Page 54 of Moist!

chapter nine

SERAFINA

I can’t think past Cantis’ screams and I don’t know what to do.

On land, humans squish spiders that get in their way, but I obviously can’t do that now.

The bellista takes up most of the arched space that forms the ceiling of this cave room.

But that does give me an idea–if I could figure out a way to collapse the cave and have it crush the diving bellista, that could work.

But I wouldn’t be able to guarantee Cantis’ safety.

I have to do something. Preferably before the creature uses its venom to turn Cantis into mush.

I look around me, but I can’t actually take in what I’m seeing, my body pumped full of adrenaline and the need to run pulsing through my muscles. It feels counterintuitive, but I close my eyes and force my brain to think . There has to be a way out of this.

Drip.

Drip. Drip.

Where is that coming from? I whip my head towards the sound of water. With all the excitement earlier, I hadn’t really noticed that there’s water trickling from cracks all over the cave. I can work with this.

A plan starts to form in my mind when I spot a sword lying amongst other weapons on a velvet mat. This ends now. I rush over and grab the sword. It’s heavy, but I get a good grip on it before placing my hand under the nearest drip of water.

I’ve never been so grateful for water hopping in my life.

That’s the only thought that crosses my mind as I re-form two feet above the diving bellista’s head.

I let my body weight give me extra force as I aim the sword right above the creature's many eyes. The shriek it lets out is terrifying, echoing back and forth as if the sound has nowhere else to go. It’s hard to keep my balance on my human legs long enough to get back to the drops of water coming from a crack close to the opening above, but once I do, I narrowly miss the sharp point of one of the spider’s front legs as it rips through the webbing holding Cantis up.

She falls to the ground with a thud and I suck in a breath, flinching as if I was the one hitting the rock.

“Cantis? Can you hear me?” I crouch over her and shield her body from the bellista’s erratic movements. It’s scratching walls and spinning out web in all directions, hopefully a signal of its impending death, but we don’t need to get hurt by it now that we’re almost free.

When it’s safe, I lift up again and find white eyes on me.

“Cantis! Can I move you? We need to go.” Her weak nod is all I need to get moving. I stand up and loop my arms under her armpits, dragging her to the nearest liquid source I see. I water hop us to the pebbly shore of the cavern and step around Cantis so I can see her face.

“Can you swim?”

“I-I can’t change.” Cantis’ voice is raspy and it makes my stomach ache. “I don’t know how to swim in this form.”

Boom!

The sound waves shake the pebbles around us and I can feel it in my knees. I don’t know if it was the bellista falling over or the entire cavern collapsing. I just know we’re running out of time.

“Just hold on to me, I’ll get us out of here.” I step behind Cantis and pull her all the way into the water. I change into my natural form and hug her to me.

“I’ll go as fast as I can.” I dare not waste a second more and start swimming immediately, careful to keep Cantis’ head above water.

I pump my tail with everything I have, using my free arm to cradle Cantis’ head so I don’t run her into a low rock formation on the way out.

In what feels like both an eternity and a moment later, we burst from the cave, but I keep swimming hard just in case.

I want to put as much distance between us and that cavern as possible.

After being in the water for a while, Cantis is ready to change back to her natural form. She grabs my waist and tugs me deeper into the sea. She wraps my arms around her and the sea floor passes by me in a blur.