:¨·.·¨:
`·.. Chapter Nine
High Tide
Debris fell from the ceiling as the moschorhinus thundered after Taylor. Flashes of light bounced off random parts of the tunnels, not aimed at anything in particular; just away.
The girl emerged into the main cavern. Amongst the angry growling from behind her, she barely picked out a familiar creaking sound. There was only one way to go now - down.
With just a single bound, the moschorhinus leapt out of the tunnel at her. She threw herself off the ledge as it did so, and they both toppled into the trench. Intense pain swept through her body, clearing her lungs of all air. She gasped, struggling to recover her breath. Willing every protesting muscle to move, she crawled to the edge and hugged the furthermost rock with all of the little strength she had left.
The moschorhinus, unfazed by the fall, casually turned to face her, lips curled in a deep snarl. It stretched out a paw and flexed the digits; the claws flashed forebodingly in the torchlight. The muscles rippled beneath the skin as it lowered its front legs in preparation to pounce.
The snarl turned into a yelp as the floodwaters appeared. There was no warning; one moment the stream was seeping harmlessly amongst the bedrock, and the next moment a tsunami was smashing all around them. It swept the moschorhinus's legs out from underneath it. It crashed to the ground and tumbled over several times in the current before regaining a foothold, which lasted all of three seconds before it lost traction again.
For one brief instant, both beings' eyes connected. The girl saw no danger or malice in the beast's eyes; there was nothing there but regret and pure terror. A thump and a heart-wrenching howl of pain later, the creature was gone.
Taylor clung to her rock tighter as the torrent hammered against her. Water rushed up her nose, mouth, eyes, burning. The force of wave after wave against her skin stung like thousands of tiny daggers. The current sought viciously to pull her away, drag her under, send her hurtling after the moschorhinus. It was cold, so unbelievably icy, that violent shivering alone threatened to give her up to the flood.
The tide rose quickly beyond her height, and she was completely underwater. Still out of breath from running and falling, she couldn't gather enough breath to withstand the air deprivation. Within seconds, she involuntarily inhaled water, and subsequently let go of the rock.
As fortune would have it, the floodwaters retreated at that moment, leaving Taylor sprawled across the rocks in a sodden heap some twenty metres downstream. She groaned miserably and coughed the water from her lungs, not wanting to move again. Ever. She could just wait until the tide came back, and then this desolation would be over. Peace.
But no, she couldn't do that.
In the last two days, Ben had continuously sacrificed his safety for her and saved her life twice. He had followed her through the portal into a very dangerous world; something he never had to do. For the first time she considered just where she would be without him - dead on the first day, most likely. And then Spratt would never be found. Even after all the horrible things she had said to him, he still stuck by her like some sort of guardian. She owed it to him to keep trying.
Having lost the torch, she had no idea where she was or which direction she ought to go in. She crawled to the side, praying it was the right side, and got slowly to her feet. Her legs quivered spasmodically, threatening to buckle, but she kicked them into the wall and hauled herself up onto the ledge. It was perhaps the hardest thing she had ever done in her entire life. She lay there by the edge, staring into the black abyss as the sounds of a new flash flood reverberated throughout the cavern. Surely she could just close her eyes and rest for a while... her lids were so extraordinarily heavy.
No. She would not fall asleep. She had to find Ben. Whatever it took. She used the cavern wall to heave herself into a wobbly standing position, then stumbled off into the darkness.
"Ben?" she screamed hoarsely. Her throat was sandpaper. "BEN!"
Silence.
Then...
"Taylor."
The reply was impossibly faint, and she wondered if she was imagining it. It was barely a whisper, echoing off the walls to reach her. She continued yelling out as she walked, and sometimes the voice would respond with her name, becoming gradually louder.
Despite everything, Taylor felt a rush of joy. He was still alive. They both were.
"Marco," she called.
There was a half-hearted laugh and then, "Polo."
Taylor felt a rush of vertigo and collapsed, giggling helplessly as her head swum with stars. She was so weak that just the idea of standing again made her nauseous.
"Taylor?" Concern laced his voice. "Taylor, are you alright?" It sounded much closer this time.
"M'good. M'all good," she cried, although her eyelids were lowering gradually as she fought off exhaustion.
She reached out and touched the smooth exterior of a column. This was the moschorhinus's cavern. Ben must be nearby. In fact, when she paused her own erratic, rasping breath, she could make out his.
Taylor veered to the left and crawled - literally - toward the noise, only stopping when she felt a warm, thick liquid cover her hands and knees. The stench of metal invaded her nostrils and she shuddered. There was blood all over the floor.
Several seconds later she toppled onto something. Something warm and squashy. "Ben!" she exclaimed, her voice slurring. "You're bleeding everywhere! But you're gon' be okay, kay, 'cause'm here. I fought off... creature thing... I saved you this time. I'ma rescue you now. This time."
And with that, her head dropped onto Ben's chest and she fell asleep.