Warrior Rogue (The Drift Lords Series) (16 page)

“I’d say our hosts are the least of our worries right now.” Paz pointed out to sea.

Everyone turned. A series of humps rose out of the water and then dipped below the surface. The creature had to be enormous although its full length remained hidden.

“Do they have lifejackets on board?” Jen scuttled to a nearby chest and threw it open. Fishing gear. Oh, like they could reel in this thing. It might choose them for lunch, not the other way around. At a loss, she returned to her companions.

“This way.” Paz gestured for her and Smitty to follow. “I thought I saw a harpoon on the quarterdeck.”

The three of them hustled in the direction he’d indicated.

“I should have known we couldn’t defy fate,” Smitty muttered. “Jormungand knows we’re here. He means to destroy you.”

“What are you talking about?” Jen’s pulse throbbed in her temples. Why couldn’t they just find a safe harbor already?

“As descendants of the ancient gods, you are his sworn enemies. The Midgard serpent hails from the giants and is a spawn of Loki.
Kimmlebush
, I shouldn’t have come.” Smitty cast a fearful glance at the water.

The sea boiled and churned, and a great tail rose up to swat them. Jen grabbed the nearest rail as the ship tilted, hung in the balance, and then righted itself. This wooden rig wouldn’t hold up for very long under repeated assault.

“What do we do?” She gazed at Paz, her head reeling.

The sailors advanced toward them, aiming their firearms.

Captain Kolami halted in front of her, his eyes blazing. He rattled off some words and Paz translated.

“You have brought doom upon us. We should not have allowed a woman on board. Over the side with you. That may appease the creature.”

Jen gasped. This was a no-win situation. What did they call it on Star Trek, the
Kobayashi Maru
scenario?

As she saw it, they had three choices: to be murdered by the crew, drowned in the ocean, or eaten by the sea monster.

The good thing was, she didn’t have to make a decision.

The bad thing was, the serpent made it for her.

It chose that moment to rear its ugly head. Two round yellow eyes glared at them from above a yawning mouth filled with sharp, jagged teeth. The creature looked like a cross between a dinosaur and a snake. Its long, winding body made seemingly of pure muscle twisted to the surface.

Jen opened her mouth to scream, but her voice was swallowed by the monster that gulped the entire ship down its throat.

Wet blackness surrounded her as she tumbled into free space. Her breath escaped her lungs.

This is it. I’m going to die.

And then she was rolling and landing on a squishy, spongy surface. A body knocked into her and ricocheted off. Another thud sounded nearby followed by a curse.

“Paz? Is that you?” Jen sniffed in the dark. There appeared to be breathable air, but it stank something foul.

“Yes, I’m here.” His deep voice sent a rush of relief through her.

“Where is here?” Sounds of trickling water met her ears along with an ominous creaking noise. “Wait, I still have my purse.” She’d strapped it on under her shirt so none of the crew would try to steal it. “I have an emergency penlight.”

She took it out and shone it around, propping herself on an elbow.

“This looks like a cavern but I don’t think we’re in any cave,” Smitty’s voice rasped from somewhere in the gloom.

“I thought the creature ate us.” Paz struggled to his feet, staggering when the ground trembled beneath them.

“The sea serpent swallowed us,” Smitty clarified. “We’re in its stomach. Lady, shine your light farther afield.”

Jen did as instructed, her eyes widening. She and her pals had landed on a ridge, presumably a ripple in the creature’s innards. Below them sat the junk, its masts broken. The ship listed ominously toward a vast pool of sloshing liquid.

As the bow dipped into the pool, the liquid bubbled and spurted. The crew were nowhere in sight.

“This isn’t good.” Paz glanced at her, his face grim.

“Why? There’s air in here, and we’re still alive.” She pushed a strand of damp hair off her face.

“But not for long. See the junk? It isn’t just sinking. It’s dissolving.”

“Huh?” She could barely discern the ship’s outline. His eyesight must be sharper than hers.

“That’s acid, not water. Stomach acid, to be precise.”

“Oh, Lord.”

“By Thor’s hammer, do something.” Smitty waddled over to them. “Get us out of here.”

A rumble sounded, and the ground underfoot shook.

“I second that.” Jen placed a hand on the nearest wall to steady herself. Grimacing at the slimy surface, she jerked back when it quivered under her fingers. “Listen, maybe we should tickle it?”

