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Harriet landed solidly on what felt like stone. The rushing water pouring in from multiple directions prevented her from standing straight, but she managed to keep upright. Unable to see past the cascade in front of her, she felt out ahead with one hand while slowly sliding her foot forward until she kicked a steep step. She took a high step up and repeated the process.
She slowly climbed up about four steps before she made it out from under the waterfall. There was still some water flowing about her hips, but she was able to see again. Each step now brought the water level lower. She went up a few more steps until the flow no longer forced her to bend over to keep her footing. She turned around to see Vicky still standing at the edge, although she was now at eye-level and watching Harriet finish her climb.
Harriet opened her mouth to tell Vicky to stay put and she'd be back in a moment, but she didn't have a chance. All that came out was "Vicky!" as the girl looked away, glancing down the fall and taking the single step off the edge. Harriet only paused for a moment before rushing back down the steps and into the water.
She only fumbled for a moment before she managed to grab the young girl's arm. Not wanting to injure her again, she shifted her grip around the girl's waste and pulled her the direction that she had just came from, pulling up when she came to a step to help her find them. They made it to clear air quickly and they both gasped, hunching over and trying to catch their breath.
"Why did you jump?" Harriet asked between gulps of air. "I was going to come back for you!"
"And how were you going to do that?"
Harriet looked back the way they came. The gap was far to wide to jump, and there was no purchase with which to climb back to the ledge they came from. Even if they were, climbing up through a waterfall wasn't really an option.
"Also, when you came out of the water," Vicky continued after she finished catching her breath, "you didn't have that tired look on your face anymore. I thought maybe the waterfall would help with the cloudiness that was in my head, too."
Harriet straightened up as she looked back at her student. She was right; the fog was gone, and she could think clearly. She's fairly certain she would not have tried that jump had she been thinking straight. Then again, how much of anything that's happened recently.
Vicky was stilled hunched over, although she didn't look like she was breathing hard any more. The girl's face and neck now had angry black-and-blue patches that matched the one on her wris.
Harriet furrowed her brow. The water wasn't flowing hard enough bruise, especially on an athletic girl like Vicky. In fact, she should have had her face down, so it couldn't have bruised her there. She checked her own arms and shoulders, but there was no sign of injury. "Vicky, are you ok?" she asked.
The girl flushed, the bruises themselves almost seeming to pale. Before she had a chance to respond, though, there was a crashing sound above, echoing from the cave mouth, followed by a scream. A scream that sounded distinctly like Evan.
Harriet tapped Vicky lightly on the back to get her moving and took off up the steps. Upon crossing through the strange stone circle, she found herself on a winding staircase cut into the stone of some sort of cave, the source of the flowing water nowhere to be seen on the dry floor. The dark red, clay-like walls were lit by an unknown source, but Harriet was happy to finally be able to see where her feet were going to fall. The two of them continued their exhausting pace up, sprinting across the periodic landing as they continued upwards. Their steps echoed through the cave, becoming quite loud in spite of the soft surface.
Harriet stopped abruptly as she noticed something on the ground of one of the landings. It was generally human in shape: it was about five-and-a-half feet tall (well, long right now), with a head, torso, two arms and two legs. It was muscular, almost stocky, and lying on its back it looked like some sort of wrestler who just lost a match.
The similarities ended there. It was mostly nude, although it had no genetalia that Harriet could see. It had yellow, leathery skin, patched like scales in areas. It had three fingers and toes, each elongated and ending in a broad, dark nails. Its head had some sort of strange, blunted beak, ending in a substance just like those on its hands and feet. And coming from the back of its head was some sort of crest. Harriet was reminded of the pictures of dinosaurs she saw as a child growing up.
Vicky began to push by her, but Harriet stopped her with one hand out. The only things he was wearing was a hard wood-and-leather sheath that looked the type to carry a long, curved sword that was nowhere in sight, and some sort of back-harness. And its chest was moving up and down, its nostrils flaring, so Harriet knew it was still alive.
"We don't have time to stare, Miss Standford," Vicky said from next to her. "Evan's in trouble!"
She nodded, realizing there was little she could do but try to pass. Evan managed to, after all. "Just don't go near it. Stay as close to the wall as you can."
The two of them crept by as softly as they could; the strange creature did not move, just continued its heavy breathing. As soon as they were past arm's reach, they began their run. It was only a few more steps before Harriet noticed another ring of rock, opening up to a bright sky above. The clashing she had heard before suddenly started again, and this time should could tell it was not far from the opening.
Harriet barely registered that the sky was a deep purple and red before she burst through the stone ring. She looked up to see Evan, with a curved sword in one hand and a large, steel-banded wooden shield in the other, barely managing to maintain his footing in front of a creature much like the one that had passed on the way up, wielding an enormous double-handed sword.
Well, there were a few differences. This one's skin was grey, not yellow. Its head crest had three points instead of a rounded edge. And it stood well over eight-feet tall.
Its next blow shattered the thick shield Evan had on his arm. Evan cried out as more than half of the shield flew off, only leaving a few planks still connected to the leather straps. He held his sword out, readying to parry the next few blows but obviously worried how long he could hold up. Harriet thought he could almost see him shrinking before the creature before him.
She looked around quickly. The were in an open area with the same clay substance that was in the cave for the ground. There were thick rock walls that made up a tall cliff-face both behind and in front of them, opening off to Harriet's left and tapering to a corner on the right, a corner that Evan was rapidly getting pressured towards. There weren't any plants around aside from a few stout bushes, but Harriet ignored them. On the ground not too far from her feet was a strange, two-pronged spear. She hefted it and ran at the creature, thrusting it as hard she could into its back.
It yelped in pain, pulling away from the weapon and turning, looking up to face her. Its eyes went wide, and she took its surprise as an opportunity. She thrust the weapon at the creature's neck, catching it between the prongs and sinking the blades into the stone behind him. The weapon buried itself deeply, putting pressure on the creature's throat and causing it to gag, although it could still breathe. It dropped its enormous weapon, grabbing at the haft of spear as Harriet let go, unsuccessfully trying not remove it from the rock behind him and never breaking wide-eyed contact with the woman before him.
It was only then that Harriet realized the huge creature was looking up in order to meet her gaze.
To Be Continued.
Please sir, can I have some more?
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