Page 25 of The Stone Initiation
I twisted and kicked out at the thing clinging to my thigh. Stone skin had activated, so I couldn’t feel its bite, but it had me.
It was too dark to see. The water churning and wild. But I got the impression that the creature was huge. I had to pry it off me. I grabbed at its head, and the pressure on my thigh increased.
How far down were we?
I kicked again, but the thing rolled me and the next moment there was pressure around my legs, holding them together. No. Shit.
A snake? A river snake? Fucking hell.
I slammed my fist into his head over and over, but the water slowed the momentum making the blows ineffectual.
My body hit the riverbed, and the snake tightened its grip. Panic swelled my lungs and the need to breathe was almost overwhelming.
No. I had to hold on.
Find something to fight back with.
I swept my hand across the riverbed and grazed something hard and jagged. A rock. Yes! The river snake was crushing my leg. Stone skin wouldn’t hold much longer. I brought the rock down on its head and pushed as hard as I could until I felt something give.
The snake’s grip slackened, and I kicked myself free, lungs burning with the need for oxygen. I needed air. I needed it now!
I pushed up to the surface. How deep was this damned river? Please. Gods, please. My vision darkened.
No.
Please…
I broke the surface and sucked in air like it was the nectar of the gods. Fuck…oh fuck.
I was alive.
I could make it across
The two gargoyle figures I’d spotted earlier were still on the ledge on the other side of the ravine.
I wasn’t so sure they were Touron and Sharniza any longer though.
SERATH
I fight to get free as the halfblood goes under, but Orix has me pinned. My wings are trapped. I can’t break free.
“It’s okay,” Orix says. “This is for the best. You know it is.”
My chest burns as if it’s me under water. As if I’m the one drowning.
“It’s over,” Orix says. “It’s over.” He releases me and I shove him away hard enough to make him stumble.
“You bastard.”
He nods. “I know.”
I look out at the river, at the spot where she went under, my insides in knots. I’m sorry, little one. So sorr—
Her head breaks the surface and she takes a lungful of air.
“What the fuck?” Orix says. “How the fuck?”
Triumph blooms. The little halfblood has claws. But she’s not safe yet. The raptor that lost her to the snake has spotted her again. It’s beelining toward her.
