Page 31 of Trapped By Claws
My stomach soured, nerves tightening.
Tagger chirped again, softer this time. He remained alert.
Swallowing hard, I turned in a circle, glancing around for any trace of the crab. The weak, shimmering light of the pale-blue orb revealed nothing but shining stone and cracked rocks. Shadows pressed in all around, but behind me the passage narrowed until it was barely wide enough for two people to pass through side by side.
I clicked my tongue at Tagger, forgetting for a moment that he wasn't one of the hunting otters. But he glanced up at me and responded as if he recognized the command to fall back.
Smart boy.
There had to be another way to the surface.
My instincts warned me that the crab was likely to come after us again. We hadn't seen the last of it.
The walls of the passage narrowed and bulged, forming a strange reverse bottle shape at the top. But the crab would have a tight fit getting through to me.
Then I remembered. There had been another branching passage farther back. A little narrower with a lower ceiling.
My ears strained.
Something loud clattered and collapsed like a shifting pile of rocks. I jumped back, almost losing my grip on the crowbar.
Was there a rock slide?
Tagger raced behind me.
Dust puffed into the circle of light, chalky and unpleasant. I fanned it away as I moved back. No rocks appeared before them though. The deafening roar soon ended with a few clattering notes.
"What was that?" I murmured, staring into the darkness. Was it possible that the crab had been crushed?
I swallowed hard.
No.
No, that would be too easy.
My nerves tightened.
It was still watching us, wasn't it?
Tagger tilted his head back, then sent out a loud, trilling shriek.
I sprang back toward him, half expecting him to be pierced. But the spearing blow struck where I had just been—from above.
My eyes widened.
The massive crab was on the ceiling!
How had it gotten up there?
It released its hold.
I scrambled back, dropping the sock and dragging Tagger with me as the crab dropped down, landing with a heavy thud. Its multitude of eyes swung towards us, claws snapping menacingly.
The uneven tunnel offered little room to maneuver.
Stalactites hung like daggers above and rock formations jutted out to form precious protection. The crowbar hung heavy. I swung it around and dodged behind a rock formation as the crab slashed at me with the sharper of its claws. The metal struckthe claw, sending painful vibrations through me as the crab darted back. It shook its whole body in rage, making its carapace clatter. Then it lunged.
Dropping back, I ducked under a column of stone.
