His head spinning, Gabriel pressed his hand against the ache. Both his eyes—thank the gods—were still in his head. He must have woken when Jasy Jatere was trying to gouge them out.
Kerina!
Gabriel shot to his feet and struck his head against a low ceiling.
He cursed under his breath. Now his vision wasn’t just swimming, it was blending into shades of nauseating yellow. He staggered forward, but stumbled over something small and soft. He fell to the ground, and pain jolted through his knees.
He twisted around. “Kerina?”
She was still unconscious, but her breath was even, and he did not appear to have hurt her when he tripped over her. And her eyes—a relieved sigh sagged out of Gabriel. She still had her eyes.
A distant howl whispered on a breath of wind. “Ao ao ao!”
Gabriel froze. Damn it! Jasy Jatere must have brought Kerina and him to Ao Ao. For food…
I guess we now know which one of those stories were true.
Crouching low to avoid striking his head again, he searched the small section of caves, but found only human skeletons slumped against walls, their skulls frozen in grinning grimaces. There was no way out but through one barred door. He pushed hard, but the large, sturdy sticks wedged between the roof of the cave and the ground refused to give way.
“Ao ao ao!”
It sounded closer.
He glanced over his shoulder. Kerina was still unconscious. Surely there was something in her pouch of dried flowers, leaves, and roots that could wake her up, but he could not have known what—wait, hadn’t she said something about the yerba mate plant? Something about how Jasy Jatere put his victims to sleep even though the yerba mate plant did the opposite?
His fingers were numb as much from cold as from fear as he reached between the bars of the makeshift cage. His cheek pressed up against the wooden bars as he scrabbled in the soil, trying to dig up the spindly plant growing near the cave, just out of his reach.
“Ao ao ao!”
Curses wrung into incoherent tangles in his head. He lunged as far as he could. His fingers grasped the tips of leaves, and he clenched his fist around them, yanking hard. All he managed to get was a few broken leaves, but he hoped they would be enough.
He had nothing else.
Gabriel waved the leaves near Kerina’s nose.
Nothing. She didn’t even twitch.
“Kerina, please.” He shook her gently. “We have to get out of here.”
Still nothing.
“Ao ao ao!”
This time, the sound came directly from outside the cave.
Gabriel turned slowly. His vision was a blur, but it was not enough to conceal the monstrous bulk of the creature on the other side of the bars. It looked like a sheep Gabriel had seen wandering through Kerina’s yard, but it was larger than a walrus. Its white wool appeared tangled, studded with bristles and thorns it had picked up, except for around its mouth.
That wool was stained crimson and stank of blood. Its fangs, at least a foot long, glistened red even in the dim light.
Gabriel took a step back. Ao Ao stepped forward, maintaining the distance between them. Despite its sheep-like appearance, there was nothing ovine or stupid about its eyes. The monster was no unthinking, hungry carnivore. The human intelligence in its eyes—it was, after all, part human—was more terrifying than its fangs.
Kerina’s soft moan spun Gabriel around. He rushed back to her side, trying to conceal her from Ao Ao’s fixed gaze. The creature paced outside the bars of the cave, its every step trembling with hungry impatience.
It threw its head back and howled. “Ao ao ao!”
Kerina sat up and brushed the yerba mate leaves away from her nose. “Gabriel?” Her voice was soft. She still sounded groggy. “Where are—”
“Shhh.” He placed his finger against her lips, and she stilled against him. “We’re in a cage.”
She blinked up at him. Fear and terror slowly seeped into her eyes. “A…cage?” She leaned to look past him. “What’s that? Is that…”
“Ao Ao.”
Kerina’s eyes narrowed. “He looks mean and hungry. Are those wooden bars any good at keeping him out?”
“So far, but I think they’re meant for keeping us in. I can’t move them, but I don’t know if he can.”
A distant sound, like someone running through the brush, whipped Ao Ao’s attention away.
The ungainly creature bounded off, howling, “Ao ao ao!”
“There’s got to be a way out of here,” Kerina said. She rose to her feet but staggered against Gabriel.
He caught her, steadied her. Fighting down panic, he asked, “Are you all right?”
