loudly.
“You need to get back in the river, swim to the middle, then let it carry you down! You dive from anywhere else and you’ll break your neck. Take it from someone who’s tested a variety of dive spots.”
My saliva thickened anew. “How many prisoners . . . have the tigri killed?” I asked, retreating back the way I’d come. Strong swimmer that I was, in this current, I’d never reach the heart of the river before toppling off if I didn’t add a few more yards.
“Just me. Damn tiger carved up my chest with its metal claws!”
Metal claws . . . Like on Kiera’s necklace. She must’ve plucked them off one of the beasts and strung them up on a cord. A battle trophy.
A growl followed by yelling down below made me wade into the frothy water. I pushed off the embankment and swam toward the center of the river, and then I turned toward the valley and let the current lasso me toward the fight below.
31
The Fourth One
I closed my eyes as I tipped over, curling my body into a compact ball to avoid skeletal damage. I thought of Sook, my thrill-seeking cousin. Of how he’d probably have hollered an impassioned “cowabunga” like he did when he flew over the Pink Sea and divebombed me, one of his very favorite pastimes.
Hitting the pool was almost like hitting solid rock. My organs remained intact inside my body, but damn . . . my poor skull. It pounded and wobbled like the rest of my bones.
I suddenly remembered my swimming buddy, and my arms and legs sprang out and carved through the water just as he collided into it. While he dropped like a stone, I scissor-kicked to the surface.
“Is the cat dead?” I asked once he’d emerged.
“If it doesn’t move, it’s dead.”
Treading water, I surveyed its ribcage. When it didn’t expand, I headed toward the shore. Over the sound of my arms slapping water came a series of distant grunts followed by a non-human roar. My pulse faltered, and so did my desire to join the fight, but Remo was out there.
I pushed away my apprehension and swam faster, studying the purple giant’s serrated claws, peaked ears, and twin golden fangs that jutted from its jaw, reddened by—I gulped—blood. As my boots gained purchase on the sandy bottom, a succession of shivers zipped up my spine.
“Move!” Baldie shoved past me, running his palms down his face to whisk off the water. “They need our help.”
I raced after him, Karsyn’s dust tingling in my palm, reminding me it was there for the taking, and I would take it if push came to shove. “What about weapons?” I yelled as he kicked up sand that stuck to my wet suit.
“They should have extra on site. If not, we hit the caves.”
I didn’t ask where the caves were, just followed him. Movement to our right made him change course. He veered so sharply around a thick, peeling trunk I missed the liana hung between it and the next tree, and it whipped my forehead, snapping my head back. Miraculously, I didn’t fall, but little stars spangled my vision. I shook my head to clear it just as a growl erupted so close I swore I could smell the creature’s rank breath in the air.
My blood and breaths came quicker. Soon, I burst from a thicket of yellow plants with curled tentacular leaves that scraped at my shins.
Holy Skies above.
A tigri was standing on its hind legs, and in front of it, holding a spear as puny as a matchstick, was Remo, bare chest streaked in blood and sand.
Not seeing Baldie anywhere, I fashioned a spear of my own that resembled Remo’s, only three times longer and sharper. And then I hollered at the beast to get its attention, which also got my fiancé’s attention. The huge feline landed, its paws making the very ground shake. My knees softened and bent as I squatted into a battle stance.
The tigri pivoted toward me and sniffed the air. And then it licked its chops and bounded.
Remo shouted, but my thrashing pulse drowned out his voice.
A dose of adrenaline so potent shot through me that I thought I might rocket off the ground if I so much as hopped. Even though I would never own up to it, I did jump and got a whole whopping foot of air between me and the ground before thumping right back down.
Since flying was a no-go, I reeled my