Page 122 of A Drop of Anguish
Thompson shivers.
“They want entertainment,” Jarron says. “They’re observing us. For what, I’m not sure yet. But there is something unpleasant coming, I’m certain of it.”
The next section of the maze is long and more winding than the last. Eventually, Lola flutters up a few feet and darts back down.
“Don’t do that, Lo!” I scold her. “It’s not safe.”
“I’m good. Now, I know the way,” she says beaming. She instructs Thompson which turns to take, and we finally reach a long corridor. At the end, there is a scraping sound and the rumble of a predator.
“Is it that lizard thing we saw from above?” Lola whispers.
Though I don’t say it, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what it is.
We pause, waiting to see if the monster will attack, but everything goes quiet again.
Jarron prompts us forward into the open space. There are white scrapes carved into the stone flooring. Hay is gathered in the corner, and—ew, yep that’s a big dump over in that corner. Something really big lives here, but it’s nowhere to be seen right now.
This way, Candice, the voice says.I swallow and look behind me. A cool breeze flips my hair back as I turn to find a break in the wall to the left, and at the end of the opening, the cauldron waits for me.
It’s massive, taller than I am, and glowing with pink bubbling liquid.
It calls to me. As stupid as it sounds, I can feel this pull deep in my gut.
A roar shakes the ground, and massive claws and teeth fly from the dark hole straight ahead of me. The squeal that leaves my body as I duck from the lizard monster that smells like death is beyond embarrassing, but another monster slams into his body and sends him flying in the other direction. Jarron crouches in front of us, panting heavily.
The lizard shakes off the hit and gets to his feet. The thing is like a Komodo dragon but five times bigger. Slobber drips from its jaws, and its tail swipes back and forth, sizing up his opponent.
“Move as far out of the way as you can,” Jarron instructs.
I glance over to the cauldron again. That’s pretty far, right?
The moment the Komodo dragon charges again, I pull Janet and carry Lola to sprint to the opening between the stones. The dragon sees us running and shifts course toward us, but Thompson, in wolf form cuts him off.
Janet barely keeps up with my pace until there’s a zing of magic as we pass the barrier. I stop, noticing the quiet that permeates this part of the maze.
I turn back to find I can still see Jarron and Thompson fighting the lizard, but I can’t hear it.
I put my hand up to the opening we just walked through, and my palm, instead, presses against an invisible barrier that’s warm to the touch.
I curse under my breath.
“What?” Lola asks.
“There’s a force field between us,” I answer.
Lola and Janet pause, watching the fight beyond. “That’s a good thing, right?” Janet asks tentatively. “The lizard is on the other side.”
“Yeah, I don’t think they put that there as a favor to us,” I mutter, unsure what horrors will face us on this side, but I don’t for a second think it’ll be fun.
The ground trembles. Once. Twice. A third time.
I breathe in deeply. Something new is coming, and this time, we don’t have Jarron or Thompson to protect us.
48
Will He Still Fight For You Once He Learns I’m Alive?
This opening of the maze is massive. In the left corner is the huge cauldron with pink steam billowing out, but to the right, it stretches at least a hundred feet in length, and that is where a huge monster watches us from. His steps are slow, but I don’t make the mistake of thinking we have any time at all.
