AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I wrapped my arms around myself and my eyes flitted over the dark shadows that surrounded us. “Have I ever mentioned how I’m not sure this is a good idea?”
Ben grinned. “Once before, and I swear nothing will happen.”
“Until we get home?”
“That’s a promise too far.”
My shoulder slumped and I sighed. “You can’t blame a girl for trying. . .”
His eyes twinkled at me. “I expect more faith from my fiancé.”
I snorted. “You have a funny way of proposing to a girl. Most guys just get on their knees, but you have me kidnapped and stuck into neck-deep trouble.”
“I am nothing if not original.”
“And not paying attention to the ‘road,’” I added as I nodded at the way ahead of us. “It looks like the river isn’t going to cooperate.”
Ben looked at where I indicated and frowned. The road veered rightward and part of it disappeared beneath the dark waters of the river. I was glad for my first good look at the waters, but the circumstances proved to spoil the sight. The swift speed of the water rushed past us and lapped hard at the earth, daring us to drive so dangerously close to its wet maw.
Ben slowed our qisa and the wheels on my side of the wagon dipped into the waters. I grabbed the sideboard as the wagon rocked to and fro against the current. My heart pounded in my chest as Ben’s tense expression told me all I needed to know about his opinion of the situation.
I glanced at the dark waters and swallowed the lump in my throat. “There isn’t anything in the waters that’s dangerous, is there? I mean, besides drowning.”
“Nothing that I know of.”
That’s when a dozen tentacles shot out of the water and far above our heads.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
A scream escapedboth the qasi and me as I scrambled leftward. One of the slender, squishy arms whipped toward me and wrapped around my right arm. I flailed in its grasp as I was lifted off the seat and pulled toward the water. A pair of huge glowing golden eyes stared hungrily at me from those dark depths.
“Millie!” I heard Ben shout before I was drawn into the river.
The cold water roused my fighting spirit, and I managed to wrap myself around my captor before biting down hard on its slick flesh. The tendril trembled and its grip loosened. I pulled myself out and kicked hard toward the faint glimmer that was on the surface.
Another tendril shot out and wrapped around my waist. I thrashed in its hold, but that didn’t stop it from dragging me back down. I twisted around and beheld the huge face, but there was something horribly wrong with it. The features shifted around and nothing appeared solid. The hideous brown color of its flesh resembled the muck at the bottom of the river, as if it had risen from the depths of rot.
The creature resembled an octopus, but in place of a flat face there was a mouth with two rows of sharp teeth made from driftwood. The forehead was sloped and those terrible eyes were sunken into the sockets. The effect was like looking at a skeleton.
Something dark shot past me and I let out a strangled gasp as I recognized Ben’s black Thief attire. He didn’t have his wings, but his dark clothing billowed out behind him as he swam through the water like a fish. One of the tendrils slipped toward him, but he sliced the water and cut the tendril clear through. The creature let loose a horrible echoing scream that grated on my ears.
Ben continued on his trajectory and he slammed his shoulder into one of the creature’s eyes. The thing recoiled and I was again freed. Ben kicked off against the creature’s body and darted over to me. He wrapped an arm around my waist and together we kicked our way through the flailing tendrils and up to the surface.
I let out a gasp as air flooded my starved lungs. Ben drew us over to the empty bank and practically carried me out of the water. The cart was nowhere to be seen as he led me into the woods where he set me down with my back against a tree some ten yards from the river.
He knelt in front of me and searched my face. “Are you alright?”
I spat out some water before I nodded. “Y-yeah, thanks to you.”
He didn’t quite believe my wheezing reply and began to look me over. “Nothing broken?”
I drew my hair back and sputtered out some more of the water and muck. “I’m fine, but what the hell was that?”
Ben looked over his shoulder and scowled at the shimmering water. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anything bigger than fish in these waters.” He slipped his arms beneath me and lifted me into his arms before he stood. “But we should hurry on before we discover any other new inhabitants.”
I didn’t even try to tease Ben about hefting me around. The episode had left me exhausted and with our ride gone, the only way left to us was on foot. That wasn’t too much of a problem, however, as the road thinned some hundred yards further down to a point where the vehicle would have been useless.
I warily eyed the waters as Ben, too, kept half his attention on the river. “You think it’s a coincidence the river suddenly has a very angry resident just as everything else is going to hell?” I asked him.
