17 – Cold Plunge

As soon as Andy spoke, something exploded out of the water, throwing a wave of droplets onto the scene. At the same time, the piece of driftwood that had been placed over the opening to the hut flew outward, and another scaled figure charged forth. Andy reacted instinctively, driving his spear forward, but the scaled man leaped away, so the tip of his spear barely pierced his skin. “It’s not—” His words were cut off as he screamed in pain, rolling onto the ground, no doubt reacting to the spear’s caustic enchantment.

Meanwhile, Andy saw that the purple spell effect around the man’s hand was gone—no rush of mana gathering. He hastily looked left and right, trying to figure out just what the hell was going on. As his head swiveled toward the lake, his eyes widened and his heart jumped into his throat; a toad the size of a hippopotamus was there, squat and bulging, massive front legs slapping the water-soaked stone of the cavern floor as it advanced.

“Andy! Look the fuck out!” Jace screamed, and Andy whirled to his left just in time to avoid a club that was whistling toward his head. As he ducked, sliding to the side faster than his antagonist could track, he put the pieces of the puzzle together: the big, scaled…woman who was attacking him was the one who’d burst out of the hut.

“Leave him alone!” she shrieked. Despite the chaos of the situation, Andy couldn’t help thinking that the spiked growths along her lower jaw made her distinctly resemble a horned toad. Before he could think of something to say, let alone act, the actual gigantic toad croaked deafeningly and leaped toward Jace and the others.

“Holy shit,” Andy gasped as the enormous monster landed amid them, displacing a huge boulder that rolled, cracking and rumbling, toward the lake.

“You should run!” the woman hissed, darting toward the fallen man—her friend or mate, or whatever. Andy hesitated; should he deal with the two—lizard?—people or help with the gargantuan toad? When he saw that the woman was dragging the fallen man toward their little hut, that was enough. He turned his back on them and sprinted toward the monstrous toad and his friends.

“He’ll kill you! Run!” the woman called after him, but Andy couldn’t do that. His friends were on the business end of the giant creature; their panicked shouts and…screams spurred him on. He leaped atop a large, flat boulder, hoping to get a clear line of sight. Over the glistening, warty shoulder of the bulbous toad, he saw Jace, flailing with his club, bound by a length of rough, pink flesh—the toad’s tongue!

The cambion’s leg was already in its mouth, and though the creature had no teeth, it was clear that its bite was strong. Jace screamed again, and something crunched. Andy stopped hesitating and attacked. As an arrow sprouted from the toad’s snout, he leaped toward its flank, aiming for a spot his critical-sensing abilities told him was weak.

His spear, encased and sharpened by caustic shadows, sank easily into the soft flesh. All of his weight was behind the attack, and he drove the shaft at least three feet deep. The monstrous creature croaked—a burbling roar—and erupted violently, its great, muscular legs exploding with motion as it sprang into the air, carrying Andy, still clinging to his spear, and Jace, wrapped in its tongue, through the air and crashing into the frigid black water of the underground lake.

Andy felt the toad’s body convulse and contract as it swam. He felt the water rushing past him, and he almost panicked as the darkness grew absolute. His first instinct was to let go of the spear, but he knew the toad still had Jace, and he hoped his blow had driven his spear into something critical. With any luck, the enchantment was doing its work, burning and dissolving the creature’s innards. So, he clung to his weapon and, in a feat of iron-clad will, cleared his mind enough to cast Smoke Sight.

The blackness of the deep, cold water gave way to grays and shades of blue. The toad was a wall of faint yellow-orange before him, and he could see the outline of its powerful legs as they pushed against the water. Looking down, Andy saw the rock-strewn bed of the lake streaming by and realized they were moving fast.

He couldn’t see Jace past the bulk of the toad, but as his own lungs began to burn, he had to wonder if the wounded man would be able to hold on much longer. Come on! He mentally urged, wishing he could speed up his spear’s destructive enchantment. Grunting, he choked up his grip, pulling closer to the giant toad, then he jerked his arms forward, trying to drive it deeper as he twisted. He didn’t know exactly how it worked, but he wondered if he could make the blade cut some more of the toad’s insides and encourage the enchantment to reapply.

To his delight, the toad convulsed and its powerful legs stopped their swimming motion. It twisted, trying to kick at Andy and the spear. Before he could let go or try to dodge in the frigid water, the creature’s left hind leg raked him with sharp claws, carving four deep cuts into his thigh. Andy gasped, let go, and kicked, swimming over the toad’s back. He saw Jace hanging from the creature’s mouth, face slack, and knew he had to do something.

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Suddenly, he remembered his belt knife—the razor-sharp dagger the System had given him. Andy drew it, and while the toad still thrashed, trying to kick the spear out of its side, he dove down and began to stab the creature’s back. He let his instincts guide the blade, and while his lungs burned and his limbs grew numb, he stabbed and stabbed and stabbed.