“Just…tired. I’m having trouble waking up.” She slumped back down. Her head sagged against his chest, and her eyes closed again.
Damn it. He had to get her out.
He lowered Kerina gently to the ground then reexamined the wooden bars. They were too thick to cut through; not that he had anything to cut with except the small blade Kerina used to mince herbs for her concoctions. He traced the grooves in the dirt and in the rock ceiling. Did the bars swing out? Were they hinged, like a door? The rattling sound he had heard when Jasy Jatere skedaddled away—had that been the door slamming shut?
He looked out of the cage and caught a glimpse of Ao Ao pursuing someone through the tangle of undergrowth in the cave. The monster was not fast, but it was relentless and inexhaustible. The distance between Ao Ao and the person closed slowly, steadily. Finally, the person collapsed. He screamed as Ao Ao threw itself over him—a long, despairing wail that was suddenly cut off and replaced with the crunching, slurping sounds of Ao Ao’s cannibalistic feast.
Think, Gabriel…
He paced the breadth of the small cave. If the door opened, there had to be a mechanism somewhere. Somewhere a blinded person would not find. He ran his hand along the edges of the rock wall, ceiling, and floor, and finally found it—a little notch on the outside of the cave, just beyond his reach. He stretched for it, but only scraped his skin. Surely there had to be—
The skeletons!
He felt only a twinge of guilt when he picked out a long femur from the graveyard of bones. The sturdy bone extended his reach, but it still took several minutes of pushing and probing before he managed to hit the notch on the outside cave wall. Something clicked. The wooden bars suddenly shortened, as if dropping down into themselves. The difference was less than an inch, but it was enough for Gabriel to push his weight against the wooden bars and swing the door out.
He paused, listening.
The sounds of Ao Ao’s gruesome feast had fallen silent.
They were out of time.
Gabriel slung the once again unconscious Kerina over his shoulder and crept out of the cave into what seemed like a huge field. Tall grasses swayed amidst low bushes and even several palm trees. High above, however, Gabriel caught glimpses of jagged stone, which confirmed that they were still in the network of caves that the children of Tua had turned into their home. If there was an exit from this vast cave, he did not know where it was.
The only option was to begin walking and hope to find his way.
Kerina’s slight weight did not bother him. Leaving her behind never even crossed his mind. He would have given almost anything to have her wake up and walk beside him—not just because it felt less lonely, but because he felt stronger with her at his side.
When had his feelings changed? He did not know. It had been so subtle, it had crept up on him. Tightness clenched around his heart. Even if they survived the insanity of the quest they had undertaken together, they were different in ways no amount of wishful thinking could overcome.
But surely, he could visit her sometimes…
Travel across the insane breadth of the Atlantis Ocean, risking all its dangers…
Again and again…
He squeezed his eyes shut. He had to be mad if he even imagined that he could wring time away from his responsibiliti
es as a clan chief long enough to travel across the ocean simply to see Kerina.
But for an instant—no, for longer than an instant—he had contemplated it.
And now that he had, it was not easy to let it go.
He glanced up sharply at the sound of distant rustling through the grass, and then a lonely howl. “Ao ao ao!”
Judging from the direction of the sound, Ao Ao must have returned to the cage and found his captives escaped.
Gabriel’s heart thudded. He could not outrun Ao Ao, not with Kerina, and perhaps not even without her. Whatever happened to him, he had to keep her safe. His mind raced through all the old stories he had heard of Tua’s flesh-eating child, Ao Ao. Something about—he looked around—a palm tree.
He sprinted across the field, pushing through the tall grasses. In the distance, the ponderous thudding of hooves grew closer. Ao Ao had caught his scent. The solitary palm tree seemed achingly far away even though Gabriel was running faster than he had ever run in his life.
If this were the ocean, he could certainly outswim the creature, but the fact remained he had little experience moving on land, let alone with any noteworthy speed.
Kerina moaned, low in her throat.
His heartbeat skipped.