Paz glanced at her as though her mental threads had unraveled. “What would that accomplish? We’re not in its lungs. It can’t sneeze us out.” His gaze darkened. “You may be onto something, though. If we irritate it─”

“It might spew us out, like in the biblical story of Jonah. He was swallowed by a big fish, and after he prayed to his god, the creature vomited him out.”

“We could pray to the gods.” Smitty nodded vigorously, his eyes glistening with hope. He sank to his knees. “Mighty Odin, hear our plea. Deliver us from the evil servant of Loki so your chosen ones can fulfill the prophecy.”

“Like that’s gonna work.” Jen rolled her eyes. “I meant we should do something practical. We can give it heartburn.”

Paz swung his gaze toward her. “We are in the belly of the beast, nowhere near its heart.”

“Heartburn is what you get when you eat something that upsets your stomach. It’s a burning sensation in the esophagus.” She pointed to the ship, tilted at a precarious angle, twenty-five percent gone into the swirling depths. “We have plenty of timber. Not all of the wood is wet. We can build a fire.”

In two steps, Paz reached her. He grasped her in his arms and kissed her straight on the lips. “You’re brilliant. I can generate a spark with my PIP. Wait here.” He loped off, using his handheld device to illuminate the way.

“Be careful! The entire junk could slip under the surface at any time.”

As though to emphasize her words, something cracked and tumbled off the ship into the acid, spewing a lethal spray into the air.

She cried out in horror. Paz had just boarded the slanted deck. He leapt back, shielding his face with his arm. Her beam didn’t reach that far, and she lost sight of him.

Her heart lodged in her throat. “Paz, are you all right?”

No answer. Had he crashed through the decking? Was he even now lying unconscious or trapped inside the doomed ship?

“Hold on, I’m coming.” With a grimace of determination, she stepped forward.

Smitty’s pudgy arms wrapped around her from behind. “You’re not going anywhere. The Drift Lord ordered us to stay here.”

She fought against him, but his arms were surprisingly strong. “Let go of me. He needs my help.”

“No, you’re not leaving me alone.”

Jen stomped on his instep. He cursed but tightened his grip. She grabbed his pinky fingers and bent them back. With a howl, he released her.

She spun around with her fists clenched. “I’m going after him and don’t you stop me.”

A large groan sounded. As both of their heads turned, another quarter of the ship sank into the vile pool. Paz would die in there if she didn’t hurry. She’d kill the dwarf for delaying her in that event.

She stumbled over a series of spongy ridges toward the sinking junk.

Just then, Paz’s head surfaced. The ship’s deck had risen with the tilt, and he peered over the side rail. She’d never been so happy to see his handsome face. He thrust one leg over the edge, followed by the other. Then he jumped from the ship toward a patch of relatively dry ground.

He raced toward her as a plume of smoke curled up from inside the wooden hull.

Reaching her side, he prodded her to move on. “I set a fire. There’s still plenty of broken wood that’s dry enough to kindle. We’d better return to the ledge and hope the smoke doesn’t kill us before the creature coughs us out.”

As they picked their way over the undulating surface, Jen worried her lower lip. If this ploy didn’t work, they’d end up being digested same as the ship. Grit irritated her lungs, and her throat constricted. Maybe they’d suffocate first.

The ground bucked under them. She clutched at Paz for support.

Compressing his mouth, he took her arm and guided her along until they stood beside Smitty. The bearded dwarf acknowledged them with a glum nod.

Her pulse pounded in her ears. Fluid sloshed somewhere, and a droplet fell on her wrist. She shook it off, grateful when it didn’t eat into her flesh. It must have only been water.

Only water.
Good Lord, they could still drown.

They might be deep under the sea, meaning even if the creature spit them out, they’d be too far beneath the surface.

She turned to Paz to express her latest fear, but a roar of flames from behind stopped her.

The junk’s wood had ignited. Smoke clouded the air, making her cough and choke. Their environs tilted and swayed. What if the creature spewed them out along with a plume of acid? They wouldn’t be any better off. How could they protect themselves?

