A stone rattled behind me. I turned. The fat body of an Amu’utu descended out of the mist, its intricate jaws flexing and quivering. I gave a shout of fright, stepped backwards, tripped over the end of my spear, and went sprawling onto my back.
Before I even realised what was happening, my right ankle was clamped tightly in a coiled tongue and I was being dragged yelling and screaming across the ground.
The Yatsill came racing over and Tsillanda Ma’ara shouted, “Declare yourself! Do not die with your name unspoken!”
“I don’t want to die at all!” I screeched. “Help me! Help me!”
The Amu’utu emitted a high-pitched whistle as thrown spears pierced its flesh. I felt stones grinding against my back, spines digging into my ankle, a wooden shaft in my hand. The spear! I was still holding it!
With sheer terror powering my inadequate muscles, I forced myself into a sitting position and jabbed the spear into the horrible appendage that gripped my leg. The cavern suddenly whirled around me as I was flung into the air. My back impacted against something soft, my head against something hard, and I blacked out.
I think I was oblivious for mere moments. When my senses came fluttering back, I sat up and saw the Amu’utu on the ground with the Yatsill gathered around it, stabbing it over and over.
The islanders were guarding the children, with the exception of Kata, who was standing at the edge of the pool, gazing into it.
I looked around.
“Kata! Kata! Where is Clarissa?”
The Koluwaian pointed down.
“You knocked her in.”
I leaped to my feet. “What? She’s in the water? Get her out!”
“It is forbidden to all but Yatsill.”
Without thinking, I took three steps and dove into the pool. In the split second before I hit the water, it occurred to me that I would boil to death, for it was bubbling and producing thick clouds of steam. However, it was not heat that assaulted me but freezing cold, though in the first instant it was impossible to distinguish between either extreme.
I didn’t stop to wonder why hot clouds were billowing up from icy water, but, fighting to overcome the shock to my system, I rose to the surface, sucked in a deep breath, then forced myself under, kicked hard, and peered around through slitted eyes. Blue light glimmered faintly in the upper reaches of the pool but it quickly became dark as I pushed downward. Tiny creatures wriggled against my skin. I groped around until my lungs were close to bursting, then propelled myself up, took another breath, and dived again.
Three times I went down and failed to locate my friend. On the fourth, I was so filled with despair, so afraid of being left alone in this world of grotesqueries and primitives, that I half-decided to stay under and let myself drown.
The fingers of my right hand encountered flesh, slid across an elbow, and closed tightly over a forearm. Mentally, I praised the God I no longer believed in and dragged Clarissa Stark to the surface, hauled her out of the pool, and collapsed beside her.
Kata leaned over me. As if from a great distance, she said, “She is alive, but you have committed a sacrilegious act. Perhaps the Yatsill will banish you to the Shelf Lands.”
I didn’t respond, but lay gasping, clinging on to consciousness. I’d passed out too many times since my arrival on Ptallaya. It had been a welcome release, but not one I’d allow myself while my friend was in danger.
I got to my knees and bent over her prone form. I called her name and shook her gently but she didn’t stir. Closer examination revealed a long swelling above her eyebrows. Perhaps she’d knocked her head while falling. She was breathing steadily, though, so the injury probably wasn’t serious.
Kata touched my shoulder. “We must leave the cavern now. I will help you with her.”
I nodded miserably. We lifted Clarissa between us and bore her rather awkwardly along the path. The Yatsill trekked ahead, with the Koluwaians following behind, bearing the three senseless youngsters.
The party retraced its steps without incident, stopping only to pick up the body of Tokula Pathamay. The return journey felt interminable, and I could have wept with relief when I finally saw the Ptall’kor and, moments later, we climbed aboard it.
Yazziz Yozkulu approached and said, “Lay your friend beside the newly Wise. We will look after her. Do not be concerned. They will all recover.”