Page 115 of The Last One
I feel thenothingdrawing near.Shit. I fling out my hands. An explosion of blue wind ricochets around the cave walls.
Battaby wings flap—but I don’t know if that’s because the creatures are thrashing or my wind has disrupted their lifeless bodies. Somewhere ahead of me, dung splatters to the ground in wet bursts. Battaby crap is the least of my worries because now, I see…
Eyes redder than blood. Shiny eyes the size of saucers. Eyes way…up…there. A blue glow that can’t possibly be moves outward from its body. This creature’s wingspan is as wide as six worktables placed side by side, and the beast stands half of that.
And now, Ifeelit. Invisible waves pushing and filling my head, wave after wave, no break. I grip Little Lava tighter.
This creature is too big to live in this cave and too big to be a battaby.
My dagger is pointless. I can’t kill this thing with a knife. Maybe I should just run—
Before I can move, though, thisthingemits a sound as light as a robin’s tweet but strong enough to drop me to my knees. I fight to hold my head up and to keep the rest of my body from slamming into the dung-thick earth. My teeth click, my tongue twists, and I taste blood. I struggle to one knee, then fling out my hands.
The air crackles and sparks bluer than before.
The creature shrieks, but this isn’t a war cry. It sounds like pain.
Did I hurt it? I scramble to my feet on pulpy legs. Wobbling, I crane my neck to see the beast’s head. But I can’t see anything. Not even a glow.
Why not? Where is it? Is it dead?
I spit blood into the dirt, wipe my chin. A voice in my head whispers, “Tongue. Clicks. Remember.” I shake my head. No, I don’t remember.Tongue. Clicks. Remember.I don’t want to, but I squeeze my eyes shut and force my mind to sift through the indistinguishable grains of sand that is now my memory.
A cliff! A mountain surrounded by a churning green sea. I’m standing near,no, standing on the very edge of a rock jutting from a solid wall of stone. My hand is stretched before me, reaching for…
Don’t know.Wait. I do know. I open my eyes and swallow, but my mouth is dry. I turn my head to the right, place my tongue against the roof of my mouth and…Click-click… Click-click… Click-click…
Echoes.
The creature is not to my right.
Who taught me this? Why was I standing on a cliff? Who was I reaching out to?
I turn my head to the left.Click-click… Click—
Wind whips across my face. The cave’s stench envelops me, and I wobble again. Don’t know if this blast was made by the beast’s wings or from some other source deep in these rocks. I take a moment to steady myself, then turn my head again to the left and click my tongue twice.Click… Click…
No echoes. My clicks stop as though they hit a wall.
I swing my dagger to the left, sweet and low. Feeling the oncoming sweep of wind, I duck before the beast’s wings touch me. I shout, “No,” and I thrust out the knife—and hit something hard. I throw out my free hand again and again and again, throwing bursts of wind one after the other after the other.
The creature shrieks loud and long, louder each time a tempest from my hand hits it.
The cave shudders.
The beast’s shrieking stops, but my ears continue to ring from its high-pitched cry. Those bloodred eyes hang above me, unblinking. Leathery wings, a tapered snout, two scaly horns, and razor-sharp fangs. Green blood trickles from its massive leg and pools in the dirt.
What in therealms?
I can see it even in this dark.Why can I see it?
The beast cries again, and that cry resounds through the cavern, a mournful sound that shakes the earth beneath my boots. The creature takes one step toward me and falls forward, crashing like a felled tree to the ground.Bam!The ground shakes again, moments away from opening and swallowing up all of Vallendor.
What did I do? Was it the wind? Did I kill it?
I can feel the creature’s life force ebbing in the dark like icy water running through my veins. The creature’s colossal presence diminishes with every labored breath it draws. It’s not moving. I stow my dagger and draw Fury from the scabbard. The sword feels heavy in my grip but still ready and capable of ending the reign of this terrible abomination. I creep toward the creature, the sound of its wheezing growing louder the closer I come.
The beast remains still.
