Black & White Croakies

by Sam Cheever

  The eerie light I’d noticed in the vertical tunnel glowed softly from the formations and along the ground near the rock walls.

  A high-pitched cackle brought my head up as Hobs swung past on a thick, hairy-looking vine and let go, flying through the air until he snagged a second vine and swung off into the shadows. “Hobs! Come down here. You have no idea what you’re going to run into up there.”

  A beat later, he reappeared high above Grym’s head, a thick, scaly vine clutched in his spidery fingers.

  Slanted silver eyes glowered down at me as the “vine” uncoiled from a formation of rock and landed with a meaty “thump” right behind Grym. Hobs flew away with a gleeful sound as the snake hit the ground, rolling across the mossy floor.

  “Watch out!” I screamed as the monstrous reptile struck, fangs as long as my hands slamming into the ground inches from Grym.

  The snake’s muscular body retracted, its head lifting off the ground, and it snapped toward Hobs, venom dripping from its terrifying fangs.

  “Run!” I screamed.

  Grym reached over and snagged a giggling Hobs around the waist, turning to run.

  The snake slammed its huge form down in front of them, cutting off their escape. In desperation, I picked up the biggest rock I could find and hurtled toward the monster, the rock poised above my head for maximum damage.

  Grym dove to the side, flinging Hobs ahead of him and rolling as the snake struck again, fangs snapping like a junkyard dog.

  Grym grunted in pain and I panicked, flinging the rock toward the snake’s meaty coil.

  It hit and bounced, pinging off into the shadows.

  For a beat, I thought the snake was going to ignore my measly assault, but then its head snapped up, and the terrifying silver gaze slid in my direction.

  A disgusting forked tongue slid out on an aggressive hiss.

  I just stood there, immobilized with terror.

  “Naida!” Grym yelled. He threw another rock at the monster, scoring a hit on its thick body. The thing’s head whipped around, tail lifting as it considered striking at Grym.

  “Run!” Grym screamed again.

  And then it was too late. The thick, meaty body lashed out, wrapping around me before I could move away, and I was suddenly screaming as it yanked me toward the impenetrable shadows above.

  Grym took a running leap and hit the snake just below the head, too near the snapping jaws for the fangs to find him. He wrapped his big body around the thick snake and held on as it whipped back and forth, trying to shake him off.

  My stomach roiled as I was whipped back and forth with him, my brain sloshing painfully around in my skull.

  In desperation, I pounded on the thing’s coils, digging my nails into it in the hopes it would let me go. But I was like a mosquito trying to bite into a rhinoceros’ hide.

  A pale, skinny form whipped past and Hobs cackled gleefully as he flew over the snake and disappeared down the other side.

  The crazy hobgoblin was playing while Grym and I fought for our lives.

  A beat later, he flew past again, grinning widely at me as he rode the vine he was clutching over the snake again.

  That’s when it finally sank in. I looked at the vines twisting around the mammoth reptile’s thick form and realized what Hobs was doing.

  “Grym!” I yelled, jerking my head toward Hobs as he flew past once more, cackling happily.

  Grym nodded and redoubled his efforts to keep the snake distracted. With its attention focused in three different directions, the snake’s coils loosened slightly around my body.

  I struggled to get free of them, knowing it would probably be an ugly and painful dismount if I did.

  But the alternative was even uglier. I’d rather be bruised and sore than become snake kibble.

  “Yippee!” Hobs screamed as he flew past the snake’s head, barely avoiding the snapping jaws. His momentum swung him around the head like a lasso, the thick, hairy vine wrapping around the jaw and finally sealing it shut.

  Grym wasted no time climbing toward the snout and, with a nod toward Hobs, rearing back and punching the snake right between the eyes.

  Hobs released the vine and flew toward me, picking up another hanging vine on his way. He landed on the coils close to me as the snake’s head wobbled a few times, and it started to fall.

  “Grab hold, Miss,” the hobgoblin screamed. I wrapped my arms around him and my legs around the vine as the coil released me, and we slid rapidly toward the ground.