She posed the question to Paz, but before he could answer, a light opened far in the distance. Ripples cascaded along the moist walls of their cavern. Then an inrush of seawater headed their way like a tidal wave. It passed below their ledge, spraying the junk and dousing the fire. When the tide subsided, a faint luminescence flickered like fireflies in the dark.

“
Smark
, the beast has swallowed more food.” Paz indicated the tiny pinpoints of light. “Those types of fish are usually found deep under the ocean. The serpent must be feeding along the bottom. And now the fire will go out from all that fresh intake of water.”

Jen’s heart sank. “It’s still smoldering. Maybe we’ve upset the beast’s stomach, and that’s why it swallowed more water.”

“What if the food is spoiled? That might make the creature regurgitate,” Smitty said, offering them a new option with a hopeful expression.

“True,” Paz said, stroking his jaw. “You know, I read that mercury has been poisoning fish in the sea here. Is gold just as toxic?”

“Gold is inert.” Smitty’s brow wrinkled. “If ingested, it’ll just pass through the digestive system.”

Paz referenced his PIP. “Gold doesn’t dissolve in nitric acid like most other metals. That’s where your term, acid test, comes from. It refers to a test that will determine if an item holds any real value.”

“What about stomach acid?” Jen’s spirits soared as she caught on.

“Gastric acid consists of hydrochloric acid plus potassium chloride and sodium chloride. And gold reacts to chlorine.”

Jen wondered how Paz had become so familiar with chemistry. “Why are you asking about gold anyway?”

He pointed to Smitty. “Tell her about your gift.”

Smitty shuffled his feet, staring at a spot on the ground. “I can turn inanimate objects into gold. That’s why the Trolleks were holding me. They need gold bars to buy goods in your world.” He waggled a finger at her. “Don’t tell anyone, lady. It’s our secret.”

“Of course, but I don’t see how this relates to our situation. Are you thinking of turning the ship’s remains into gold? That could work if the metal acts like a lead weight in the monster’s stomach.”

“Or it could dissolve in the gastric acid and sicken the beast. But further action on our part may not be necessary.” Paz coughed, waving away a plume of smoke.

So, the wood still burned. Only a portion of the junk still showed, the rest gone. Bits of debris scattered around the area.

Another ripple passed along the ledge, making her feet stumble and fear shoot through her. What if some sort of valve at the far end had opened, and they were about to proceed to the next phase of digestion?

Smitty’s sudden cry made Jen’s pulse spike. The ridge crumpled where he’d been standing, and he plunged down a slippery slope toward the churning, boiling pool below.

Paz didn’t hesitate. He leapt down from their foothold to the lower surface and charged toward Smitty, still sliding, his arms flailing. Paz grabbed a nearby beam and used it to vault himself over and beyond the hapless dwarf.

He landed upright, cast aside the wood beam, and spread his feet. Smitty flew in his direction. Paz stooped and caught the little guy with barely a stagger.

That’s when the beast gave a huge bellow, opened its mouth, and belched them out. Jen’s legs flew into the air. Her body tumbled, and along with a flume of water, she rushed down a tunnel toward a wide gap with light beyond.

She got a glimpse of spiked, uneven teeth that started to come together, and a moment of panic hit her. In the next instant, the serpent upchucked her out to sea level.

Gasping and choking, she kicked to maintain her head above the surface. A wave battered her face, and salt water trickled down her throat and stung her eyes.

She sputtered and coughed. The effort made her sink. With a gasping breath, she kicked upward and tread water. Her arm muscles quickly tired. Another wave swamped her, making her senses reel and disorienting her. Where was up? It was daylight, so she followed the sun’s rays.

Blinking and sucking in short gasps of air, she managed to keep her face free of the water. How long could she last before fatigue sapped her energy and she sank into the depths? Would drowning be painful?

Sunlight glared into her upraised face, blinding her. She squinted, imagining her lungs burning for oxygen while her muscles gave way. Her body would sink, her limbs paralyzed by fatigue. Should she suck in big gobs of water to quicken her demise? She’d die alone in the vast ocean.

Tears of despair filled her eyes as she visualized the end, her respirations slowing with lack of oxygen, her consciousness fading. She’d become another nameless victim of the sea.

Through her blurry vision, she glanced around for Paz and Smitty, but the crests obstructed her view. Waves lapped and swelled and dipped, and she struggled to maintain her balance without being knocked over as water beat her from all sides.