The bluff caught my hip, my shoulder. Pain exploded, threatening to steal my vision. I planted my feet on the slanting pitch, followed the rocks down on my back, feeling every bump like a punch in the spine.
My hand caught hold of a groove in a rock shelf. I shuffled my boots backwards, seeking purchase.
I clung there, fingers straining to hold on. The gray sky deepened the shadows waiting in the gorge below. Overhead, the Drone tumbled through the air, ripping the daggers free, and plummeting on the other side of the bluff.
Strength seeped from my fingers. One by one, they lost their hold. I slid down the bank, picking up speed, and landed in a heap in the pitch-black gullet, my entire body throbbing from the impact.
I rummaged through my pockets and holsters, knowing what I’d find. Two daggers. No flashlight. No guns. Joel would have my ass if he were there. If only—
A gust of dank air smacked my face. “Eveeeline.” The Arabic bawl bounced along the canyon walls.
My heart propelled to a furious roar in my ears. I wobbled to my feet, felt along the rocky crag. My palms explored the rough edges, my footfalls echoing along on the slick floor. The moist atmosphere laded my nostrils with the stench of rotten eggs.
I followed the wall around endless bends, a maze of stone tunnels. Where the darkness seemed blacker, thicker, I slowed, blood freezing in my veins. Skittering sounds rustled around me, above me. What sort of creatures dwelled in volcanic caves? I strained my eyes for the tell-tale glow of aphids and focused on the biological alarm inside me.
The deeper I hiked, the more disoriented I became. How many forks had I unknowingly taken? Were Michio and the others still following me or were they halted by the remnants of the army?
A tapping noise trickled from the depths of the cavern ahead. The shadows there writhed, clustered together. Sweat slicked my palms and my throat dried up.
Something tickled my fingers. I raised my hand to my face. Tiny orbs peered back, as many eyes as legs. Its fangs grazed my knuckles. I flicked the furry body, felt more tickling on my other hand and both of my arms. I shook my limbs free of spiders, dread knotting my gut.
A shape emerged from the dark, filling the narrow space, expanding until wings brushed the walls. A rustle of fabric. Then a green glow exploded around me, blinding me.
I pressed against an overhang, dropped my last two daggers to the tips of my fingers, and waited for my eyes to adjust.
Mother, have mercy. The brilliant flicker of the Drone’s naked body pulsated beneath the caul of thousands of squirming spots. Eight-legged spots, falling over one another, rippling down his torso, his legs, over his feet.
The fire in his eyes sparkled across the wet walls. “Little fly, you cannot escape my web.”
Translucent abscesses bubbled over his abdomen, shimmering with a gray oil, festering, gasping. Then they blew. Gossamer strings erupted, spitting through the tunnel, stretching for me.
I ran. Back from where I came and into the black ink. Sticky threads clutched my shoulders, jerked me backwards. I slashed the blades through the air, cutting them away, and flung myself forward.
Volcanic dust kicked up, thickened in my mouth. I bumped against the grimy walls, groping through the dark, and slammed my brow against a jutting protrusion. My head swam. I blinked through the wet warmth slathering one eye and choked on the scream clawing in my throat.
It wasn’t footsteps that followed me. It was the drag of wings along the cavern walls and the pullulation of a thousand tiny legs moving over the rocky surface, below my feet, above my head.
My lungs wheezed, and my feet moved faster. Fire enveloped my banged up muscles, and dirt caked my nostrils.
Would my blind run send me falling into a fissure? Or crashing into a sharp ledge, decapitating myself?
Something scratched my shoulder. Oh Jesus. Oh fuck. Don’t look back. I picked up my pace. Sharp mantels and outcrops snagged my hair and tore at my arms.
Another turn. Another tunnel. More darkness. The icy breeze warmed, clotted with steam. A bronze glow illuminated ahead. My legs pumped harder even as unease harried my focus.
Why wasn’t the Drone gaining? He should’ve caught up. Something was wrong. Then I felt it. A handful of insectile pulses branched through me. In the next breath, they doubled, strengthened with their proximity. I waved the daggers through the dark, fumbling for an outlet. Where were the aphids? Would they pour out of hidden burrows? Would my guardians be close behind?
The reddish light danced on the curved wall, growing brighter. Then, as if the glow inhaled with a great heave, the wind leapt past me and all the oxygen seemed to be sucked with it.