His magical sight told him Jace was cooling; the man still glowed faintly, but Andy knew his life could be measured in minutes or maybe seconds, if he didn’t get him out of the lake. He could taste the blood in the water, feel its warmth in the frigid depths, as his long knife punctured the toad again and again. When the creature’s mouth grew slack and Jace floated free, Andy stuffed the blade back into its sheath, grabbed the cambion under the arms, and kicked toward the surface—he hoped—with everything he had.

When his head broke free of the water, relief washed over him. He’d begun to doubt himself, thinking he’d been kicking the wrong way. Floating onto his back, he hoisted Jace so his face stayed above the water. That was when he realized he wasn’t in the big cavern anymore. The ceiling pressed low—barely two feet from his nose.

“Jace? You there, buddy?” Andy squeezed and jostled him, but got no response. He turned, scanning the placid surface, and breathed a shaky sigh when he spotted the faint lines of a tunnel opening and, beyond it, the wider lake. Lamenting the loss of his spear, he kicked toward the lake, praying he wasn’t too late to save Jace.

He reached the wider body of water, cavern space opening above, and yelled over his shoulder, “Help!”

“He’s there!” Bella’s voice echoed.

“Andy! Jace!” Lucy screamed.

They sounded distant. Andy kicked harder. His legs were numb—hell, he was numb—but Jace had to be worse. Then splashing sounded behind him, strong hands clamped Andy’s shoulders, and an unfamiliar voice said, “Let me take him.” The scaled man. Andy would’ve fought if there’d been malice, but the man pulled Jace away, moving far faster than Andy could.

But the hands on Andy’s shoulders didn’t let go. He was still moving, though his legs had stopped. Dull confusion hit him, then he realized how cold he was, how much blood he’d lost. He looked back and saw the scaled woman swimming easily on her back with him in her arms. A heavy drowsiness pressed in, and his neck went slack as his eyes closed.

“Don’t die on me, stupid man,” the woman muttered, her voice already fading. The last thing he heard before his Smoke Sight faded and things went dark was her whisper: “Should have just run. Croaker was good at eating rats.”

###

“Come on, honey,” a familiar, almost motherly voice said, and Andy felt gentle taps on his cheek. “That’s it. Take another swallow.” Something pressed against his lips, and then cool water that instantly warmed his tongue flowed into his mouth. Andy swallowed, and more warmth flooded through his body.

Blinking rapidly, he looked up to see Bea peering down at him. For a moment, he couldn’t remember where he was, and he imagined her in his trailer, trying to wake him. “Bea?”

“That’s a boy. I knew you’d be all right. Lie still for now, okay? I’m going to check on Jace again.”

As she stood and receded from his vision, and Andy peered into the darkness above, memories began to come back to him—cold water, swimming with Jace, the giant toad. “My spear!” he groaned.

“I got it for you,” a low, gravelly, feminine voice said.

Andy turned his head to the left and saw the two scaled people sitting by their little fire, not five feet away. “You did?”

“Yep. We’re no amphibians, but we’re good swimmers,” the man replied. He pointed to the ground beside Andy, and he peered down his nose, shifting his arm so his fingers fell on the haft of his spear.

“Awesome. Thank you.” Murmured voices and the sensation of movement drew his attention to the area behind him. Andy craned his neck to see Bella and Bea kneeling beside Jace. “He gonna be okay?” he asked. His voice was rough and scratchy, and he coughed, trying to clear it.

“He will,” Bea replied. “Thanks to you and our new friends.”

Andy was about to thank the strangers for their help and apologize for stabbing the man, but then the System must have decided he’d recovered enough to blast him with some messages:

***Congratulations, Andy! You helped to slay an Elite, hostile denizen of the deep! You’ve earned enough experience to gain 2 levels in your Brimstone Stalker class, resulting in 2 Improvement Points.***

***Additional congratulations are in order! Your heroic rescue of your companion did not go unnoticed by the System. You can expect a System-generated reward for your efforts when you next rest in a safe location.***

“No new abilities,” Andy muttered, only slightly disappointed. He was only level six, and he’d already earned four powerful spells, after all. Besides that, his maximum mana was up to 275, and he once again had eight Improvement Points to spend. A thought suddenly occurred to him, and he looked back toward Bea and Bella. “Where’s Lucy?”

“She ran to tell Omar what happened and to get some help.”

“Help?”

Bella moved closer and lowered her voice as she responded, “Carrying Jace. His leg’s gonna take a lot more healing than Bea can do right here.” She leaned even closer, whispering, “The bones were badly broken. I think he would have lost it without magic. I’m still not sure.”

Andy nodded, grunting as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He saw the two strangers regarding him almost warily, and he asked, “Was that, uh, toad friendly to you guys?”

The woman snorted. “No! Stupid man! We knew how to stay quiet and get into our hut when it came out. It ate the rats that wandered in here.” She must have seen how Andy’s eyes were drawn to the spiky growths around her jaw. “If you’re wondering, the System told us we have the echo of a draconic bloodline.” She jammed a piece of driftwood into the fire, shifting the coals around. “And no! We’re not cold-blooded!”