Page 65 of Queen of the Night
The canyon walls grow taller, draping us in cool shadows,and I scan the water for the border. It should be ahead. Darvy and Rhosse are already pushing the oars through the water with vicious intensity.Where is the border?Another large thump and the boat nearly capsizes.
“Hold on!” I shout at Vera as I scan the water around us.
I can’t be worried about her falling out of the boat. I see her reach for the edge, but the glossy wood, now slick with gloamy water, is near impossible to grip, and she looks at me, at a loss.
“Hold to me, then!”
The wind blows her hair across her face, hiding her reaction to my command, but she obeys, wrapping her arms around my waist and holding tight. Just as quickly, she screams, and I look down to find a gray tentacle over the side of the boat, wrapped around her thigh and pulling her toward the water.
I reach out to grab her when she lets go of my waist, but she pulls her sword and slices at the tentacle, forcing the monster beneath the water to retract what is left of it and leaving a limp end twitching at our feet. She’s just wrapping her arms around me again when, this time, three tentacles come soaring with a rush of water from the depths of the river. Two target Darvy and Rhosse, forcing them to swap their oars for weapons and allowing the boat to turn and pull more wildly in the force of the river. One swift knock from the right angle, and we’ll all be spilled over the side and devoured by the river demon.
I’m turning to help fight off the two appendages going for Darvy and Rhosse when I feel Vera’s arms tighten around my waist before they begin to slide off again.
“Ikar!” The way she shouts my name pierces my very soul.
I look down to find another tentacle around her legs, dragging her over the side of the boat. Why does it seem likeshe’sthe target?
Well, that and my pack. A tentacle wraps around it andattempts to rip it from my shoulders. I begin to lift from my seat until Darvy jumps forward and chops at the appendage, leaving a second large bit twitching and sliding across the boat.
As soon as I’m free, I waste no time heaving over Vera, who’s still being dragged over the side of the boat, to chop the leg off, dropping a third twitching end in the bottom of our boat. At the same time, another two tentacles latch onto my sword arm and attempt to yank me into the river, pulling my weight onto Vera, who wheezes at the impact. I wince, hoping I haven’t injured her, while my sword drags beneath the boat with the force of the current. I feel the hilt in my grip become slippery in the water.
I’ll not lose my sword.
The slimy chains squeeze my arm, slowing the flow of blood and leaving my grip tingly and weakening. Rhosse swings his axe so close to my arm I feel tingles run across my skin, but the tentacles drop.
I push myself up and help Vera back to sitting, feeling trapped on this tiny boat. We can only be sure of three things if we enter that gloamy water. Either we all get transported to different spots along the river and end up alone and possibly dead before we gain the bank, dragged beneath and eaten by the river demon, or we get captured by the gloam master. None of those options are good.
I search for the border of the nymphs and watch it grow closer. I can see the sparkling lucent part of the river ahead, so close… if we can just get there…
“Almost there!”
I look behind us to find tentacles gliding just beneath the surface, and the mouth of the monster only feet away from the rear of our boat. It waves back and forth as it swims toward us, picking up speed the closer we get to the nymphs. I gauge thedistance to the border, where the water begins to shimmer, then look back to the enemy gaining on us. I have only moments to decide.
“When I say three, jump to the border!” I command.
I have a feeling the river demon isn’t going to simply let us go. Vera looks at me with wild eyes.
“One!”
“But we’re almost there!” Vera shouts.
I can see the blatant refusal in her eyes.
“Two!”
The jaws open wide behind us, casting an even darker shadow, and all eight tentacles rise into the air above us. The distance to the border is iffy for a jump, but it’s our only possibility of survival. I ready myself to grab Vera and toss her if I have to.
Chapter 38
Vera
Isee the look in his eyes before he saysthree. I already know what he’s going to do. I put my hands out to stop him, even as I watch with horror as the slimy tentacles rise in the air behind us and the monster opens its mouth to crash our boat between its teeth.
He swats away my hands, grabs me, and, without hesitation tosses me overboard as he shouts, “three!”
I hear myself screaming, feel the chill air. For a moment, it feels as if I’ve taken flight with Rupi. I squeeze my eyes shut. How could he have possibly thrown me far enough to evade that monster or the gloam river? Where will I end up, and how will I survivealone?
I land with a cold splash, sinking beneath the water while the sounds of the world around me become muted and quiet.
