Page 100 of Citrine

She squeals and clutches her legs to herself, keeping her body out of the water. How is she just now realizing this? I have told her repeatedly.

She should've known since the first time the Many Teeth attacked her.

"I should have never asked, even though I knew the answer already. So, if it's not worth it to eat them or kill them, have you ever tried talking to them? I have a feeling they're not just aprimitivespecies. I think I saw abackpackon that one down there."

I decide not to respond to her, though I have heard those things speak. It doesn't sound anything like the way I speak. She is the only one I can communicate with, the only one to steal my voice.

"Look, can we at the very least get the backpack? Just swim down and pull it off the body? I'll stop talking about it for the rest of the day if we do."

"Stop talking completely?"

She looks like she wants to kill me. "For today I won't talk about you killing aliens."

I flick a tentacle in annoyance, then turn to go get it.

"No, I want to come, too."

Her words don't make sense considering her response to finding out what hunts her, but I'm weary. Instead of continuing these useless words, I grab her, and move toward the sinking creature at speed.

I follow its vile taste in the water; the pressure increasing as we keep diving lower and lower. She makes a groaning sound, holding her graspers to the side of her face, but doesn't tell me to stop, so I keep moving.

Suddenly, all of my suckers are sending me signals to retreat. Hers must be as well because when I glance at her, she's pointing frantically back up.

I waste no time in reversing direction, whipping my tentacles in a swirling frenzy, my heart racing with rare fear. When she starts screaming out bubbles, looking behind us, I don't look, just urge my body to move faster.

Her screams stop well before we reach the surface, but I don't slow down, moving my limbs in powerful strokes until we explode onto the lake shore. She's shaking, her tentacles wrapping so tight around me now that they won't impede my swimming that she's blocking most of my airflow.

I try to shift her, but her grip is surprisingly strong. "What did you see?"

"I-I don't know. All I saw was a giant row of long teeth sticking in all different directions in a really wide mouth. Not like the ManyTeeth, much, much bigger. It was gaining on us, but then it just stopped chasing."

My limbs relax hearing that last part. "It's a creature of the deep, then. It won't come up past certain pressure levels."

"Are you sure?"

She's still trembling and I pull her closer, running my graspers through her yellow weeds. "Yes, I am certain of it. We simply need to stay out of this part of the lake."

"But that blocks exploration to find out what's out there," she mutters.

I decide not to mention the other opposite way around the island. I explored all sides of it when I established my territory, though I didn't stray far.

"Yes, no need to explore. Let's go back. We have seen enough."

"No, we haven't. We've only just got here."

I wrap a tentacle around her waist and pull her inside the lake. She squeals again when she hits the water, and I feel her graspers pounding on my torso.

"I need to stay here in case more of the aliens come back. I have so many questions."

"They are not like you. We have to leave."

"No, we do not. Don't you get it, Wroahk? This is our opportunity. We might actually have the chance to leave this place and find better water for us! I mean, I just got your skin and even I know something about this water isn't right. We can't stay here forever."

"There is nothing wrong with staying here."

There is no need for anything to change. I have no desire to leave or be separated from her. I don't know why she has so much hope that nothing terrible would happen if she speaks with the grey-green creatures, but I can sense the danger when I see them.

"We can't leave this spot, Wroahk. I don't know when there'll be another opportunity. I don't want to stay another day with those Many Teeth. What if those creatures you've kept drowning decide to form anextermination forceand use whatever type of weapon they have to hunt you down? You can deal with one or two of them, but can you really deal with a whole population of them?"

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