Page 24 of Of Serpents and Ruins
We still had what felt like miles to go before we reached Auntie Runa's, the forked hill and spires not seeming any closer than they had been.
I glanced back; my stomach dropped. Why was I even surprised?
The deinonychuses were right on our heels, not even breaking a little. That narrowest lead we'd had when we’d started was fading away with each breath.
Outrunning them was a losing battle. Triceratops could run at around twenty to twenty-five miles per hour, assuming what I’d read was accurate. Deinonychuses could run at the samepace. Now it was about endurance, and these deinonychuses didn't seem to be slowing.
No. They were herding us.
But where?
Ahead of us, the land dipped. We were heading toward a large segment of stone. The terrain up ahead grew rockier, and it looked like it moved into a bowl-like valley with stones all around, forming a wall.
A sharp awareness sliced through me was almost as painful as a real blade, rising up through my gut and flaring through my chest with a powerful weight. I tapped my hand against Buttercup's shoulder and directed her to the other side. Her tail flicked and nearly clipped one of the deinonychuses.
They immediately barked and snarled. The ones on our right quickened their pace, snapping at her side and tail. They didn't like that, hmmm? Well, I didn't like the fact I had no weapons and we were still thundering into the night.
Another glance over my shoulder revealed no trace of Elias or Kine behind us. All I could do was ride. My jaws itched and ached, my arms tightening. It was like I was missing something.
The nearest beast snapped its jaws inches from Buttercup's flank, making her bellow.
"Get away!" I shouted, waving my arm at them. The urge to bite and snap my jaws back flashed through me.
What was that?
The closest two surged in and snapped their jaws at the air like traps, dagger-like teeth clicking loud. The ones on the left started veering away while the two on the right moved in closer. They were trying to herd us toward that rock wall at the base, a jagged line of unyielding stone that would easily trap us and let the deinonychuses split up, with half pinning us to the wall and half getting the high ground.
Up ahead, there was a larger stony outcropping. Beyond that was the river. The outcropping was large and layered, sandy and earth-covered, easily as long as a house. The river behind it was a dark ribbon, snaking across the landscape as the call of the rushing waters grew louder.
Dust and grit filled my mouth, but I hunched down and urged Buttercup away from the easier-to-reach basin and toward the uneven outcropping. If we got close enough, the deinonychuses on our right would have to fall back or get crushed. So long as they didn't get ahead of us, we wouldn't be snared.
Buttercup's trunk-like legs propelled us closer, but the deinonychuses were unrelenting. They snapped and hissed, still trying to force us toward the stone basin. I glanced back again, hoping against hope to see Elias or Kine, but there was no sign of them.
Gritting my teeth, I held on tighter. Buttercup continued at her swift but heavy pace. Her sides heaved in and out with effort. We'd been running too long.
The ground sloped down toward that basin by the rock wall. As she started to veer toward it again, I pressed on her side. That deep flare through my chest intensified, clarifying into an impulse. "No, Buttercup! Not down there."
I clenched my knees into her sides and tugged on her crest, pulling her to the right at a much sharper angle.
With a startled bark, she almost stepped on one of the deinonychuses, but there, just where her feet would have been seconds ago, the ground collapsed inward along a broad track as if a giant mole had been digging. One deinonychus fell in, disappearing from sight. Another staggered and flipped. A third circled back, barking and shrieking as it nudged its fallen comrades.
"Yeah!" Oh! That was amazing. Leaning against her crest, I urged her forward and closer to the outcropping and away from the basin.
Light glinted at the top of the rocky stone wall. Someone was up there. Probably the other members of the assassin team. Whoever killed me would need proof of the deed’s completion.
My heart sank. The two other deinonychuses still raced along behind us.
All at once, Buttercup halted.
The deinonychuses peeled back, chattering and shrieking.
Cold shuddered through my veins.
Buttercup turned from the river and the forked hill and the natural tower Kine had told me to get to. She shook her head and huffed, halting by a granite rock formation. A short distance away were clusters of termite mounds looking like ancient altars and icons. The moonlight was dimmer now, lengthening the haunting shadows.
"What's wrong, baby girl?" I leaned against her crest and rose up on my knees. Even though I asked, I felt it too. What wasit,though?
Something was wrong.
