.
Casimir leaped forward and grasped one of the creature’s legs. With a bellow, the whole cavern glowed as he poured the entirety of his magic into the creature.
It thrashed and squirmed, attempting to escape the searing heat Raine could feel on his face. The carapace turned black, brittle, and fell to the ground in a pile of ash.
The cavern was silent, the sounds of their breaths hovering in the air as the three of them panted through their exhaustion.
“We need to get out of here,” Ava said.
“Maeryn…” Raine groaned.
“I’m here,” an accented voice spoke from his left.
She was awake. He met her gaze as she knelt in front of him. Ignoring the thumping in his head, he cupped her face. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Let me look at your face.”
But she didn’t look fine. Her normally bright complexion was pale and she seemed to sway, even as she knelt. “Maeryn,” he began, but she cut him off.
“I will look at your injury first, captain.” Her tone left no room for argument.
She inspected his face, her fingers tracing his brow, then down his cheek. He winced at the sting of the wound. Maeryn opened his eye, carefully evaluating it.
“I do not think it caught your eye. You just can’t see because of the blood. We shall address this on the surface, yes?”
“Yes,” he replied, rising and squinting through the burning sensation.
Ava helped Casimir up, draping his arm over her shoulder to support him. Drenched in sweat and pale, he was unsteady on his feet, the use of magic taking its toll.
Raine walked toward the tunnels when Maeryn lurched and stumbled. He steadied her, his gut twisting in concern.
“I’m fine. I just hit my head.” She tried to wave him off.
But she couldn’t walk straight and continued to stumble, sweat on her brow. Raine scooped her up, blinking through the blood, and carried her out of the cavern.
“This is unnecessary,” she stated.
“No arguing.”
“You are injured.”
“So are you.”
He strode on, Ava and Casimir behind them. They reached the entrance of the trap, Raine informing Sabriel they were ready. Vines appeared through the hole in the ceiling. Raine created his own, wrapping them around himself and Maeryn, connected them to Gisela’s, and tugged.