  Grym slid down the snake’s body and leaped sideways before he was crushed beneath it.

  He crawled to his feet and looked at us. “Everybody all right?”

  I nodded, panting from adrenaline. “We’re fine.”

  “Good.” Grym pointed to a dark break in the rock wall that I hadn’t noticed before. “We need to get out of here. I’ve been looking around, and that looks like the only potential way out.”

  I narrowed my gaze on the dark opening. “How do you know it leads out?”

  Grym took a final look at the snake and started toward the cave. “I don’t. But we’re lean on choices. And we need to get away from that thing.”

  Hobs shot past, eager for the next adventure. I fell into step with Grym. I wanted to argue. To tell him the chances of that small opening giving us a way out were slim to none. And to tell him I was worried that we would run into something even worse than the giant snake. But I didn’t say any of those things.

  Because Grym was right. The opening was a chance. Probably the only one we had.

  And I’d rather keep moving forward than stand still and give up.

  Especially when standing still meant dealing with the monstrous snake that was already starting to wake up behind us.

  19

  Holy Goddess on a Thigh Master!

  The air in the tunnel felt strange. Almost alive against my skin. The walls shimmered with something I couldn’t quite see. The constant movement was making me jumpy.

  And then there were the voices.

  “Did you hear that?” I asked Grym.

  He sent me a twitchy gaze, the shadows filling the curves and hollows of his handsome face and making them appear sharper, harder.

  Like his gargoyle form.

  “There’s a low murmur,” he agreed after a moment. “Like voices. But I can’t understand anything they’re saying.”

  I nodded in agreement.

  Hobs was walking beside me, his spidery fingers wrapped tightly around mine. That alone was enough to give me the heebie-jeebies. The hobgoblin was never afraid.

  The green squish wearing the tiny six-shooters was clutched in one of my hands, peeing and goddess knew what else on my palm. Occasionally he gave a soft, strangled-sounding croak to remind me that he wasn’t happy there.

  We rounded a tight curve and something flashed past, cold moisture seeping through my skin at its touch.

  I jumped and shuddered. “Was that a ghost?”

  Hobs wrapped himself around me, all but climbing my leg.

  Grym didn’t respond. His gaze was scouring the tunnel, his muscles taut. Had he gotten bigger?

  The sharp scent of ozone filled my nostrils and I sneezed. Beneath my feet, the ground felt suddenly spongy and soft. It rolled away from my sensible flats like waves on the beach, making it hard to keep my balance.

  A hiss slid through the tunnel, along with a shooshing sound that sounded all too much like an enormous snake slithering along the passage behind us.

  In unspoken agreement, we picked up the pace, nearly running through the strange passageway.

  The walls of the passage pulsed around us. Slithery white forms oozed in and out of the rock, sliding over us and leaving behind a cold sliminess that dripped along our skin. Hobs was shivering so hard my teeth were clacking from his quaking.

  Okay, maybe the clacking teeth were from my own shivering. But I was a frog’s hair away from giving in to my fear and assuming the fetal position in a corner.

 
If I could only find a corner.

  I shoved my shoulders straight, digging deep in the search for my spine. If I didn’t stay strong, I’d be drooling on myself and babbling incoherently in the blink of an eye.

  Grym threw out an arm that felt like a mini-rock wall and I made an “umph” sound as I slammed into it. “Don’t move,” he whispered, his gaze locked on the tunnel ahead of us.

  I followed his gaze and sucked in a gasp.

  The floor of the tunnel was still moving. I’d almost gotten used to that. Unfortunately, the cause of the movement was no longer indiscernible.

  “Are those…” I swallowed hard. “…snakes?”

  Holy goddess on a thigh master! Drooling, gibberish-laden fetal position, here I come!

  Hobs made a small sound of terror and I was suddenly wearing him like a scarf. I hunched my shoulders against the pain of pulled hair and lifted Slimy to my face. I wasn’t sure why I lifted him, but elevation seemed just the thing when one had a friend who was a frog in a room full of snakes.

