“I don’t know – never seen it before.” He sounded nervous, and his trepidation caught hold of me like a plague.

“How many times have you been this way?” I asked, my mind turning to the real fear that we might be lost and he just didn’t know it.

There was no chance to respond before the cavern thundered with a strange roaring noise. BAROOOM! The echoes faded, replaced by the wet swish of something slithering in our direction. Something large.

Luc’s terrified eyes met mine and he whispered, “Run!”

Chapter 3

Cécile

Terror may have given us wings, but the labyrinth of Forsaken Mountain kept us to a crawl. We wriggled across boulders, boots slipping on the loose rock and ears peeled for the tell-tale swish, swish of the sluag hunting at our heels. If it was fast enough to catch us, it was choosing not to. But whenever I thought we’d escaped, we’d round a corner and the swish, swish of slithering would accost our ears, forcing us to backtrack or take another way – almost as though it was toying with us. If not for the etched directions, we’d have certainly lost our way. Exhaustion was catching up with us, and when it did, so would the sluag.

Luc examined the markers, both of us panting and gasping for breath. We stood at the convergence of three tunnels. “This way,” he whispered. “Just a bit further and we’ll come to a narrow hole. You’ll have to get down and crawl, but once you’re through, we’ll be into Trollus. The sluag won’t be able to follow.”

BAROOOM!

I started in the direction he pointed, but Luc shoved me aside and went first. Reaching the tight bit, he fell to his stomach and squirmed his way in. His small pack caught on the edge, forcing him to back up, take it off, and shove it ahead of him.

Swish, swish, swish. BAROOOM! Triumph thundered in the creature’s voice as it drew closer.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry,” I whispered, and turned to look back the way we’d come.

Swish, swish, swish.

Only Luc’s feet stuck out of the tunnel now. I dropped to my knees, ready to dive in the second he made room.

Swish, swish, swish.

Luc’s heels disappeared. I glanced behind me one last time, the light of the lantern catching the monster rounding the corner. The sluag reared, white and glistening like a giant slug, and out of its mouth shot a long, whip-like tongue. The lantern smashed at my feet, guttering out. I screamed and scrambled into the hole.

I could see nothing – only hear Luc cursing ahead of me, and the swish of the sluag coming up from behind. I crawled faster, uncertain how far into the tunnel I had progressed or if my ankles still protruded enough for the monster to catch hold.

BAROOOM!

I screamed, and something smacked into the heel of my boot, the force driving me onto the back of Luc’s legs. “Hurry! It’s coming!”