Chimera

Chapter Thirteen: Jaylin

Now that there was a light source, Jaylin could see his surroundings much more easily. The cave floor was covered in ridged stones and gray pebbles. A few steps ahead, the ground gave way to water, which reflected the shine of the mushrooms. It was the river, wider and stronger than at the entrance of the cave. The waterway was turbid, filled with dark, swirling shapes that Jaylin couldn't identify in the dim light. Droplets fell from the stalactites above, creating ripples that spread over the surface of the stream.

Taking a deep breath, Jaylin lowered his foot into the water. As soon as he did, the air chilled in his body, scratching his lungs like sharp ice crystals. The water was cold, that was certain. But it was a strange kind of cold. Not like the pure, glacial cold of frost. It was an insipid, ghostly cold, like something that had never tasted sunlight or drank in fresh air.

Steeling himself, Jaylin continued forward. Where his feet touched the river bottom, mud erupted in opaque swirls and eddied around his legs. Something smooth and slimy touched his skin and he bit his tongue, using pain to distract from the thoughts of what it could be.

If he thought about what the slimy thing was, he knew fear and doubt would take over. This cave was the kind of place where people were killed by terror, the kind of place where people lost control and thought and sanity, and drowned in the frigid depths.

The four walked through the caves, only exchanging words when they were checking to see if the others were still there. Jaylin didn't know if they had been travelling for two hours or ten, so he just fixed his eyes on the winding river ahead of him.

As he waded past a small island of rocks, he saw something strange in the water. Instead of being clear and chilling, the water in front of him was a shade of bright scarlet-orange. And the color was moving, billowing forward, turning the clear water to crimson, like red ink spreading in a glass of transparent water, gradually making it cloudy and colored.

Jaylin jerked away, stumbling backwards, trying to escape the strange water. Part of the vermilion liquid touched his leg and Jaylin screamed as he saw the fabric of his shorts starting to melt, and then the first layer of his skin. He clambered desperately onto the rocky island above the water, barely avoiding the poisoned liquid as it swirled past.

Now Jaylin knew what the substance was.

"Acid! There's acid in the water!" he yelled to the others. He saw their eyes widen with disbelief. Then they saw the water turning blood-red, and they scrabbled onto the rocks, slipping and cutting themselves in their hurry to escape the corrosive stuff.

"Acid? How is there acid in a freaking cave?" Camila exclaimed, gasping for air. The red water fizzed and bubbled.

"Lance, help!" Jaylin yelled. Now that the numbness of fear was fading, he had noticed pain. It was coming from his leg, where the acid had begun eating away at him. He could tell it wasn't fatal, but it was still painful and red. Lance reached for his medical kit, fumbling in the low light. Eventually, he had covered up Jaylin's gash.

They silently agreed to wait until the red faded and the water was clear once more. But even when the river had returned to normal, they decided to remain on the rocks a few minutes longer, for good measure.

That was when they heard a low growl from behind them. It echoed around the cave and reverberated in the low cave ceiling, thrumming the particles in the air. Then, out of the darkness, a beast appeared.

The glow of the mushrooms allowed Jaylin to see its whole body. The creature looked like a huge amphibian lizard, easily as tall as him at the shoulder. Its skin had a bright orange hue, and its back was spattered with blood-red spots that ran from its curved neck to its long, winding tail. The animal had stout legs that ended with razor-sharp claws. Its head was long and pointed and its eyes were a pale, empty yellow.

It opened its mouth wide, forked tongue licking three rows of jagged, uneven fangs. As it did so, a poisonous, acidic stench filled the air. Jaylin gagged, eyes watering. Red saliva frothed in the creature's mouth, dripping from its teeth. The droplets landed on a pebble, which melted into nothingness in the space of a second.

This monstrous, amphibian cave dweller was the source of the acid!

"We need to get out of here!" Jaylin called. The four of them slid off the rock and down into the river. Their fear of lingering acid in the water was replaced by the fear of a creature which could spit said acid.

Behind them, the Caustic Salamander roared. Spittle flew from its mouth. Jaylin could hear the water sizzling as the flecks of saliva hit the river's surface, and his heart jumped wildly.

It was the same kind of sensation he had felt when he was running from the Aerosnake. But this fear was worse. With the Aerosnake, he had been able to run as fast as his legs could carry him. But here in the caves, with water up to his waist and lack of any direct light, he was constantly stumbling and falling and groping wildly in the blackness. Jaylin had no idea where the Salamander was, save for when he heard the sizzle of acid. It could be anywhere, ready to kill him. Somehow, that was much scarier than knowing that a beast was right behind you.

Jaylin ran steadily, putting distance between himself and the Salamander. It wasn't the fastest of creatures, as it was adapted to lurking in caves and swamps, so Jaylin could outrun it. He started to feel a tiny bit better.

And then he tripped.

Dear readers: so to recap, our heroes have suddenly discovered that there is somehow corrosive acid in the water that they hoped the city could drink. And could falling over be the end of Jaylin? Just tripping on a normal day can be painful, especially if you fall onto something like concrete. But tripping when you are being chased by a giant, vicious, acid-spitting, amphibian/reptilian hybrid? That could very well kill you.

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