Citrine (Deliverance #3)

43. Eli

43

Eli

It's dark.

I'm stumbling and can't see or feel anything. I'm just wandering aimlessly, unable to find my way and don't understand what to do. Somebody, please…

I can hear a sound. It's a low growl. It's coming after me, I know it. I'm always hearing it. It's hunting me. I don't want to get devoured.

It has endless rows of large teeth. I'll be gone in a bite. Someone, please just let me go. Just let me… arrghhh!

***

My eyes fly open, and I regret doing it immediately as the water rushes in. I curse immediately as I try to get the water out of my eyes. I don't know why I keep agreeing to sleep underwater, but I'm regretting it already. Some parts of my body have changed, but the others are still as human as they come.

Wait. Are they? After my initial instinctual reaction I realize the water doesn't sting my eyes anymore.

Oh, hell no. Shark eyes?

I open my mouth to ask Wroahk what he sees but realize I am alone in the cave. Wroahk usually tells me when he's leaving, but I must've been too tired to hear him. I don't like being alone.

My thoughts spiral out of control and my anxiety spikes.

Staying in the water is too unsafe for me. I swim out carefully, extending my senses. My tentacles come in handy here, splayed out to their maximum length to sense for predators. I apologize to them for thinking they were practically useless. He explained to me last night how diversified the application for them is.

I make it past the shallow point and I'm heading for the surface. My senses suddenly pick up on something and I turn around to check, but there's nothing as far as my eyes can see.

Determined not to stay there for too long, I push my head out of the water and drag the rest of my body with it, moving to the cove.

As I walk through the grass, the feeling that I'm being watched doesn't fade away. I know he's not Wroahk because my senses can recognize his one-minded stare. This one is different, more unsettling.

I feel like I'm being hunted, and I've had my damn fill of that feeling.

There are a few discarded branches around.

Huh, I wonder if I could spear a fish?

I instantly retch. If it were up to me to provide for us, we wouldn't make it past the first day. I pick weapons up and sit by the tree, holding some sticks of suitable length.

I have truly come a long way. It's taken some adapting, but I have somewhat embraced this lifestyle. Everyone needs a routine so they can stay focused and keep their sanity. Mine just happens to be as unhinged as the planet I'm on.

Yes, I'm about to sharpen a stick like a cave woman.

If I look on the bright side, I can say every day is an adventure.

As I sharpen it, I hear a low growl. Whatever it is, must be nearby. I can't see it yet, but it's hoping to catch me when I'm off guard. Sorry, whatever you are, but I'm not as weak and hopeless as I first was when I arrived on this planet.

Climbing the tree is my fastest way out, but not just yet. I don't want to repeat that terrible experience.

I hold up my stick and keep my body below the grass. It provides a suitable camouflage for me as I slink forward. I already feel the burn of thirst behind my throat, but I can't just jump into the water now.

My sharpened sticks won't work and I'll be exposed. Even worse, I still don't know where Wroahk is.

"Please come back soon, Wroahk," I plead earnestly, moving toward the cove entrance.

The growl follows behind me, getting closer. Whatever it is, it can see or sense me. All I have to do is keep making slow progress with no sudden movement and maybe I can hide properly in a cave without this thing jumping at me.

Of course, all of that is blind hope. I hear a roar behind me and I take off sprinting. I feel slower and heavier on land then before.

Great.

Fortunately, I know the area well and I can dodge and weave through all of it, keeping a suitable distance between me and this monster. From the repeated growls, I can already guess it's a Many Teeth, though I haven't seen them on land since one tried to kill me.

I never thought I'd run into one after what Wroahk did to mark his territory. This one seems to have been stalking me for a while. It's huge, too, huge enough to ignore Wroahk's warning.

I can't deal with this thing with mere sticks. And I also can't stay out of the water anymore.

Dammit.

I run straight for the shore, watching my footing over the rocks. If I create a trail of blood, it's only going to attract more of them. Once I reach the shore, I dive straight into the water, heading for the cave.

There is a large splash behind me, and I know it has entered the water. I swim faster, trying to keep my body streamlined and my head straight as the pursuit intensifies.

I really want to look back, but I can't afford the time.

Then I feel Wroahk's tentacles grab me. Finally, my dark knight has arrived.

"Where the hell have you been?"

He drags us into our cave, then puts his finger to his lips, shushing me. I'm more than ready to speak my mind, but his gaze is on the Many Teeth. There's excitement in his eyes, like a man getting prepared for a long hunt.

I've only seen him like this a few times and the result has always been a bloodbath.

"Don't tell me you want to hunt that thing?"

"It's been hunting you. Why not?"

I sigh, giving up. There's no stopping a man from indulging in his hobby.

"Just don't come back covered in blood again. And wash out your teeth. I don't like tasting blood, unlike you."

"Why wouldn't I wash out my teeth?"

I pull him in for a kiss, taking away the trepidation I've felt since waking up until now. He draws me in closer, holds me by my waist and kisses me back even as the alien reptile threatens to smash down the walls of our cave.

"I'll be back."

My fists clench as I watch him swim off. That thing is bigger than him, but he doesn't relent as he smashes into it. He manages to draw it away from the cave, leading it deeper into the lake. If he goes too far, he'll get surrounded by a nest, but I don't think I'll have to worry about that.