By the time Dain taps my foot, I’ve cleared enough. I stick the feather in my hair, sheath the dagger and continue on. Jacko tries to creep under my belly, but we reach a tight turn, and he backs away to let me get around it. Then he pops through. The burrow narrows after that, and I have to wriggle on my stomach.
“I can’t—” Dain’s voice echoes behind me. “I can’t get around this bend.”
“It’s even tighter up here,” I say. “Back up and wait outside. Please.”
He doesn’t like that, but I keep moving. Jacko bumps my legs as he tries to keep up. The feather no longer does anything—we’re too far from the light. I put it back into my tunic and wriggle forward and—
My hand touches down on air. I stop and pull back. Then I feel around. Thankfully, I’m not teetering on the edge of a hole. The tunnel just drops steeply after this. I inch forward and then—
And then I’m skidding face-first down the incline. Behind me, Jacko yips and squeaks and bops into my legs as he tumbles after me. I’m trying to get my arms out in front of me when I slam into the bottom, my face landing in soft earth.
When I inhale, though, I don’t smell earth.
I’ve landed on a cylinder that is both soft and hard at the same time. Soft outside with a solid core. I’m feeling it when I remember that I have sulfur sticks in my pocket, along with my striking rock. I pull them out and light one. It catches fire with a hiss. I lift it to see the cylinder and…
I yelp. It is a fawn wrapped in black spider silk. The corpse is desiccated—drained of blood. I shiver as I shift the carcass aside.
I’ve fallen into a chamber. I can’t see far—the sulfur stick casts only a small bubble of dim light, leaving the chamber black beyond it. As I shimmy in, Jacko nudges a smaller black object. Another web-shrouded victim of the jba-fofi. I shine the flame around to see the entire chamber is littered with the wrapped bodies of its victims.
The second bundle is a rabbit, and Jacko nudges it again with his antler prongs, chattering in distress.
Shoving the burning sulfur stick into the earth, I pick him up in a hug. “You’re fine. Everything’s okay.”
I hope it’s okay. I’m telling myself that same thing, trying not to freak out at the thought of Alianor with the spider. I can’t be far behind them. I need to save her. I will.
I set Jacko down at the tunnel mouth, facing the other direction. “Go back to Dain. He’ll take care of you.”
Jacko climbs onto my lap instead.
“Okay then, stay with me. But we need to keep moving. I have to find…”
I don’t hear Alianor. That’s what I realize as I’m about to say her name. I don’t hear the jba-fofi, and I don’t hear Alianor.
My stomach seizes as I look at the mummified bodies all around us. I see those bodies, and I think of Alianor.
Do not freak out.
I can’t save her if I’m freaking out.
I scuffle across the chamber on my hands and knees, Jacko creeping beneath my stomach. I pick my way around the bodies and, yes, sometimes I have to crawl over them. I hate that, but there’s no other way. The cavern ends in…
Three tunnels.
Oh no.
I stop and look frantically from one to the other. Which is the right one?
I strain to hear, but the burrow stays silent. Then I catch a whisper of movement down the tunnel to my far left. A sound, like a muffled cry. Behind me, my sulfur stick goes out. I blink in the darkness and then feel my way into the tunnel.
Ahead, I hear a clacking that makes Jacko hiss. The spider. I try to catch some sound from Alianor, but even the jba-fofi has gone quiet.
I continue along, climbing upward now. Then the ground drops again. This time when I reach down I’m touching a soft-and-hard bundle that I know is wrapped prey. I try to keep going, crawling over the bundles, flinching as the dried bones crackle within.
Soon I’m in the middle of another cavern, and I can’t feel a wall on either side. I don’t know which way to go, so I take out another sulfur stick. I strike it.
The stick lights with a hiss and a sizzle. The exit tunnel is just ahead and off to my left. I veer toward it. Jacko’s sniffing madly. His nose works, neck stretching as if to pick up a smell. Then he freezes. He goes perfectly still, fur rising on his entire body.
The jba-fofi is ahead. It must be just—
A clacking sounds behind me.
I look over my shoulder to see the beast right there, pedipalps waving, fangs clacking.