“Kerina, Kerina.” He breathed her name like a prayer. He skidded to a stop and laid her on the ground at the foot of the palm tree. He spared a glance over his shoulder. The bulky white form of Ao Ao was parting the grass like a whale parting the waves, getting closer with every second.
He grasped her chin and shook her head from side to side. “Kerina, wake up, please. You have to get up.”
Her eyelids fluttered open. “Gabriel…?”
He looked back. Ao Ao was so close now that Gabriel could see the huffs of its breath. “Up! You have to get up the tree!”
He pulled her to her feet and shoved her up the tree. She clung on, shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts. Her grip suddenly slipped, and her weight sagged down on him.
Ao Ao was no more than a few feet away. The monster lifted its upper lip, baring its fangs.
“Go!” Gabriel shouted and pushed up hard, shoving Kerina another foot up the tree. He rolled away from the tree an instant before Ao Ao slammed into it. Kerina shrieked, but her arms and legs were wrapped tightly around the tree, so she did not slip back down. The monster righted itself. Its red eyes traced the height of the tree and fixed on a pale-faced Kerina, then it threw its head back and howled. It pawed the ground with its right hoof, lowered its head, and charged at Gabriel.
Gabriel leapt aside, but Ao Ao twisted around, sending up a spray of dirt. Its eyes narrowed with anger and hate.
Gabriel spared a glance at the palm tree. Kerina met his eyes. She shook her head frantically, and her lips moved, but if she said something, he could not hear it above the puffs of Ao Ao’s breath.
He had to keep her safe. And that meant leading Ao Ao away from her.
Gabriel turned and ran.
He did not look back. He didn’t need to. The ground trembled beneath Ao Ao’s bulk. But there was no way to outrun Ao Ao, who would not stop. Gabriel would eventually collapse in exhaustion, too fatigued for battle.
He would have to take Ao Ao on now, while he could still fight back.
He twisted into a sharp turn and crouched low, his hands spread in front of him.
Ao Ao’s long fangs gleamed as it leapt.
Gabriel grabbed the monster’s fangs, one in each hand. The gleaming tips slammed down on either side of his neck. Ao Ao’s breath, rancid with the stench of blood and rotting flesh, surrounded Gabriel like a poisonous miasma.
He choked out a cough and turned his face to the side, desperate for a gasp of clean air.
Ao Ao wrenched its head, trying to pull its fangs free for a second attack, but Gabriel held on. The longer he held on, the better Kerina’s chances of making her escape.
The monster thrashed. Its front hoof stomped down, slamming into Gabriel’s side. The impact punched Gabriel’s breath out of his lungs, and his grip slacked. Ao Ao broke free. Spittle sprayed as it flung its head from side to side, then it lunged forward.
Gabriel rolled to the side as Ao Ao’s fangs slammed into the ground, inches from his face. He twisted away, narrowly escaping Ao Ao’s third attack. The monster’s thick, blood-soaked wool brushed against Gabriel’s face, overwhelming him with the stench of death.
Ao Ao jerked. Its demonic red eyes flared wide. Surprise stamped over its monstrous face.
Gabriel stared up, transfixed, as Kerina’s face appeared over Ao Ao’s wooly back. Her eyes narrowed with determined focus, she slung a piece of cloth over Ao Ao’s face, and then pulled tight so that it pressed against the monster’s flaring nostrils.
Ao Ao’s eyes widened even further, the black irises narrowing until its eyes were almost entirely red. It kicked, leaping up, trying to shake Kerina off its back. Gabriel rolled sideways as the monster came down; its hooves narrowly missed Gabriel’s head. He scrambled to his feet and chased Ao Ao as the monster thrashed its way across the field, with Kerina still clinging on to its thick wool.
The monster leapt, stiff-legged into the air, and landed with such force that Kerina was flung from its back. Gabriel sprinted forward and barely managed to break her fall. They both tumbled onto the hard ground, and he rolled with her, over her, before coming up in a crouch.
Ao Ao had stopped and turned. It pawed the ground. Breaths huffed from its flared nostrils.
It charged.
Gabriel pulled Kerina to her feet. She was still dazed from her hard landing, but she stumbled beside him as they raced away from the charging monster. Ao Ao’s hooves shook the ground.