  “Grym…”

  He quaked…a violent quiver that ran from his head to his toes. His arm against my belly felt like rock.

  I looked down. It was rock! “Grym, you shifted!”

  He looked down too, holding his blocky, rock hands in front of his face. Frowning thoughtfully, he said, “Apparently, our magic works down here.”

  I didn’t hesitate, flinging out a hand, I sent a ribbon of Keeper magic into the tunnel, and was rewarded by an immediate chime.

  A beat later, something flew down the tunnel, heading right for me. I started to duck, not having any hands free to catch it, but Grym’s big hand shot up and he caught the bag before it collided with my face.

  He held the small, gold clutch in front of me. “Well, at least you’ll be dressed for success.”

  I sighed. “Why can’t I ever get anything useful when I use my magic?”

  Grym chuckled. “The good thing is that rock is impermeable to snake fangs.” He eyed Hobs. “Let me take him and the frog through. Then I’ll come back for you.”

  I nodded, handing him the frog.

  Trickle, trickle, trickle.

  The gargoyle grimaced. “Ugh!”

  Sorry man. I’m scared.

  Grym and I shot Slimy a look. He’d spoken!

  I smiled. “I heard you!”

  The frog shifted slightly on Grym’s palm. There’s magic in this place, he told us. Not like up above.

  His words spurred a niggling thought that I couldn’t quite grasp. “Can you look ahead and see what kind of magic is waiting for us?” I asked the little green guy.

  There’s a mix, He said. Good magics and really bad energy. It’s all mixed up. Like somebody opened a hole in the earth and dumped it all down here together.

  I looked at Grym. That was exactly what had happened. The artifact had stripped everybody’s magic, along with their ability to defend themselves, and dumped it in the caverns where we stood.

  It was a thought that needed further exploration. But first we had to get out of that snake-filled tunnel.

  “Are those snakes real?” Grym asked the frog.

  They look real to me, sayeth the frog. And those aren’t normal snakes. They’re fast and agile. They can jump.

  Judging by the bulging aspect of his black eyes, I believed him.

  The hiss behind us slid through the tunnel like a physical presence, still a distance away but closing the gap too quickly. In front of us, the writhing mass of undulating snakiness grew more agitated, the tendrils of the mass slithering out in different directions, like an ugly slinking star.

  Several of them were headed for us.

  I swallowed hard, one part of my brain locked on the sough, sough, soughing of a heavy reptile form sliding through the curves of the passageway behind us. “Get Hobs and Slimy out,” I told Grym. “I’ll see what I’ve got in this bag that might help me.”

  Brave words, spoken in a breathy, terrified voice that hadn’t fooled anybody.

  Grym wrapped his rocky fingers around my arm, squeezing more gently than I’d have thought possible with such digits. He lowered his head and looked down on me with a warm, caramel gaze. “I’ll be back for you, Naida. I promise.”

  I nodded, not really believing him, and stepped away, forcing him to move. “Go.”

  It took a bit to unclench Hobs from my leg. He looked up at me with a terrified blue gaze. “You come too, Miss.”

  I reached out and tugged on the light brown hair that spiked adorably from between his oversized ears. Somewhere along the line, not too surprisingly, the little guy had lost his cowboy hat. “I’ll be right behind you, buddy. I promise.”

  My throat closed on that promise. I wasn’t sure if it was a lie. Or if I’d really find a way to get to them before the monster behind me or the pile of mini-monsters in front of me made their move.

  I looked away as Grym plucked him from my leg and tucked him against his side, one arm holding him under the bum like a toddler. “Be careful,” I told them.

  Handing Slimy to Hobs, Grym didn’t move for a moment, his big body a warm, solid comfort inches away.

  I looked up into his face, seeing the fear reflected in his gaze, and reached for him, my hand finding his cheek and pressing. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Maybe I could carry you too.”