It has six glossy black eyes, and each leg is longer than one of mine. It rears up, showing a purple-streaked belly. I fall back as I pull out my sword. The jba-fofi springs. It’s on me before I can even free my blade.
I drop the sulfur stick. It lands on one of the wrapped prey bundles, the dried silk igniting with a whoosh.
Don’t freak out.
Do not freak out.
Jannah always joked that that was the monster hunter’s motto. When a beast attacks, just keep repeating it in your head, because it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been fighting monsters, the first thing you’ll want to do? Freak out.
I’m alone with a baby jackalope who needs me to protect him.
Alone with a ginormous spider that wants to add our bodies to this heap.
I hear Jannah’s voice in my ear.
Think it through. Don’t just swing your sword and hope to hit something. Think.
There’s no room to swing my sword. I grab my dagger instead and stab at the jba-fofi, but it’s a blur above me, and I’m striking wildly.
Don’t just swing your sword and hope to hit something.
Great advice…if I wasn’t lying on my back, in the dark, with a killer spider on top of me.
The spider’s front two legs wrap around my chest. It pulls me toward its jaws, and Jacko shrieks, leaping on the beast. I start another wild strike. Then I stop. I know where those front legs are—I can feel them—which means I have a target.
My dagger slices into one of the legs. The spider drops me. I scuttle backward as fast as I can. As I do, my foot strikes another of the spider’s mummified creatures, pushing it into the one already ablaze, and the second lights up.
Fire.
Oh yes. Fire.
I grab a small bundle—a rabbit or squirrel—and throw it on the flames as I back-crawl behind the fire, toward the tunnel where I hope Alianor is, leaving the jba-fofi on the other side. I’m about to pitch another mummy on the blaze when Jacko jumps onto the spider, sinking his fangs into its back.
“Jacko!” I put my arms up for him. “Jacko! No! Come here!”
The spider bucks and twists to rid itself of the jackalope. Finally, Jacko looks over and sees my outstretched hands. Then he notices the fire.
Jacko leaps over the flames and into my arms. A tuft of his belly hair ignites. I pinch it out and set him down. Then I shove more mummies into the fire, stretching them in a line between us and the jba-fofi.
Soon a curtain of fire blocks us from the beast. The spider’s legs appear and disappear, as if it’s trying to reach through. It shrieks as the flames lick at it.
I keep pushing over dried bundles until the wall is complete. Then I grab Jacko and run, hunched over, to the tunnel. I push Jacko into it and follow, prodding him along.
Behind me, the spider screams. As the tunnel inclines, I strain to hear Alianor, but the jba-fofi’s fury drowns out all other sound.
Had I picked the wrong tunnel back in the first cavern? There’s nothing I can do about that now. An enraged spider and a wall of flame block the way back.
I’m sure I’d heard Alianor.
But what if she was in that cavern I just left?
What if she was one of those mummified bundles?
My heart stops. I swear it does.
No, Alianor couldn’t have been back there. The jba-fofi didn’t have time to wrap her in webbing.
Keep going. Just keep—
Again, the ground stops in front of me. I l
ie on my belly, allowing the light from the fire to shine through ahead of me. It’s still dark, but I can make out another cavern here. As I crawl into it, my hands touch something warm. I pull back my fingers to see a trouser leg riding up a sturdy calf.
My gaze travels along the leg to Alianor’s tunic. I grasp her bare calf and shake it.
“Alianor,” I whisper. “It’s Rowan. Come on. We need to go.”
She’s not moving. Why isn’t she…?
Where’s her face?
I don’t see anything above her tunic. I claw my way overtop of her. Then I see her head, completely wrapped in black webbing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
grab the webbing and pull. It sticks to my fingers and holds fast, refusing to break. With my trembling hand, I pick up my dropped dagger. I feel for her mouth, find it and slice the webbing as carefully as I can.
Jacko runs up to Alianor’s head and begins gnawing at the web. I work fast, cutting and peeling until her face is free.
She’s not moving.
She’s not breathing.
I open her mouth. There’s more webbing in there. I yank it out and then press my hands against her chest and…
Alianor coughs.
