“Wake up!” He slapped her cheek roughly. When she didn’t stir, he placed a hand gingerly on her chest and sent a spark of electricity into her.
She jerked, but did not awaken.
“That only works for drowning.”
“What?”
Coll stepped forward. “No point trying to restart her heart when it never stopped in the first place. For knocked-out, you need water.”
He upended his water flask over her head. She spluttered under the assault, turning her head to avoid it and wincing as she did so.
Benin crouched beside her. “Call it off.”
She blinked at him groggily. He clicked his fingers in front of her face until her eyes focused. “Lila! Whatever’s up there, call it off! Now!”
Sixty-Six
Enough
Corey
The skynet, launched from the repaired trebuchet, barely grazed one of the trogloraptor’s spiky knees before it flew over the edge of the trailhead and out of sight like a kamikaze ghost.
Its passing gave the trogloraptor pause. Then it was shrieking again as the still-glowing chemsphere came rolling toward it, flashing with every rotation. It was pursued by Swift and Cheer, both of whom were yelling “Whoa!” at the globe as though it were a runaway badger, despite that particular strategy having failed them every time in the past.
Ris’kin and I looked up at the trogloraptor, shrinking away from the light, and together we resolved to keep trying for as long as we both drew breath. Well, for as long as Ris’kin drew breath. I, of course, had no respiratory system to speak of.
And I never will if we end up failing here.
Timing our leap carefully, we waited for just the right moment. This was undoubtedly the last chance we’d get.
When the trogloraptor stumbled on its injured leg, we saw our chance, and leapt.
Ris’kin’s reaching hands closed firmly around the creature’s furry palps. Unbalanced by the sudden weight hanging from the half-limbs that guarded its mouth, the trogloraptor lurched downward. Its head and thorax dipped low enough for Longshank to scramble up and drive his crystal spear into the back of its head.
But the spear would not go all the way in. The spider’s chitinous exoskeleton was much harder around its body than its legs, it seemed, and no matter how Longshank pushed, the spear would not go any deeper.
However, it did seem to be hurting the creature somewhat. Though it didn’t push through its physical armor, it did at least seem to penetrate the fog of whatever magic held it in thrall, and it shrieked in pain, lowering itself even further to the ground to escape the crystal point.
Time remaining for Exodus: 2 minutes, 39 seconds
Her feet firmly on the floor, Ris’kin released the trogloraptor’s palps. Now safely inside their reach, she grasped the spider’s chelicerae instead. The sharp mandible-like appendages still held my gem fast in their grip.
The ‘fury’ status was flashing in the top of my vision, warning me that the effects of the furynut brew would wear off in a few seconds, but a few seconds was all we needed.
The last fury effects pulsed through Ris’kin, empowering her limbs, and I threw all of my will into further bolstering her strength and resolve. Bracing herself against the floor, she gripped the chelicerae firmly and pulled.
They barely budged.
No! Come on!
Ris’kin heaved again, her efforts joining mine in a mental scream as we strained with all our strength to release my gem from the enemy.
The fury icon flickered and died. My gem remained in the trogloraptor’s grip.
My avatar let go. Barely noticing the burning of cramping fingers and overworked muscles, she took an uncertain step away from the trogloraptor, unsteady with the aftereffects of the fury juice as well as my mentally reeling with my own realization of our failure.
The spider shifted, doubtless about to throw Longshank off and make another run for it. I considered just letting it. But only for an instant.
No matter how much we despaired, there was no way I’d let it go and give up our tribe’s entire future. Even if it meant we wouldn’t complete the exodus on time, even though I’d end up starting over at tier one and likely wouldn’t advance enough in time to stop our enemies—of which we apparently had more than we’d realized—from wiping the last of the gnomes from this earth, it was my duty to make sure we claimed this place as our own. To at least give them a chance of surviving what was to come.
Ris’kin bent wearily to collect her fallen spears.
When we faced the trogloraptor again, though, something was different. Though the red film still marred its eyes, suggesting it was still being controlled, it no longer seemed interested in either escape or attack. Instead, we watched, barely comprehending as it lowered itself to the ground and deposited my gem at Ris’kin’s feet.
Something flashed in my vision. I frowned, thinking it was the ‘fury’ warning again, but that had been replaced with an ‘exhaustion’ icon—something Ris’kin’s trembling limbs and palpitating heart had already told me.
Time remaining for Exodus: 120 seconds
We stared down at my gem, confused by the sudden turnaround in circumstances. Then everything hit me at once, above all the fact that there was still time.
Time remaining for Exodus: 112 seconds
“Corey, come on!”
It seemed Ket was finally back with us. Ris’kin had already snatched the gem and started running, exhausted limbs screaming their objections at being pushed so far beyond the limits of their endurance. But if our journey had taught me one thing it was that my denizens’ limits were far beyond anything I’d ever given them credit for, and Ris’kin was no different.
We hared through the wreckage of the encampment toward the ruined temple, disheveled gnomes parting to make way for my avatar.
10 seconds…
Shards of crystal crunched beneath our feet, pricking painfully at the pads of Ris’kin’s soles as we sprinted up the curved steps.
5 seconds…
On the far side of the altar,
