Blink: Leviathan (Book 2)

20

The fear she felt now was something deep rooted and instinctive, an irrational and unshakeable revulsion towards things that crawled. That leant speed to Amber's mad, hobbing dash as she strove to get away from the thing chasing her through the dank, dark caverns of the city. But she could hear the thunk, thunk, thunk of her pursuer as its legs battered against the stonework, growing louder with each passing second.

Her mind was torn between the impulse to look back and see just what it was that chased her, and the knowledge that doing so would not help her in any way. But she needed to get a better look to know just what new horror she was dealing with now. Fighting through the waves of pain that tore through her leg, she tried to run as normally as she could, but was under no illusions about her chances of outrunning the thing.

So she did the only thing she could to even the odds. She started Blinking.

Amber only risked small jumps, distances of a dozen metres at a time, not wanting to tempt fate by going any further with the speed she was forced to work at. Her mind raced through small calculations of distance every second and just when it seemed the clatter from the monster's legs was closing in, she would leap ahead again. Frustrated snarling hisses echoed around her in the dark.

Only concentrating on Blink-travelling kept her mind from rolling off into full blown panic at her current situation. Ten metres, two-point-six centimetres. She flashed further ahead, taking an instant to reorientate herself again in the darkness. Hobbling with desperate speed, Amber swung around a bend and found herself facing a huge black abyss that spanned the corridor. Much too large to jump, it yawned at least ten metres in front of her, forcing her to skid awkwardly to a halt.

Casting one fearful glance behind, she swallowed a deep breath, estimated the distance she needed to clear and made the Blink happen. Done in haste, Amber had a moment of terrifying weightlessness as she re-emerged into real space. Then her boots thumped against the stone and she exhaled a sigh of relief.

Another deafening hiss tore through the passage, causing her to turn sharply, carbine levelled in shaking hands. Now she did get a good look at her pursuer and wished she hadn't. It was definitely an arthropod, with a thick rigid exoskeleton and ten limbs that she could see. Its torso had a barrel-like shape and the legs arched out from it in five segments like a spider's. She could now see in the light that its huge head sported a pair of colossal fangs as well as a gaping jaw. Rivulets of water dripped from its ridged armour, creating an eerie echoing drumbeat.

For a moment the monster just stood there, its cluster of eyes glaring out at her. Amber started edging backwards, wondering if the thing could get across to her. She reasoned that it was not a good idea to wait and find out. But then the creature bunched its legs towards its body in a way that could only mean one thing.

Amber's heart stopped for an instant as the terrifying colossus jumped towards her, its bulk casting a shadow over her diminutive form as it flew across the gap with ease. Just before those fangs slammed down into her, she forced another short Blink, vanishing in the nick of time. She reappeared several metres further down the passage and saw the arthropod smash into the solid stone of the floor. Another vicious hiss reverberated around the walls as it scrambled back onto its many feet.

Amber got the distinct impression that the predator was getting angry.

So she started running again, blundering on through the darkness. The rational part of her mind started to kick in now though, as she kept Blinking ahead of her pursuer. She couldn't keep this up, not indefinitely, and she had no idea how long the spider-creature would be able to follow. She needed a way out, and fast.