I push her so she’s sitting upright. She keeps coughing until a wad of webbing flies from her mouth. Then she’s doubled over, catching her breath. I pat her back and tell her she’s okay.
When she’s breathing fine, I crouch beside her. “I’ve trapped the jba-fofi—the spider. There’s a tunnel behind you. It should lead out. As soon as you’re ready, we’ll go.”
“You still came after me, knowing what I’d done?”
“You made a really dumb mistake. It doesn’t deserve death-by-giant-spider. You can explain the rest once we’re out of here.”
I climb over the mummies to the exit tunnel.
“You go first,” I say. “If you don’t hear me behind you, just keep going. Oh, and take this.” I press my dagger into her hand. “You dropped yours.”
“Thank you.”
I prod her into the tunnel. Jacko hops in behind her, and I follow them. The burrow soon slants up. When we reach a second tunnel, Alianor stops. I squint and see a trace of light ahead.
“Keep going straight,” I say.
I’m right behind her until my sword hilt catches on a root. I back up to free it. That takes more effort than it should, the darkness leaving me fumbling. As I start crawling again, Jacko chatters behind me.
“Yes, yes,” I say. “I’m moving.”
I reach forward to continue on…and my hand touches a furry, warm flank. I go still. A warm nose nudges my finger. A tiny tongue licks at it. Then Jacko’s prongs poke my hand, telling me to keep going.
But if Jacko is in front of me, what’s chattering behind…?
“Go!” I say, pushing the jackalope.
Rough hair brushes my ankle. I yank away and crawl as fast as I can. Something wraps around my leg. As I fight, it pulls hard, and I’m flipped onto my back. I try to get my sword out, but it’s too tight in here, and I’m lying on the scabbard. I kick as hard as I can. The spider squeals. I crawl back on my elbows and heels.
I’m flipping over when powerful fangs grip my leg. I scream. Jacko jumps onto my stomach. I hear the gnashing of his teeth. It’s pitch-black, and I’m kicking and punching, hoping to hit the spider and not my jackalope. I get my sword out, but all I can do it thrust it downward, where I’m sure I won’t strike Jacko.
The sword jabs something. The spider squeals. I grit my teeth, put both hands on the pommel, drive the sword down into flesh and then yank it out.
I’m scrabbling backward. I can see light. I just need to get a little farther—
The spider’s fangs sink into my leg again. I kick hard, and it screeches.
Above me, the ground vibrates. Dirt rains down. It hits my face and fills my open mouth. I sputter and shake my head, and then something shoots through the earth. Something white. That’s all I see. Something long and white slicing down like a sword.
The spider screams. I shout for Jacko. He leaps beside me, and I thrust him over my head as I twist onto my stomach. The passage is collapsing, and the spider is shrieking in rage, and I’m crawling as fast as I can.
Moonlight shines ahead. Then it’s gone, and something grabs me. I yank away, but a voice says, “I’m rescuing you, princess, whether you need it or not.”
Dain yanks me out of the burrow. Alianor is there, but she’s staring at something behind me. I turn to see a blur of white ten paces away. That’s all I can make out in the darkness. It’s huge, and it’s white.
Dain grabs my arm and yanks me in the opposite direction. A screech bursts from the earth, and I look over my shoulder to see the spider crawl out of the ruined burrow. And the huge white thing…
It’s not a thing. It’s not even huge. It’s the pegasus filly, her wings flapping as she attacks the spider. I twist out of Dain’s grip and run to her, sword ready. I can’t get close, though. She’s a blur of flying hooves. So I focus on the spider, ready to attack if it grabs her. It can’t. Every time it rears up, she comes down.
Her hooves strike the jba-fofi over and over until it scurries back into its ruined burrow. Even then she tries to trample it through the ground. That’s what I’d seen in the tunnel—her leg coming through a thin layer of earth. Stabbing the spider with one slender, sharp hoof.
When the jba-fofi is gone, she noses the hole. Then she snorts, satisfied she’s driven it off. There’s dark ooze on her forelegs. Spider blood. The jba-fofi has retreated to tend to its wounds, and it will not be back anytime soon.