“Stop!” Gabriel yanked Kerina to him before she smacked into the cave wall. He glanced around sharply. They were trapped, with no place to go.
He spun around and stared as Ao Ao closed the distance, its gait oddly out of sync, as if it could not coordinate its feet. It tossed its head, but the motion seemed groggy. It did not stop though. It was relentless; it would pursue them to the end, until there was no place left to run.
Gabriel pushed Kerina back against the wall and stepped in front of her. Ao Ao lowered its head, fangs bared. It was so close, it would be on them in several steps. The stink of its breath fouled the air.
Then Ao Ao stumbled. Its front hooves tangled, and it crumpled to its knees. Its head hit the ground, its eyes rolling back. Momentum pushed it forward, however, and Gabriel braced for impact.
The monster slid to a slow stop. Its glistening fangs pressed up against Gabriel’s body.
Several long moments passed before his heart rate slowed back to a semblance of normality.
“You’re squishing me,” Kerina complained from behind him.
The insane need to laugh bubbled up inside him. He squeezed out, then pushed his weight against Ao Ao’s mouth, clearing a space for Kerina to step out. His gaze traveled over her, from the top of her curls to her delicate toes.
Relief overrode rationality and formality. He yanked her into his arms, and buried his face against her hair, drawing in its sweet fragrance as a defense against the stench of death around him. His heartbeat thudded against her breasts.
“You’re all right,” he murmured as he pulled away. He stroked aside a stray curl that danced against her cheekbone. “When I led Ao Ao away, you were supposed to run…in the opposite direction.”
Kerina shrugged. “I guess you forgot to mention that when you shoved me up that tree.” She stared at the snoring monster. “That was closer than I expected. I didn’t realize how long the herbal mixture would take to work on him.”
“How long before he wakes?”
“No idea. I wouldn’t recommend waiting around to find out.” She patted her pouch of herbs. “Let’s get out of here.”
Her voice quavered slightly. It was the first, the only hint of fear he had seen in her.
“This way.” He led her along the wall of the cave.
; Kerina walked beside him, and her gaze darted toward him. “Are you all right?”
His mouth quirked into a rueful smile. He should have known that she would have noticed his breath catching, and the slight hesitation before he placed his weight on his right foot.
Gabriel shook his head. “Ao Ao kicked me in the ribs. It’s just bruised, not broken. I’m all right, I swear it,” he said.
But she insisted on stopping to examine him anyway.
He could not explain the flutters her light touch set off in the pit of his stomach, or the insistent tugging in his groin.
“I’m fine,” Gabriel snapped, pushing her hands away before he made a fool of himself.
Kerina stepped back, and her gaze darted away before she looked back at him. Her smile seemed false, pasted on, and the cheerfulness was a ruse. “You’ll have a fine collection of scars to show off when you return home.”
“At least as many as Raphael might have gathered in the same time in defense of our clan.”
“Raphael?”
“My sister’s mate.”
“You have a sister?”
“Sofia. She is younger than I am. And Raphael is among our greatest warriors.”
Kerina tilted her head. “But it’s more than that…”
Gabriel grimaced. Had she heard the reluctance in his voice? “He’s a capable warlord, and many sirens rally to him. Raphael’s not happy about the way I’m leading the clan, and he’s not afraid to say so. He wanted to find you, and to find the stone, but the risks were too great. I needed him to stay to protect the clan. And I couldn’t break Sofia’s heart by sending her husband away, even if Raphael desperately craved the honor of finding and restoring the Legacy Stone.”
“And what if he had found it? Would he challenge you for leadership of your clan?”
Gabriel shrugged. “He doesn’t need the Legacy Stone to challenge me for leadership, although having it would certainly add legitimacy to his claim.”
“And that’s why you want to find the stone?” Kerina asked.
“I want to find the stone to save my people,” Gabriel said. “As for the clan leadership…” He shook his head. “It is a responsibility, passed down from my grandfather to my father, and now to me. It’s not something I can give up. It’s my family’s legacy, Kerina. It’s my duty.”
Mage’s Legacy: Cursed Seas Page 12