  I was tempted but I thought about how heavy Hobs was. He looked small and wiry but in the way of magical things, his weight was deceptive. And Grym was going to need a hand free to fight off snakes. I shook my head. “No. That wouldn’t work. Go. I’ll be fine.” I held up the artifact I’d called. “This is here for a reason. Maybe it’s got something that will help us get out of here. I’ll be right behind you, I promise.”

  Grym pressed his cheek against my palm and sighed. “I’ll be back as fast as I can.”

  I nodded.

  He turned away and headed for the mass of writhing snakes. I shuddered at the sight of them all slithering out to attack. Hobs hid his face in Grym’s shoulder and Slimy croaked in alarm.

  My pulse shot sky-high with worry for them.

  Several snakes flew off the ground and hit Grym’s chest, fangs snapping toward Hobs and Slimy.

  Grym’s free hand snatched them off his chest and slammed them against the wall, kicking out at the next group of attacking reptiles and rushing through the opening he’d created.

  In desperation, I tugged the small bag open and looked inside, hoping it was one of those never-ending stuff purses. I’d picked up one of those recently in a neutral dimension, and it had come in handy fighting off demons.

  However, all the little purse contained was a single, folded tissue, a small flashlight, and a key. I reached inside and grabbed the key, pulling it out to examine. It was one of those old-fashioned skeleton keys, as long as my hand and heavy. The metal was tarnished almost to black and felt warm against my palm.

  A sibilant sound danced through the funky passage and ice formed on my spine. The snake was coming. It sounded close.

  I turned toward the spot in the passage where Grym had been. He and his passengers were gone. Unfortunately, not all the snakes had followed them down the tunnel.

  They writhed along the floor en masse, and they were even more agitated than before. With a collective hiss of rage, the whole mess of the things boiled toward me, tongues tasting the air. Angry hissing tugged the small hairs up along my arms.

  In desperation, I swung out a hand and sent my power into them, a dull silver wash of energy that shot from my fingers with more power than I’d expected, no doubt fueled by my fear.

  The energy hit the first wave of snakes and yanked them off the ground, spinning them on the air. As I swung my arm, the magic slammed them against the wall as Grym had done.

  The next wave split up, coming at me from several directions at once. It would be harder to stop them all at once, leaving the ones I missed to attack while I was busy.

  Smart snakes. Just my luck.

&nb
sp; Regurgitated Reptile spit!

  I painted the floor with my energy, giving it everything I had as they bubbled and writhed inside the deadly silver wave.

  To my great relief, the rest of the snakes retreated, slithering around the curve in the passageway and disappearing.

  Hopefully, Grym and the kids were well along the passage and beyond their threat.

  I stood there a long moment, trying to see into the shadows ahead to see if it was safe for me to pass.

  The light was too dull. The shadows too deep.

  Inspiration struck. I reached into the purse I was still clutching like a lifeline and pulled out the small flashlight. I turned it on and slid it along the spot where the snakes had been. There was movement on the edges of the arc of light, but no snakes appeared in the illuminated area.

  I took a deep breath and released it, trying to relax. I stood there a moment, considering whether I wanted to move forward or wait for Grym.

  The coward in me wanted to wait.

  My pride told me I needed to save myself. I didn’t need the gargoyle to save me.

  Not much anyway.

  A cool, meaty scent slid over me, spiking the hairs on the back of my neck. Dread and sudden realization made me go perfectly still.

  I listened, scented the air, and felt the magic biting gently against my skin.

  A wisp of my hair blew away from my cheek, the breeze smelling like a butcher shop.

  Shoosh, shoosh, shoosh…

  The soft shooshing sound made me close my eyes as terror turned my limbs to lead. “No, no, no, no…” I whispered softly, knowing what I’d see when I turned.

  Something dripped to the ground behind me. The soft plop of liquid splashed acid against my bare ankle.

  Agony seared through my flesh where the drop burned. I forced myself not to move, certain I’d be dead if I did.

  Clutching the tiny flashlight between my fingers, I took a deep breath, said a prayer to the goddess that I’d survive the next few seconds, and slowly turned, stabbing the darkness with the bright arc of the flash.