Page 70 of Vasmora

A distant commotion rang out again, shouts and clanking metal, and the two males darted for the tunnels. The moment they were out of sight, I shifted my attention toward that tunnel behind where the female had once more taken position. In return, she watched the two of us, as if she also silently schemed.

With careful movements, I sliced another cut to my arm, adding fresh blood to the arc that surrounded Melantha, and refreshed the dried blood on her skin.

“I suppose if she comes after me while you’re gone, I can always attempt to lick the blood off my own neck.”

Had I been in a humorous mood, I might’ve laughed at the visual, but my focus remained fixed on that tunnel and where it might possibly lead. “I won’t be long.”

“I won’t blame you if you don’t return.”

“I’ll return.” Urgency chewed at my muscles, and I sprang to my feet, stepping outside the circle of blood. Eyes locked on the female, I rounded the water pool, wondering if she’d chance an attack. With slow and careful steps, I approached, my attention shifting between the massive serpent and that entrance.

Shouts and screams echoed from the caves, and I hastened my pace.

My heart drummed a rhythm of fear against my ribs, my legs shaky and threatening to falter with each step. The serpent hissed and slowly rose to striking position, and the air stuttered out of me as I glanced to the tunnel only a few short meters away.

To my utter confusion, she turned away and lowered herself to cover her eggs.

Frowning, I shot one more glance toward Melantha, still encircled in my blood, and slowly inched my way toward the tunnel.

Once shrouded inside the darkness, I took a moment to catch my breath with long, trembling exhales. The tunnel was only a few meters taller than my height, certainly not large enough to accommodate the fully grown charnelyths, and it carried an overwhelming odor of mineral and decay.

Faint light from the glowing pool behind me illuminated a dark path ahead, the ceiling and floor of the tunnel shrouded in complete blackness. Chills skated down my neck as I stepped carefully along, eyes constantly scanning for movement.

A quiet hissing stopped me in my tracks, and I searched the ceiling and walls for any sign of what it could be.

Nothing.

I kept on, venturing deeper toward the waning light, until I was blindly walking whatever unseen path the tunnel led me along.

The air grew colder. The hissing louder.

My foot struck a hard surface that clanked like metal.

A door?

Through the blackness, I dared to reach out.

My fingertips met the deep ridges of wood, or so I hoped. I ran my hand along the surface and felt cold iron finials and pins, and the knuckle of a hinge.

A door. I dropped to my knees, feeling around for the handle, but recoiled at a sharp prick at the back of my hand.

“Ouch!” Determined, I reached again, fingers searching for a means to open it. I took hold of what felt like a lock and patted my fingertips across the surface for a keyhole. A gaping hole passed beneath my fingers, and I shoved my nail into it, wriggling it around as if I knew how to effectively pick a lock.

If only Aleysia was with me.

After a few moments more of useless tinkering, I pulled my fingernail free. “C’mon, you blasted thing. Open!” I leaned back onto my palms and kicked my feet against it.

The metal rattled again, and a loud hissing followed. I glanced around, blinded to whatever might’ve made the noise. Had it been any other circumstance, I’d have hightailed it out of there, but what awaited me outside of that tunnel likely wasn’t any less of a threat. Again, I kicked the door. And again.

It wouldn’t budge.

A distant scream rang out, and I froze.

Melantha.

Abandoning the door, I clambered to my feet and stumbled my way through the dark, back toward the faint blue light. A quiet clicking at my back raised the hair on my neck, but I ignored it and kept on, hustling toward her. Upon breaching the cave’s entrance, I fixed my gaze toward the opposite side of the pool, where Melantha clutched a protrusion of rock sticking up from the cave floor, the paralysis seeming to have worn off. Her leg was lifted into the air, the serpent’s tongue coiled around her ankle, tugging her out of the circle of blood.

The charnelyth gave one hard yank, and Melantha flew up toward the ceiling, dangling upside down.