Page 46 of Diamond

Once I find myself wanting to place my hand against her smooth face, I push those thoughts out of my mind and find the corner nearest to the entrance of the cave to settle in.

I can't see her from here, which is probably best.

The distance between this place and the main path is the primary reason why I chose it and I am confident that we will be safe. Still, I have to make sure that I am the closest to any danger. Since there is no one to relieve my watch, I shouldn't sleep, but I am too exhausted to stay awake.

Sleep finds me fast and before I know it, I am swept up into a restful, dreamless sleep. It is peaceful until I start to hear scratching noises coming from around me. I crack an eye open and look around, but I see that it is only Roshan adjusting himself.

I yawn noiselessly and make sure Nasrin is still resting before allowing myself to fall back to sleep.

The scratching noise rouses me again, but this time I am sure it is coming from outside the cave.

I get up and cautiously start to walk out of the cave with a hand over my knife handle when I feel something sharp pierce into my thigh.

Whoever my attacker is, they are quick and silent. I hadn't even heard anything before there was a short spear stuck nearly midway through my left thigh.

I let out a grunt and stumble backward before falling on my back as I watch a small green creature scurry toward me and jump on my chest.

It is smaller than a genali hunter and its sinewy, thin arms reach out and grab at my neck before I can pick it up.

Its eyes are black, pointing so far out of their sockets that I think they might reach my face like his smelly breath. It's small but strong and wiry for its size, so it is difficult to get out of its grasp, but I struggle against it.

I growl at it before I land a blow to its face, but I find that its grip is tighter than I thought, so I go for the obvious weak spot—its eyes. I jam a finger into its closest one while simultaneously trying to rip its hands off my neck, and it works.

The assassin lets out a yelp of surprise and loosens its grip enough for me to get him off my back and finally get a proper look at my attacker. It is a small creature, half my height, with a large bulbous head from which protrudes piercing black eyes full of hate, a slender trunk-like body, and long, spindly arms that end in stubby clawed digits.

It doesn't spend much time on the ground before it lunges at me once more, spewing what must be obscenities in its alien tongue as it flies at me at top speed.

I manage to dodge its advance by a slim margin and throw a punch wildly in the direction I thought it would have been in, but my fists meet nothing but air as the creature has launched itself directly off the wall and at me once more.

This beast is fast—too fast for me to fight in such close confines, where it has the advantage.

With a frantic roll, I move out of the cave, as I try to dislodge it from my back. It only grips harder. My mind flashes over to Nasrin and the animal stuck in the cave with her. If I fall here, they will not be able to fight it off and will die shortly after.

I hear Roshan's scared bleating as I struggle with the disgusting thing, just managing to get my knife in what I hope is a vulnerable spot.

24

Rin

I fight my way back to consciousness in stages, feeling sick. As I fully awaken, there's a hissing click that could only be Kuret.

I open my eyes to see Roshan pacing around the small cave, looking as agitated as usual when Kuret is around. It's surreal for a moment as my groggy brain tries to process where I am.

We are still in the cave that Kuret scouted for us earlier and it is still dark outside. I struggle to gather myself mentally.

The only real difference to me is some very curious itching in and around my ears that I hadn't noticed before. Maybe I'm having a reaction to something in the cave? I don't really know, but it's extremely uncomfortable and, honestly, rather distracting.

Then I remember the changes in my skin. My heart skips a beat, then skips another when I realize that the sounds aren't just rustling and Roshan is far more than just agitated.

It's dark in the cave without Kuret's glowing. Wait. Why isn't he glowing?

I shoot up, my ankle protesting the movement. The pain is sharp but is gone almost instantly, leaving only a dull throbbing and the familiar aches from my misadventures earlier in the day.

Roshan is still moving erratically, and I can hardly see in the dark, but the odd sounds and Kuret's hissing continues. I want to call out to him, but I clamp my teeth down on my tongue.

I move toward Roshan, pushing him to the side, searching for Kuret's green glow. I finally get Roshan to move enough so I can move forward in the cave enough to look out the entrance.

My eyes widen when I see a strange-looking creature pushing something sharp against Kuret's face with a devious, wide grin on its face. I move a hand to my mouth to keep a gasp from escaping. Its head is far too large for its body, which is much smaller than Kuret.

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