The pegasus filly shakes her head, her roan-red mane rippling. She’s very pleased with herself, as she struts along the caved-in burrow, kicking at the earth and trampling it down. Then she looks at me.
“Thank you,” I say.
She tosses her head and whinnies. Then she prances toward me. I stay perfectly still, not daring to breathe. She snuffles my hands. Then my pockets. A snort as she backs up and does a little two-step dance, head shaking in annoyance.
I turn to Dain and Alianor. “Does either of you have an apple? A carrot? Anything?”
Alianor just gapes at the filly. Dain lifts my pack, brought from where I dropped it. I shake my head. He pats his pockets and pulls out a small, bruised apple. I hurry over to grab it and then stop.
“May I?” I ask.
He nods and hands it to me. I hold it out to the filly. She snatches it, gobbles it down and comes snuffling for more.
“Hold on,” I say.
I turn to the others. “Help me gather young ferns, shoots, anything tender.”
I give them sulfur sticks to help search in the dark, and Dain jogs into the forest. Alianor follows, slower, still gaping at the filly. I head in another direction. As I’m pulling shoots, Jacko chirps, and I see him unearthing something with his front paws, dirt flying. I hurry over to find a patch of wild carrots. I dig up a bunch. I offer him one, but he gives me a look as if I’m trying to feed him dirt.
I chuckle and offer him a scrap of dried meat from my pocket instead. “More later.”
I run back with the carrots. The pegasus filly is still in that clearing. The surrounding forest is too dense for her. I wipe off a carrot, and she slurps it from my hand. I keep feeding her until the others bring fresh sprouts, which they pile in front of her. She takes a few bites of those. Then she lifts one dainty, blood-spattered foreleg and rubs it against some long grass, but it’s not coming clean.
I grab a handful of broad leaves, speckled with dew. Then I approach.
“May I?” I ask.
She snorts and sets her hoof down and waits. As I approach and bend toward her, Dain says, “Rowan? That’s the filly who kicked Wilmot.”
“I know.”
“She tricked him into thinking she’d accept the halter. Then she kicked him. She can’t be trusted.”
“I know.”
I look the filly in the eye. Then I begin
to bend again. I brace for a blow. She might very well lash out. But I have to try. I have to trust her…and show that she can trust me. This isn’t her meadow. I’m not trespassing on her territory. She came here, and I’ve been nothing but kind, and so I must have faith that she realizes that.
She came to me for a reason. Probably more apples and carrots. Yet she fought that spider, and there are much easier ways of finding food.
She followed me, and she drove off the jba-fofi for me. I am repaying her. I can only hope she understands.
When she lifts her foreleg, I stop, ready to fall back if she pulls it in to strike. But she only holds it there daintily, like a noblewoman raising a dirty foot for her lady’s maid to clean.
I wipe the spider blood from one leg. Then she gives me the other. Dain brings me more damp broad leaves, and I clean every bit of spider blood from the filly. When I finish, she whinnies, as if in appreciation. Regal appreciation, a haughty noblewoman thanking her maid.
When I stand, she nudges my arm. I stroke her nose and scratch behind her ears, and she accepts all that as if it is her due. Then she looks at me. Just looks, with those big red-brown eyes.
“Thank you,” I say.
She whinnies.
“I’m not going to harness you,” I say. “I’m not even going to ask you to come along. I’ll only say that you’re welcome to. That’s your choice. It must always be your choice.”
Another whinny, and a nudge. I pat her again. Then I gather more carrots. I show her that I have them as I stuff them into my pockets.
“Yes, that’s a bribe for you to come back,” I say. “But you can’t begrudge me that.”
I pick up Jacko and place him on my shoulder. Then I wave for Dain and Alianor as I head into the trees. Dain falls in step beside me. It’s a few moments before Alianor runs to catch up.
“That—that’s a…” she sputters.
“Pegasus.”
“And you’re just leaving it there? It let you pet it. You could rope it. You just need to distract it and give me some rope. I know horses. I can do it.”
“No.”
We take a few more steps in silence. Then Dain says, “I was running around, trying to find another way in, when the filly landed in that clearing. She came for you. You know her.”
A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying Page 15